Racing For Love

Chapter Five: Paige

It's Monday, my first official day at Colt & Co. I'm both nervous and excited and didn't get much sleep last night. I take one last glance in the mirror before I leave, I spent more time than usual worrying about my appearance today, I just can't help myself. I'm wearing some navy blue jodhpurs with a white polo shirt tucked in and my knee high brown boots. I put my hair into two French braids to keep it out of my face, and applied a small amount of blush and mascara. I want to look good but I also don't want to look like I'm trying too hard either. 

I listen to my "Mellow Mornings" playlist on the train to try and calm my nerves but it doesn't really work, the butterflies are still alive and well in my stomach. I get to the yard at 6:45am, fifteen minutes early, and head up to Everett's office. I take a deep breath before knocking and he shouts for me to come in.

"Good Morning Mr Colt. How are you today?"

"Good Morning Paige, here's a list of the things I need you to do today. Lunch is at 12pm and we have a short coffee break at 3pm too. Jake is the main stable hand, he will show you around once he's finished his morning duties. No slacking off and make sure everything on that list is completed by 5pm."

"Yes Sir."

Who pissed in his cornflakes this morning? Reading over the list as I make my way to the yard I can see that my suspicions were correct, he is indeed testing me. There is enough work on here for two people, but I'll show him.

I shove the list into my pocket and take in my surroundings. The winter rains have provided lush grass for the horses to graze on, the buildings here are all state of the art and look brand new too. There's the office building which looks like it belongs in the city, a walker for the horses, 6 beautiful stable barns and some buildings behind them. I can only assume they are the tack rooms and such. 

In the sixth barn I finally see a young man, I have only come across girls so far. If that's Jake he looks a lot younger than I would have thought the main stable hand would be. He's busy mucking out a stable but stops what he's doing when he sees me. 

"Hi, are you Jake?"

"Sure am Miss, how can I help?"

"I'm Paige, the new groom. Mr Colt said that you would show me around when you were finished your work"

"No worries, I'm just finishing this now and then we will take a walk."

I follow Jake to the muck heap where he empties the contents of his wheelbarrow then waves for me to follow him. He shows me through all of the stables, pointing out all of the horses, what they're here for and even how much they're worth. As I had thought, the smaller building I saw is for all of the saddlery, the horse rugs and feed. It also has some toilets. We take a walk through the paddocks that are in use at the moment and Jake explains to me how they rotate the horses to stop the soil from getting too damaged. 

We head back to the office building and on the first floor at the back is a canteen. There's even a chef here who cooks lunch for the staff every day. This room makes me feel like I am back at school, round tables and plastic chairs filling the space. 

"There's a coffee machine over there that you can help yourself to, but obviously Everett doesn't like it if we spend too much time in here sipping on coffees."

"Good to know." I laugh. 

With that my tour is complete and I thank Jake for his help, he seems like a sweet guy. At least I can have a friend here. A lot of times people in the equine industry can be quite snotty and arrogant, like Everett. The first thing on my list is to hose down and bandage the fore left leg of a horse named Bentley. I'm pretty sure he was in the second barn, I thank my good memory and quickly get to work. 

I hear the sound of a bell ringing and checking my watch realise that it is 12pm already. The morning has gone by so quickly but I'm making good progress on my list. I head to the canteen and make myself a coffee before going to see what food is on offer today. Looking around the room I estimate that there must be at least 30 people here. This place really is huge. 

I see Jake waving at me so I walk over to say Hi.

"Come sit here Paige. It's chicken salad for lunch today."

I nod and go to get some salad, the tuna sandwich I made going to waste in my bag. This salad looks a lot better anyway and there's fresh bread rolls and fruit too. 

"How is your day going Ms Parker?"

I jump in surprise at the voice behind me, almost dropping my plate. Turning around I come face to face with Everett. He's standing very close, his minty breath brushes past my face. He's not in a suit today, he's wearing a pair of cream jodhpurs, black boots and a black polo shirt. f**k he looks hot in these clothes.

"It's going good thank you. This is really an amazing establishment, the facilities are the best I've ever seen!"

"Yes, I only like the best of things. Be in my office at 4:45pm. If there's any questions you have I'd be happy to answer them."

"Yes Sir."

"Just call me Everett."

He reaches over me, his chest brushing past my face, grabs a couple of apples then leaves. Is he always so intense? Does he always stand so close to people? I can feel the blush in my cheeks and I take a minute to compose myself before going to sit down. 

Despite Jake's efforts to chat I mostly eat in silence, still thinking about Everett. There's something about him that just shakes me to my core. 

The rest of my day goes smoothly. I was so caught up in my work that I even missed the coffee break at 3pm. I had the best time being left to myself to complete my work. Every single horse here is just magnificent and I can't believe I get to work with them. I do lots of bandaging, grooming, turning horses out to the paddocks, taking horses in, rugging them up and re stocking some supplies. When I tick the last thing off my list I check the time to see that it is only 4:30. I have 15 minutes to spare so I go to grab a coffee.

When I get to the canteen there is a man already at the coffee machine, an older man maybe in his forties who I haven't seen yet. 

"Ah hello, you must be Paige, Everett has told me a lot about you."

'Really?"

"Absolutely! It's not often a young lady like yourself has so much experience. If you ask me, I think he finds you quite interesting."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, there's nothing very interesting about me."

"Everyone has a story to tell, don't they?"

"Maybe..."

"Where are my manners, my name is Paul. I'm the old man who just wanders around here, not being very useful at all, but the people seem to tolerate me for some reason." He laughs. 

"Nice to meet you Paul." I say, offering him a hand to shake. "How long have you worked here?"

"Ah I've been working with Everett since he started out in the training business, so about 8 or 9 years now, though I've known him a lot longer."

"I see. Well it was great to meet you Paul but I've got to be in Everett's office in two minutes, don't want to piss him off on my first day." I laugh.

"Nice meeting you Paige. Anyone gives you any trouble around here, you come and see me, alright lovey?"

"I will, thanks Paul."

I make my way up to Everett's office with a coffee in my hand and a smile on my face. Paul seems like such a character and now I have two people that I can call friends. The door to Everett's office is open when I arrive. I make sure he is alone and then walk in, lightly knocking on the open door to announce my arrival. He is standing at the window that takes up the whole wall, looking down at the yard below him. His ass looks amazing in those Jodhpurs. Oh my God, what am I thinking? 

"Paige, you're here. Have a seat, tell me about your first day."

"It was great Mr Colt, I mean Everett. The horses are something else and the people are nice too."

"I see, and how much of the list were you able to complete?"

" I got everything done by 4:30pm, Sir."

I cant help but call him Sir or Mr Colt when he is being so cold like this. He makes me feel like I'm sixteen again and sitting in the principal's office. 

He raises his eyebrows and stares at me, almost like he thinks I'm lying so I throw the list on the desk between us. He can go and check if he wants.

"And tell me, who are these nice people you're talking about?"

"What?"

"Who exactly is it that you think is so nice around here?"

"Um, well I've only really talked to Jake and Paul and they both seem like great guys."

"I will not tolerate you flirting with the staff, is that understood Paige?"

"Excuse me? I wasn't flirting Everett, why would you say such a thing?"

"You can leave now, I'll see you tomorrow, and since that list was such a breeze to you I'll be sure to have a bigger one for you in the morning."

"No Problem!"

I stand up and walk out, not hiding my frustration. Why the f**k would he say something like that? What does he care if I flirt anyway? Such a rude and sexist thing to say. Maybe Chelsea was right about men after all.