chapter 4 // the big boss man
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The days had flown by as I'd waited for the interview.
Standing in the blistering cold at the bus stop, I wrapped my pale fingers closer around the edges of my Merlot-coloured felt coat, pulling it in to me in an attempt to create more warmth. Summer had flashed by just as quickly as the lightning that the autumnal storms had brought, and with it came a steady, never-ending torrent of rain. Today was a particularly cold day with the wind nipping at my skin, and I regretted not bringing a scarf.
The bus pulled up, only narrowly missing splashing me (which would have made my already awful day just that bit better. Not.) I stepped aboard and I'm greeted by a blast of warm air and a friendly face as the driver acknowledges me. Tucking a loose hickory tress of hair behind my ear, I fumbled for the exact money, before making my way to the back of the bus amidst the endless rows of empty seats.
Being inside and out of the miserable weather made me perk up a little. I had a good half an hour before I got to Castillo Acres, so I had time to prepare myself. But then again, nothing can prepare you well enough when you're about to meet the son of Freddie Castillo! And I'm the one doing the meeting! A smile flickers across my face as I catch my reflection on the window, speckled by raindrops racing each other like Thoroughbreds down the track of the pane. There is a buzz of excitement in my chest, and clearly my face is betraying me as it gives away my happiness freely. Cheeks flushed from the sudden change in temperature paired with cracked lips from the cold, reflection-Clara offers real-life-Clara a frown. Fumbling about in my bag I pull out a lipstick -- it's a slightly brown nude, perfect for keeping a neutral tone. Flicking open the mirror I keep with me, I take a peek, and I'm greeted by a slightly more elegant version of myself. It definitely feels more interview-worthy, at least.
My phone lights up on the seat next to me, and I glance down to read the notification. It's the fourth text I've had this morning, each from a different person wishing me good luck. Imogen and Alice had sent theirs on the way to school, no doubt one of them remembering and having to remind the other. Some days I wished I had a twin, as they seemed to be each others' calendars! Anna had still been in bed when I'd left, probably lying in till 1pm like I've known her to do countless times. But she'd still remembered, and I'd been pleased to get her text. The most recent happened to be from Ross, who had told me to 'go for it'. I was warmed by his apparent want for me to succeed, but then saw that he might have ulterior motives.
Ross: Hey doll, good luck today! Go get 'em tiger! (And get Jude for me. Pretty pleaseeeee?) Much love xx
I fumbled to get a text back, my hands still numb from the cold.
Clara: Soz boo. No can do. Not sure my possible new boss would be impressed with me dragging him back to meet you... but thanks for the support. Love u xx
The mundane scenery of the town quickly changed to gorgeous countryside, with rolling fields filled with various breeds of sheep and cows and patterned with cultivated soil or growing vegetables. Not many horses as of yet, but no doubt I would see them soon, as my phone told me I was approaching the stop I needed to get off at.
With a quick thank you to the driver, I stepped off eagerly, finding myself on an apparent bus stop which happened to be nothing but a grassy verge. It was certainly out of the way; I glanced up and down the country road and it showed no signs of life, other than the grumbling of the bus as it pulled away. I checked my phone once again. It wasn't much of a trek, but if I had to make it in the heart of winter everyday, I wasn't sure I could survive.
First impressions screamed opulence at me. The shiny, ornate brass gate that stood a little off the main road was decorated with sun and moon carvings into the metal, held up by two marble pillars also painted with golden symbols. I ran a finger over the handle and it responded with a shock of ice birthed from the cold weather under my touch.
Castillo Acres was huge, and dauntingly so. Clearly living up the latter half of its name, it seemed to stretch endlessly over the fields. At the very top of the hill stood a proud old mansion that I guessed was Larkbridge House. It wasn't a particularly steep incline, but again, it wasn't one I looked forward to walking every day, and I had a fleeting thought of how the people who lived here coped. That was quickly quashed by the realisation that the family wouldn't need to use buses. No doubt they had chauffeurs to do that for them!
My eyes soon flickered to the left of the house. Etched into the side of the hill was a shallow valley, carved from a body of water somewhere between a stream and a river gushing across the hillside. Shrouded by a thick forest jumbled with an assortment of trees, you could only glance at the water every so often when the woodland allowed a glimpse. A bridge, which an educated guess would have said was what the manor was named after, stood lonesome in an open grove of trees.
The most impressive and possibly important thing that caught my eye were the equestrian facilities, scattered in front of me across the landscape. Furthest away stood two barns parallel to each other, made of a pretty oak and decorated with mossy green edging across the panels. From what I could make out, it had all the things you'd expect to find right next to it: an arena, a round-pen and a horse walker. Closer to me, lined with small rose bushes of varying colours (some of which I'd never seen before), a practice race track complete with a small bandstand waited to be used. The gallops were cut out with the iconic white fencing. You could truly tell this was a horse racing business.
I jumped out my skin when a sudden beep from behind me woke me from my reverie.
With a flick of my hair, I spun around to be greeted by a blood red Mini Cooper. In an almost-comical stand off moment, I tried to peer into the front windscreen to see who the driver was, but the sun reflected off it causing my view to be obstructed. Once again it beeped, and I suddenly leapt into action, slightly worried that whoever the impatient driver was would mow me down.
As I moved to one side, the car slowed down beside me and the window rolled down steadily. A woman stared up at me with a blank look on her face, perfectly manicured nails matching the colour of her mini flexing around the wheel.
"Are you lost?" She asked bluntly, with no hint of an accent.
Shaking my head, I tried to pull my words together, telling myself to stop acting so pathetically. "Uh, I'm here for the interviews for the groom position." I offered, tightening my grip on my bag across my shoulder self-consciously.
With a frown, she brought one of her hands up to her chin thoughtfully. "No... no, you can't be. Those ended last week. Sorry. Thank you for coming, but Mr. Castillo is a busy man." With that, she was putting her car into gear, clearly ready to leave me in her wake.
"Wait!" I called, grabbing onto the open window.
The woman looked up at me with hazel eyes disapprovingly.
"I was definitely given today as an interview time. I'm sure I was. Maybe Grace got it wrong, sent me the wrong date or something..." Blathering a little, I tried to fumble for my phone but from the look on her face, guessed that it would be a waste of time. "Please, at least let me try? If Mr. Castillo doesn't want to see me, I'll walk right out, no questions asked."
For a few moments, I thought she was going to drive off, but my face clearly must have looked desperate as she rolled her eyes and patted the leather seat next to her. "Alright. But if you incur his wrath, on your head be it."
In a matter of seconds I was beside her in the car, which was much warmer than outside and I was glad of it. There was a pop song playing on the radio, and she was tapping along to it with her nails as she drove up the long, winding driveway. I wasn't sure what to say, if anything at all, but thankfully she was the one to break the silence.
"I'm Yun-Jae Seong, but you can call me Jae. Everyone does." It was hardly something I could work with, but I was desperate to make conversation, so nodded at her eagerly.
"It's lovely to meet you Miss Seong! I'm Clara Reid! My riding instructor Grace Kerrigan sent me. Perhaps you've heard of her? She owns Westfield Stables."
My enthusiasm was met with a cold glare. "Mr Castillo won't appreciate that tongue on you. He likes people who get the job done and don't gurgle like a drowning rat."
A little shocked, I hunkered back down in my seat, obviously put in my place. Instead of talking, I watched out the window at the beautiful horses who were roaming the paddocks.
Jae spoke again; she seemed to like to talk about herself. "I'm the other groom here, along with Alexander Dacre, though he's been focusing on training to be a jockey recently. Mr Castillo may run the show from the outside, but we keep everything ticking smoothly on the in. Nothing happens without our say so. Got it?"
Silently nodding, I was glad that the car was pulling into the equestrian car park. There was only one other car there, and Jae eased into the space next to it.
"Take a look around. I'll speak to Mr. Castillo, see if I can get him to take time out of his incredibly busy schedule to talk to you." With a flick of her straight brunette hair, she was pulling away again, and I watched her drive back towards Larkbridge House.
My first instinct was to stay put. If I did that, there was no chance of me getting lost, or worse, breaking something. But the cold weather nipped at me fiercely, and I longed for some warmth. With a firm nod, I set off towards the bigger of the two barns, opening a side door cautiously to see if it was unlocked.
The barn was not only brightly lit but had huge windows in the roof to allow as much natural light in as possible. The interior was gorgeous; large stalls lined a corridor down the centre with mixed horses heads hanging out. A few neighed at me as soon as they heard someone come in, and pricked their ears curiously when they realised it wasn't someone they knew.
Stepping lightly as though I were some kind of burglar, I found myself drawn in by the elegant horses that watched me. Upon looking at them closer, I realised that these were the livelihood of the Castillo family -- each one of these horses was a racer, some of which I'd seen on the track and others that I guessed were up and coming youngsters. I assumed the other barn was for the broodmares. A little taken aback, I gawked at each one as I glided past. It was like I was stood among celebrities.
Each horse had its racing name on a pretty metal sign on their stable door, with their barn name engraved underneath. I stopped and clucked at a couple that caught my eye. Concordia was first, a big bay gelding who I knew to be one of the Castillo's latest prospects. He eyed me up warily as he munched away, not offering me anything more than a few ear flicks. Stubborn butt, I giggled to myself, as I checked his barn name -- Moose. Nice.
Next was a pretty gelding, chestnut this time and smaller than Concordia but more happy to see me. Ark Boy's velvet maw tickled my hand as I scratched his chin, and I blew air into his nostrils as a greeting. Whistling his barn name, Jem, I spent a good ten minutes tickling the friendly horse.
Finally, I reached a horse I hadn't seen on the track. He caught my attention because he was very still, hardly moving at all -- at first, I thought he might be asleep. When he noticed me, his ears pricked forward, and his gentle eyes met mine. For a heartbeat, I felt as though there was a connection between us. It probably sounds strange, but it was as though he was reading me. Whatever it was, the grey horse seemed to accept me and took a few steps forward, just enough for me to stroke his face. "True Zero..." I breathed, and he snickered at the sound of his name. "Don't you have a barn name, boy?"
"We call him Zero."
The voice startled me and I fell backwards from Zero, tripping over my own feet. I catapulted straight into a rake, knocking it over and only just managing to grab onto another horse's stable door, much to the horror of the occupant inside who leapt backwards as I fell with a startled whinny.
The scene was like something out of a movie when I finally pulled myself off the ground and dusted myself off. Glancing towards the sound of the voice, my eyes eventually settled on a figure leaning against the furthest away stall. Light tumbled down from the roof and cast dappled rays on the floor, illuminating part of his face to reveal a smirk. Arms crossed in front of him, his muscles peeked through his white shirt and suit jacket; this businessman looked completely out of place in the stables. Once I realised who it was, I again found my mouth gaping open, much like a guppy I used to have when I was a kid. My mum would have told me to shut my cave of a mouth before a bat flew inside and made it its home.
"Mr Castillo, I'm sorry... Jae, uh, Miss Seong said I should look around. I didn't think I was doing any harm and --"
"It's fine." He retorted, stepping towards me. He was taller than I'd expected, and, dare I say it, more handsome too -- if that was even possible. The cover-boy-rising-star who I'd seen slapped across every country magazine possible was more than just a picture on a satin page. He was living, breathing, tangible...
Stubble sat on his firm jaw, and silver-coloured eyes danced in the daylight, scanning me as he approached. Whilst I was assessing (gawking at) him, he'd clearly been doing the same to me.
"Miss Reid, yes?" Pausing, Jude Castillo pulled out a pocket diary. "I was expecting you last week."
Grimacing, I glanced at the floor. "I'm sorry. I honestly thought it was today. There must have been some kind of mix up."
With a slight shrug, the man turned to face Zero, holding out a hand for the gelding to sniff. The pair seemed well bonded as the grey horse pushed against him like they were old friends. "No matter. You're here now."
I awkwardly stood there, one hand plucking at the fringe on the strap of my bag, the other picking under my nails; your nerves are showing, Clara, I told myself. Not that Mr Castillo was paying me much attention. He seemed too busy with the horse to notice anything I was doing. Unsure of how to proceed, I was about to speak, but he got there first.
"How long have you worked with horses?"
I sprang into action, though stumbled to find my words. "I, uh -- since I was about 12."
"So you're experienced?"
"I'd like to say so, sir, yes."
"What about Thoroughbreds?"
I cast my mind back in an attempt to remember if I'd had any dealings with the breed. I came up short. "No. No, no experience with Thoroughbreds." Might as well be honest.
Mr Castillo seemed to muse over it for a minute, but still didn't meet my gaze. I was beginning to wonder if he was just asking the questions out of courtesy, so I wouldn't have seemed to have had a wasted trip.
"Do you want this job, or is Mrs Kerrigan pushing you after it?"
"No, I definitely want it! It's such an incredible opportunity!" That question I answered without faltering, which surprised me completely. My outburst shocked even me. Could it be possible that I wanted this job more than I thought I did?
Finally, Mr Castillo pushed off the stable door, fingers flexing as he went, spinning himself around to face me. The steely grey eyes fluttered up and down, taking me in.
"All I need is loyalty. Can you give that?"
Nodding earnestly, I met his gaze. For a moment, no words passed between us, until he gave a single firm nod, twirling on his heels towards the exit of the stable.
"I'll be in touch."