Everything to Nothing

by Mark Henthorne

  ‘So sorry darling, hold that thought.’ He picked up the phone and it was only a short conversation. ‘This had better be good Andrew, I’m at breakfast.’

  Sally of course could not hear what Andrew was saying, but from the look of his face turning to thunder it was not good news. After a few moments the conversation ended with her father saying, ‘Right, give me twenty-five minutes,’ and with that he slammed the phone down. He instantly picked it back up and pressed two numbers. He had to wait only a split second before it was answered. ‘Ray, get the Ferrari out. Get me to the office in twenty-five, no, twenty minutes,’ and he slammed the phone down again.

  For a moment Sally did not say anything, she let her father have his thinking time. She could tell from the slightly vacant stare that he was probably doing either complex mental arithmetic or working out how to make himself another billion pounds in ten seconds. She had learned the harsh truth the hard way of what happens when anyone interrupts him during this thinking. After a few more moments she saw her father seem to come back online as he liked to call it and he looked across at her and shot her another beaming smile. ‘Needless to say, something has come up.’

  ‘It’s okay daddy. We can talk another time.’

  ‘Flamin’ solicitors! They cost me a fortune and always make bloody mistakes!’

  ‘The acquisition not going smoothly then?’

  ‘It was until last night. Flamin, bloody solicitors. Anyway,’ he leaned forward and gave her another kiss on the cheek, ‘have to fly,’ and he stood up and started to make his way to the double doors.

  ‘Try and make sure that Ray gets you there in one piece,’ Sally called after him.

  ‘He will. He is the best driver in the country.’

  ‘I hope so. Good luck and see you later daddy.’

  He turned briefly and shot her another smile. ‘You certainly will. We’ll finish our talk later, definitely.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  He opened one of the double doors and stepped through it and quietly closed it behind him. A few minutes later Sally heard the roar of the Ferrari so she turned to watch it as it raced towards the gates of the estate. Although the office was thirty miles away in the heart of the nearby city, she knew that her father would be there in twenty minutes.

  Sally continued to work her way through the breakfast that kept on being put in front of her; cereal, full English breakfast and then fruit to finish. She knew that there was more chance of her flying to the moon today than finishing her conversation with her father. Another problem with having a very successful business man as a father was that it was extremely difficult to get his attention for more than a couple of minutes without something interrupting him. In a way she was glad as her father would probably over react to the prior nights occurrences and refuse to let her out without some kind of security being with her.

  Eventually she finished the breakfast and stood up. She looked down at how she was dressed and remembered that it was her original intention to go riding. Now she did not feel like it. Instead she picked up the phone and dialled two numbers and instantly Alfred answered. ‘Hello?’

  ‘Alfred, it’s me.’

  ‘Good morning. How are you today?’

  ‘I’m fine. Can you do me a big favour?’

  ‘Of course, anything at all.’

  ‘Don’t tell my father though, promise?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Can you run me into town?’

  ‘Of course, but where is the Mini? Nobody heard or saw you come in last night. We were most worried.’

  ‘Yes, I know. I sneaked in. I didn’t want to see anyone. Security knew I was home though; they drove me in from the gates. That is what I don’t want you to tell my father, the fact that I wasn’t in the Mini.’

  Sally had made the police drop her off away from the gates so the security guards did not see the police car. They definitely and would have been obliged to tell her father if they had seen the police.

  ‘Not a problem my dear. I’m sure you have your reasons. Shall we take the Rolls-Royce?’

  ‘Yes, that will be fine.’

  ‘Say, ten minutes outside the main entrance?’

  ‘Better make it twenty, I need to get changed.’

  ‘Not a problem my dear. I will be waiting for you.’

  ‘Thank you, Alfred.’

  Sally replaced the phone onto its holder and made her way back to her bedroom and got changed. She had decided that she needed some shopping therapy and while it was early there would be no crowds.

  After changing quickly into Armani everything; jeans, shirt and pullover with Nike trainers, she made her way to the main entrance and exited the mansion. As promised, Alfred was there behind the wheel of the quarter of a million pounds car, and Sally entered the rear of the vehicle.

  Without a word between them, Alfred proceeded at a statelier pace to the gates of the estate than her father’s driver had done, and then turned onto the road that would take them into the town.

  During the drive she did not really think of anything, only looked at the familiar countryside as it drifted past her window. As the car made its stately progress it received lots on envious glances from other drivers, and when Alfred stopped at traffic lights people peered into the rear of the car expecting to see someone famous, looking away disappointed when they realized it was not anyone they recognized.

  Sally was used to this. All throughout her life people had been staring into the back of the highly expensive cars her father owned. Once she had asked him why he did not get blacked out windows. His response was that he had worked eighteen to twenty hour days for much of his life; the last thing he was going to do was hide away from his success. Slowly Alfred made his way through the morning traffic and reached their usual drop-off point. ‘What time would you like to be picked up dear?’

  ‘I will call you Alfred. I think this is going to be a long one.’

  ‘Oh dear. It must have been a rough night. I’m sure you will tell me what happened in your own time. Take care.’

  ‘I will. Thanks for driving me in.’

  ‘Anytime my dear.’

  Sally then shuffled along the seat and exited the car out of the left hand rear door and watched as the Rolls pulled away and moved back into the traffic flow. Most of the people were heading up a street into the main part of town but Sally did not follow them. She took another street which led to the exclusive shopping area which was full of shops like Prada, Gucci and Armani, the kinds of places that the daughter of a billionaire, with one of her bank cards in her purse that magically got paid off at the end of each month, could quite happily spend an unhappy day getting some serious shopping therapy.

  What Sally did not realize at that time was the shock she was going to receive in this exclusive part of the town later that same day.

  Chapter 13

  David also slept fitfully that night, but for a different reason than Sally. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was her face. That last smile seemed to be imprinted, burned onto his retinas. Whenever he opened his eyes it was as if Sally was stood in front of him the image his mind created of her was so perfect. Eventually he did drift off only to be woken at some time in the early hours by a drunken reveller making their very late way home singing loudly nonsense. David’s eyes rested upon one of his many tool boxes and the image of him hurling a wrench through the window and wrapping itself around the singer’s neck made him smile and briefly replaced the image of Sally. He resisted the temptation to maim the drunk and instead his brain quickly and annoyingly flicked back to Sally.

  ‘Dum, da, dum, da dum,’ he muttered to himself, ‘oh when will sleep come?’ He contemplated his ramblings for a moment and then said, ‘I’m a poet and I don’t even know it. Right now I wish I had never met that stupid girl! Who takes their car along that road at that time of the night anyway?!’ He closed his eyes but he knew he was wasting his time. ‘Ohhh come on now!’ again, he spoke out loud, ‘I am act
ing like a twelve year old who has got his first ever crush! She is not that nice!’ Again, he contemplated his words and then added, ‘Who am I trying to kid?! She is, without question, the most gorgeous woman I have ever laid eyes upon! Right, no point lying here if I am not going to sleep, up you get young man!’

  He sprang out of bed and glanced at the clock after which he let out a long groan. ‘It is so, so early! What am I going to do?’ He thought about his question as he made his way to the toilet and it was while he was there he came up with the idea of going to the garage and making a start on fixing the Mini which he had been intent on doing later that day. David had volunteered to work on Saturday anyway and he would try to make the car better than it was. ‘She obviously likes the car,’ he stated to himself, ‘so what better way to get in her good books than by fixing it?’

  Whilst having a quick wash he was thinking about how on earth he was going to fix the car. His thoughts soon stopped though as he remembered the man’s bodily fluids and solids that were in the car and he let out a little shudder as he thought about it. Deciding to not come up with any plan until he had arrived at the garage, he returned back to his room and pulled on some overalls along with an old jacket. He then went downstairs into the kitchen and grabbed an apple and a banana, not having anything more substantial for breakfast as his boss always brought the Saturday workers something fatty and filling for their first meal of the day. After putting on his work boots and getting his keys, David exited his house and entered his car. It started with a mighty roar, mainly due to the large muffler attached to the exhaust system rather than having anything to do with the power of his old Ford Fiesta. He expertly reversed the car off the driveway, sped down the street and raced his way to the garage.

  While he was driving he had passed the entrance to an estate that he always slowed down to look at when he had time. He could not see anything through the main gate, but after he turned onto a smaller road that wound up and onto the brow of a hill, it gave him a view over the whole of the estate. He pulled over to the side of the road and munched quietly on the fruit while he thought about the lucky people who lived in such a place. He had no idea who lived there, but he imagined they were of course very rich, with garages full of expensive cars. From this position he viewed the house down on an angle so he could see the front and also one side of the expansive mansion. Surprised, he noted that one of the windows was showing a light. ‘Didn’t think people that rich would have to get up this early!’ he commented to himself out loud. Shaking his head in bewilderment as to how anybody could be that rich and still have to get up at six in the morning, he started the car again and continued his drive to the garage.

  David arrived at his place of work not too long after his viewing of the estate. He parked round the back, tucking his car out of the way in a corner of the courtyard. Briefly he went up to the office, rearranged the furniture to how it was and washed the cups so no questions would be asked as to who he had had in the office. After flicking a switch that turned on the lights in courtyard he left the office and went down to the truck that was carrying Sally’s car. He switched the truck on and then lowered the ramps at the rear of the truck. Pressing some buttons on the side of the truck released the cables that were attached to the car and it slowly rolled back. When the car was fully off the vehicle David unattached the cables and then moved the truck away to its appropriate parking space. He then returned to the car and studied it.

  First of all he realized that he would have to face the gross task of cleaning the inside. He returned to the office and rooted around in there until he found some gloves. Also, he filled up a bucket of water adding lots of soap, grabbed some old rags along with a few copies of a newspaper. Going back to the car he pulled on the gloves and laid out one of the newspapers open on the tarmac yard. He then flung open the driver’s door and simply scooped up the faeces in his hands and dumped it on one of the papers. He wrapped up the paper and coolly walked over to a skip and threw it all in it. It was only then that he let himself feel a little nauseous but he quickly shoved that aside as he returned to the car to remove the fluid that was around the steering wheel and which had also dripped onto the floor of the car. Taking one of the rags that had been soaking in the soapy water, he wiped away all the ‘egg white’ and when it was all removed he calmly again walked over to the skip and threw away the rag. Nausea again threatened to overwhelm him but after a few moments he composed himself and started to feel happy now that the gruesome task was out of the way.

  Returning to the car he started to scrub the driver’s seat trying to get rid of all traces of the excreta. As he worked he pressed the power button on the radio and was happy when it came to life. Humming and sometimes singing along to a popular love song, while the song was reaching its end he thought and thought of the previous night, how beautiful she looked considering the horrendous night she was having, considering how wet and bedraggled she was. He was sure that he would see her again, but he knew that last night they had shared some moments that would hopefully stay with them for a life time.

  As the song changed, he resumed his scrubbing and slowly the stain faded. When he was happy with the interior of the car he sat in the driver’s seat, not minding the wetness, and tried to start the car. The key was turned three times until, with a cough and a splutter, the dried out engine caught. ‘Yes! They don’t make them like they used to! Can’t believe it started!’

  David closed the door and took the Mini for a quick spin around the yard, loving the wind blowing into his face through the window frame. He did a couple of handbrake turns, enjoying the handling of the Mini, and then he stopped outside one of the doors to the garages, wiping the wind-tears out of the corners of his eyes with a big grin on his face. ‘They really don’t make them like they used to!’ he exclaimed again.

  Stepping out of the car he opened the garage and then returned to the vehicle and carefully rolled it in. Inside was everything a person needed for the removal of dents, however, this was definitely not one of his strong points. ‘Give me an engine to dismantle any day off the week,’ he muttered to himself. However, he got to work, not listening to the radio because he was worried about the power of the battery, and removed the dents as best he could.

  David continued working until he heard voices in the yard. He stopped what he was doing and stepped into the enclosure and sucked in the crisp, clean morning air. It was dark when he had entered the garage and now he was glad to see it looked like being a glorious day. Two of his work colleagues came across and he told them how he managed to acquire another broken car since they had left the previous evening. The only thing he did not tell them was a description of Sally. He wanted to keep that image to himself.

  Leaving the Mini for the time being, David had to carry on with the garage’s work. Around 11am his boss arrived bringing bacon, sausage and fried egg sandwiches with him for his workers. They broke off their respective tasks and sat on chairs in one corner of the yard, ate their sandwiches, and talked man talk. David’s two colleagues had been out the night before and they talked about their successes with the women, the copious amount of beer they had consumed and they fight they had been involved in. David listened and laughed along, but when he asked how much money they had spent he inwardly winced. Going out, getting outrageously drunk and fighting was something that had never interested him. He had always thought that instead of drinking all his money away he would save it and spend it on something worthwhile. He was interested in the women side of their stories though.

  Knowing he was not academically gifted, David finished his education at the age of sixteen, knowing it was pointless to even try and attempt a college course. Mechanics was something that had always interested him, and he obtained an apprenticeship at this time. Due to him saving and rarely going out, along with his male dominated profession he hardly met any women never mind stunningly beautiful women like Sally. Therefore, all his thoughts, as he feigned interest in his work colleagues’ storie
s, was to make sure that he did all he could to impress Sally and make her want to be with him.

  Eventually, long after David was beyond bored with their success stories, his boss came across and shooed them all back to work. With some more overtime under their belts and the work done, his manager dismissed them all, but David said that he was going to stay. His boss had noted the Mini in one of the garages but had not commented upon it until now. ‘Where did we acquire that Mini from?’

  ‘It is a friend’s. She broke down last night. I picked it up. Been doing some work on it.’

  ‘Is she paying?’

  ‘No, I’m doing it for free in my own time.’

  ‘What about the equipment costs?’

  ‘Take them out of my pay.’

  ‘You did say “she” yeah?’ David nodded. ‘She must be special if you are spending money on her. Tighter than cramp you are!’ To this his colleagues laughed and David joined in with a pretend laugh. ‘In that case you had better get to it. Are you removing dents?’ David nodded again. ‘Oh to be a fly on the wall! Not exactly your forte is it?’ This gained another laugh from them all, but David did not join in this time. ‘Come on then boys, beers on me at The Oak! Let’s leave this da Vinci of the mechanical world to his creation, or should that be destruction?!’

  With another laugh they left a forlorn looking David stood alone in the courtyard, walked to the boss’s car and left him alone to his destructive creation.

  He started to feel down as soon as they had left; he always did whenever he was the butt of their jokes, which was quite often. Just because he was different and did not believe in spending vast amounts of cash on nights out, pissing and vomiting out the purchases of the money, he was frequently made fun of by his colleagues. This time though, it did not last for long him being down. This time he was here working, not for the money, for something one hundred, a thousand, a million times more important than money, he was working for the heart of Sally.