Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

The hours flew by. Mercury was getting more engrossed in the little nuggets from the children's lives that he had been tasked to transcribe. He'd thought it would be boring, yet the children's characters burst off the page. As did the affection that the staff evidently held for them.

He'd very quickly worked out why Nick had given him this task. He'd prejudged him as a spoilt little rich kid ready to whine if he didn't get mobile phone coverage.

Of course, he'd always known how privileged his life had been. His mother had drummed that into him growing up. Yet facing it in black and white really brought it home to him.

As the kettle boiled, Mercury's mind filled with the insights he'd already learnt about the kids. He really hoped they'd like him. Mercury hadn't ever had much trouble in that department. Yet, outside of the bubble of his rich world, did Mercury Morrison offer anything of value?

With the utmost concentration, he waited for the tea to transform into the colour Nick said he liked it. If he left that day with one victory, it would be to produce a cup of tea that passed inspection. He'd made four botched attempts so far.

Once it looked about right, he added a splash of milk. Nick liked his tea strong. Mercury hated tea. Even the smell of it turned his stomach. He'd once confessed that to Mrs Wimpole. He might as well have said he was plotting to paint their house bright pink. She had taken it all very personally.

"Settling in?"

Mercury jumped as Gavin slithered into the room.

"Yes, thank you," Mercury replied. "Can I make you one?"

Gavin peered into the mugs. "Don't worry, I'll fix my own. Perhaps you might like to attend one of the independence classes I teach. We learn all sorts. From making tea to paying bills. All very alien stuff to some people."

Mercury would not let some prissy upstart ruin his day. He might be the new kid on the block but he was still Mercury Morrison.

"That would be wonderful," Mercury replied. "Put my name down."

He grabbed Nick's tea and his own black coffee and wandered through to the office. Nick had been speaking to a social worker. Now he typed furiously on his laptop. Mercury placed the mug down and stood back.

Nick carried on, engrossed.

"Erm…" Mercury said.

"What?"

"Erm…" Mercury repeated, more forcefully.

Nick stopped. "What's the matter?"

"I made you a cup of tea."

Grinning, Nick shook his head. "You're more needy of attention than half of the kids. Am I going to have trouble with you?"

Mercury slumped down in his chair. "Hey, I've worked hard today."

Nick turned in his chair. "This is only day one, Mercury. Although you have got on with things better than I expected. Now let's see what you've created."

He peered into the cup as if it contained a malevolent spirit. Looking up, he raised an eyebrow to Mercury.

"Seems almost good enough to drink."

Mercury raised his hands. "Hurray. My first victory at Bodhi House."

"And all without the help of the butler."

"I don't have a butler, thank you," Mercury snapped.

Mercury knew he shouldn't technically speak to a boss like that. However, he fully intended to shut down the assumptions on his life. It was bad enough that catty Gavin had him down as a rich kid who couldn't peel a potato.

"I'm sorry," Nick said. "I've never met a rich person who isn't a criminal before."

Mercury frowned. "What do you think I'm doing here?"

"You know what I mean. Rich with legit money. I bet you've never met anyone like me before either."

"I wouldn't say that."

"I bloody would. It's okay to admit it."

Mercury had been backed into a corner. "Okay, fine," he said. "Can't you see? That's why I'm determined to get something out of this instead of sulking. I want to be of use, Nick."

The door banged, making the whole house shudder. A chorus of raised voices approached.

"Now's your chance. It's opening time."

Nick got up. Mercury remained pinned to the chair. He was as nervous as he'd been standing up in court.

"You coming?" Nick asked.

"Is it stupid to admit I'm scared?"

Nick's expression softened. "It shows you care. That's a good sign. Now come on, they won't eat you."

"Are you guaranteeing that?"

Nick reached down and took Mercury's hand. Mercury started at the physical contact. God, this man was hot.

Nick pulled him to his feet. "You'll be fine. I promise."

With legs like jelly, Mercury allowed himself to be led through to the main room. A gaggle of teenagers were filling the lounge that he'd just walked through with the drinks. When they saw him, most of them snapped to attention. All except a tall lad who sat spread out on one of the sofas, messing with his phone.

Mercury recognised a top dog when he saw one.

"Right, everyone. Remember I told you that someone would be coming to work here for a few weeks."

"Yeah, community service," the lad on the sofa piped up.

The rest of them all laughed whilst regarding Mercury as if he'd landed from Mars.

"Hello, everyone," Mercury managed, although his mouth had gone as dry as the Sahara.

The room fell into silence as they still stared.

"Come on," Nick said. "That isn't how we greet visitors. Blimey."

A short young man stepped forward and solemnly held out his hand. "I'm Hassan," he said. "Very pleased to meet you."

Mercury took the gesture and shook. "Nice to meet you too, Hassan."

Next came a nervous-looking young girl. "I know you," she said. "You're Madeline Morrison's son."

Everyone gasped.

"Are you?" Hassan asked.

Mercury nodded.

"She's beautiful," the young girl said. "I'm Olena."

"And I'm Anna."

They were evidently sisters. Mercury wouldn't be at all surprised if they were twins. The similarities were incredible.

"Hello, Anna. Hello, Olena, and thank you. My mother would be very pleased."

Wouldn't she ever?

A stunning girl came forward.

"Mercury, this is Brooke," Nick said.

"Are you the influencer who fucked up that artwork?" she asked.

Mercury bristled. "Apparently so. A terrible miscarriage of justice."

"You got found guilty though," the young man on the sofa said.

He had a hard stare that made Mercury uncomfortable. How could someone so young be so wary?

"I pleaded guilty," Mercury said. "To avoid any more trouble. It was my word against his and he did a better job of convincing everyone that his version of events was true."

Nick led Mercury over to the lad. "Mercury, I'd like you to meet Eddie."

Mercury was shocked. He would never have guessed that this cocky young man was Eddie, the young carer he had been reading up on that day.

"Hello, Eddie. It's wonderful to meet you."

Eddie stared at him for a few more very long seconds before holding out his hand, which Mercury took.

"Pleased to meet you too. Are you rich?"

"Eddie!" Nick said.

"It's okay," Mercury cut in. "I suppose I am, really."

Brooke sat on the sofa next to Eddie, who scooted up to make room for one more. They both stared expectantly at Mercury. It appeared a grilling was on the cards.

Mercury sat between them. He caught Nick's eye, who winked at him.

Yum!

"Must be weird for you coming here," Eddie said.

"I'll be honest, I was shitting myself."

The two sisters, who were now sitting on the other sofa, giggled.

"We have a swear jar at Bodhi House," Nick explained.

Immediately, Hassan scampered and grabbed a half-filled jar from underneath the coffee table.

"It's fifty pence every time you say a bad word," he said solemnly.

Mercury dug in his pocket and found a pound coin that he put into the jar.

"That's a pound," Hassan said.

"Silly bloody me," Mercury replied.

All the kids fell about laughing.

"What do you do for a living?" Olena asked.

"He's an influencer, dummy," Brooke replied. "I saw it on the news."

Mercury shuddered to think how scathing those reports would have been. People hated influencers. Until they wanted something promoting. Then they were very useful indeed.

"What's a fluenza?" Hassan asked.

He knelt at Mercury's feet, staring up at him.

"I help people promote their stuff," Mercury said. "I have a few followers on the socials so if I attend their launches or like their products, then other people sometimes do."

Brooke frowned at her phone. "You've got five hundred thousand on Instagram. How many on TikTok?"

Mercury shifted uncomfortably. "Last time I checked, about two hundred and fifty thousand. I…well, I've not done a post since all this happened. It's probably about three people now."

Eddie gasped. "It's four hundred thousand now."

It appeared his foray into criminality hadn't done his profile any harm.

"Why haven't you posted anything?" Hassan asked.

"Oh, well. I didn't much feel like it."

"Could I be an influencer?" Brooke asked.

Mercury nodded. "Anyone can be. It takes a lot of work. Normally I'll post three or four times a day."

"How do you think it all up?"

What a question. For the last few years, it had come naturally. Now he'd lost his nerve to show his face. As for the comments section, that would be a hotbed of vileness, more than likely.

Eddie got up and stood before Mercury. "Want to see something?"

"Of course."

Mercury glanced at Nick. He had a hardness to his face that hadn't been there before.

"Eddie, Mercury is here to work, remember. Not hang out all day."

"I know. I'm only showing him the veg patch," Eddie said.

"Fine," Nick said. "I'll be in the office. You need to finish up before you leave."

Mercury followed Eddie through the kitchen and out into the garden. It was a decent size, mainly grass. Yet, at the end, he saw some raised beds.

"When did you do all this?" Mercury asked.

"In the spring," Eddie replied. "Nick said we can cook a whole meal with what we've planted. Cool, eh?"

They reached the end of the lawn. The planters were filled with produce.

"What is it all?" Mercury asked.

"Lettuce, cucumber, radish, spring onions and potatoes," Eddie announced proudly.

Mercury's heart went out to this young lad with far too much responsibility on his shoulders.

"Sounds like all the right ingredients for a picnic," Mercury replied.

"Nick said that," Eddie said excitedly. "When they're ready and if it's not raining, we're going to make food and eat it in the garden."

Mercury took in the area. Flower beds were filled with colour. Whoever had created this had done so very carefully. He suspected Nick had a hand in it.

"It is beautiful, but the best place for a picnic is on the beach," Mercury said. "Unless you get sand in your mouth."

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"The sea."

Mercury's jaw dropped and he quickly rectified it. He would never forgive himself if he made any of the children at Bodhi House feel less about their lives. Yet, the idea that Eddie had never seen the sea made Mercury want to cry.

"It's…erm…I guess it's huge. When you stand on the beach looking out, you can't see anything but water."

"I'm going to go one day," Eddie said.

"And you'll love it."

"Mercury."

Nick stood at the door.

"Does he nag you like this?" Mercury asked as they walked toward the house.

"All the time."

They reached the doorway.

"Eddie, the others are putting a movie on," Nick said. "Once that's done, I'll thrash you at pool. Again."

"You wish."

Eddie made his way inside.

"He's a great kid," Mercury said once they were alone.

"Mercury, come with me a second."

Nick led him onto the lawn, out of earshot of the house. Mercury suspected he'd done something wrong, although he had no idea what that would be.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Didn't I make a good impression?"

Nick sighed. "You did. Don't get me wrong. Please be careful about filling their heads with things. Brooke is now practicing her selfies and Olena and Anna are racking their brains about what they can promote."

Mercury grinned. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Telling them they can be influencers like you…it's giving them false hope."

Mercury shook his head. "I fail to see how. All you need is a phone, and they have better ones than I do."

"You are Madeline Morrison's son," Nick said quietly. "Doors open for you wherever you go. Brooke, Olena and Anna aren't going to wander into Harvey Nicks and get their choice of fancy outfits. You're here to do a job, not upset things. You'd do well to remember that."

Without waiting for a reply, Nick stalked into the house, leaving Mercury crushed. This was going to be a steeper learning curve than he'd expected.

Mercury watched Nick as he closed the door behind him. There wasn't much between them in terms of age. Yet, Nick was an adult with real responsibility. A sting of shame burnt through Mercury's system.

He would prove to Nick that he wasn't the person he had obviously prejudged him to be. In fact, he would show the whole bloody world that there was more to him than fame and freebies.