Read Online Where Memories Are Made by Lynda Page - Free Book Online Page B

Jolly’s no longer needed him. He really enjoyed working here. Jackie was a very fair boss and also fun to work for. People were beginning to recognise him as part of the office staff and he was beginning to feel part of the Jolly family. As a temporary employee he knew he shouldn’t have allowed himself to settle in but he couldn’t help it: the place and its people had had that effect on him. He really didn’t like the thought of moving around from job to job, always feeling like an interloper, possibly working with people who weren’t as friendly or receptive as the staff were here.
    He opened his mouth to ask Jackie if his contract had any chance of being renewed but was stopped by the telephone on her desk which began shrilling.
    Jackie hoped that the caller wasn’t someone wanting her for something time-consuming. After she had finished the day’s typing she had other jobs to deal with before she went home, and didn’t want to have to stay late and leave Keith waiting for her twice in one week. Moments later she put the telephone down, a puzzled expression on her face.
    Al couldn’t fail to notice and asked her, ‘Everything all right, Jackie?’
    She shrugged. ‘Don’t know. Mr Rose wants to speak to me in his office.’ She wondered what it could possibly be about as not once in all the fortnight he’d been in charge had he enquired of her how she was managing to keep the general office running smoothly with just herself and a temp, or how the rest of the staff were faring either.
    Skirting her desk, she went over to the boss’s office door, tapped on it, and when she heard his summons went inside, shutting the door behind her.
    Approaching the desk, she said to Harold Rose politely, ‘You wanted to speak to me, Mr Rose?’
    He looked up from his work. As usual he didn’t look directly at her but over her shoulder. There was a tremor in his voice when he said, ‘Ah, Miss Sims, I’ve just had a telephone call from Mrs Jolly.’
    Before she could stop herself Jackie excitedly blurted, ‘To tell you Rhonnie’s much better and they’re coming home?’
    He said stolidly, ‘Miss Sims, would you please let me finish? I have a lot of work to do and really must get on. Mrs Jolly didn’t call to say they were on their way home, just the opposite in fact. Mrs Buckland isn’t well enough to return yet and it isn’t envisaged she will be for the foreseeable future. I assured Mrs Jolly that all was well here and that there was no reason for her to concern herself.’
    As he said that, Jackie immediately wondered how he could assure Drina of that when he had no idea himself what was going on in the camp beyond the accounts department. She would not even know he was occupying the boss’s office if she didn’t see him arrive in the morning, take him in his morning and afternoon beverages, and see him leave at night.
    He was saying to her, ‘Mrs Jolly asked me to pass on her gratitude to you for all the hard work you’re doing to keep the general office running smoothly in her absence. She asked for that gratitude to be extended to the rest of the staff too. I’d appreciate it if you’d see to that, Miss Sims.’
    Harold then returned his attention to his work, signalling to her that the interview was over.
    In all the time Drina had been heading up Jolly’s, Jackie had never known her leave the business in another’s hands during the season, except for the few odd occasions when she’d had functions to attend – and only then when Rhonnie and Dan were in charge. If she was doing so Jackie knew that Rhonnie’s condition had to be very serious. She was greatly distressed to learn that her friend was still so badly affected. All Jackie could do was try to ensure there would be a business to return to, but that wasn’t going to be plain sailing with the likes of Harold Rose