Any worries I might have had about Casey and her weekend trip to the wilds of North Yorkshire were dispelled by her smiling face when she came out of the 'Royal Oak' to begin another day of work towards what I hoped would be the saving of what I'd begun referring to as my company.

“Can I infer from your smiling face that your weekend was a good one?”

“You may. Saturday, as you knew all along, your former wife took me to some out-of-the-way place called Richmond and visited a small workshop which was absolute heaven for a shoe lover like me, as well as Sandra.”

“And?” I asked smiling.

“I bought three pairs of shoes.”

“They had your size then?”

"No… They are being made for me. For the first time in my life, I will have shoes that will fit me properly."

“I bet they’ll cost you an arm and a leg?”

“I’ll sell those heels that I wore on the first day and a few others that I bought on a whim. That should cover the costs of the new ones.”

“I sense a downside?”

“They won’t be ready until the new year.”

“That means you will have to come back after you have closed us down?”

“Luke,” said Casey with a definite sigh.
“I have come to the conclusion that closing you down would be a big mistake. I had my ear bent for most of yesterday by the CFO on Zoom when I told him what we had found. He ordered me onto the first available plane home and to pack up my desk. They would be sending someone who could carry out orders to replace me.”

Her words sent my mind into freefall or overdrive. For a moment I was in a bit of a mess which was not good when trying to drive a car. I pulled over and prayed to my god that I hadn’t crashed.

“Sorry about that sudden stop. I was not expecting to hear that you are out of a job.”

“No, it is all my fault. I didn’t think about the implications… Sorry.”

“There is no need to be sorry. These things happen but it does change things though.”

“I know. I think that we should get to the Mill and then we can talk with less danger of me crashing my car. Agreed?”

“Yes, sorry. I didn’t think.”

I wondered if ‘I didn’t think’ was becoming her catchphrase.

I didn't reply. It was time for me to have a big rethink. In all my planning sessions, I had never considered the option where the original bringer of doom was 'let go' in mid-operation. I needed to think things out and fast.

By the time we arrived at the old Mill, I had gotten at least some of my thoughts into line.

“I think that we should use the table in my office today,” I suggested as Casey went to head into the conference room.

“Ok, I’m open to all suggestions at the moment after the call yesterday.”

“Please feel free to use the table. I’ll rustle up some tea.”

“Could I have some coffee? Strong if possible. The Royal Oak’s food is fantastic but they can’t make coffee if their lives depended upon it.”

“I’m afraid that in these parts, tea is the drink and preferably strong. We Lancastrians have fought at least one war against our neighbours to the east but they do make one thing that we don’t and that is Yorkshire Tea.”

"I've never really acquired a taste for tea I'm afraid."

I smiled.
“I’ll get Debbie to put the percolator on. Then we can get down to business.”

I was back two minutes later.
“The coffee is on. It will only be a few minutes.”

“Then I’d better start at the beginning.”

I grinned.
“Only if you want to.”

“I spent yesterday morning going over your employee contracts. While I’m not a lawyer, I have to say they are masterpieces. Putting all of your workers on a staff contract was a smart move. From your records, the company already had a good staff contract. One month severance for every year worked is way beyond what we pay in the US plus three months’ pay in lieu of notice is a very good move.”

“Those terms are pretty standard here but putting everyone on the same terms and conditions is good for morale. It eliminates the 'us and them'. It also means that everyone knows what I make."

Casey grinned.
“Yeah, about that. Do you know what equivalent plant managers in the US make? If I look at two plants, one in New York State that makes, sorry assembles doorbells, you know the ones with cameras. Their plant manager makes over two hundred thousand dollars. The other plant that I know about is in New Mexico. There they make Carbon Monoxide sensors. The boss there makes almost three hundred thousand a year. Their salary packages have almost doubled in the past three years.”

“I had sort of guessed that. Any budgets that we submitted that showed any increases in staff pay were rejected out of hand.”

“But honestly? Luke, sixty-five thousand pounds before taxes?”

“Casey, my name is Lucas, not Luke.”

“I keep forgetting… Sorry.”

“Apology accepted.”

“But?”

“When I took over, I was production manager. That paid me sixty grand including a company car. I bought my own car and my salary went up to sixty-five. When we got going again in September 2020, I proposed that we had a blanket 5% raise. It was dismissed out of hand. I did the same last year and again it was dismissed. The same thing happened this year.”

I hit a few keys and the printer by my desk whirred into action.

“These are the emails that I sent and received from your CFO with the CEO copied in on their replies.”

“Former CFO. I’m out of a job if you remember?”

“Have you received a formal notification of your termination yet?”

“No why?”

“Until you do, you are still employed. Do you fancy doing a bit of sleuthing?”

Casey thought for several seconds. Then, a smile slowly appeared on her face.
“You mean industrial espionage?”

“I’m not suggesting that. For starters, I would suggest that you download all the important emails from them so that you have a copy for safekeeping. Plus, anything else just happens to fall into your lap that might be useful if you know what I mean?”

Casey smiled.
“Can I access the WiFi?”

“Do you have a VPN installed on your PC?”

“A VPN? Why?”

“To hide where you are accessing from.”

“I get you now. No, I don’t or at least I don’t think so.”

“That should be your first call. Get one installed and then log in to Austin but it should be before the IT people get in for the day and block your access.”

“I’ll get onto it right now.”

I wrote down the WiFi password and gave it to Casey.
“Is that a company laptop?”

“Oh? I see.”

“Then we should get you a new device. They’ll want it back. It will need to be security wiped before they get it.”

“Are you a spook or something?”

I chuckled.
“No, I’m not but amongst other things I do, I look after our IT systems. That’s what I was doing when you arrived remember? I estimate that I spend a day a week on the IT stuff here in the offices and down on the shop floor.”

“Shouldn’t you have someone to do it for you?”

“We did… Then we didn’t and Austin would not let us get someone in even part-time.”

“I am beginning to see a pattern developing here?”

“Really? Well, Sherlock, it was obvious to us three years ago.”

I sat for a few seconds with my eyes closed. Then I said,

“Things have changed for this place and us since your call yesterday. Please get your emails and anything else. Then may I suggest that you write a letter of resignation. Then after security wiping your laptop, we can think about FedEx’ing it back to Austin.”

“What then?”

“We talk about a contract for you.”

Casey laughed.
“The people in Austin will see that and fire you on the spot.”

“I can’t say much other than remember what I said about having time to prepare for all this. Just think what you would do if you were in my place. That answer may or may not be what we have prepared but we have prepared for a few eventualities.”

Casey looked at me and shook her head.
“Do you know what the CFO said to me on my way out of Austin?”

I shook my head.

“The MD over there, Luke something or other is a spineless ponce. Get in, fire everyone and get back over here.”

“Am I? A spinless ponce that is?”

“No, you aren’t. More like a dark horse.”

Her words caused me to laugh.

“I’ll get on with getting the emails.”

I left her to get on with that while I went downstairs to the loading dock to make a phone call.

“Hi Stefan, Lucas Beatty.”

“Yes, something has arisen a bit earlier than we thought. I need a watertight employment contract ASAP.”

“Yes, that sort of watertight.”

“Yes, for the new company.”

“Thanks, Stefan. Text me when it is ready.”

“Yes, I am still annoyed at you for missing that double top a week last Friday. You owe me a pint at the next match.”

I chuckled at his joke.
“See you, Stefan. Bye.”

I stood in the cold air thinking hard. Had I made a horrible mistake? Was I doing the right thing? I wasn't sure if I was being a fool or not, but I had to hope that I wasn't. At least I was covering all bases, or as many as I could think of at the time.

I returned to my office where Casey was crouched over her laptop.
“Problems?”

“No. I’ve got all the emails and documents I need. This wasn’t there when I logged on before breakfast today.”

She turned the laptop around so that I could read the screen.

“That makes it official then. You are out of a job in two weeks.”

“It certainly looks that way, doesn’t it? At least they are giving me five weeks’ severance pay.”
Then she added,
“You must be psychic. The second email wants their laptop and phone back.”

“Not psychic, but I do know corporate procedures. Someone will be responsible for all the kit that they dish out and they’ll need it back to tick the relevant boxes to keep a junior bean counter happy.”

While Casey busied herself copying the files that she had downloaded onto a USB memory stick, I looked through my inventory of laptops.

None of the ones we had left were anywhere near as powerful as hers. They were only fit for scrap and had lain unused for three years. They weren't state of the art then and now? They were next to useless. I imagined a trip to the laptop store within the next few days.

Over coffee, I asked Casey,
“What sort of place do you live in in Austin?”

“I rent a one-bed condo in Sparks, not far from the new Tesla plant. I’ll need to vacate it soon because the landlord just hiked the rent again because Tesla is hiring for this ugly CyberTruck monstrosity. Now that I'm out of a job, I can't afford the $1500 per month he wants for rent. He thinks that because Tesla set up shop almost next door, it is a license to print money.”

"That is a bummer. In light of you being let go, you need to get back to the US, sooner rather than later.”

“I think so too. But what about this place? It is clear to me that you are holding several aces very close to your chest… Am I correct?”

I smiled.
“100% correct. If you formally resign then we can begin to talk turkey.”

“Eh? Why? Aren’t I the enemy? Could I be a sheep in wolf’s clothing?”

“That’s why you need to quit, get yourself sorted out back in Texas. Once you are free of those… those crooks we can talk business.”

“I still don’t understand why you want me involved. It seems to me and based upon the evidence I see before me, that you have a plan or a series of plans and are going to execute them regardless?”

“I do have some plans as I have said, but things got a bit complicated the moment that you walked into my life."

A smile slowly began to appear on her face.

“I do seem to have that effect on a lot of people.”

There was a ‘matter of fact’ tone to her voice tinged with a bit of regret.

“You will soon forget us here in this old cotton mill when you get back to Texas so, I’m sorry for saying what I just did. You will have a pick of jobs in almost any industry you want thanks to that pinky ring.”

As I said it, I glanced at her hand. Her class ring was missing.

“Sorry,” I said once more.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“No Lucas, it is me that should be sorry. You have opened my eyes to a very different world. For some strange reason, my view of this country has been formed by TV and the Movies. It is very different. You are most certainly not like the image that was given to me before I flew over.”

“Oh?”

“Can you answer me one question honestly?”

I had a feeling of dread spread through my body.

“I’ll try.”

“Just how did you know that my ring was from Harvard?”

The feeling of relief was palpable. She hadn't asked me if I fancied her, which I did, but... At the moment, she was untouchable.

"That is easy to answer. It is because I also have an MBA. I got mine from one of the top schools in London. One of the lecturers in corporate law had a ring just like it."

My reply seemed to stun her for a moment.
“But you are so unlike any MBA that I have ever met?”

“That is because I grew up less than 20 miles from here. My father and his father before him for three generations all worked on the railways. My mother used to teach to what you call ‘first graders’. That background would not sit very well in the halls of Harvard or any of your Ivy League schools. I know because I tried. None of them would give me the time of day let alone an interview even though I have a double first in Economics and Law from Cambridge.”

I took another breath before continuing.
“It seemed to me at the time that I was rejected because I would not bring the kind of money that those schools need to keep on getting richer. That was all wrong in my opinion. Instead of concentrating on potential ability, most of the questions I had to answer had to do with my financial situation and that of my parents who have no money. The result was ‘Thanks but no thanks.”

After another breath I said,
“After all that rejection, I took stock and changed tack. I went down to London after finishing at Cambridge. During the day, I worked in a massive bakery and went to school evenings and weekends to get my MBA. After graduating, I worked in a car plant in the midlands for three years, in their production engineering department before coming here.”

“You are a dark horse, aren’t you?”

“Not in the slightest. You never asked until now. I just don’t go around broadcasting to the world that I have an MBA. That is not me.”

“That I have come to realise only too well.”

I decided to change the subject.

“Are you going to resign?”

“Yes. I want to get my say in first, not that it will do me any good but it will make me feel better.”

I’ll leave you to get that done. Then I’ll take you to lunch to celebrate.”

“Celebrate? Deciding to quit my job is not generally a cause for celebration.”

“Freedom. Isn’t that worth a lunch?”

Casey smiled.
“Yes, I guess it is.”

I left her alone and once again I went outside looking for a punchbag to hit into next week. I had come so close to telling her how I felt but as I had done with all the other women who had come into my life, I chickened out.

A blast of cold air coming down off the dales to the north was more than enough to bring my thoughts back to reality.

I wanted Casey in my life, but she had so much going for her, that I felt that I had little hope of making that happen. As I went back into the mill, I decided to make one more play. If she ignored it, then it would be time to move on.

I returned to my office. Casey was busy on her laptop, so I went to my desk and sat down. I tried to concentrate on a production report. The figures just didn't make sense. It wasn't that they were wrong, but my brain was just unable to process them at that moment in time.

Casey came to my rescue.

“There, it is done”, she proclaimed.”

I looked up and over at her.
“You have resigned then?”

“Yes, and with immediate effect from when I return to the USA.”

It took me a second to process what she had just said.

“Oh, that is good. That way, they can’t get out of paying your expenses for the trip.”

Casey smiled.
“That’s what I thought.”

“Now that you have sent off the email, you should re-arrange your flight home.”

“Do you want to get rid of me that quickly?”

“No, I don’t but you need to get back to Texas and tell them what you think of them. Not that it will make any difference, but for your own personal mental state.”

After a slight hesitation, she smiled.
“No sense in bottling it up then?”

“Correct and then you can walk out with your head held high.”

She nodded her agreement and returned to her laptop. I let her work on sorting out her flights home.

“How can I get to London Heathrow from here? Is there a flight from Manchester?”

"There is. What time is there a flight to Texas from London?"

“12:25 pm.”

I did the mental conversion. For once, it was easy.

“There should be a flight down. Let me check.”

I opened my phone, and within a few minutes, I had the answer.

“There is a British Airways flight at 09:55.”

Casey’s face lit up.
“That’s who operates the direct flight to Austin.”

I shook my head.
“Probably American Airlines as they codeshare.”

“I’ll book it now.”

She pounded away at her laptop, and a few minutes later, I saw her get a credit card from her purse.

The dinging of her phone told me that her e-tickets had arrived.

“That’s all done. I found that my original flight could not be rebooked here and I’d have to go through the travel agent that we use in Austin so I used my company credit card and bought a new ticket. They can pay the bill when it comes.”

“Good for you. I’ll get you to the airport in the morning. Now, shall we go to lunch?”

“I think that would be good.”

I took Casey to a pub near Ramsbottom. I knew that the place served an excellent lunch with locally sourced ingredients, and the place was big enough for us to talk without being overheard.

Sadly, our conversation over lunch was a bit subdued. I had so much that I wanted to say but was afraid to do so. I was also sure that Casey had similar thoughts.

We talked about the view, and life and anything other than 'us’.

The following morning, I picked Casey up at the Royal Oak just before 07:00. I paid her very reasonable bill.

“You didn’t have to do that?”

“In the end, the bill gets paid by Austin so in the big mix, it does not matter.”

“True.”

As I drove us out of the car park, I said,
"The roads down to Manchester Aiport can be a nightmare at this time so we are taking the train from Preston. That's fifteen minutes from here. There is a train direct to the airport at ten to eight.”

“You don’t like leaving anything to chance, do you?”

I shook my head.
“Not when making the flight to London is so critical then…? Just better to be safe, eh?”

“You like being in control, don’t you?”

“Control? If making sure that you get home today is being in control then yes, I do.”

“Thanks… for looking after me. I do appreciate it.”

We were in good time to catch the train. While we waited, one bound for London came into the adjoining platform.
“Could I have taken that?”

“You could but then you would have to lug that monstrosity of a case from Euston Station to Paddington before taking another train to the airport. You can check your case right through to Austin once we get to the Airport. That is a lot easier in my stupid opinion.”

Casey laughed.
“None of your opinions are stupid. I came to understand that very early on in my trip when you lectured me about the people in Austin almost as soon as I walked through the door. I think that was when I realised that as you so eloquently put it, I had been sold a ‘pig in a poke’.”

“Touché.”

Casey’s first train ride in the UK was one that commuters experienced every day. The fast service to the Airport was crowded but not overly so. Passenger numbers had still not fully recovered from pre-COVID times.

Once Casey had checked in and her bag disappeared down into the depths of the airport hopefully never to be seen again until Casey was in Austin, we had a few minutes before she needed to go through security. We stood on the concourse unsure about what to say to each other. Finally, I stepped closer to her and kissed her.

Casey responded immediately.

When we broke apart, Casey had tears in her eyes. She mumbled something and almost ran to the security checkpoint leaving me standing there. I also had tears in my eyes. I could not look at her, so I turned around and walked towards the escalator that would take me to my train home.

I didn’t see a tearful Casey stop and wave at me.

[to be continued]