Holly gets a ride (Holly Craig Series)

by Jodie Halliday

  “I’m sorry Addie, the whole thing was such a shock. I’m OK, really.”

  “Jeez, we thought you’d been stabbed or something!” said the man.

  “Oh Hol, this is Eric.” Holly nodded, aware of the pause just before his name as though Addie had trouble recalling it. His cock seemed to be thick and Holly envied Addie and her afternoon delight. “So, Hol, that was you? You rescued that girl?”

  “Yeah, you hear about it?”

  “Yeah, but no idea it was you. Wow, that’s so like you though!”

  “They sent me a present, so nice of them but I can’t accept it, it’s way too much!” said Holly, picking up the check and showing it to Addie.

  “You saved their daughter, Hol. They own a cruise line, that’s not a fortune to them.”

  “Ten grand?” said Eric. “Wow, but like Addie says, it would insult them if you declined it. Bank it and accept their thanks.”

  Holly nodded but seemed unconvinced. “Sorry, really. I’m fine, I need to get to the restaurant, get changed.”

  Addie helped her to her feet, pulled her dressing gown around herself then looked at Holly with appreciative eyes. “Hol, you look steaming hot like that.”

  “Yeah, model quality,” confirmed Eric.

  “Find yourself someone who deserves you and take them on that cruise Hol. Someone who appreciates you.” Addie kissed her head and they left the room. The guy had tight buttocks and she felt a pang of jealousy as they disappeared into Addie’s room. She slipped the blouse on along with the skirt and was pulling her shoes on when her phone rang. Another unlisted number.

  “Hello?”

  “Is that Holly?”

  “Yes, that’s me, who’s this?”

  “Holly, it’s John Millsum, how are you today?”

  She had no idea who this was but the man sounded serious, in control, much like Jeff Tanner had earlier that day.

  “Hi there!” said Holly, still unable to place the name.

  “Sam forwarded me your resume a few days ago and I was wondering if you had some time to meet, maybe next week. I’d like to tell you what we do at Millsum and see if there’s a fit for you in Events Planning. That is of course if you are still looking for a position and would consider Millsum?”

  She sat at her desk and breathed out slowly, staring at the clouds and the patches of blue sky.

  “I am still looking and I do appreciate your call. I have some applications in with some firms but would of course like to know more about Millsum. Sam spoke very highly of the firm and his internship” said Holly, smiling at her recollection of Sam’s words and her ability to string something sensible together on demand.

  “Excellent. Well, I’m working from home all of next week but I wondered if you had time whether you could come up to my house. My wife will be here and we can have a chat in more comfortable surroundings. Or I can come down to the University if you would prefer?”

  “I’m getting a car on Monday, so I would enjoy the trip up there.”

  “First car?”

  “Yeah, I picked it out a couple of days ago. Actually, Sam helped me find it.”

  “Congratulations. And if I may, I hear that you are something of a celebrity over there?”

  “Me?”

  “You rescued a girl from a dreadful situation, one in which you could have become involved as a second victim,” he said, clearly impressed.

  “Oh, I didn’t think everyone knew. Anyway, anyone else would have done the same.”

  “Jeff Tanner thinks differently, and rightly so. You did very well. I’ll email you our address. Shall we say 4pm on Wednesday?”

  “Thank you, and yes that will work.”

  “The email on your resume is the correct one?”

  “Yes, that’s it.”

  “OK, see you next week, drive safely.”

  “Thank you very much Mr. Millsum,” said Holly, watching the screen as the call disconnected. She made sure the call had gone and exhaled. “Jeez, what is going on?” she wondered as the sun broke through and streamed in through her window. She needed to hurry now, no time for Mike and his flogging post in the courtyard.

  Chapter 8

  Saturday night was busy and after her eight hour shift, Holly caught the bus back and immediately showered and went to bed. Sunday morning arrived and she greeted it late, happy to lie in bed and think about her cruise, the money and the events of the past couple of weeks. There didn’t seem to be any pattern or trigger, it was just that major events had taken place and had decided to include her. She thought of Rob and realised that he hadn’t called, which surprised her a little, but she also hadn’t thought about him much either. His face, mannerisms, jokes, language were still familiar but fading into a general sense of what he represented, just a period in her life, most likely similar to like everyone else’s first love.

  She so desperately wanted to masturbate but the morning didn’t feel like the right time to reward herself, even though she had abstained or been distracted for what felt like years. She had another shift that evening at the restaurant, and would collect the car on Monday around noon and spend the day driving around. She’d be at the orphanage most of Tuesday and at John Millsum’s on Wednesday. She stared at the ceiling, wondering how on earth it could not be until Thursday that she could play with Mike again. That was so unfair since it really only needed fifteen minutes, ten if Mike was rough with her. She grinned, rolled out of bed naked and checked her PC for email. She clapped her hands in glee when she saw that her insurance company had sent her coverage paperwork to print out for Monday. She decided that she would start the day at the gym, a habit that she had kept up with at least twice a week since she had arrived at the University but which had lapsed during finals.

  After a quick breakfast she shed her dressing gown and fitted the heart monitor just below her breasts. The watch on her wrist communicated with the sensor on the strap and she wondered if there would be a hunky guy or two at the gym who might want to feel her pulse or even adjust the strap for her. She slipped into her gym clothes and jogged at a leisurely pace down to the Fitness Center on campus. She thought about using the running track outside but instead used the free weights then went upstairs to the treadmills. Starting at a pace of about five and a half miles an hour she ran for a couple of minutes then turned the speed up to seven, started her watch and ran at increasing speeds for five thousand meters in just over twenty-one minutes. Not a great time for her but then she hadn’t run for several weeks. She was hot and sweaty and walked back home, cooling down as she went. After a shower she changed, had lunch then caught the bus to the restaurant, earning another one hundred and seventy dollars for the night.

  Monday came and the car was collected without issue. It performed well and was more powerful than she would ever need, yet in a reasonably low insurance band. She drove to the supermarket on the edge of town and bought groceries that she didn’t really need but it felt good to be a regular consumer. Mileage, according to the dealer, was about forty-four miles to the gallon, a number confirmed when she googled it.

  On Tuesday she banked the Tanner’s check, mailed them a thank-you note and a card for Jane then drove to the orphanage, an absolute luxury compared to taking the bus. That evening she looked through every page of Millsum’s website, read their last four quarters’ financial reports and analyst’s comments. She also listened to recordings of earning’s calls and noted any recurring themes. She then called Sam, thanked him for the introduction and then interrogated him about every detail that he could recall about Millsum and had him fill in wherever possible holes that she had in her understanding of the firm. It was almost midnight when she got to bed and was asleep in minutes, happy and content with life and what it was delivering to her.

  Chapter 9

  It was fifty miles to the Millsum’s house and Holly allowed two hours for a bathroom break, getting lost and generally driving slowly in her new car. She found it a joy to be able to leave when she wanted and move
at her own pace while getting reacquainted with the road users and her own skill level which she would admit had diminished a little since she had been at university. When her phone indicated that she was about five miles away she had thirty minutes to spare, but the roads were becoming smaller and rather than running straight from one village to the next they were twisting and turning through countryside and fields, with tall hedgerows on either side. It was difficult to see oncoming cars and so she had to slow to a crawl as she navigated around blind bends. Even so, she was at the address with five minutes to spare and drove past, turned and parked on a verge so that she could arrive on time. She could see the house from where she sat and was more than impressed. It seemed to be another of those mansions that commanded pole position on Foley Road, tasteful, splendid and surrounded by a garden, tennis court, garages and then fields.

  She pulled out and made the short hop to the front gate, then over the cattle grid that was set into the road. The car lurched and she shifted into second gear, wondering if she had lost traction as she had bumped over the smooth poles of the grid. The driveway curved elegantly between some small trees then opened up into an expanse of gravel with a circular fountain in the middle. She pulled up a discrete distance from the front steps, switched off and after grabbing her notebook, walked up to the front door and pressed the large, round bell button. A woman opened the door and smiled at her, extending her hand.

  “Holly?”

  “Yes!” she said, shaking the lady’s hand as she entered the marble foyer.

  “Penny Millsum, how are you?”

  “I’m fine thanks, what a wonderful house!”

  “It is rather grand, isn’t it? Come this way, John’s in the kitchen. We might even catch him doing some cleaning!” Penny laughed and Holly did too, understanding too well than her husband wasn’t likely to be doing anything of the sort.

  “John, Holly’s here”

  He put his coffee down and walked over to her, shaking her hand and smiling at her with warmth. He was almost a foot taller than her and dominated both women in the room. His hand was warm, firm without hurting, sincere as was the continued smile on his face.

  “Holly, thank you so much for coming. Did you find us all right?”

  “Oh yes, wonderful countryside too, so nice to get out of the city and see a bit more of the area,” she replied. He had blonde hair with streaks of silver grey, short and perfectly groomed. He would not have been out of place in a men’s shirt catalogue.

  “I told her that you were probably in here cleaning,” said Penny as she placed a coffee container in the machine.

  “The last time I did that was when you dropped the Sunday roast dear!” he said, clearly joking. She grinned at him and all was suddenly quiet as the machine gurgled away. He turned to Holly. “Coffee?”

  “Oh that would be nice.” She looked at the array of coffee pods, and pointed to the dark roast. “How about that one?”

  They made coffee, John re-heated his in the microwave then ushered her out of the kitchen and into his study. He guided her to one of three padded armchairs and he sat on the edge of his desk, facing her. He had what looked like a copy of her resume in his hand.

  “So, Holly, what can you tell me about Millsum?” he asked. The question threw her, making her realise that this wasn’t going to be a fireside chat. She knew a lot and decided that he did too and would have heard most of the comments, both positive and negative before.

  “Millsum has a capitalized value of 3.2 billion dollars and is traded on four exchanges. Earnings have been static in constant currency terms over the past four quarters although this is viewed as a positive given the economic climate. Questions have been raised about your cash burn and how you’re going to develop value for shareholders organically but that point seems to always get raised by one brokerage on your earnings calls and not others. Your staff turnover is low, especially overseas. Millsum is ranked eighty-seven on the most popular places to work out of five thousand global firms. The Executive Committee get high marks on the online anonymous reference sites although the staff re-grading last year seems to have upset quite a few. In summary, your issues are common across most firms of your size and I personally didn’t see any red flags.”

  He stood and walked to the window. “I see,” he said.

  “Oh, and Sam said he had a wonderful internship” she added. He had broad shoulders and his khaki trousers had an inviting bump in the zip area. He would have made the grade for a men’s trouser catalogue too.

  “He did very well with us last summer. You’ve had to work very hard at Witney I think?”

  “Yeah, especially in the first and second years, long hours and tough exams.”

  “Let’s say you have an event coming up five hundred miles away in two months. You have been given the responsibility for producing it. Who would your first few phone calls go to?”

  “My client, whoever is paying for the event, the person I’m working for.”

  “Then?”

  “The venue coordinator or manager, the person on the ground who would be my local contact.”

  “Then?”

  “My manager or team, to get their input.”

  “Then?”

  Holly had the answer but would struggle for anything after that. He had turned to her and she averted her eyes, scanning the room. She loved the feeling of being tested, put on the spot and asked to respond immediately. The man exuded power, authority and controlled her destiny.

  “An internal accounting person. I would want to present my budget to that person and ensure that we would be able to fund it to whatever extent we normally would. There should be no payments or expenses incurred before internal sign-off.”

  “Do you have a passport?” he asked without changing tone or pace.

  She was thoughtful for a moment. “Yes” she replied.

  “But you’re unsure if it has expired or not.” She laughed delightedly and nodded. He smiled back at her then glanced at her resume again. “The orphanage must take a lot of your time?”

  “It can do, I have to let them know when I can help and when I have to focus on school, they’re understanding.”

  “They’re world-class. Being accepted as a volunteer is no mean feat.”

  “Thank you. It’s been rewarding to follow some of the kids through the years.”

  “Any questions for me?”

  “Yes, what problems does Millsum have that you would expect me to help resolve, if I was successful?”

  “We get tripped up on details, Holly. Clients tell their Producer that they want Room A for the keynote but it gets set up in Room B. They tell us that they are expanding the breakout sessions to three tracks but that doesn’t get implemented. We send out registration emails saying hotel parking will be paid for but we don’t work that out with the hotel and our attendees get stuck with exorbitant parking fees.”

  She nodded. She hadn’t experienced any of those issues herself but could imagine how it could happen. They chatted for another thirty minutes, touched on Jane Tanner’s rescue, her preference for travel and whenever he responded she became more familiar with his clothes, their cut, the probable shape of his limbs and what it might be like to be tied to the armchair.

  He put her resume down on the desk and smiled. “So, what do you think will happen next?”

  Without pause she smiled and said “You’ll hire me and I’ll impress you as I develop into one of your key resources based on feedback from clients.”

  He laughed, looked at her and nodded at her. “Well said, young lady. Well said.” He went behind his desk, sat and tapped a few keys. Her heart pounded, knowing she had overplayed her hand. She should have said that she looked forward to hearing from Millsum or something equally benign. It was going to be a miserable journey home and she guessed her hour was up and that he was checking email and his calendar. The laser printer hummed into life and shot out a few pages. She dug a nail into her palm, trying desperately to think of someth
ing to say which might restart the conversation. He crossed to the printer, picked up the pages and folded them before placing them in an envelope. He crossed the room to her and she stood, waiting for the handshake.

  “Holly, you’re young, you have some limited experience in events planning through the Foundation but have done well at Witney. I like students from there, my son went there and thrived. I’d like to chat more today but I have a conference call at five and need to prepare.” He handed her the envelope and she frowned, thinking that maybe he was going to pay her travel expenses. His after-shave or deodorant wafted across to her with the breeze from the envelope and she allowed her eyes to travel up to his.

  “Oh, thanks,” she said with little conviction.

  “In there is an offer of employment. It has no start date but I would like you to join us within the next six weeks. The salary is appropriate to how I view your skills and value to us today. Please read it through and call the HR number if you have any questions. If you wish to move forward with the offer, and I really hope you do, then simply sign it and scan it back to HR. They will do the rest.”

  She wanted to hug him so badly but simply gulped and sank back down. “Oh wow, thank you so much Mr. Millsum.”

  “John. It’s John while you’re in my house, Mr. Millsum when you join us.”

  “John. I won’t disappoint you!”

  “Holly, let me tell you that in all my years, I have never heard such a thorough and balanced summary of Millsum. You captured all the salient points without an ‘um’ or an ‘ah’. You are eloquent, energetic, and intelligent and those are the qualities that we need.”

  “Thank you,” she said humbly, standing again as he walked to the door. His clock said ten minutes to five.

  “I’ll see you on your way.”

  They shook hands at the front door and Holly got into her car, dropped the envelope on the passenger seat, put her seat belt on and turned the key. There was silence. She smiled up at John as he waved but several turns of the key just made metallic clicking noises from the steering column and nothing roared into life. She could see him frowning as he took a step nearer. She slumped back into the seat, wondering how such a wonderful moment could be destroyed by a breakdown in her brand-new, mechanic-inspected car. He was at her window and she pressed the button to roll it down.