Everything to Nothing

by Mark Henthorne

  As Ray got back into the car and proceeded at a sedate pace back towards the mansion, Sally opened the champagne and poured the drink into two crystal glasses that were held safely and steadily in one of the storage compartments designed for this purpose. Sally pressed a button on the centre console and a privacy screen rose between the front and rear of the car. It was not a usual feature of this particular model of Rolls-Royce, but her father had it specially fitted at a, for him, small expense.

  They clinked their glasses together and said, ‘Cheers!’ to each other.

  Michelle sunk into the thick leather chair and let out a sigh of contentment. ‘At moments like this I’m sooooo glad we became friends!’

  ‘Yes, it’s good isn’t it.’

  ‘It is more than good, it is blissful!’

  ‘Indeed.’

  There were a few moments of silence before either of them spoke. ‘Hey, I’ve got the new Red Hot Chili Peppers video set-up to go. He looks so hot! You want to watch it?’

  ‘Lordy, if it’s not Johnny it’s Kiedis. He can’t even sing that well.’

  ‘What?! How dare you?! He is gorgeous and he sounds like an angel!’

  ‘Okay, okay, whatever. Put it on then.’

  Sally pressed another button on the centre console and because of the way the privacy screen was designed it left the rear of the two front seats exposed. This design therefore allowed the rear occupants to view the twelve inch monitors that were housed in the back of the two front-seats.

  When Sally pressed the button they automatically swung open and when she pressed another button the music Blu-ray started to play. They watched this in silence for five minutes or so and when it had finished Sally pressed another button and the screens swung back into their housing.

  ‘Well, what did you think?’

  ‘It was good. One of their better recent songs.’

  ‘Good? It was brilliant. Didn’t he look hot?’

  ‘Not my type.’

  ‘Oh, and I suppose Simon is?!’ The words leapt out of Sally’s mouth before she could stop them and the words crashed into Michelle’s ears before she could call them back.

  Michelle looked slightly surprised that the topic had been brought up so early into the evening, and so abruptly. ‘Erm, well, you’ve got to admit that he is kind of hot!’ Michelle replied hoping to make a joke out of it.

  ‘Yeah, exactly why I was having a date with him, because he is kind of hot.’

  ‘I’m sorry Sally, but I thought you hadn’t turned up and that for some reason you weren’t interested anymore.’

  ‘Well, I didn’t turn up because my car broke down, my phone signal went, I got drowned in the rain and looked like a rat…’

  Michelle let out a little laugh. ‘A rat? That would be a first! One of the best looking women in the world looking like a rat!’

  ‘Well, thank you for the compliment, but believe me when I say that Friday night I looked like a drowned rat!’

  ‘Okay, I believe you. Carry on. It sounds like an eventful evening!’

  ‘It was. So, my phone signal went, I got soaked and looked like a rat, I got attacked and then I kneed and kicked him in the balls, I ran in my new Pradas which was highly traumatic…’

  ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up a little! You got attacked? Who by? Where?’

  Sally pressed a button on the centre console. ‘Ray?’

  ‘Yes Sally?’

  ‘Can we go back via a slightly indirect route?’

  ‘Of course. Anywhere specific you would like me to head towards?’

  ‘The coast, then go along the coast road and then home. Is that okay?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Thanks Ray.’

  Sally then proceeded to tell Michelle about everything that happened, and everything about David.

  ‘So you’re meeting him on Wednesday?’ asked Michelle.

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘Then what about Simon?’

  ‘Well even though I don’t agree with what you did, he’s all yours. After everything that David did for me I really want to get to know him better. The way he helped me and the way he took so much of his time out to fix the car…’

  ‘He sounds great. Which is exactly what I think of Simon.’

  ‘So what happened if you didn’t sleep with him?’

  ‘Believe me now?’

  Sally nodded in the affirmative and looked slightly uncomfortable. So Michelle told Sally all about her night. While they were talking the level of the champagne dropped and Ray continued along the coast road which they had just reached.

  ‘And that’s it. We’re also going on a date on Wednesday.’

  ‘Are you? Cool. We could double-date?’

  ‘No, not on our first date.’ said Michelle.

  ‘Yeah, I suppose it wouldn’t be appropriate.’

  ‘And it would be slightly awkward considering you were meant to have a date with my date earlier in the week!’ exclaimed Michelle.

  ‘Indeed. Let’s forget about that now. It clearly wasn’t meant to be. Call it fate or karma, whatever you want to, but let’s forget about it.’

  ‘Okay, fine by me.’

  They sipped their champagne and looked at the view as the Rolls-Royce majestically made its way along the road that hugged the seashore.

  ‘Crikey!’ Sally lifted the bottle out of the cooler. ‘We’ve had most of the bottle!’

  ‘I know. I can tell!’ Perfectly timed Michelle gave out a little hiccup.

  They giggled, chatted and talked as Ray turned away from the coast and headed back inland towards Sally’s estate.

  ‘I’ve just thought of something! You said it was running in your Pradas that was highly traumatic, not the attack?’

  Sally laughed. ‘Well they were both highly traumatic experiences, but getting attacked just about beats running in the Pradas as most traumatic by a nose!’

  It was Michelle’s turn to laugh and by now they had reached the country road that led to the gates of the estate. Just as they were approaching Sally dropped the privacy screen and saw headlights heading towards the Rolls at quite a pace. However, the oncoming car sensibly slowed down when the driver saw the Rolls indicating to turn onto the estate, and as the car went past Michelle leaned forward in her seat to pick up the cork from the champagne from where it had fallen.

  *

  As David glanced into the interior of the Rolls-Royce he was surprised to see that the car did not have privacy glass and he caught a glimpse of a pretty looking young lady with brown hair. He was on his way back from the garage where again he had been putting in some serious overtime. Behind the brunette, in the other seat, he thought he saw a quick flash of black hair and then he was past. He looked quickly into the rear view mirror hoping to catch another glance of the other person in the car, the one with the black hair, the same colour as Sally’s hair. He was concentrating so much on the rear of the Rolls-Royce that he nearly went straight on at a sharp right hand bend. His Fiesta’s muffler roared as he quickly downshifted and firmly braked, swinging the car into the corner. As he regained firm control of the car his thoughts flashed back to the flash of black hair he had seen in the back of the Rolls, but he immediately rejected it.

  ‘No way! Just a coincidence,’ he stated out loud. He thought about it some more then shook his head and said out loud again, ‘No way young man, coincidence! You couldn’t be that lucky!’

  *

  Ray parked the Rolls in front of the main doors and the girls scampered through the chilly night air into the entrance hall. Michelle was used to the opulence in which her friend lived but every time she entered the magnificent room she was always staggered. The hall had more floor space than her whole house and the massive paintings on the wall of Sally’s mother still looked bigger than her house even after all these years. For a few months after Sally’s mother had passed away, Michelle had had nightmares concerning those pictures and how they came to life and chased her through the mansion. But that wa
s many years ago and now Michelle hardly glanced at the paintings as they made their way up the stairs and along the lengthy corridors to Sally’s bedroom.

  On entering Sally picked up the phone and ordered some food from the kitchens. They both fancied something junky to soak up the champagne so it was a burger and chips for both of them. As they waited, Sally noticed the pile of clothes and shoes that had not yet been cleared away by one of the maids.

  ‘Just as well the maid who usually tidies my room is off today otherwise the shoes would have gone already.’

  ‘Yeah, but where do they go Sally?’

  Sally shrugged her shoulders and muttered, ‘I don’t know.’

  She took Michelle into her wardrobes to show her the new clothes and shoes that she had recently brought. Although used to it, Michelle was always again staggered about the size of Sally’s wardrobes and the fact that they were full of dresses and ball gowns valued at thousands and thousands of pounds that Sally would probably never wear or at best wear only once. They then went back into Sally’s bedroom and Michelle tried on the numerous shoes that Sally had decided that she did not want anymore.

  ‘I’ll have them all if that’s okay?’

  ‘Of course it is silly! Shame you’re not my size in clothes too.’

  ‘I don’t think any other woman is your size in clothes Sally. How the hell is your butt so small but your tits so big?! It pisses me off!’

  Sally laughed and looked a little embarrassed. She was of course fully aware of her friend’s forever battle with her weight, even though Sally had told her numerous times that she had nothing at all to worry about and that she had a great figure. Sally decided to quickly change subject as they both placed Michelle’s new shoes back into their boxes.

  ‘Shall we start the film why we wait for the food?’

  ‘Yeah, why not.’

  Sally walked across the room to her Blu-ray player and HD-LCD television. She switched everything on and then wandered back over to the bed where Michelle was already curled up.

  As Sally kicked off her shoes Michelle asked her a question. ‘So are you going to shag David then or what?’

  ‘What?! Michelle! You can’t ask me that!’

  ‘I just did.’

  Sally mused over the question for a few moments and then flopped back onto the bed beside Michelle. ‘I’ve wanted to have sex for ages now but never found a guy who, well, you know, turns me on enough, not only physically, but mentally too.’

  ‘You think David will?’

  ‘He will physically. God, Michelle, he is gorgeous. Those eyes, blue like the sky.’

  ‘But an arse the size of Belgium?!’

  Sally laughed. ‘Are you drunk?’

  ‘A little. You know champagne makes me silly!’

  ‘Yeah, I know. Anyway, he’s got a great figure too, slim and muscular. He had his T-shirt off when I first saw him in the garage.’

  ‘Nice. What’s Simon’s figure like?’

  ‘I don’t know. You’ll see that before me young lady. You gonna shag Simon?’

  ‘I hope so!’

  ‘On Wednesday?’

  ‘No way! After that tosser?!’ Michelle was of course referring to her ex-boyfriend. ‘Nice and slow this time, nice and slow.’

  ‘We’ll see.’

  ‘No, I mean it. At least six months,’ stated Michelle.

  ‘There is no way he is going to wait six months! And there is no way you will either!’

  Michelle laughed. ‘Okay, maybe a couple…’

  ‘Of dates!’ Michelle laughed again.

  ‘Shall we?’

  Michelle nodded and Sally pressed play on the remote control and the movie started. After twenty minutes or so the food arrived along with another bottle of champagne.

  ‘Champagne and burgers, an unusual combination for a Sunday!’

  ‘Indeed Michelle, indeed!’

  They had moved to the table in Sally’s room and stopped the movie while they ate and talked. It was half way through the meal when Sally remembered the conversation with her father earlier in the day.

  ‘Bloody hell!’ She slammed down her fork.

  Michelle jumped and exclaimed, ‘What?!’

  ‘You are never, ever going to guess or believe the conversation daddy and I had before!’

  ‘Well if I’m never, ever going to guess you’d better tell me!’

  So Sally told her about the conversation she had earlier with her father and as she progressed Michelle’s mouth gaped wider and wider until Sally was sure her chin was going to land on the table.

  ‘He is going to take you and me?!’

  ‘Yep!’

  Michelle then pushed herself away from the table and ran across to the bed and dived onto it. She then leapt back onto her feet and started to jump up and down on the bed.

  ‘I can’t believe it! Monaco, Monaco, Monaco!’ She bounced some more and then jumped off the bed and ran over to her friend and hugged and kissed her on her cheek. ‘Thank you so, so much!’

  ‘Thank my dad. Hey, you’re choking me’

  ‘Sorry, sorry. Oh my God! Where’s your dad?’

  ‘In his office I presume.’

  Michelle ran back over to the bed and bounced some more. It was then that the door was flung open and Sally’s dad marched in.

  ‘Now then young lady! I thought we were years past me having to come and stop you using my daughter’s bed as a trampoline!’

  When Michelle turned and saw it was him she jumped off the bed and ran over to him squealing then jumped and flung herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

  ‘Michelle! His back!’

  She hugged him a couple of moments more and then dropped down and kissed him on both cheeks. ‘Sally just told me! Thank you, thank you, and thank you again!

  ‘That’s okay Michelle. I’m looking forward to it as much as you!’

  ‘It will be brilliant!’ Michelle then ran squealing back over to the bed and started bouncing again. ‘I can’t believe it!’

  Sally had clearly seen enough of her friend enjoying herself so she ran over and dove onto the bed, crashing into Michelle sending them both flying. Then they both sprung to their feet and bounced together.

  ‘The broken bed and mattress will come out of your allowance!’

  They both stopped briefly then Sally squealed this time which led to another bout of jumping. He watched them for a few more moments and then shook his head in amusement and left the room laughing to himself.

  Eventually they both collapsed in a heap onto the bed, both out of breath. They giggled some more until Sally suggested they finish their food and after this they continued with the movie. There was no more talk of the trip to Monaco, it seemed too far away for discussion at the moment, but it was only a few months away and the excitement would build for all of them.

  Michelle would sleep in the room adjacent to Sally’s and after the movie had finished she quickly called home as instructed and then they talked a little about the impending examinations for both of them, even though they attended different colleges. Sally had been at the highly expensive Mount school since she was seven years old, and Michelle had followed the usual route of education, primary, followed by secondary followed by a sixth form college.

  The conversation moved onto their hopes and ambitions. They both wanted to study at university, hopefully one of the best such as Oxford or Cambridge. Sally had always wanted to be a commercial pilot and even though she had enough money to never have to work it was still a profession that she was considering pursuing. Sally asked Michelle whether she still wanted to be a lawyer and it was then that the phrase innocent until proven guilty lit up in Michelle’s mind. She knew that she would be walking on very thin ice; however, she carefully broached the subject anyway. ‘Sally, do you remember much about the early days of your father’s business?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, clearly his companies are massive,
are highly profitable and have made him a huge amount of money, but I’ve often wondered how he started, how he got to such a strong position?’

  ‘I don’t know. He got most of his early money in the seventies and eighties before I was born. My earliest memories are of this house, but I know I lived briefly in another place; I have no memory of it though. Why?’

  ‘I’ve just been wondering. Have you ever heard of him doing anything, well, bad?’

  Sally looked at her puzzled. ‘What do you mean bad?’

  ‘Erm, persuading people about contracts, threatening them perhaps?’

  ‘Threatening them? No, never. That’s quite a strange question to ask me Michelle after all these years. Why has it occurred to you now?’

  ‘I don’t know. Just been hearing stories about rich men, and skeletons in their closets. I’m not implying that this applies to your dad, but I was wondering whether you had ever heard anything?’

  Sally looked even more puzzled. ‘No, never. I believe, although I’ve never asked him directly, that he had a lot of luck, right place, right time kind of luck.’

  ‘Ah, okay. Sorry. Didn’t mean to offend you. I was just wondering, that’s all.’

  ‘Now that you’ve brought it up though, it would be quite an interesting question to ask him. I’ve sometimes wondered myself, but never enough to ask him. Didn’t seem to matter when I was younger, so long as I had a pony I wasn’t really bothered! We could ask him, maybe in Monaco!’

  The mention of Monaco sent the conversation off on a tangent and it never made its way back to Sally’s father’s history. After chatting more about the exciting trip, Michelle moved into her room, showered in the en-suite and sunk into the luxurious, mammoth four poster bed that could have easily slept a family, never mind a young lady who spent the night dreaming of a certain young man.

  In the bedroom next door, Sally also spent the night dreaming of another certain young man.

  Chapter 22

  The days that followed were pretty much normal for everybody. Sarah did not make it into college on the Monday or the Tuesday but this was not unusual. Given her wild lifestyle she was frequently missing from class early in the week, usually putting in an appearance on the Wednesday. But even this day she missed as she decided to catch up on some much needed rest in preparation for what she hoped would be a wild night with Peter.