Job Vacancy - 6. JV Chapter 6

“Oh, shit!” was all I could say in response, “Davies Walker, go and wash your mouth out with soap this instant!” I heard my mother say in the background. “Oops, sorry Mum, it is just a bit of a shock with what Aiden just told me, so what has happened, why are you crying Aiden?” I replied.

“He beat the hell out of me, and I now have a broken arm, bruised kidney and other cuts and bruises,” Aiden said before he began crying again. “He is ok son, we have just left the hospital, and your father has been arrested, and will stay overnight in the lockup, Aiden just wanted to talk to you, as he is so upset at what has happened,” Mum explained when she took over the call.

“Ok, so what about you Mum, did he lay into you too?” I responded, “Yes a little bit, when I was trying to protect Aiden from the beating he was getting, I just received a few bruises and cuts when I pushed around, so he could get to Aiden again, thankfully Michaela was staying overnight at a friend’s place, so she knows nothing of this, and we are on our way home to pack as much of our clothes as possible before we head to a motel to stay.

I have withdrawn a couple of thousand dollars from your fathers and my joint account, to get us by for a little while, and I have managed to put aside some money from the housekeeping money, into a separate account over the past ten years, so we are not hopeless,” Mum explained.

It was at that time, that Mr Wright entered the sunroom, where I had been sitting, and he gave me a small smile and cleared his throat. “Mrs Walker, my name is Preston Wright, and I am your son’s employer, I am sorry to hear that you are in this current situation, and I would like to offer my assistance to get you and your younger children away from that brute<,” Mr Wright said out loud, so he could be heard on the phone.

“Oh, Mr Wright, that is incredibly generous of you, but there is no need to worry, thanks to my husband, I have virtually no friends, and I have no family, but I have always wanted to travel around Australia, so I plan to buy a camper van and take the kids on an extended trip,” my mum replied.

I was a little stunned at Mr Wright’s generous offer, that I remained silent. “Do you, Aiden and Michaela have passports?” my boss asked my Mum, “I do, but not the children, why do you ask?” Mum replied. “Can I suggest that while you are getting all of your belongings, that you take with you all of your children’s birth certificates, and take your passport with you, and take public transport to get to a motel, well away from the centre of the city.

Do not use your credit cards or bank debit cards, as he will be able to track those, and I suggest that you get a new mobile phone for yourself, that can be used overseas. Make an application for a passport for your younger children, and apply for a work visa to the UK, with me as your sponsor.

Unfortunately, Davies and I are about to depart for a promotions book tour in Canada, early tomorrow morning, but we will make a few adjustments, so Davies can come back to London for a short while, once your passports and visas are sorted. I will leave you to talk to your oldest son now but don’t worry too much, we will have you here in London in a week or two, well away from that brute,” Mr Wright said, and he left the room.

“Well Mum, it looks like you and my siblings are coming to London for a while, it will be great to see you all and spend some time with you, and this house is plenty big enough to accommodate you all,” I said to Mum, as I thought about where they would stay while in London, and I realised that Mum could have the guest suite and Michaela the other bedroom on the 2^nd floor, while Aiden could have the bedroom in the attic, which has its bathroom.

After the call with Mum and Aiden had ended, I went into the Library to see Mr Wright. “Sir, I just wanted to thank you for what you have done, offering a place to stay and employment for my Mum,” I said when I entered.

“That is quite alright, as your Mum can assist with managing my business, while you are travelling around with me. I am sure that you can both work together, to coordinate everything,” Mr Wright replied, “Yes sir, I am sure we can, and thank you again” I replied, before leaving the Library.

Just over twelve hours later, Mr Wright and I were on our first flight, travelling from London to Montreal, which would take just over 7 hours, and from there we would fly to Vancouver on the West coast of Canada, which is a 5 ½ hour flight, with a 6 ¼ hour layover in Montreal.

We were both fair worn out from travelling, by the time we arrived at our hotel, at 9 pm local time, even though we travelled business class on both flights. Once we had checked in, with us having connecting rooms, Mr Wright suggested that I get a good night’s rest and that we will have a late breakfast, as we have half of tomorrow off before we start work.

I did sleep very well on our first night in Canada, and after an awesome breakfast, I went for a walk around, taking note of the street that the hotel is on, before setting off northwards, were seven blocks later, I came across a boat harbour, with a cruise ship currently there.

Stopping off firstly at a café, I headed along the foreshore and discovered the Vancouver Tourist Centre, where I obtained a street map of the city, and a few information leaflets, about places to see in the city. After a few more blocks of walking, this time in a Westerly direction, I came across a nice park overlooking the harbour, where there are seaplanes and high mountains in the background.

After about two hours of wandering around, I managed to flag down a cab to take me back to the hotel, as I was too tired to walk back, arriving just before lunchtime, and entering the hotel just as I received a text message from Mr Wright.

“Are you near the hotel? Meet me at the restaurant in the hotel for lunch in twenty minutes.” I smiled at how well I had timed my arrival, as I sent a reply. “Just walked into the lobby, heading to my room to freshen up,” and Mr Wright sent a thumbs-up icon in reply.

When I entered the restaurant, I soon spotted Mr Wright, and he was seated with two other men, and they seemed to be in deep discussion as I approached. “Ah, here he is, Davies my assistant, please meet Mr Pete Dunning and his assistant Tulloch, sorry, I don’t know your last name,” my boss said making the introductions.

“Just Tulloch is fine. It is an Inuit name with a variation on the spelling” the younger man replied, as he smiled at me and held out his hand. When we shook hands, I felt a slight tingling feeling, and I saw Tulloch’s expression changes as if he too felt it. He looked to be a few years older than me, but I couldn’t be sure, while the other man – Pete looked to be in his late 30s.

Over lunch, we discussed the timetable of events for the two cities in British Columbia, of which both Pete and Tulloch would be joining us. From then on, it would be just Tulloch who would be assisting with managing our promotional tour across Canada.

We had been informed, that due to lack of interest, three of the locations had been dropped from the tour, with those being Kamloops, Thunder Bay and Sudbury, which leaves a total of 7-days gap for rest and exploring, with 2-days in Calgary, 3-days in Winnipeg, and 3-days in Toronto.

After lunch, when Pete and Tulloch had left, having agreed to meet at 8 am the next morning, Mr Wright asked me if I would like to take some of that spare time, to fly back to London, to assist my family to settle in. With a day of flying each way, I would be able to spend five whole days with Mum and my siblings, if we could arrange for them to arrive in London on the same day that I arrive, in approximately 3 weeks.

Mr Wright suggested that I leave after we arrive in Winnipeg, with a short flight to Montreal, then the long flight to London, and return to Canada, when he is in Toronto, for the final 2 weeks of the tour. He said not to worry about the expense of the return flight to London, as he would get it back as a business expense, for tax purposes.

Reluctantly I agreed to the plan, and with it being in the middle of the night in Perth, I would have to wait for another five hours, before I could call Mum to let her know the plans. Later in the afternoon, before meeting up with Mr Wright in the restaurant, I made a call to my brother.

“Hello big brother, how are things in the UK or are you in Canada now?” Aiden said when he answered the call, and I chuckled at this. “We are in Vancouver now; I am about to go and have some dinner. Is Mum with you, as I have some news?” I asked.

“I am here dear, and so is your sister, so what is this news that you have?” Mum said after I was put on speaker, “Hi Mum and Michaela, I hope you are all ok, and well away from him. Ok, the news is, that pending if you get your passports and visas in time, we have a set date for you all to travel to the UK.

My boss will send you the money via your bank or western union, to cover your travel expenses, and this afternoon, I have organised and paid for your flights, with the flight being in three weeks on a Thursday,” I announced, “That is wonderful news, son, we look forward to seeing you again, but won’t you still be in Canada when we arrive?” Mum replied.

“No, Mum, we have had to alter the tour timetable slightly, and we have seven days of extra leisure time, so my boss suggested that I take that time to fly back to London, to help you with settling in. I will be arriving at 9 pm, the evening before you all arrive, which will be at 5 am.

I will be at Heathrow to meet you there, and we can catch a minivan from there to Richmond, which is where my boss has his home. It is about a 30-minute ride, depending on traffic, and the house is big enough to fit you all in, plus still has room for guests, if we ever have any, and it is right on the Thames River.

I have my bedsit quarters attached to the house, as does Mrs Hill, the housekeeper, across the courtyard from me. Mum and Michaela will have rooms on the 2^nd floor, with your bathrooms, and there is a very large recreation lounge at the front on that level. Aiden, you will have the bedroom in the attic, which also has its bathroom, unfortunately, there are just steep steps to the Attic, but there are stairs and elevators on all other levels.

Mr Wright has his rooms on the first floor, which includes his private lounge, three guest bedrooms, and two other lounge rooms, so there is plenty of room for everyone,” I said. After a few more minutes of chatting, I said that I would be in contact again before they leave Perth, and ended the call.

The first three weeks in Canada were staggering. At the bookshops for signings, we had a huge line of people waiting to meet Mr Wright and get their copies of his book personally autographed. At the libraries for book readings, they had to use the biggest function room available to cope with the huge number of people who came to listen to Mr Wright and to ask questions about his books.

When the first rest gap arrived, Mr Wright said that he would be doing absolutely nothing, while I am away, as he too was very tired from the heavy timetable of events, that the Literary agent had booked. Tulloch was always looking at me and smiling, so I guessed that he had a crush on me, and although I didn’t encourage him, I did chat with him socially when we were away from the crowds, but I made sure not to be alone with him at all.

He was a nice guy and everything, but he just wasn’t my type of guy, as he was very slender and tall, and he has a kind face. I just didn’t want to start anything, especially knowing that I would be heading back to London halfway through the trip and again at the end of the tour, and three days before leaving for London, I called the family, to check that they are ready for the trip.

I was informed that the passports and visas had arrived and that they were ready to leave, in a few days, although they were a little uneasy about our father, who had been released from prison, after having been given a three-year good behaviour bond, and a large fine.

He also has to surrender his passport, plus he is banned from being any closer than 50 metres or getting in contact with his wife or children in any way. The family courts had granted Mum full custody of her children, and permission to travel to the UK for work purposes, which would help to reduce the stress of knowing that he could not follow them.

From Winnipeg, I set off to Montreal, and onto London, arriving at 9 pm local time, and I was fairly tired from the long journey, as I caught a cab home to Richmond, where Mrs Hill was up and waiting for my arrival. “Hello young man, did you have a pleasant trip back?” she asked me as I stepped through the front door of the main house. “Yes, thank you, Mrs Hill, although I am a little tired, you shouldn’t have stayed up, waiting for me, I am heading straight to bed,” I replied.

“I just wanted to make sure that you arrived back safely, that is all dear, goodnight, and I will see you in the morning,” Mrs Hill responded. “Don’t forget, I have to be back at the airport by 5 am, to collect the family, so don’t bother getting up then, I will grab a light breakfast at the airport,” I said to Mrs Hill, as I headed for the back door.

“I have freshened up your apartment, so it is all ready for you, as are the rooms on the 2^nd floor and attic for your family, goodnight,” Mrs Hill said as I headed out the door, and across the courtyard to my quarters. “Thanks, Mrs Hill, you’re a legend. Goodnight,” I said.

“When my alarm clock went off at 4 am, I nearly just turned it off to go back to sleep, until I remembered that I had to go to the airport, so I reluctantly climbed out of bed, had a quick shower and dressed, before heading to the kitchen for a cuppa, and to order a cab.

I arrived at the airport terminal with five minutes to spare, only to discover that the plane is delayed by fifteen minutes, so I made my way to a café to get a cup of tea, to wake me up some, and waited for the plane to arrive. I knew that it would take at least half an hour for passengers to be processed through customs, so I just relaxed and dozed at the café, while I waited for the family to arrive.

“Wakey wakey, sleepyhead!” a voice very close to me said, which made me jump in fright, only to see my smiling brother’s face looking at me. “Aiden, that is not very nice,” I have had just as long a flight as yours, and very little sleep between arriving and getting back here this morning,” I grumbled to my brother, as I stood up and hugged Aiden.

“Good to see you again bro,” Aiden said to me, and I smiled at my Mum and sister who was watching. After giving my mum and sister a kiss on the cheek and hugging each, we set off with two trolleys of luggage towards the front entry, to find a cab to take up to Richmond.

With so much luggage, we elected to take two cabs, with Mum and Michaela in one, and Aiden and I in the other, and after telling the other cab driver the address, we set off home, arriving 25 minutes later, thanks to a light load of traffic all the way.