Holly head Slopes

Chapter Fifteen

MASON'S POV

Speechless.

Kissing Abi had clouded my mind for a solid ten hours. I couldn't escape her, not that I tried very hard. She consumed me in a way I couldn't understand. However, sex with Abi was a step beyond anything I had experienced before. I had felt incredible happiness during my life, but it was never as good as this. The hunger I had to see her again, feel her, smell her floral scent that drove me wild. I was addicted to her. In the space of a week, my playboy behaviour was buried.

There was one meeting I couldn't wiggle out of. As much as I wanted to steal Abi for the whole day, my appointment determined a big part of my future. I could barely concentrate, though.

My mind was running two mindsets: business and pleasure. What did Abi think about what happened? And when was I buying out the entirety of Holly head?

"Mr Freeman," I said, walking into his office and extending my hand.

"Mason, I've known you since you were born; how many times do I have to tell you to call me Ernie?"

I chuckled and took the seat opposite his desk. "A few more times."

I liked to respect my superiors. And there was nobody I respected more than Mr Ernie Freeman. He had owned Holly Head Mountain way before I was born and had been a massive support throughout my career.

At the beginning of competing, you had to have a sponsor to enter. Most kids had wealthy parents with thriving businesses, but not me. We barely had enough money to buy me a board, but Mr Freeman didn't hesitate to sponsor me. He bought me everything I needed. He always told me he saw something in me, an undiscovered talent he couldn't ignore. I owe my success to him.

"So, when are you taking the big chair?" He asked me bluntly. "Holly head has never been so busy, and profit has never been so high since you've been involved, so when can I kick back and relax?"

I hadn't expected him to be so keen on retiring. He was in his sixties and was well deserving of enjoying a free schedule, but he had much left in him. He was always the most driven man I had ever met. He was incredible with strategy; he knew what worked and what wasn't worth a second thought. Frankly, I wouldn't have made a penny my first year without him.

"Look, Mr Freeman. I'd love to have this empire; I always have. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to have it all. I barely feel like an adult. Running the whole mountain alone is a lot."

"Who said you'd be doing it alone?" He questioned as he leaned back in his leather chair, his hands laced together. "Son, I want to kick back and relax undeniably, but I'm not letting this go entirely. I'd be a shadowing partner. You'd be in the big chair, but I'd be second in command. Big decisions we discuss, but day to day, that's your job."

There was a wave of relief from his response. I liked how things were, but I had been part owner for three years; it was about time I was more serious.

"I have thought about it; of course, I have. But I feel like there is more to learn. I applied to college for a business degree. Despite you being an incredible mentor, I still want a college education. I believe there are more modern ways to get this place further. And if I can have you working with me for a while longer, I believe I can make us both incredibly successful men.

"That's a polite way of calling me an old man." He chuckled. "I do, however, understand. I wouldn't sacrifice any of this for the world, but I sometimes wish I had lived my youth longer before I took all of this on."

Holly head wasn't in a great way before Mr Freeman inherited it from his late Uncle. He built it from the ground up from the disaster it had been. At twenty, he had his empire.