When Mandy got back to the motor home sales office, she half expected recriminations. She had no doubt that Ralph had realised it was her before he had shot his gun and no doubt he’d have told his dad.
Instead of a belligerent message, it was a pleasant surprise to find a pile of five pound notes and a scrawled message to say it was her pay to date. She counted the money and was surprised to discover there was even a bit more than her most optimistic hopes. Of course, there were no details about how the amount had been calculated or how it related to the basic salary that had been agreed during her interview.
She threaded her way to the other end of the motorhome into Ruarc’s office where he was going through some advertising copy.
“I thought the quicker we got the word out to the newspapers that we were now renting out motorhomes, the quicker we could get in some money to afford your salary,” Ruarc, muttered. It wasn’t a complaint but he seemed incapable of saying anything that didn’t have a hard edge.
“Thanks for the money,” said Mandy. “I must admit, it was a bit more than expected. But it would be nice to know how it was calculated and shouldn’t you be wanting my P45?”
“I’m not bothered about your P45, if you’re not,” said Ruarc. “I’ve got bigger fish to fry than worrying about paperwork. I need to order some more motor homes to satisfy all the motorhome rentals that I’m sure you’re going to produce for me and that means cosying up to my suppliers and getting motorhome discounts and a good line of credit.”
“I would have thought they would be very keen to get any business at the moment,” said Mandy. “Surely, if you are buying motorhomes in a recession, you’re in a strong position.”
“I may be in a strong position buying motor homes because of the recession but the discounts I get from these people are exceptional. They are the sort of business people that need a lot of looking after … and they’ll expect some looking after when they come down and do business with me.”
Ruarc, leaned back in his executive chair. His eyes openly dwelling on Mandy’s long black hair, white blouse and tight green skirt that terminated just above her knees.
“You are a good-looking woman, Mandy. Normally Gladys would help me with a lot of the ‘looking after’ but she is not keen on coming in at the moment, what with feeling ill and all that. I could double the cash you have just received, if I could be guaranteed someone special would go away happy.”
Mandy’s eyes widened. She hardly felt shocked because Ruarc’s suggestion was entirely in keeping with the way that she already saw him. His admission that Gladys did not only provide secretarial duties was hardly surprising, given the number of times Gladys had disappeared into Ruarc’s office, with a knowing smile, before locking the door firmly behind her.
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or to be angry,” said Mandy, slowly. “I reckon you have a nerve even to ask me – not to mention legal aspects relating to harassment.”
“Just trying to put a bit of money your way, gal,” said Ruarc. “If you don’t want it, more fool you – there’s plenty of others that will!”
“I’m sorry, ” said Mandy, feeling her throat tightening, ” if you want somebody to serve the canapes and to engage in social conversation or even to negotiate a price, I am happy to help. But, if you want somebody to go with your business friend and and provide personal services, and Gladys isn’t available, I’m afraid, neither am I.”
Ruarc, got up out of his chair, walked over to Mandy until she was convinced that he was going to hit her but instead he merely sneered and walked passed her out of the motorhome office and away to the farmhouse.
Mandy slowly returned to her office to spent the rest of the afternoon telephoning the remainder of her client contact list. The pleasure of receiving her first wages was gone with this new uncertainty in her job prospects.
By the end of the day she had several more possibilities for motorhome rentals but no definite sales. It occurred to her that perhaps Ruarc was expanding his stock a bit too quickly before demand for this new service had properly been quantified. It worried her that she would be expected to satisfy excessive demand in his new business plan.
It also worried Mandy that Ruarc might still hope she would play a part in satisfying not only his business partners demands but also potentially his own in the absence of Gladys.
Ruarc had posed a moral dilemma to Mandy about which her opinion would normally be clear. Yet, scarily, she found herself wondering how far she might be willing to go to save her new job in motorhome sales.
