Under New Management

by June Hopkins

  Chapter 14

  It is now twelve forty-five. The morning at the Browns has been a disturbing one for Mollie, to say the least. She’s glad that Kevin came round and feels a weight has been lifted. Also, her father seems a bit calmer about it all now. He actually shook Kevin’s hand when he left. A hand that was a lot cleaner than when he’d arrived. Lindy had filled in Jim on the conversation and he felt that it showed balls for Kevin to come to the house and apologise like that. Jim respected that sort of behaviour. Of course he hadn’t forgiven David. As far as Jim was concerned, David was a little scrote and always would be.

  Jim, Dan and Jack are now off to the pub. Jack is freshly showered, wearing new underwear and socks and a shirt of Jim’s. (Lindy shopped a lot and she liked to have a ‘just in case’ selection). Lindy had also produced a new toothbrush, razor and had ironed Jack’s crumpled suit trousers. Julie had gone home to get changed out of her scruffs and would meet them there; Lindy was faffing about deciding whether she wanted to spend the rest of the day in the pub or whether she would go shopping.

  Mollie didn’t think she wanted to do anything. She had eventually opened the letter which Jeff had delivered earlier and was feeling slightly put out. Bloody cheek ordering her to an interview. Who did he think he was? He could stick his interview and the job offer where the sun didn’t shine. She wasn’t going.

  She’d had the morning to think about it and the more she thought about it the less attractive the idea of being a PA became. She had a business degree for God’s sake! Why settle for something that held no interest for her? No, she was going to find herself another job, one that she wanted to do and she had the time to find an excellent one.

  Jack keeps on at her to come to the pub with them and she is tempted but is dithering. When her phone rings she answers it without recognising the number.

  “Hello, is that Mollie?” asks a voice that she recognises immediately. Her heart skips a beat; she wasn’t expecting a phone call from Kieran.

  Taking a deep breath to steady her voice she says, “Yes, who’s that?” She lies. It wouldn’t do to let him know she recognises him. Let him work for it.

  “It’s, er, Kieran McLaren. We met last night.” He mentally kicks himself for saying something so utterly stupid.

  Mollie smiles, “Ah yes, Kieran. I believe the word met is a little understated, if memory serves. We were snogging in bed, weren’t we?” When in doubt go for blunt honesty and front it out. She has nothing to lose.

  Kieran is a little taken aback but is relieved that she is taking the humorous approach. He may as well go along with it. “Ah so you remember, thank God. I have been worrying myself silly all morning about whether I should remind you about it, or not.”

  “Oh I remember. I also remember that you ran away. Were you scared?” she challenges him. May as well get it over with.

  “Scared? Me? Never. I just didn’t want to take advantage of an inebriated woman. What if you’d regretted it in the morning? I would much rather a woman was in full control of her faculty’s, you can’t be too careful nowadays.” He defends.

  “Umm yes, I suppose you have a point. OK, I will accept that as a reasonable explanation, but I must say if you take that approach you are very likely never to have sex again.”

  Kieran laughs, “I’ll bear that in mind. So how did you get home? I was very disappointed when I turned up with your breakfast this morning to find you gone.”

  “Breakfast in bed? Well in that case you are forgiven. What did you bring me?” she asks him, openly flirting with him now.

  “Tea, toast and jam. Are you impressed?” he asks her smugly.

  Mollie is quiet for a second as she forms a suitable reply. “I wouldn’t say impressed. I’m not being funny, but anyone can knock up a bit of toast, can’t they? Now if you had gone for, let’s say, eggs or perhaps a bacon sarnie, then that would have impressed me. At least that would have demonstrated some culinary acumen.” She is quiet for a few seconds and then pipes up with, “Was there a flower on the tray? Come to think of it, did you even make it yourself?”

  Kieran laughs loudly, “Guilty as charged, I’ll hold my hands up. No I didn’t make it, and also no to the flower. I’ll take notes for next time.” he says without thinking.

  “Next time? Well, I wouldn’t bank on that Mr McLaren. I don’t normally go in for second chances. You’ll have to try harder.” She laughs at him now.

  Bugger, fuck, fuck! Why did he let it go down this route? Now he needs to back track without offending her or giving false expectations. He wonders if now would be a good time for the phone signal to give out.

  “You still there?” she asks him.

  “Yes sorry, I am here. There are people everywhere, I got distracted, sorry.” He lies quickly.

  “Distracted, ummm well that’s not what I’d call trying but a fabulous way to avoid answering. So, why am I honoured with the phone call?” Mollie is embarrassed now; clearly he was only willing to take the flirting so far. He pulled back so fast that she is surprised he didn’t put his back out. What is it with him? Coming on to her one minute and pulling back the next? Well she has been humiliated enough for one year, so that is quite enough. No more. The flirting stops right now. She knows the brush off when she hears it. She needs to stop making a bloody fool of herself, immediately.

  He is disconcerted. She really is too intuitive. What an idiot; he needs a favour and this is not the way to get it. “Sorry Mollie, there is a lot going on at the moment, I did ring for a good reason. I need your help.”

  “Help with what?” she asks him bluntly now and he winces at the complete change in her tone of voice.

  “Um, err,” he stutters. Christ! He sounds like a bloody fifteen year old. He needs to get a grip. Time for some honesty, so he starts again, “OK here it is. I shouldn’t have mentioned a job last night.” Mollie sucks in her breath at those words. So he is regretting it. Her stomach plunges.

  “I wasn’t thinking properly after the kiss and everything.” He pauses and then rushes on quickly, “I’m not usually one for making rash decisions, I leave that to Jack.” he laughs awkwardly, but she stays quiet so he continues. “The point is, I want to offer you something. I see that we would be daft not to, but I have no idea what that would be. We haven’t really decided what we are going to do with the Hall yet - it was, shall we say, an impulsive buy. The offer of perhaps being my PA was off the cuff, spur of the moment. I hadn’t thought it through. If I’m honest I think you would be over qualified for that. I need to give more thought to what I need. It is very difficult to offer someone a job without a proper job description, wouldn’t you agree?”

  He waits nervously for her answer. Has he been too honest?

  Mollie mulls over his words. However miffed she might be she sees the sense in what he is saying. She also admires his honesty. She hates bullshitters; she would much rather have straight talking, and know where she is.

  “Thanks for that Kieran. I understand exactly what you are saying and it is fine, thanks for letting me know.”

  His sigh of relief is cut short as he thinks she is going to hang up. “Wait, Mollie. I was hoping that you could meet with me about the Hall, this afternoon. I wanted to be upfront before I asked. I know it’s a big favour considering, but I have a list of questions as long as my arm and Lord John and his wife frankly have been next to useless in answering the majority of them. Apparently the only person who knows is you. I will of course pay you for your time; name your price.” He blurts out and waits for a response.

  The wait is interrupted when he hears Jack’s voice as clear as day asking, “Molls, you coming to the pub or what?” Kieran sucks in a breath. Bloody Jack! He is with her!

  “Hang on, I’m on the phone,” she calls to him.

  “Sorry about that,” she tells Kieran.

  “That sounded like Jack. At least that explains where he’s been all night.” Kieran says with a rough edge to his voice.

  Mollie ignores it. T
ough shit. He can think what he wants.

  “Yes he’s here,” she says as she makes up her mind in that second. “I can’t come up to the Hall today, I’m off to spend the afternoon at the pub. I’ll come up after lunch tomorrow if you want. Oh and the charge will be fifty pound an hour. That’s a fair consultant’s rate, don’t you think?”

  Kieran raises an eyebrow. OK, clearly flirtatious Mollie has left the building, but fair enough, he needs her input and he is prepared to pay. “That sounds fine. Shall we say two o’clock?” he says briskly. Two can play at that game.

  Mollie replies two o’clock will be fine. “I’ll see you then. Oh, and if you want to meet the locals, you are more than welcome to join us this afternoon at the Dog and Duck. But don’t bother if you intend to stay sober, I intend to have fun this afternoon you may find us all a little too boisterous if you’re not in the same boat. See you.” She puts the phone down abruptly and smiles to herself. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

  She grabs the bag that her Mum had luckily rescued last night and heads to the kitchen to let the others know she is most definitely coming with them.

  Kieran puts his phone back in his pocket. Well, that went well!

  Chapter 15

  When Kieran walks into the Dog and Duck two hours later he wonders why he has bothered, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Jack clearly wasn’t intending to make an appearance back at the Hall any time soon, so why was he worrying about it? They couldn’t have a constructive meeting without him. As usual he was trying to hold it together. No one cared about him and the way he felt so why shouldn’t he join Jack and Mollie at the local pub? Call it community relations. He wanted to mix in with the locals, didn’t he?

  He had no idea why he had allowed Mollie’s challenge to goad him. Why had he decided that he would go out, enjoy himself and get completely wasted (well perhaps slightly tipsy)? Why had he persuaded Megan to give him a lift to the pub and sod the consequences? He had no idea. He had not been this out of control since the day the solicitor had explained the inheritance. But fuck it! Why should it always be him? Why did Jack always have all the fun? Why couldn’t he show just how much fun he could be? Mollie had said ‘don’t bother if you intend to stay sober’. She wanted to have fun. So be it, he could be fun. Jack wasn’t the only one in the family who knew how to enjoy himself.

  Only problem was that Kieran hadn’t actually really enjoyed himself for a long time. He had refrained from letting himself go but he still had it. He would show her that he was more than a match for Jack and could indeed keep up with the Brownses. Sensible Kieran was of course shouting loudly from the sidelines, but he drowned him out. He didn’t want to be sensible. If you couldn’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, so join them he would. Jack wasn’t the only one who could have fun and he was going to prove it.

  It hadn’t helped that Jack had clearly spent the night at Mollie’s. Had he spent it there with her? Kieran didn’t think so. Florrie had said that he had disappeared at one o’clock and Kieran had poked his head through Mollie’s door around two thirty in the morning. He had watched her snuggled up like a baby for possibly a little longer than was strictly necessary. He was intrigued though; he might not be in a position to go there but that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to. Neither did it mean that he wanted Jack to. Oh no, he definitely didn’t want Jack to.

  Unfortunately for Kieran the others have a two hour start on him. Given the amount they had put away the evening before, topping up hadn’t taken very long at all. By the time he bounces into the pub determined to be the life and soul, he quickly sees that the job has been well and truly taken by a number of others. His senses are assaulted by the smell of alcohol, raucous laughter and loud music. Apparently the party started without him. He kicks himself. Of course it had started without him. He had been left dealing with the Hall while Jack got pissed and had fun. Kieran couldn’t leave until the Sedgwicks had been tearfully despatched, the barn had been emptied, toilets removed and the new cook settled. Story of his life he thinks as his eyes find the Browns and Jack ensconced at the bar. The women are perched on stools. They are all having a whale of a time by the looks of it; he is going to have his work cut out catching up. The pub is pretty full. He recognises a number of faces from last night. Clearly they were all in need of a hair of the dog. He hears the sounds of roaring from another room, which is clearly showing the football. Kieran wonders vaguely if Johnny’s team is playing.

  As he makes his way over, Jim spots him and jumps forward to shake his hand.

  “Kieran, isn’t it? Glad you could make it,” he tells him as he shakes Kieran’s hand hard. Kieran hadn’t spent any more time with them the previous evening after returning to the party. He had pretty much just mingled and spent the rest of the evening being introduced to various people.

  “Yes, nice to see you again... em, Jim?” He says. He isn’t sure if the name is correct.

  “Yep, Jim and this is my son, Dan, his wife Julie and my lovely wife Lindy. You obviously already know our Mollie.” Kieran shakes hands with the others one at a time and smiles uncertainly at Mollie who looks slightly pissed and gives him a lopsided grin.

  Jack grabs Kieran and gives him a big slap on the back, “Alright cous! Where have you been? You’ve got some catching up to do, mate.”

  Kieran seethes inwardly but now is not the time to have a go at Jack. He’ll have to wait. He is not going to let this lot know how fed up he is.

  Smiling tightly at Jack he says, “No problem, mate, you know me; it won’t take me long if I put my mind to it.”

  “Dude, now you’re talking. What you having? Lager?” Jack asks. He was slightly nervous when Kieran showed up. Jack isn’t stupid. He knows when he’s in trouble. Kieran seems cool though so he’s not going to worry about it. If Kieran has a good time he’ll forget to have a go later.

  “Yea, lager please and I’d better have a whisky chaser.” Kieran tells him.

  “I’m getting that,” says Jim as he moves to stand at the bar and catch the eye of the landlord.

  Jack gives Kieran a look of admiration. It’s been a long time since he’d heard Kieran talk like that. He’d become pretty boring of late, always work and no play. Perhaps things were looking up.

  Kieran gives Jack a look full of exasperation. He can’t understand how Jack manages to stay on top of his workload and keep up the party animal lifestyle. Jack has the enviable ability to do both. He doesn’t take life too seriously and seems to cruise through it all with very little stress. If any given situation so much as hints at stress, work or women, Jack simply removes himself from it. Responsible was not a word in Jack’s dictionary.

  Mollie’s heart had skipped a beat as Kieran had walked into her eye line. She can’t believe that he has actually turned up. She had spent the last two hours on an emotional roller coaster, moving from confidence to uncertainty, to downright pissed off and then, eventually, pissed up.

  Earlier she had been sure he would come - she could feel it in her water. She had taken her place at the bar awaiting his arrival. She had positioned herself carefully, suitably poised, back straight, shoulders back, hair swinging. Her makeup had been perfect, her perfume subtle but noticeable. Her intention had been to be alluring; seduce him with her gorgeousness when he walked in. She didn’t really know why, she had already had a stern word with herself about forgetting all about him. Told herself that he wasn’t interested, yet there was something there, she was sure. Yet again what the hell did she know? She had spent six years with a man who was into men. She wasn’t exactly the best judge.

  When first entering the pub she had ordered wine, not her best drink but she felt it gave off an air of sophistication. As the time ticked by and the others got merrier she had eventually started to drink faster.

  Now that he has eventually decided to grace them with his presence, she is aware that her back is not as straight, her shoulders slightly slouched, her hair isn’t quite as bouncy as it had been and her perfu
me nonexistent. Christ, bloody typical.

  She needs to take a trip to the Ladies to make some running repairs before he gets too close to her. Easing herself down out of the large swinging bar chair, she takes advantage of Kieran now chatting with Jack and Dan, to make a run for it. Unfortunately she is rather tipsy. Drinking in the afternoon has never been her strong point. As she decides to dart through the others with her bag in hand, she hasn’t noticed that the shoulder strap is still caught over the high back of the bar chair. As she moves away from the chair at speed, the shoulder strap tightens; the chair swings round and catches her sharply on her side. This causes her to fall forwards into Dan, who is chatting away merrily with his pint in his hand. Without warning, Dan is pushed, causing a good amount of the contents of his glass to lurch forward through the air coming to rest down Kieran’s chest.

  “Christ our Molls! What are you playin’ at?” Dan turns to his sister who is trying to right herself.

  Kieran jumps back pulling his soaking shirt away from his chest in horror. Jack, never one to stand on ceremony, howls with laughter.

  Jim grabs a bar towel and chucks it at Kieran, his lips twitching, “Do you still want these mate?” he says as he gestures to the drinks that have just been poured. “Only it looks like you’ve already had one.” Jim snorts at his own joke and then joins Jack and now Dan and they roar heartily.

  Mollie is horrified; the women are all horrified, but as the shock wears off and the alcohol resurfaces they can’t help it. One by one they join the others and start laughing.

  Kieran gamely wipes at the wet shirt as he tries hard to control the urge to storm out.