The Beast of Stornoway

Chapter 5: Van

Van sighed as he stared at a massive spreadsheet full of his expenses and a pile of invoices next to him. He hated doing this tedious work. Data entry was for the birds. This was why he needed an assistant.

He poured himself a glass of whisky and took a drink. This was the only way he could get through this shite. He leaned back in his plush leather chair and looked at the numbers on the computer screen. He had a fucking headache.

He'd been working in the fields during the day and doing this horrid administrative work at night for the last two weeks. Benny seriously needed to hurry up and hire a damn assistant. As if on cue, Benny opened the office door with a manila folder in his hand. He crossed the room and tossed the folder on desk.

Van frowned. "What's this? Please tell me it's not another invoice."

"That's your new assistant. She'll be here on Monday," he curtly replied. Benny had been annoyed with him since Doris had left. Constantly grumbling about managing the house and managing Van's life again.

"Her name is Amani Blake and she's American. Please don't muck this up." Benny sighed as Van raised his eyebrows.

Finally, an assistant.

"Thank you, Benny." 

"You're welcome, but this is the last time I'll hire another assistant for you. I'm getting too bloody old for this, m'Lord. So make it work." Benny huffed, turning towards the door and closing it with a slam.

Van had really done it now. Benny only swore when he was really pissed at him. Van knew he was difficult to deal with, but he might be kinder to people if they weren't so damn predictable and selfish.

He picked up the plain folder and opened it to find a picture of a young woman with a deep golden brown complexion and black oversized round-rimmed glasses over her brown doe eyes. Her straight dark brown hair was smoothed to the side in a neat bun and he rolled his eyes at her cheerful gaze. She looked just like the others. The only difference was that beautiful complexion of hers.

He smirked. She'd be prim and proper; too prissy to get dirty or come near any of the farm animals. He'd try not to drive this one away, for Benny's sake. As he looked over her resume and her qualifications, his phone began to ring. He looked at the caller and a slight smile tugged at his lips. "Hamdi, what do I owe this honor?"

"You know me, just checking on my mate. I'm flying into Edinburgh on Monday. I'll be there for a couple weeks and thought I'd see if we can meet up."

Hamdi was his best friend and only friend since childhood. He was the son of a business mogul so they'd always been in the same social circles and went to the same prep schools. He had taken over his father's business like Van, but Hamdi was far more outgoing than  he was. While Van would rather stay on his farm and isolate himself from social gatherings, Hamdi was a full-fledged socialite.

"Maybe. I've got a new assistant arriving on Monday. An American," Van scoffed.

Hamdi chuckled. "You had to sucker an American to be your assistant now? What's her name?"

"Amani Blake."

"Great name. Do you know where she's from?"

"Yeah, I'm looking at her resume now. She's from Detroit, Michigan."

"I like her already. You got a picture of her?" 

"Aye," Van chuckled and snapped a picture of her photo and sent it to his friend.

"Oh, she's cute," he said a moment later.

Van looked at her picture again and raised an eyebrow. "You think?"