“Well, I am in it, if I like it or not,” Brooke says plainly.
Shona and Beau enter the dining room with Conor and Mike. I was not expecting them to come along. But I can understand why they have asked them to join us.
I smile as they all sit around the table. The waitress comes and pours everyone a cup of coffee.
Shona looks at me. “You do understand why we’ve had to drag our asses all the way here?”
“Yeah. It’s to do with the money in the bank account.” I say.
“You can’t blame Conor, he was just doing his job. He checked the account online and said it was nearly empty,” Shona says.
“We have spent heaps on materials,” I reply.
Beau takes the notepad from Mike and looks at the page.
“One hundred and seventy-five thousand on materials,” Beau says. “Plus, twenty-five thousand for labor.”
I look up shocked. “No, it is two hundred and fifty thousand we have spent on labor and materials,” I reply.
Beau holds up a pile of receipts. “Not according to these?”
Fuck. Have I got my figures wrong?
Shona looks over to me and raises her eyebrows. “How much do you have left?”
I feel confused about where the other fifty-grand has gone. “I have just over a hundred thousand in my room,” I reply.
I feel everyone beginning to stare at me. “So, we are light. Sorry, you are light by one hundred thousand,” Shona says, raising her eyebrow.
All that goes through my head is where the other fifty-grand has gone. Have I been playing cards and not realized it? What the fuck is going on?
“It seems so, but I’m sure it was only fifty thousand short,” I say shaking my head.
“What about the winnings…” Brooke begins to add.
Beau and Shona stare at me wildly. “Alex, I thought you’d finished with all that,” Shona says.
“I just got carried away. You know me. I am weak when it comes to cards,” I explain.
“I know, but you always used to win, what has happened?” Shona asks, confused.
Without thinking. I really put my foot in the whole situation.
“I was too busy thinking about Brooke, I couldn’t concentrate,” I say, truthfully.
I immediately realize what I’ve said. I was hoping I was thinking to myself. But from the look on everyone’s faces, I had actually said it out loud.
“Don’t push the blame on to me. I won you over thirty-five thousand yesterday,” Brooke says.
My hole just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I feel myself falling. Please God, just take me right here and now.
Shona turns to Brooke. “I feel you are an innocent party to all of this and have somehow got tangled up in this mess that Alex has made.”
Brooke huffs wildly. “You can freaking say that again.”
“Tell me about yesterday, and cut the bullshit,” Shona says.
“It all started when Alex asked me to go to the casino.” Shona nods as she listens. “We arrived, and the card game was waiting, so out of the five thousand Alex had in chips, he passed me some and said play on the roulette table,” Brooke explains.
“Carry on.”
Brooke leans on the table. “Well, I’m not sure why, but I noticed a pattern in red and black. I was happily placing four chips on a color and one on a random number.”
“So far so good,” Shona says.
“Well, I kept going, and then I put a chip on the number of my birthday. Before I knew it, the guy shoved a huge stack of chips to me,” Brooke says. “It seems that chip was a one thousand, so I won thirty-five thousand.”
“Hmm. Then what happened?” Shona asks.
“I wanted to puke. I walked over to Alex who was in a big hand with a guy. The big guy folded, and Alex won a huge stack on a bluff.”
I felt like hitting my head off the table. One of the final nails had been whacked home in my metaphorical coffin.
“A fucking bluff. You used our money on a god-damned bluff?” Shona snapped.
Being cocky doesn’t help you get out of the hole you’ve dug for yourself. That, I was just about to find out.
“I won, didn’t I?”
“Alex, I should send your sorry as back to Vegas,” Shona says. “I think your new friend Brooke would make a better choice of manager.”
As soon as I heard the word Vegas. The color ran from my face. Shona was not joking, but there was no way I could go back there. Not now, or ever.
“Alex, you have gone pale, are you feeling okay?” Shona asks.
I look around the table. Everyone seems to be all blurry and dancing in front of my eyes. Vegas, God no. That would be the end of me.
Beau stops flicking through the pad. He looks sternly at me as he clasps his hands in front of his body. He leans forward and I can see the broadness of his shoulders.
“What is wrong with Vegas?” he asks.
That’s it. I have to puke. I put my hand over my mouth. “Excuse me for a moment.”
I run to the bathroom. I rest my hands on the sink and turn on the faucet. I finally manage to stop myself and splash my face with cold water. I look up in the mirror. Shona has walked in behind me. I look into her eyes and force a smile.
“Alex, you better tell me everything,” she says.
“Shona, I am fucked. I really am,” I say.
Shona leans against the counter and looks at me. Tears well up in my eyes, but they are hidden by the splashing water.
“How fucked are you?”
“For one, Brooke out there. She drives me nuts. I’ve only just met her, and I am totally stuck on her,” I explain.
“That is not your biggest problem though, is it?”
I shake my head as I wipe my face with a towel. “Nah, it’s Vegas. That’s where my real problems lie,” I say.
“How bad is it?”
“Close to three hundred,” I say as I bow my head.
“Fuck me, Alex, how the hell did you get into that mess?”
“It happened so quickly, it was only one or two games. They were even watching me play,” I reply.
“You do know they will be looking for you?” Shona says.
I laugh. “Yeah, and I know exactly what they will do to me if they find me.”
“I will have to see what Beau says about it, I know we have the cash, but he hates bailing someone out who won’t help themselves,” Shona says plainly.
“I will do anything, I will go to rehab. I promise,” I say.
“Leave it with me, but you really have to keep your head down,” Shona replies.
“I know, and I am sorry.”
“That girl of yours, what is her background?” Shona asks.
“I have no idea, and she is not really my girl, although, I would love it if she were,” I say, now smiling.
“I can see why, she is so hot. I would have been so jealous if she was working in the club with me,” Shona says.
I move up from the sink and hug Shona. I whisper into her ear. “You know that is not true, no one can match you.”
Shona pushes her hands against my chest. “I’ve said we will try and help you, there is no need to try and butter me up now,” she says, laughing and hugging me.
“You are my favorite cousin.” I put my arm over her shoulder.
We walk from the restroom. “I am your only cousin, you fool.”
We walk back to the table. I sit and feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
“What have we missed?” Shona asks.
“We’ve had a good chat,” Beau says.
“What about?” I ask.
“The money,” Beau says plainly.
“Do you want me to put it back in the bank?
“No, I want you to give it to Brooke to look after,” Beau says.
I turn to Brooke and then look at Beau. “No offense Brooke,” I say, “but Beau, are you sure?”
“She will be here until we have finished the renovations, and a
t the moment, I trust her more than I trust you.”
“I have no argument against that one.”
Brooke smiles, obviously taken by Beau and Shona’s trust in her.
“Digging a hole for yourself is easy, climbing out of it is the hard part.”
Brooke
“Many a true word is said in jest, what a joke that is.”
Everyone chatted around the table in the dining room. I could see they were like a part of a large family. It was evident they had all known each other for quite some time.
All the guys had gone back down to the club. I walk across the sand, and my feet kick up the sea as it breaks on the beach.
“What is your situation with Alex?” Shona asks.
“To be honest, I saw him when they arrived, and since then, we seem to have been pushed together. Even if I try and fight it,” I reply.
“That is Alex for you,” she says.
“I have tried everything I know to stop myself just melting into his arms, even chomping on ice cubes in the club was not really good enough,” I explain.
“I’ve seen it all before. I have never seen him so serious,” Shona says.
“You mean he is attracted to me?”
“I’ve seen him go crazy over women before, but with you he seems different.”
“I was thinking I was just going to be another notch on his bedpost, if you know what I mean.” I feel slightly embarrassed.
Shona kicks her feet into the damp sand and looks at me. “If you can handle the ride, I think it will all be worth it.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I will tell you a story of three brothers,” Shona starts to say.
“This sounds interesting,” I say with a grin.
Shona giggles as she sits on a large piece of driftwood. Her gaze turns to me from the sea. She takes off her sunglasses as she begins talking.
“Beau was the first. I got a job in a club, and it was not long before Beau joined. I’d met him once before and from that moment on, I knew he had to be mine,” Shona explains.
“How did that go with you working?” I ask.
“He booked me exclusively, so I was his. And we had some real ups and downs until we got things sorted.”
“It sounds like a fairytale,” I say, excitedly.
“Very fucking far from it,” Shona replies. She gives a laugh.
“You mentioned three brothers?”
“A good friend of mine had a really bad experience with the second brother, but, I have to point out, he had been drugged,” Shona says.
“Don’t tell me, they got together?”
“They did, eventually, and this was when things got interesting,” Shona says.
“How interesting?” I can’t wait to hear more.
“I didn’t mention it, but the three brothers are triplets, and there was a situation that involved three of them.”
“You mean bad men were involved?” I ask.
“Very bad men. This was when Stacey, another close friend, got together with brother number three,” she explains.
“It must be easy to lose track of who is who,” I say.
At around that time, the old club (where the three of us worked) started to close. Our old boss Tina bumped into me by chance,” Shona says.
“What happened with her?”
Shona laughs wildly. “Another tricky situation cropped up, and her boyfriend got dragged into it, just like you,” Shona says.
“It sounds like there was a boat load of fate being dished around,” I say. “Goodness!”
“Something like that, but we put it down to the clubs; for some reason, whoever is linked to one of our clubs ends up in a major relationship,” Shona says.
“And now you are opening a club here, and I just happen to be in the area when Alex comes around,” I say, shocked. “Coincidence?”
“Maybe, maybe not. To me, it’s obvious from past experience that something is going to happen, but if you can get through it, it will all be okay.”
“I wasn’t planning for anything like this, and it sounds like I have no choice,” I say, thinking about it all.
“You have a choice, you can run off back home, but your paths will cross. Mark my words,” Shona says.
“If my future is all mapped out for me, I might as well accept it,” I say.
“No, don’t do that, you will lose who you are. Just be yourself, and see what happens.” Shona smiles.
“I am here for a while, so there is plenty of time,” I reply.
“Alex never mentioned your background?”
“Correct, I haven’t ever told him.”
“Any reason for not mentioning it?”
I stand up from the log and pull my sunglasses back over my face. “No reason at all, and my background shouldn’t influence anything.”
“You have a good point, keep it to yourself, it makes you more mysterious,” Shona says.
“And that is a good thing, to be mysterious?”
“It is where Alex is concerned, it will drive him bananas,” Shona says as she stands. We both laugh.
“This club and complex, when it’s all finished, who will be running it?”
“All along we had planned on it being Alex, but as I told you, anything can happen,” Shona says. She ends her sentence with a grin.
“You know, I thought you were a real bitch at first, but Alex was right. You are more than okay,” I say.
“If you want a couple of bitches, you should meet Cally and Stacey. Fuck they can be mean, but in a protective way,” Shona says.
“They like their men then?”
Shona giggles and gives me a wry smile. “Hell yeah, they would kill for them.”
We walk back along the beach to the wooden steps that lead us back to the hotel. I feel the sun burning down on me as we start to climb up them. We reach the top of the steps and I can see Alex has returned from the club.
Shona leans closer to me and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t mention what we have talked about,” she says. “Especially about him running the club.”
“I will keep quiet, and I will keep an eye on him for you,” I say.
“You have no choice, Beau has put you in charge of the money,” Shona says laughing.
“What am I going to do with a hundred thousand?”
Shona laughs again. “It won’t be a hundred thousand for long, it will be half a million.”
“What?” I yell.
“That first amount of cash was just for the club, we have the rest of the complex to work on,” Shona explains.
“I am not sure my nerves will take it,” I say.
“Beau trusts you. Brooke, that is one thing I have not seen in you, you show no signs of being nervous,” she says.
“Don’t you believe it. I am the one crunching ice cubes and jumping in the pool every time Alex walks past,” I say with a grin.
“You have to admit though, he is one sexy guy.”
“He sure is.”
We walk around the pool. Alex stands by the entrance to the reception.
“What have you two been talking about?” he asks.
“Not much, we were just taking in the view,” Shona says.
“I thought you might have been talking about me and my irresistible charm,” Alex says, giving his sexiest smile.
Shona puts her hand on Alex’s shoulder and pats him. “Alex, whoever told you that you had charm?”
“You did, you have always said I could charm the panties of a nun,” he says laughing.
“You men are all the freakin’ same, that is a different sort of charm,” Shona says. “Isn’t that right Sister Brooke?”
I look sharply at Shona. “I am no nun.”
“Did you really mean to say that, or were you just thinking out loud?” Alex asks.
“I don’t know, I am all confused. I am going for a shower and a lie down for a while,” I say.
“Make sure it’s a cold shower,” Shona says.
I look over my shoulder and screw my face up at Shona. “You really know how to put a person on the spot,” I call.
“Get used to it,” she calls back.
I quickly walk into the reception and walk along the hallway to my room. I get inside and throw myself onto the bed, still embarrassed. After a moment, I swing my legs off and walk into the bathroom unable to relax. I remove my clothes and look at myself in the full-length mirror.
I reach into the shower. I hear a knock at the door. I wrap myself in a bathrobe and walk to open it.
Alex stands there smiling at me. “Yes, what do you want?” I ask, feeling flushed.
“I think you need this,” he says.
“What is that?”
He smiles and hands the bag to me. “That is the hundred thousand and the bank card.”
“Oh, my commission!” I laugh and he laughs with me.
“For services soon to be rendered,” he adds, beaming a sly smile. I slam the door in his face. I love doing that. He will think more carefully about his words next time.
“Many a true word is said in jest, what a joke that is.”
Alex
“Dreams can be dreams, or they can be a sign of something that is going to happen.”
I’d given the money to Brooke and decided to take a walk after I had the door slammed in my face. She probably thought I was arrogant. I had to clear my head for my own benefit. I knew what Shona had said was right, but it was still hard to get over that Beau had trusted Brooke over me.
I don’t hold it against her, she is innocent in all of this mess. It’s my fault, and if anyone is to blame, it’s me. It didn’t make it any easier though.
I sit on an old tree stump near the club. I pick up a handful of pebbles and start throwing them at a larger stone to take my mind off things.
“You will have to throw harder than that to make a difference you know,” Beau says from behind me.
I turn around. “Hi, sorry for all the mess I’ve caused,” I reply.
Beau sits on the log next to me. “We all make mistakes, we just have to know how to get over them,” he says.
“I really want to do it this time, I’ve made a real mess of things.”
“Shona has spoken to me about helping. I can bail you out with the guys in Vegas, but you will have to wait until we get back home, I can’t do anything until then,” Beau says.
Fantasy Friday Page 5