𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 ➺ 𝐵𝓇𝒾𝒶𝓃 𝑀𝒶𝓎/𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃

𝟒 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐞

A/N

 Hey, lovies. I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update this, but I have been going through it lately. I hope you're all staying safe and taking care of yourselves. Hope you enjoy chapter four!

Carys x

~ the first hurdle~

"There's seven cup-holders in this car."

"Eight."

"Eight cup-holders in this car!"

John glanced at me and chuckled under his breath, followed by a shake of his head. I felt my face flush in slight embarrassment from being so excited over this Rolls Royce, but in my head, I knew I was totally in the right to be in awe. I'd never lived such a lux life until that moment. Maybe that's an overreaction, but it was exciting!

"They're just cup-holders," Paul murmured beside me, raising an eyebrow out of the window as trees and the occasional building passed us by. "Wait until you find out your hand can do the exact same thing."

"Hey, I've never been in a car like this before, let me be happy about it, Prenter," I snapped back without looking at him, not giving him the energy he clearly wanted from me.

It was relatively warm that summer in '75. It was the tenth day of August and the sun was beaming down on us like never before – we hadn't gotten sun like this one in two years, give or take a few months. My high-waisted shorts and off-the-shoulder blouse provided enough breeze to keep me cool; that and the air conditioning system the car had built into it. My window was rolled down so I could take in the fresh air of the outside, plus it made me feel like I could flee from the car if Paul got on my nerves too much.

I had tried to conceal my anxiety about going to Rockfield and thus being faced with the face I had avoided for two years, and so far, it was working. I distanced myself from the situation as much as I could with having to actually work, but all in all I had an optimistic feeling about it. Chances were, everyone would be way too busy for me to even think about facing... him.

In the front of the Rolls Royce sat John, Reid, of course, and our driver George, who frequently helped Reid out with getting to point A to point B. And in the back sat me and the Irish form of Satan: Paul Prenter. Our dislike for each other often radiated as 'banter', but that was purely to keep the atmosphere from going South – our respect for Reid was too great to selfishly take the energy that should be spent working for him and spend it battering each other. Well, mine was, anyway.

That being said, though, he was really trying me on that ride. Anything I said, he kept chipping in, telling everyone what he thought about said thing and discrediting anything I said in return. It was more of a character assassination than anything else, but my Lord, it didn't half piss me off.

"I believe the boys are already at the farm, so I say when we get there, we show everyone to their rooms and let everyone get settled," Reid let us know, looking in the rear-view mirror at the two of us in the back.

"Of course, boss, I'll do that," Prenter nodded.

"What makes you think you'll be doing it?" I asked him, glancing at him out the corner of my eye.

"Obviously, I'm better at—"

"Actually, Paul, I would like Maria to do that part," Reid corrected him, nodding his head. I smirked pettily, a sick sense of satisfaction bubbling up inside me from somebody putting Prenter in his place, no matter how miniscule of an occurrence. "I can't expect her to do all the heavy lifting, can I?"

My attention was immediately brought back to John, whipping my head round to look at him. "I am perfectly capable of heavy lifting, John."

"Just please, Maria," John practically begged, actually turning his head to look at me now. I sighed, clenching my jaw. "It's not a big deal."