Weakness

by Shelley Michaels

  When I qualified, I took a junior position within a salon on the Kings Road, Chelsea, where I met Steve Bond, a guy who shaped my future without even being aware. He was a stern man, but I watched avidly and absorbed the way he created art within his work and had an incredible way with people, which I adopted as my own. He had high aspirations in life, leaving me also wanting to reach for the sky.

  Steve ended up owning a chain of salons across London. When I stood by and observed him achieve all he dreamed of, I withdrew the guilt money that my father had been paying into a bank account for me, since birth, and bought my first salon in Battersea Park.

  I needed to succeed for me. I needed to do something to prove to myself that I was more than an inadequate replacement for a woman that no one could fault. Do I wish I had her in my life? Absolutely, but that was never to be, and I couldn’t miss what I never had.

  After chatting to Lulu, I call Shauna to catch up on her world and update her on my arrival to Krystal. She seems assured that I have found a friend in Ellie, although something stops me mentioning Detective Austin and his intense sapphire eyes. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t be happy for me, she would, of course, but I felt an immense amount of shame for even noticing his gorgeousness while my brother’s body was still warm on a slab.

  Bored, I wait until five-thirty when the sun rises and go for a run.

  It is as I am panting up the hill towards the hotel that I spot him, Detective Austin, exiting his pickup truck and heading for the front stairs to the hotel. He stops, when he notices me, and leans his jean-clad hip against the railings, his eyes devouring me as I approach. My body is hot, sweaty and immediately alerts to his presence. Shit! I must look like hell. I have a baseball cap over my head, to protect from the sun, a pair of incredibly short shorts and a vest top that is wet through with perspiration. My face is void of make-up, and I can only imagine how pink and shiny my face is right now.

  ‘Morning, London,’ he calls, as I halt at the bottom of the steps and bend over to catch my breath.

  ‘Hey!’ I mumble, in between gasps. ‘Fuck, that hill’s steep,’ I manage to pant.

  ‘You take water?’ He questions.

  ‘What? No!’ I straighten up and put my hands on my hips as I catch my breath.

  ‘Heat and high altitude up here, London, need to take water,’ he announces, calmly.

  ‘Noted!’ I climb the steps until I am level with him. ‘Was it me you wanted to see?’ I ask, realising that he may be here in a professional capacity.

  ‘Absolutely,’ he murmurs, his glance moving down to my bare legs. ‘I have to tell you London, you have the longest legs I have ever seen,’ he comments, casually.

  I ignore the fizzing that hits my core at his perusal. ‘Is there any new information?’ I frown, scowling towards his lazy gaze.

  His face clears, ‘actually, I do need to speak to you about Oliver,’ he admits. ‘I’ll meet you in the dining room in twenty minutes?’

  ‘You can tell me now,’ I insist.

  ‘Twenty, London,’ he turns away from me and enters the hotel leaving me following behind. ‘I have other business to take care of,’ he announces, before slipping behind the reception desk and into the door that is marked ‘private.'

  I stand and observe as the door closes gently behind him. Irritation curling in my stomach, I run up the stairs and make for the shower.

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