Chapter 18 – About Bloody Time
The next couple of months saw Regulus getting fired from two jobs and quitting three. Five days in one job was his record.
"You're home early," said Sirius, looking up from his laptop.
"Yeah. Not kissing that wanker's boots for seven dollars an hour," said Regulus and went into the kitchen to get something from the fridge.
"That's the third job this month, Reggie," said Sirius and sighed, having given up on lecturing his brother about his workplace manners.
"I know!" snapped Regulus. Truth be told he was getting quite desperate because his money was almost out, but he just couldn't leave his pride at the door when going to work. He would rather starve than let himself be degraded by some big-headed boss or rude costumers.
"Now you've started school you have less time to waste. You better get a move on, Reggie, and make more of an effort."
o0o0o
Coming home from work, Remus was met by Lily in the hallway. "Go see your boyfriend – I gave him a haircut!" she beamed excitedly. Then she laughed at the shocked expression on Remus' face. "Don't look so terrified," she laughed and put a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't take it all. He's still as pretty as ever."
Regulus turned on his chair to face Remus when he entered his room. He looked excited, but the smile on his face faltered when Remus just stood staring. "Don't you like it?" he asked, running his hand through his now just-above-the-shoulders hair. "It was getting so long, and –"
Remus broke into a smile and walked up to his boyfriend. "I love it! I didn't think it was possible for you to look any better than you already did – but look at you!"
Regulus looked relieved and smiled again, wrapping his arms around Remus' neck and pulling him down for a kiss.
o0o0o
"Get those bloody feet off the table!" screamed Regulus when he walked into the living room, finding Sirius, James, and Peter playing Nintendo - Peter's bare feet on the table. "That's bloody nasty! We live in a flat, you know, not a bloody pig sty!"
Peter quickly pulled his feet off the table and eyed Regulus grumpily.
"Relax, dear brother," said Sirius as he gave James the final blow in the game they were playing. "Take a chill pill, will ya?"
"His feet are sweaty and dirty! Probably has athlete's foot too! Do you want to eat off that table? He might as well stick them on your plate!"
"Control your boyfriend, Remus," said Sirius and started another game, choosing to ignore Regulus as he often did when Regulus was right about something.
"You're a pig, Pettigrew," said Regulus.
"What happened?" asked Remus, a little confused, having just come into the room.
"Just Regulus biting my head off for putting my feet on the table," said Peter, hoping for support from Remus.
"I gotta agree with him on that one, Pete," said Remus. "It's kind of unhygienic. Especially with the socks off."
Regulus smirked. It was nice getting a little support, and it was clear that Remus didn't just say it to humor him.
"Of course, you're taking his side," mumbled Peter.
"I've actually told you before," said Remus and crossed his arms. "It's got nothing to do with taking sides."
"That's right, Pete," teased James. "Listen to Mama and Daddy."
"I swear I'm going to kill that git one day," Regulus growled as he followed Remus into the kitchen. "Why can't we kick him out? Blimey, I wish I could afford my own flat. You and I could share it."
"Relax," smiled Remus and put his arms around Regulus' waist from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder. "Maybe we can do that one day if we can find an apartment cheap enough. And when you've found yourself a steady job. Talking about that - I talked to one of Mr. Ollivander's old friends today and he owns some stables and needs someone to take care of his horses. I said I might know the perfect fellah for the job."
Regulus turned in Remus' embrace, staring at him for a long moment. "Horses? What kind of horses? Which sport?"
"I'm not sure what kind of horses he has," said Remus, pleased with himself for having caught Regulus' interest. "I don't really know anything about horses. He got a large stable outside of town. I just thought that maybe it would be more interesting than the other jobs you've had, because you used to ride horses."
"Yes. Yes, of course. I'll try it out," said Regulus, trying to not seem overly excited. He was no small child after all.
"Maybe Sirius can give you a ride out there tomorrow after school," suggested Remus with a broad smile. "Unless you'd rather I take you out there after work?"
"I think I'll go on my own, if you don't mind. Maybe drop me off there."
"Of course," Remus nodded and leaned in for a kiss. "I hope it's the right job for you. He's a very nice old man and I think you'll like him."
o0o0o
Sirius' borrowed James' car the following day and dropped off Regulus at the address given by Mr. Ollivander. "Just give me a call when you need picking up, yeah?"
The place was bigger and more impressive than Regulus had expected. This man must be very rich. A long driveway lead up to the main buildings, surrounded by large pastures enclosed by freshly painted white wooden fence as far as Regulus could see. There were many horses in the pastures; wonderful thoroughbreds and warmbloods of different colors. To the left of the avenue was a pasture with half a dozen mares with foals and on the one to the right, a dozen colts were grazing.
An elderly man came walking out from one of the barns, wiping his hands on a piece of cloth, smiling broadly at Regulus. "Ah, you must be Regulus. So nice to see you," he said and held out his hand for Regulus to shake. "I'm Mr. Simmons but you can call be Albert. Remus done told me a great deal about you and he says you're mighty fond of horses."
"I am," said Regulus and shook the man's hand. "I have competed in show-jumping since I was ten."
"Ah, wonderful!" beamed Mr. Simmons. "Well, I don't know if Remus done told you anything about this place but what I mostly like for you to do is tend to a handful of my personal horses. I might even consider letting you ride them. I got a few showjumpers so that should be right up your ally."
"I'm a very good rider," said Regulus, a little offended that the man said he would consider letting him ride. "Won the junior cup two years in a row in Chelsea."
"Well, I gotta see how you handle a horse first, but if you're as good as you say then I don't see no problem in letting you ride my horses. One of my riders moved away so I'm a man short, so I was very pleased when Remus mentioned you. "
"How about I show you right now?"
"Well, there ain't no time like the present, is there?" grinned Mr. Simmons. "Let's saddle a horse for you," he agreed and led Regulus to the stables. He showed him over to a stall where a brown mare stood and stuck her head out to look at Regulus as he approached.
Regulus went over and ran a hand down the mare's forehead, feeling his heart flutter. He had not touched a horse since he had sold Polaris. It would be wonderful to be back in the saddle.
Albert came back with a saddle and smiled at Regulus. "I see Celestina likes you already," he nodded and hung the saddle on the stall door. "If you could take her out and saddle her, get her ready for jumping, then I'll watch you work."
Of course, Regulus knew how to groom and saddle a horse, but it was work he had rarely done at home. He had people for things like that. But if he had to work here, he couldn't very well order someone else to do it for him, so he did it himself and lead the horse outside. With agility he leapt onto the horse and followed the old man down to the jumping court.
"Let's see what you got, Regulus," Mr. Simmons said and opened the gate to a large arena. He then leaned on the fence and watched as Regulus rode the horse around, warming up, before getting ready for the jumps.
Regulus rode for a good twenty minutes, getting a good feel for the horse before moving on to the jumping. He quickly found out why Mr. Simmons had given him this particular horse. She was clearly not very experienced. As soon as he steered her on the first fence, she got very excited and pulled on the reins to try to take control and run faster. She did not have a very good aim, so without being controlled and kept at a tempered pace, she would knock down most of the obstacles. The first three fences were knocked down but then Regulus was getting the hang of it. He sat down deep in the seat, calmly insisting she go slower, and he picked obstacles with a good distance between them to give the mare time to get a proper aim. After this, they cleared twelve out of 14 fences.
"Wonderful!" beamed Mr. Simmons, clapping his hands in applause when Regulus came to a halt. "I ain't never seen Celestina clear that many fences before. Clearly, you're very gifted on a horseback. And I like that you got a gentle hand. Way too many riders are rough on the horse's mouth. That's mainly what I wanted to see when I said I'd consider letting you ride my horses." He opened the fence to let Regulus put and he walked beside him back to the stables. "I would absolutely love to hire you if you're willing to work hard and come all the way out here."
"Brilliant," smiled Regulus. "Will you perhaps let me ride some competitions for you?"
"I see no reason why not. You clearly know how to ride a show jumper. Actually better than most of my other riders so I would very much like for you to compete."
o0o0o
When Regulus came home he couldn't hide the wide grin on his face. He fetched a Coke in the fridge and plopped down on the couch next to Remus.
"How did it go?" Remus asked, excited to hear how Regulus liked the new job.
"Alright," said Regulus, trying to sound nonchalant, but the grin on his face gave him away. "Well - pretty bloody brilliant, actually. He was satisfied with my riding skills and said he'd let me both train and compete. He offered a pretty good salary too. And a twenty percent bonus of my winnings."
"That's great!" beamed Remus. "Then you finally found a job that you'll enjoy! And be able so save up for college."
"About bloody time," said Sirius as he emerged from the kitchen with a Budweiser in his hand. "Took him long enough to find a job that he might hold for more than three days."
"Yeah. I won't have my own stable boy, though," said Regulus. "Perhaps if I do well, I can convince Mr. Simmons to put one at my disposal."
"Wouldn't it be nice enough to do the work with the horses yourself?" asked Remus. "I mean it's a part of the job, ain't it?"
Sirius laughed. "Reggie was always used to people doing the dirty work."
"Where's the fun in that?" asked Remus.
"Anyone can brush and saddle a horse," said Regulus. "Why do that when I can pay others to do it? Then I can focus my concentrate and time on riding."
"Well didn't you want to go to college? Why not do it yourself and not waste money on hiring a stable boy?" snorted Sirius. "Or have you forgotten that you're not rich anymore?"
"No, I haven't," snapped Regulus. "I meant that Mr. Simmons should pay me only to ride and others to do the dirty work. He'd get the most out of me that way."
"So when are you going to work?" asked Remus.
"Evenings a few times a week and early morning on weekends. At least as long as it's so hot. When it gets better, we can move it to afternoons so I can sleep in on weekends."
Remus smiled, putting an arm around Regulus. He was so happy that his boyfriend had finally found a good job.