Under New Management

by June Hopkins

  Chapter 13

  That morning, just as Mollie is diving into Jeff’s van, Kieran opens his bedroom curtains. He watches the post van heading out of the courtyard and up the drive, oblivious to its occupants. Heading downstairs the house is still quiet and he makes himself a strong coffee and a slice of toast. He sits alone in the kitchen with his thoughts as he eats. His thoughts are mainly of Mollie and the rather rash job offer that he had made her. What had he been thinking? He should have kept his mouth firmly shut, but it had seemed such a good idea at the time.

  He was definitely attracted to her, his sleepless night was testament to that. She had filled his thoughts all night long. There had been a number of occasions when he had had to have a word with himself to stop himself from popping down the hall to her room. This is not good. He couldn’t be trusted to work in that sort of close proximity with her, could he?

  Yet from a business point of view he would be mad not to re-employ her. She was clearly very capable and had a wealth of knowledge and experience about the Hall. She is exactly the sort of employee that he normally prides himself on retaining.

  In his defence he truly has been considering finding himself a PA of late; the idea isn’t completely out of left field. However, he should not have said anything to her, certainly not in that situation. Yes, he’s been considering a PA but in the cold light of day he isn’t honestly sure that he can justify one. He hasn’t decided if there is enough interesting work to occupy someone full time, and certainly not someone like Mollie. Surely a job like that would bore her to tears within a few weeks. When he blurted out the offer last night he hadn’t exactly been thinking with his brain.

  Obviously if he were looking for someone to manage the estate Mollie would be his first choice. Running the estate was one thing, however. Managing a 5* hotel, was a completely different kettle of fish.

  How could he offer her anything concrete when they hadn’t made any decisions on the Hall and its future? Would she agree to stay on with a temporary contract? In the beginning he would rely on her expertise and knowledge. At least that would give him time to make a decision on where best to utilise her skills.

  If he is up front with her and explains that he really hasn’t a clue, and doesn’t know if they have a realistic position for her, would she understand?

  His heart sinks slightly, probably not. Why should she? He has hardly come across as a professional businessman. She has every right not to trust a word he says. If she knew everything, she definitely would never trust him again. Bloody, sodding hell.

  Kieran had been annoyed at the way they had been forced into acquiring the Hall. Evelyn had refused to allow notice; she’d held them to ransom. The only way to persuade the Sedgwicks to sign on the dotted line had been to agree to terms of complete secrecy. They were unable to put anything in motion until only a week before and Kieran didn’t like to do business that way.

  His normal pattern would be to conduct interviews with all staff pre-takeover. Staff matters would be sorted and the business would continue as normal throughout. This was a new one on him. They had been forced to bring in a recruitment agency to ensure they had staff for the next week, possibly two, while the final details were being taken care of.

  The problem was that the other hotels they had acquired were just that. They were already established hotels. The changeovers hadn’t been rocket science.

  This was the first time they were starting from scratch. The entire process was a learning curve for them all. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it would certainly be challenging but that is exactly what made the entire thing interesting. Kieran loved a challenge. He had ideas for the Hall but nothing concrete as yet and how can you make decisions on the staff you need when you don’t know what you want them to actually do?

  Therefore he hadn’t been prepared to negotiate the staff remaining without interview, as much as Lord John had pushed for it.

  He has ensured that all the staff receive letters inviting them to interview with him on Tuesday. Those letters pointed out that any further employment would be subject to business requirements and may not be immediate starts. The staff in their head office had been instructed to post them by special delivery yesterday morning.

  The letters were very likely in the post van he’d seen this morning. Mollie’s letter invites her to an interview at ten thirty on Tuesday morning. There is nothing he can do about that now. If only he could warn her, explain to her that the letter is a standard one. Kieran rubs his hand over his face and through his hair.

  After speaking properly with Lord John yesterday he now knows that Mollie holds the knowledge on the estate and the staff. He shouldn’t have got carried away last night. He’s going to need her input and he hasn’t made the best of starts with her. Bloody hell, what a complete balls up.

  Eventually he puts down his cup, leaves the kitchen and heads for the barn. The caterers, designers and cleaners will be arriving at eight thirty to clear it and remove their various possessions. Using the huge bunch of keys that Lord John had gruffly bestowed on him the night before, he manages to find the right one and lets himself into the darkness. Finding the light switches he turns them on and blinks into stark brightness. What a mess!

  He isn’t interested in the state of the room but the space of it. Last night he had mentally tallied up ideas for its future. A venue, perhaps for weddings, business conferences and the like. He could get a premises licence to keep the bar; they hadn’t needed anything last night as it was a private party and the drinks were not being sold. Or perhaps use this and the other two barns as a business conference centre: hire out the rooms complete with projectors, screens, flipcharts and the like. They could turn the back room, where the waiters had served from, into a catering kitchen and serve luncheons and corporate dinners. Sedgwick is in a good spot, six miles from the motorway and only twenty minutes from Gloucester and Bristol. Perhaps they could add more bedrooms? The possibilities were endless.

  After spending a good half hour wandering about in the barn Kieran takes a walk through the gardens. He meanders through the maze where he found Mollie the night before and takes a walk by the fast flowing river. Lord John had informed him that there were trout in there. Perhaps he could build on that? They could introduce more fish, offer corporate fishing days as well as pheasant shoots. The peace and quiet of the place washes over him and as the sun comes up he heads back inside to deal with the first morning as the Hall’s new owner.

  Kieran needs to have a meeting with Jack, Megan and his mother this afternoon. As they complied with maintaining secrecy they hadn’t had the opportunity to really look at the old place. They really were going in blind but Kieran has a good feeling about it; he would never have bought under these circumstances if he hadn’t. However they were lagging behind and Kieran didn’t like that; he liked to know where he was heading.

  The Sedgwicks were staying for lunch but he had breakfast to endure first. However, endure he would. There were many questions as yet unanswered sitting on his iPad in a long and daunting list. Each time a thought struck him he typed it in. He only had the morning to quiz the Sedgwicks and he needed to make it count, especially as he might not be able to rely on Mollie.

  He wonders again how he is going to resolve the Mollie problem. He is hoping that when she comes down he can have a chat with her, find a nice way to explain what a complete numpty he had been. Perhaps if he handled it cleverly he would be able to persuade her to meet with him later to go through any grey areas. He is sure the Sedgwicks aren’t going to be that useful in answering his questions. Until he knew what, if any, position he could offer Mollie, he would be relying on her goodwill.

  He curses his big mouth again. If he had kept it firmly zipped she wouldn’t have any expectations. That’s where showing off got you, in a bloody great mess.

  How is he going to react if she brings up the job offer? He needs to think about it. He can hardly say that he isn’t actually sure if he has anything to of
fer her now, but would she be good enough to answer a hundred questions on the estate to be going on with? Bugger, bugger and bugger it!

  Mrs Burfoot has kindly agreed to come in at eight to prepare breakfast and show the new cook from the agency the ropes. That is another job he has to consider, a new cook or chef. Shaking his head at the amount of problems to overcome he enters the kitchen.

  Mrs Burfoot is there with another lady, “Ah, Mr McLaren good morning Sir. Can I introduce Angela Thomas? Ms Thomas will be helping you out for the next few weeks. Ms Thomas this is Mr McLaren.”

  Kieran steps forward to shake the woman’s hand. She is as tall and slim as Mrs Burfoot is short and round, Kieran hides a smile.

  Mrs Burfoot reminds him of the fairy godmother in the Disney Cinderella story. He always has the fleeting thought that she is going to burst into the ‘bibity bobity boo’, song, (or is that from another film?) and start waving her wand about, whilst doing amazing things with fruit and veg. He really needs to rein in his imagination.

  Angela however looks like a 1950’s school teacher... He’d guess she’s in her mid-forties and her brown hair is severely cut into a short bob around her ears. She has a pair of half moon glasses perched on her long, thin nose. She is wearing sensible clothes and shoes and doesn’t meet his eye as she puts her thin hand into his.

  “Nice to meet you Angela, please call me Kieran. I hope this won’t be too daunting for you. You should only have us to look after for the duration and my mother will take you through her requirements.” Angela smiles awkwardly at him, her face colouring. “Don’t take any messing from her mind you, she can be a bit of a tyrant.” Kieran adds the last bit as he hears rather than sees his mother enter the room. He rarely misses an opportunity to wind her up.

  “Kieran, really, that is enough.” Marylyn, resplendent in a cream cashmere sweater, tailored trousers and court shoes sweeps across the kitchen quickly and takes Angela’s hand. Angela visibly shrinks back, her cheeks colouring deeper. She is intimidated by Marylyn and attracted to Kieran. ‘He is very dishy’, she thinks.

  “I apologise for my son. Angela isn’t it?” At Angela’s acknowledgement she continues, “Please call me Marylyn. My daughter Megan and her boyfriend Johnny are just coming down. My nephew Jack is unlikely to surface much before the whiff of breakfast reaches his nostrils. We call him the Bisto kid.” She laughs shrilly at her own joke and the others frown at her. “What time would you like us all for breakfast?”

  Mrs Burfoot pipes up, “Lord and Lady Sedgwick asked for nine. Would that be alright with you, Mrs McLaren?” she asks pointedly. Mrs Burfoot does not go in for first names with employers, she is old school.

  Marylyn smiles indulgently and doesn’t bite. Mrs Burfoot will be gone after lunch; she can make allowances for a few hours. “That is absolutely fine. I believe lunch is arranged for one. I’ll leave the menu to the professionals. Now come along, Kieran. Let’s go and explore for a while and leave these two ladies to it.”

  Pouring herself and Kieran a coffee from the freshly prepared pot on the side she breezes out of the kitchen with Kieran following behind.

  The two cooks raise their eyebrows at each other and Mrs Burfoot says very quietly, “Good luck with that one.”

  Kieran follows his mother to the small sitting room at the front of the house. They take their seats in the comfortable floral armchairs and morning light floods the room. It is cold in the room, so Kieran gets up and kneels down in front of the large ornate gas fire figuring out how to light it.

  While he fiddles about with it his mother watches him shrewdly, and he feels her eyes on him.

  “What is it mother?” he asks as he turns from his task, “You’re staring.”

  “I am not staring Kieran, I am merely looking at you. Where is your friend from last night?”

  Kieran sighs, she doesn’t miss a trick his mother. “She is in one of the rooms upstairs, and no, I did not spend the night with her, if that is what you’re thinking.” He flicks a switch and the fire comes to life.

  Marylyn raises a delicate eyebrow as Kieran turns from the now burning fire and moves back to his place on the sofa. “I didn’t ask that.”

  Kieran lets out a frustrated sigh, “No, you didn’t but as you well know it is the thought that counts and that is what you were thinking, isn’t it?”

  Marylyn smiles slightly at him, “Well I’m pleased, because you know that would be a very bad idea don’t you? Small town, Kieran. News spreads fast in these places and we wouldn’t want that sort of rumour to spread now, would we?”

  “Mother, I am quite aware, thank you for pointing it out. I managed to restrain myself. However there is one small problem, did you put two and two together? My ‘friend’ as you refer to her, is in fact Mollie, Lord John’s protégé.”

  “I had done the maths. Lord John spoke of it rather too much after the sideshow. Pretty girl and obviously clever. I looked through the books and other bits and pieces yesterday afternoon. It seems that Mollie has pretty much been in charge of the estate and I see she has a business degree. I also found out from Jack that they were at university together and were more than friends. Did you know that?” Marylyn asks meaningfully.

  “Yes thank you, I did find that out.”

  “So what are we going to do with her? It won’t look good. I’m assuming you are not expecting her to come down to breakfast in last night’s clothes?”

  “I was thinking about taking her up some tea and toast and then asking her if she would very much mind hiding under a sheet while I escort her to the car, throw her into the boot and drive her home. What do you think?” He asks innocently.

  Marylyn gazes at him steadily, “Well if you’re sure she wouldn’t mind, I do believe that would be best all round.”

  Kieran laughs loudly, “Careful Mum, you were nearly funny.”

  Marylyn laughs with him, “Watch it young man. You’re not too big to go over my knee you know. Seriously though, it will be rather embarrassing for the poor thing and what an awful night for her. Lord John told me the circumstances. I do think that was rather nasty of her husband and his boyfriend. Whatever were they thinking?” She shakes her head sorrowfully.

  “Nasty is one word for it and of course as always you’re right. It will be embarrassing for her this morning. So I suggest that we all behave and not make it more so. I’ll go and ask if the cooks will put a tray together. I’ll take it up, and we’ll go from there, shall we?” He looks at Marylyn who merely nods at him to show her agreement.

  Twenty minutes later Kieran knocks softly on Mollie’s door. Carrying the tray of tea and toast, he has no idea what he is going to say to her and shifts uncomfortably as he waits for an answer.

  When nothing happens he knocks a little louder. Still nothing. Giving a nervous swallow he decides he has no choice but to enter the room anyway. As the door opens he immediately sees it is empty. The bed has been pulled straight, the curtains are fully open and Mollie has clearly taken the problem away and done a moonlight flit.

  His first thoughts are of bitter disappointment; he had been looking forward to the opportunity of waking her first thing in the morning. He quickly shakes the thought away. Relieved is what he should be, but disappointment is unfortunately winning in his thought processes.

  He closes the door. As he takes the tray back down stairs he wonders how on earth she got home. He hopes she didn’t stagger back in the dead of night.

  His thoughts are disturbed as he hears the sound of heavy vehicles and looks out of the window at the foot of the stairs. A convoy of vans and cars make their way across the drive towards the barn. He’s glad he left it open; they know what they’re doing, no need for him to supervise for a while.

  Carrying the tray to the sitting room, he joins the others. He hadn’t disclosed the identity of the tray’s recipient to the cooks, so they hopefully would think that someone in the sitting room couldn’t wait for breakfast. He would just blame Jack.

  Marylyn breat
hes an audible sigh of relief when Kieran returns with the full tray and the news that Mollie has gone. Good girl, she thinks.

  Johnny and Megan are clasping hot drinks and looking a little the worse for wear. Johnny falls on the toast gratefully, he is starving. Jack hasn’t surfaced and Marylyn tells him that the Sedgwicks are in their drawing room upstairs and will meet them for breakfast in ten minutes. The four of them sit and talk over the previous evening until Angela arrives to invite them through to the large dining room.

  The Sedgwicks are seated and waiting when they walk into the room. They take their places, pleasantries are exchanged and the smell of food fills the room. The cooks have laid out breakfast along a sideboard in large silver serving dishes. Kieran feels as if he has stepped into a scene from ‘Downton Abbey’ (one of his guilty pleasures).

  Florrie has slapped on an extraordinary amount of makeup in the mistaken belief that it will disguise last night’s excesses. Lady Evelyn is at her pompous best, determined to remain Lady of the Manor right up until the point of departure and Lord John looks as if all the life has been sucked out of him. Kieran feels terribly sad for the old chap and a little guilty at his part in taking his beloved home from him. Poor bloke, would he ever recover from selling it?

  Kieran is annoyed with Jack for not coming down to breakfast. It is embarrassing fielding questions about where he is, if he’s quite well, etc. Florrie is particularly interested as she had taken quite a shine to him yesterday evening and had had to compete with Lou’s attentions. She had been terribly disappointed not to have got as far as dragging him to her room and was severely pissed off when he had gone missing at the end of the night.

  Kieran eventually stomps up the stairs to drag Jack from his pit. Kieran reaches the room and puts his hand on the door knob with the intention of bursting in and terrifying him. Suddenly he has the horrible thought that Mollie might actually be in there with him. This stops him in his tracks. What if she is? He wouldn’t put it past Jack. After all, he knows nothing about her, she could be in there. Bloody fuck! He stands with his hand on the doorknob as he tries to make up his mind whether to enter or not. Deciding that he is being a complete idiot he takes a deep breath and opens the door only to find the room empty. The bed hasn’t been slept in, where the hell is Jack?