Everything to Nothing (53 page)

‘At the start
of last winter we hadn’t had a kidnap threat for months so I took
them off you. Stupid decision because something did happen. The
security guards at the gate were openly avoiding holding a
conversation with me; Alfred couldn’t look me in the eye. I didn’t
press it because in my heart, if it concerned you and it was bad, I
didn’t want to know. Foolish of me I know, but all I cared about
was that you were safe. So what did happen?’

Sally explained
everything that had happened that frightening night when she met
David, how she had been attacked, how he’d helped her, how the Mini
had been trashed and how he’d fixed it for her without asking for
any money or thanks.

After the story
was finished, Mr. Gallagher contemplated it for a few moments. ‘In
that case I’m in full support of your relationship. To help and
support you like that shows he is a good, strong character who is
obviously kind and caring. But that wouldn’t have happened if the
security had been following you. I know this was a random attack,
but I know for a fact that my security has stopped a handful of
well planned attacks on our family over the years, some of these
attacks directed at seizing you.’

‘I’m sorry dad,
I had no idea.’

Leaning forward
he lifted his glass and took a sip of the rich liquor. ‘No need
apologise. Perhaps I should have told you, but I didn’t want to
worry you. What’s the point of worrying you when it can all be done
covertly?’

‘True. That
doesn’t excuse the fact that I lied to you. I’ll understand if you
withdraw my privileges for a long, long time.’

‘No, it’s fine.
I think you’ve learned your lesson. Anyway, you’ll need your
privileges to keep that boy of yours accustomed to the life he’s
going to be entering. I spoke to him about it, after you’d gone.
Considering his background, a mechanic from an average family in an
average part of town he doesn’t seem too overwhelmed, which again
is another good sign to me that he’s got a strong head on his
shoulders, a strong character. I think he’ll fit in well here. I
presume he knows about your birthday ball?’

‘Of course! We
both can’t wait!’

‘Good, good.
Right, although I promised myself a full night off I can’t
cope.’

‘Huh? What do
you mean?’

‘I’m going
upstairs to my office.’

‘Oh daddy! Give
yourself a break!’

‘I have. I had
a nice evening with you, until, well, you know, and I’ve had a nice
chat with you to clear the air so now I need to check that my
subordinates haven’t managed to bring my company to its knees!’

‘I’m sure it
can survive one night!’

‘You clearly
don’t know these subordinates my dear!’

With a laugh
Sally stood, kissed her father on his forehead and they wandered
together up to the third floor of the mansion and she left him
outside his office which he entered. Quickly he sat down behind his
desk and picked up the phone and dialled a number.

‘I thought you
were having the evening off and spending it with Sally and her
boyfriend? The big first meeting?’

‘We met. That’s
why I’m calling James. It’s still early days, but I think I’ve
found my successor.’

‘Has Sally come
round at last after your years of gentle persuasion?’

‘No, she’ll
never come round. She doesn’t want it, but someone close to her
might be persuaded to become a very good apprentice…’

Chapter 39

Sally was
stressed. It was the morning of her birthday ball and she had
popped in to speak to her father about a small matter. Now, on top
of ensuring everything was perfect for the evening, she now had the
added stress of listening to the reason why her father had told her
boyfriend to quit his job. ‘Why didn’t you tell me, us, you had
this in plan? Why have you decided to drop this bombshell today of
all days?!’ She was stood in his office in the mansion, leaning on
his desk towering over him with her fists clenched.

‘I thought it
would be a nice surprise for you, give a good finishing touch to
your day.’

‘Daddy, I love
him to bits, but he has no, none, zero academic qualifications.
He’s got good common sense though, but he’s not a Cambridge or
Oxford business school graduate that you usually employ! He’ll be
totally out of his depth!’

‘Neither have
I.’

‘Neither have
you what?’

‘I don’t have
any academic qualifications. Neither does James. What we do have,
as you’ve said, is plenty of common sense. Look at, Bill
Gates.’

‘What about
him?’

‘Dropped out of
Harvard, self made billionaire. Warren Buffet. Nothing special,
standard degree, a Masters too, but self made billionaire. Carlos
Slim Helu…’

‘Who the hell
is he?’

‘Watch your
tongue and show him some respect!’

‘Sorry.’

‘You’ve met
him. A few years ago now mind. Mexican, started as a taxi driver
and is at the moment second richest man in the world. Limited
academic qualifications too. Self made billionaire.’

‘Right. What’s
your point?’

‘My point is
that the top three richest people in the world have limited
academic qualifications and are all self-made!’

‘Right. So how
does David fit into this?’

‘I’ve not
worked my arse for the last few decades only to see my company
handed over to a group of business school graduates who couldn’t
make a correct decision between the lot of them! I want and the
company needs a successor. You’re not interested; the only other
people I meet are these business school graduates who try numerous
different ways to impress me and fail miserably!’ He stopped for a
moment and looked at Sally intensely. ‘I need someone fresh,
someone with no pre-conceived ideas about how a company should be
run that others think they know. I need someone I can groom,
someone I can train to fit into the shoes that I’ll be leaving
empty one day.’

‘You need an
apprentice.’

‘Yes! Exactly
that. And he’s perfect. He’s got good common sense and I can tell
he’s got a good character. And what better barometer do I need
apart from the fact that you’re dating him?!’

‘And if we
break up?’

‘Is that
likely?’

‘Right now, no.
But you never know do you?’

‘You’re right,
you don’t. But we can cross that bridge if we come to it.’

‘That will be a
little awkward if I catch him sleeping with someone behind my back
and then he’s taking over my father’s company.’

‘True and if
you do break up for some reason like him sleeping with someone else
then I’ll fire him, but this is my decision. Starting from Monday
he’s working for me.’

‘That’s it?!
You’re not even going to ask for my opinion?!’

‘I know what
your opinion is.’

‘Oh yeah?!
What?’

‘You think I’m
crazy.’

‘You’ve got
that right in one.’

‘Look,’ he
stood and walked round the desk to take one of her hands and place
the other on her shoulder, ‘I’m going to be paying him a salary
which is double what he earns now. I’m going to lay out the ground
rules to him that if this does not work out he’s back fixing cars.
He presumed that anyway.’

‘Hang on. He’s
already accepted?!’

‘Erm yes,
although I didn’t tell you that.’

‘Well this gets
better and better and better!’ She pushed away from him and walked
towards the door.

‘I’m sure he’s
got it in plan to tell you…’

She did not
reply. Instead she stormed out of his office slamming the door
behind her and made her way in furious anger through the mansion.
One of the maids saw her coming who was well used to her mistress’s
moods and with one glance at her face the maid scuttled out of her
way. When she reached the door to her bedroom she flung it open and
David jumped as he was stood there naked having just got out of the
shower.

‘And when the
hell did you plan on telling me about my dad’s offer?’

‘Huh?’

‘Don’t huh
me!’

‘Can I get
dressed?’

‘No, you
can’t.’ She grabbed his Calvin Klein underwear, a present from her
to him, and threw them to the other side of the room. ‘Well?!’

‘Sally, calm
down. I was…’

‘Don’t… tell…
me… to calm down!’ She grabbed one of his shoes and threw it at
him.

‘Ouch! Okay,
sorry. I was going to tell you now. I was going to tell you
directly after I’d spoken to him but I couldn’t find you!’

‘You’re as bad
as him!’ Her voice screeched as she threw another shoe at him which
this time he managed to dodge. ‘Scheming together behind my
back!’

This time the
thrown hairbrush did connect with his lifted arm that was
protecting his face from inbound missiles. ‘Ouch! Jesus! Look,
let’s sit down and we can talk about this…’

‘We’re talking
now!’

‘Right, okay,
okay. He called me up to this office about an hour ago. He spoke to
me about his plan. He told me to think about it, discuss it with
you. I came down here to talk to you but you weren’t here. I then
realised there was nothing to think about and went back up to
accept his offer.’

‘Without
speaking to me?! How dare you!’

‘Owww! Stop
throwing things at me!’

‘No!’

‘Owww!’

‘And what
happens if we break up?! Have you thought of that?!’

‘Is that
likely?’

‘Right now, yes
it bloody is!’

‘Great. I’ll
get my things.’

‘Don’t be
stupid.’ Sally sighed and dropped her hand to her side which was
holding a perfume bottle. ‘Just talk to me about things like
this!’

‘I tried, but
you weren’t here. I guessed you would have said yes anyway?’

‘I might have
done, but you never know. And what if I said no now?’

‘Then I’d go
straight upstairs and revoke my acceptance and find another
job.’

‘Find another
job?’

‘Yes. I’ve
already quit the garage.’

‘What?!’

‘Ouch!’

‘Another thing
you should have spoken to me about!’

‘Okay, okay. No
matter what and how obvious it is I’ll always speak to you first.
Okay?’

‘Good. He’ll be
an arse to work for you know?’

‘I can
imagine.’

‘I only worked
for him as an admin assistant and he had me run ragged.’

‘I can
imagine.’

‘You shouldn’t
imagine, you should know. You’ll be working long, long hours.’

‘I do that
anyway.’

‘You’ll never
be home.’

‘I’m always
here now.’

‘Well you’ll
never be home or here.’

‘That’s fine.
But to work with your dad, surely that is too much of an
opportunity to miss?’

‘It is. But it
is going to have a bad impact on our relationship. Oh my, it will
be like being married to my dad! I’m not sure I like this. I’ve
seen the hours he works. He’s never home. I’ll never see you.’

‘You will. I’ve
negotiated with him.’

‘You’ve
negotiated with him?! I would have loved to have seen that! And did
your negotiation work?’

‘Yes. He talked
about the impact it will have on my life and our relationship. But
he’s also said that it won’t be as bad for me as it was for him
because the company is already set up. He’s said that unless I
really have to he’ll never expect me to work past six, and never on
Sundays, but to expect occasional Saturdays. Of course there will
be long nights and some days I won’t make it home, but thousands of
couples do that and survive.’

‘I suppose we
can see how it goes.’

‘Of course we
can. And if it doesn’t work then I can quit and go back to fixing
cars. Sound like a plan?’

‘I
suppose.’

‘Cool. Can I
get dressed now?’

‘Yes,
sorry.’

While David was
getting dressed Sally flopped on her bed and stared at the ceiling.
She was not sure about this new development because she had seen
over the years how hard her father had worked, but she did not want
to block this astonishing development and opportunity in David’s
life. As she propped herself up on her elbow, she looked at him as
he got ready and she could already see that something in the young
man who she had grown to know a lot and love a lot had changed.

Even now, only
a few hours after finding out her father’s plan, he seemed to be
holding himself differently or was it just the tuxedo he was not
used to? Either way, what definitely could not be denied was that
there was a glint in his eye that had not been there before, a
feeling and an aura of confidence about him.

For a few
moments she watched him as he struggled with the bow tie until she
called his name and patted the bed beside her. Muttering and
cursing under his breath he waved away her offer of assistance so
instead she started to count down from ten in her head. Exactly as
she reached one, for the final time he muttered and walked over to
sit next to her.

‘How do you
know how to do this?’ he growled at her. ‘Done it for other
boyfriends?’

‘No my jealous
boyfriend. I’ve done it for my father loads of times. He’s rubbish
at it too!’

‘Pardon me?!
How dare you!’

Quick as a
flash he turned round and leapt onto her, forcing her flat onto the
bed, pinning her arms while straddling her across her stomach. For
a few moments she wriggled and kicked under him but he was far too
strong for her. She stopped and stared into his blue eyes with a
look of anger at being manhandled in this manner and as they stared
into each others’ eyes he leaned forward to kiss her. She flung her
head to the side so his kissed missed and as he readjusted his aim
she flung her head the other way.

Changing tack,
he pulled her wrists together so he could hold them in one hand and
with his other hand gently grabbed her jaw to keep her head still.
He kissed her, running his tongue over her lips, not feeling any
response at first, but then her lips parted slightly and he felt
her relax under him. Her tongue met his and soon each of their
tongues were in and out of each of their mouths, running around and
along lips.