Under New Management (27 page)

In return, I expect you to be enthusiastic in the role and innovative with your ideas.

I have no doubt we will disagree from time to time but I will never dismiss anything out of hand, you have my word. From the little I know of you I can’t see you shying away from an argument with me if you believed you were right! Although I should point out that I am no pushover!

You will have complete control over the staff, hiring and firing as you see fit, as long as you stay within the guidance of the law. Speaking of which, we do have a main office in London with an HR team, company lawyers and accountants. Advice is only a phone call or email away.

You may want to start hiring with an assistant of your own. You may find your resources rather stretched. This is not an easy role. It will require many hours, tenacity and drive.

This offer has been discussed with my mother, Jack and Megan and we are all in agreement. We all believe you would be brilliant, Mollie.

I hope you are up for a challenge.

Kieran

With the letter still clasped in her hand Mollie’s arm rests on the table. She lets out a breath, “Bloody hell,” she whispers.

Meanwhile, Kieran takes his silver Aston Martin for a drive. He wants to be alone, wants time to think. He brushes his hand through his hair nervously.
Was the letter a good idea? Would she go for it?
He hoped so, for many more reasons than the fact he wanted to spend time with her. He is surprised at just how relieved he is that she refused the car. Nice car as well - he’d eyed it up before knocking on her door this morning. Jack had chosen well, which made it all the more satisfying that she hadn’t kept it. As far as Kieran is concerned that confirms her character. More importantly, it also tells him that she isn’t that into Jack which is a very encouraging sign. Kieran smiles smugly.

She could have kept the car, into Jack or not, but he knows that Mollie is no gold digger, she doesn’t have a deceiving bone in her. She’s just too straight. She doesn’t lie but she doesn’t expect others to either. Problem was he had played games. He hadn’t actually lied, but he had been selective with the truth. Would she forgive him for that?

One thing was for sure, she wouldn’t if he didn’t get rid of Serena and fast. Kieran lets out a deep sigh of frustration. He would do it? He had no choice now other than to wait until after the weekend. They would host the blasted dinner and at least he would be able to see for sure if Mollie had any feelings for Jack. If it turns out she does, he makes the decision that he will back off and leave them to it. However, if it turns out that she doesn’t?

Mollie is still mulling things over. She has a nagging question which needs to be answered and, tapping her fingers on the table in irritation, she makes the decision to stop fannying about and just ask. At least it would help her make up her mind.

She grabs at her phone and flicking through she finds Kieran’s number from when he had called her on Saturday. She pauses as her finger hovers over the call button. Finally,  she takes a deep breath and pushes the screen.

Kieran’s phone flashes on the dash and he breathes in nervously, his stomach lurching, as he sees it’s Mollie.

Not wanting to do this on speaker, he pulls over as quickly as he can and grabs the phone.
Has she changed her mind?

Answering a little breathlessly he says, “Mollie! Hello, are you OK?”

“Why did you lie to me?” she asks without preamble.

Kieran doesn’t miss a beat, she hasn’t even identified which lie she’s referring to but he knows.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t actually tell a lie though, did I? I just withheld the truth.”

Mollie smirks a little at this despite herself, “Oookay, if you’re going to be pedantic about it Mr McLaren, I will rephrase the question. Why did you withhold the truth from me?”

Kieran smiles, “Can I invoke the fifth amendment?”

“You think your answer will incriminate you?” Mollie asks raising an eyebrow.

Kieran laughs into the phone making her squirm slightly.

“OK, I’m sorry. The truth, well, the truth is I don’t normally tell people when I first meet them that I’m involved with an A-list celebrity. Honestly, I didn’t think it relevant. Not until the kiss. At that point I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Why?”

“Because I liked you too much, I fancy you rotten, if you must know. Telling you might have put you off me and I didn’t want to risk that. Is that honest enough for you?”

Mollie sucks in air through her teeth, her heart dancing a tango in her chest.
Blimey, she wasn’t expecting that much honesty.

“Wow, that is honest and obviously I can’t blame you,” she tells him playfully, “but you have a girlfriend, which makes anything you or I might feel, irrelevant. Don’t you agree?”

Kieran pauses and he digests her statement. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been that honest with her, but what harm could it do? No big deal to at least lay a few cards on the table, especially with Jack sniffing around. At least he is offering her an option and given that she just said ‘or I might feel’, then maybe all is not lost. She has admitted to having some feelings for him. Perhaps she will wait for him to sort the Serena situation out, after all.

 “I’m unsure whether you can describe any feelings as irrelevant.. After all, even the smallest of emotion holds some significance, wouldn’t you agree?” He pauses momentarily to allow her to give his statement some consideration. Mollie feels her heart quicken further and she waits for him to continue.

“Regardless of any feelings I may have for you, I need you to know that I am not serious about Serena. We aren’t meant to be and that is possibly another reason I didn’t tell you about her. Whatever happens between Serena and I has been on the cards for a long time.”

He pauses again. He doesn’t want Mollie to feel any pressure or guilt but he needs her to understand. Kieran just has no idea of how to word what he wants to say next.

He takes a deep breath and says quietly, “I wasn’t prepared to meet you, Mollie . . .” and tails off.

Mollie is exultant but sad all at the same time. The fact remains that he is with Serena. Jack doesn’t think he has the balls to finish with her and until he is free Mollie needs to keep her distance. She’s very much in danger of becoming ‘the other woman’ and she is not going down that route.

“Thanks for the honesty, Kieran and I’m glad you’ve told me. One day if we’re both unattached, we might go for a drink or something. Mind you, we could well find we hate each other once we’re working together! For all I know you could turn out to be the boss from hell.”

Kieran laughs out loud into the phone, “Good point, well made as always Ms Brown. I’ll tell you what, why don’t you do your thing and I’ll do mine and we’ll see where we end up?”

“Good plan, Mr McLaren.  I can live with that. I’ll see you on Saturday night.” She clicks off the phone.

Kieran looks at his mobile and smiles. He feels as if a weight has been lifted. At least now the two of them can start again. If he’s lucky, things will move in the right direction and sooner rather than later they may be going for that drink. He loosens his shoulders, starts the engine again and makes for home.

Mollie puts the phone down onto the table. Wow! She hadn’t been expecting that conversation, but she’s glad. She at last understands his behaviour and she is elated to know that she hasn’t been imagining things. She hugs herself, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He has feelings for her; he fancies her rotten! Who knew? Slowly, her grin fades as she realises that she can’t afford to get carried away. Actions speak louder than words and there’s no point in getting her hopes up until he’s free.
Still, no harm in flirting just a little... that’s allowed isn’t it?
Mollie’s smile returns. Yes, a little harmless flirting wouldn’t go amiss and it would let him  know that she is still interested.

Chapter 27

At the Hall, Angela is in the kitchen organising lunch when her mobile rings. Glancing at the number she leaves by the back door and takes the call in the courtyard, away from the house.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for two days,” she hisses into the mouthpiece.

“Alright, alright! Keep your hair on Ange. What’s up anyway? Jeez . . .” Brian mumbles into his phone. He wishes he hadn’t bothered phoning her now.

“I’ve left you messages, haven’t you listened to any of them? Christ, I don’t even think you deserve this now,” Angela tells him.

Brian takes a deep breath. He had listened to her garbled messages about having a tipoff for him, but to be honest he had enough on his plate. He didn’t really need anything this weekend. He’d promised himself some time off, but as usual he couldn’t seem to resist and gave in.

He thinks quickly, you could never be too careful. It wasn’t the best idea to alienate your sources in his game. One never knew when one would pay off. Changing his tone he answers her, “Yea sorry about that my love. I’ve been undercover. You know how it is - had to maintain secrecy. This is the first chance I’ve had to contact anyone. I swear I did as soon as I could.. Now what have you got for me? Anything interesting?”

Angela gives a brittle laugh and Brian’s senses heighten. The best stuff always came from the disgruntled.

“I have something much more than interesting and my fee is 40%, this time.” Angela doesn’t mess about.

“What? Forty? Well that depends on how good it is, doesn’t it?” he snorts, but covers the mouth piece.

“Serena Bonart, is that good enough for you?” Angela says with relish.

Brian laughs, “Yeah, whatever, Ange. You must be having a laugh. Serena is in Croatia. Any pap worth his salt knows that. Don’t waste my time.”

Angela colours, “You listen to me you ugly little man,” she spits at him with distaste. “As you well know I am not in the habit of wasting anyone’s time. I’m in a temporary position at the moment and I was cooking for Serena from Monday through to Wednesday, here in the UK. She’s gone elsewhere for a couple of days and then she’s coming back for a dinner party, which I’m preparing,” she announces, with pride. “There are a number of other newsworthy guests, too, apart from her and I have some juicy gossip on who her latest flame is. When you want to do business,  ring me back, Brian. Until then, goodbye.” Angela flicks her phone closed. Let’s see how long the little weasel takes to phone back and she starts to count the seconds.

Brian Fellows is a member of the great British paparazzi. Brian is a short, dumpy little man with thinning, greasy brown hair. He barely makes a living from his random celebrity photos, but Brian, like all the others in the business, lives for that one great shot. A front-pager. ‘That photo’. The one that would be fought over by the news editors and sold over and over. So far, ‘that photo’ had always eluded him. Brian only ever managed tin pot C-listers, publicity seeking reality TV types. They kept him in food and gave him a roof over his head, just. Brian lives in a grotty little bedsit which he detests but at least it is warm and dry. He longs for the day when he can afford to rent something with more than one room.

He and Angela had met many years ago at college. They’d been friends for a while. Both outcasts, they’d hung out together now and again. Over the years she had given him a few tips which had paid off. Working as an agency cook she got around, often finding herself catering for weddings and parties, sometimes for vaguely interesting people. Angela wasn’t stupid, she always took her cut. She saw him as a means to an end as there certainly was no friendship between them anymore. Angela only gave him the time of day in order to make some extra cash.

As Angela cuts him off Brian stares at his phone. She wasn’t in the habit of making jokes. She must be bloody serious, Serena Bonart! Brian feels all the hairs on his body stand to attention. This, if it came off, could make him a bloody fortune. He presses redial and with shaking hands waits for Angela to answer.

She had reached ‘nine’ when her phone rings, Letting it ring three times she answers in a bored tone, “Yes?”

Returning to the kitchen ten minutes later she smiles, she’s very satisfied. That nasty stuck up bitch is going to pay for what she’d said. Angela would not forgive Serena for embarrassing her the other day. She’d said sorry afterwards, but it was clearly under duress, she hadn’t meant a word of it. Well Serena would learn that you couldn’t go round saying vile things and hurting people’s feelings without consequences. It was a shame the McLarens would be involved, but Angela felt they were simply collateral damage. Pictures of Serena and Kieran together would make a fortune and she would have a cut of that. Not to mention Johnny Morgan! He would net them a few quid as well, if he turned up. Angela knows she’s talking thousands here. She rubs her hands together. As long as Brian got his act together, they’d be on to a winner and the McLarens need never know the information had come from her.

Chapter 28

Mollie has spent a couple of hours doing some housework while she mulls over the proposal and her subsequent, unexpected conversation with Kieran. No point wasting time chasing up other jobs until she has made a decision on this one.

She has one more task to complete before going shopping and she settles down at the computer, her lips twitching. She has had a brilliant idea to wind up Jack. She only wishes she could be there when it’s delivered.