The Club

by Mandasue Heller

  And she was actually talking to Melody, not at her or about her, like the rest of the snotty bitches around the table. Jenna was all right, but apart from her, and now Avril, not one woman had actually given Melody the time of day since she’d got here.

  Sensing that the girl was scrutinising her, Avril smiled. They were of a different generation – although maybe not as far removed as their appearances might have anybody believe, because Melody was obviously older than she looked once you saw her up close. But Avril recognised the look of frustration and boredom in the younger woman’s eyes, and guessed that she, like Avril, had secret depths of which few were probably aware – least of all the men they had chosen to saddle themselves with.

  Leonard was a blustering, self-important man, with not the least understanding of the female psyche. To his mind, women should be exact replicas of his late mother, Ethel, who had been the epitome of the good Conservative wife: never less than perfect in appearance; her food never less than Michelin standard; her home never less than immaculate; her husband never less than the most important man in the world to her. How she had managed to maintain those standards into her eighties and still manage to walk, talk, and breathe fire, Avril did not know, but she was the reason that Avril would be forever lacking as a wife in Leonard’s eyes.

  And this poor girl’s partner was no better, Avril thought, looking at Tony Allen now. He might have a different approach than Leonard, in that he was obviously a lot livelier and far more self-confident, but the controlling edge was undoubtedly there. She could see it in his eyes when he looked at Melody: a dark, watchful sharpness that betrayed his need to know that she was doing only that of which he approved. And Melody’s obvious depression, combined with the tarty clothes and makeup, told Avril that she had probably succumbed to his demands. She was the classic fantasy whore: there to satisfy her man’s sexual desires, but not expected – or allowed – to have an opinion of her own.

  ‘You girls ready for another drink?’ Tony called over just then, breaking into their thoughts.

  Smiling politely, Avril said, ‘That would be lovely.’ Turning back to Melody then, she muttered, ‘Girls, indeed! My dear, if that man’s penis is even half the size of his ego, you must surely be the luckiest woman alive.’

  Laughing, because it had been so unexpected, Melody said, ‘I can’t believe you just said that!’

  ‘I haven’t always been an old trout,’ Avril told her amusedly.

  Nudging Leonard as he watched their women chatting, Tony said, ‘They seem to have hit it off, huh?’

  ‘They certainly do,’ Leonard said quietly, his eyebrows raised with amazement. Avril usually took time to warm to new people, but he would never in his wildest dreams have imagined her giving Tony’s sluttish girlfriend the time of day. But then, she knew how important his friendship with Tony was to him, so she was probably pushing her distaste aside for his sake.

  To be fair, he had to admit that she’d been quite pleasant today. She’d discussed his plans for the dinner party with more enthusiasm that he’d anticipated, and had even suggested that he buy himself a new suit for the occasion, pointing out that his wardrobe needs might have changed a little over recent months. Which was rather diplomatic of her, he thought, given that she could have just said that he’d let himself get fat, as he knew to his shame that he had. But he was pleased that she had suggested it, because he’d been wanting to update his wardrobe since they’d started coming to the club but had resisted for fear of raising her suspicions about his motives.

  All in all, Leonard was quite pleased with everything just now. He was beginning to feel like his old self again and, with Tony Allen as a friend, he had no doubt that he would soon be right up at the top of the social tree.

  Avril was having a hot flush. ‘Phew!’ she said, fanning a hand in front of her face. ‘That wine is rather strong. I think I’d better go and powder my nose.’

  Seeing a chance to escape from Tony’s watchful gaze, Melody reached for her handbag. ‘I’ll come with you.’

  ‘Just going to the little girls’ room,’ Avril told the men as they passed. ‘Won’t be long.’

  Strolling off to the VIP toilets together, Melody’s mind went into overdrive, wondering how she could get away from Avril for long enough to find Fabian.

  As luck would have it, there was only one free cubicle. Telling Avril to go ahead and take it, Melody waited a second, then tapped on the door.

  ‘The sanitary-towel machine isn’t working,’ she called through. ‘I’m just nipping down to the other toilets. Won’t be a minute.’

  ‘I’ll wait here for you,’ Avril called back. ‘I need to touch up my make-up, anyway.’

  Hissing a jubilant ‘Yes!’ under her breath, Melody cracked the main door open and peeped out to make sure that Tony wasn’t watching. Slipping out then, she darted down the stairs.

  Fabian jumped when Melody ran up behind him and grabbed his arm.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he hissed, glancing nervously around for Eddie.

  ‘I haven’t got time to chat,’ she hissed back, tugging him towards the office door. ‘I just need you to give me something.’

  ‘I haven’t got time, full stop,’ he retorted, prising her hand off his arm. ‘We’re busy, and I need to be on the floor.’

  ‘It’ll only take a minute,’ Melody persisted. ‘Please, Fabian. I’m desperate.’

  ‘I’m not in the mood for sex,’ he told her bluntly. ‘Anyway, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, because I think we should quit while we’re ahead. It’s been great, but it’s getting too dangerous. You do know you were being followed, don’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ she said, frowning now. ‘But Tony’s busy right now, so stop messing about. Anyway, I don’t want sex, I just need some coke.’

  ‘Keep your voice down!’ Fabian muttered, taking his keys out. ‘Okay, I’ll give you some, but this is the last time, Melody – and I mean it. I thought I was going to get my legs broken the other night.’

  Peering up at him, Melody’s frown deepened. ‘Hang on . . . how did you know I was being followed?’

  ‘I saw Eddie watching you.’

  ‘Is that why you took off?’

  ‘What did you expect me to do? Wait for you to start mauling me, so Tony would know for sure there was something going on?’

  ‘I do not maul you!’ Melody retorted indignantly.

  ‘Yeah, whatever.’ Unlocking the door, Fabian ushered her quickly through.

  Taking his stash out of the safe when they reached his office, he ripped a square of paper off a letter-headed sheet and tipped a little of the coke onto it.

  ‘I need more than that,’ Melody told him, taking one of the fifty notes she’d stolen from Tony out of her bra and thrusting it into his hand. ‘Just give me the bag.’

  Looking from the money to the bag, Fabian frowned. If he gave all the coke he had to her he’d have to go out and score again when they’d closed – which was a ball-ache, and dangerous at that time of night. But fifty quid was fifty quid.

  ‘All right,’ he agreed, tipping the wrap back into the bag and handing it to her. Taking the money, he slipped it into his pocket and waved her to the door. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Do you have to be so cold?’ she asked, giving him a reproachful look. ‘I thought we were friends. And I won’t see you for a couple of days, so the least you can do is be civil.’

  Sighing, wondering why she was determined to make this difficult, Fabian said, ‘Look, I’m not being funny, Melody, but I can’t take this. It won’t be long before your boyfriend puts two and two together – if he hasn’t already.’

  ‘He doesn’t know about us,’ Melody assured him. ‘But, yeah, you’re right, he is watching me. I think he thinks I’m doing drugs, or something.’

  ‘Oh, great!’

  ‘Don’t worry, he doesn’t know it’s coming from you,’ she said, slipping the bag into her bra before he got any ideas about taking it back.
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  ‘Oh, come on, Melody, you’re not exactly discreet, are you?’ Fabian retorted. ‘You’ll probably neck most of that before you go back up to him and make it really bloody obvious that you’re off your head. How long before he links it back to me?’

  ‘Will you quit freaking out,’ she snapped, annoyed that he was more concerned about saving his own skin than the shit she was going through. ‘He doesn’t suspect you of anything. And, for your information, no, I won’t neck half of this now, because it’s got to last until Tony comes back.’

  ‘From where?’

  ‘How the hell should I know? You don’t seriously think he tells me anything, do you? He’s the most secretive bastard I’ve ever met. All I know is, him and Eddie are pissing off for a couple of days and I’ve got to stay at the hotel like a good little girl. And this –’ Melody patted her breast ‘– is the only thing that’s going to keep me sane. So, sorry for being such a pain, Fabian, but it’s not exactly a barrel of laughs for me right now, either.’

  ‘Yeah, I know,’ he murmured, running a hand over his face. ‘Sorry, but I’m just really wound up about your boyfriend’s goon following you. I was about to leave the country.’

  ‘Leaving me to get mauled by those losers,’ Melody reminded him sourly. ‘Yeah, well, thanks for that, Fabian, ’cos I was this close to getting raped.’ Raising her hand, she pinched her fingertips together. ‘They wouldn’t have stopped if Eddie hadn’t made them. They’d have probably dragged me into the toilets, or waited for me outside, or something.’

  ‘You can’t blame me for that,’ Fabian said indignantly. ‘I had no idea what was going on.’

  ‘Oh, forget it.’ She sighed. ‘But next time you see me getting followed, do me a favour and tell me, yeah?’

  ‘Sure,’ he agreed. Then, ‘Now can we go?’

  Nodding, her eyes clouded with disappointment that he could be so dismissive, Melody walked out with her head held high.

  Strolling to the downstairs bar as she dashed back up to the VIP toilets, Fabian told Maurice to get him a large brandy. He felt guilty now. The look on Melody’s face had got to him. She’d looked so defeated and let down, and he supposed he had let her down, because this wasn’t all her fault. Under different circumstances, he’d have been delighted to be involved with her, because she was gorgeous, and sexy, and really quite nice once you scraped the Hollywood gloss off. But she was just too dangerous to be around. And he was too damn handsome to risk having his face scarred for life over her.

  Tony looked at Leonard with a wry smile on his face. Maybe the guy wasn’t quite as stupid as he looked, after all. He’d just made a suggestion that was so obvious, Tony didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it himself.

  ‘You know what?’ he said approvingly. ‘That’s not such a bad idea.’

  ‘Well, I did a lot of thinking after we spoke last night,’ Leonard said, feeling more than a little pleased with himself. ‘I was trying to think of anybody I know who might be looking for investors, and Jenna came to my mind. I’m not sure what her status is regarding finances, but it occurred to me that she must have spent rather a lot to overhaul this place, because her father certainly didn’t leave it like this. It was a bit of a mess when he had it, actually. But that’s by the by. I just thought it might be worth asking her.’

  ‘Well, there’s only one way to find out,’ Tony said, pushing his chair back when he spotted Jenna making her way to the bar just then. ‘Let’s go ask her.’

  ‘You want me to come with you?’ Leonard said, a little surprised because he’d thought that Tony would want to keep this between himself and Jenna.

  ‘It was your suggestion, so why not?’ Tony shrugged. ‘Anyway, she doesn’t really know me, so she might get a bit nervous about me launching something like this on her. But you’re an old friend of her dad, so she’s bound to feel safer with you there. Don’t mind, do you?’

  ‘I’d be delighted,’ Leonard agreed proudly.

  Jenna was in no mood for talking. She’d spent the whole day moping about, first at her apartment, where she’d wandered restlessly from room to room, and now here at the club, where she just couldn’t seem to escape Vibes’s presence.

  She’d been thinking about him all day, wondering if he’d got any sleep; if he’d made his flight on time; if he’d got through Customs without being hassled about the watch.

  If he felt as guilty as she did about that kiss.

  Desperate for the night to finish so that she could go home and escape in her dreams, she’d come up to the bar now to have a quiet drink to see her through the next two torturous hours. But no sooner had she got her glass of wine in her hand than Tony, Leonard, and Eddie came over.

  Going with them to an empty booth when they said they had something to discuss with her, Jenna frowned when Tony sat on one side of her and Leonard on the other. And Eddie dragging a chair up to the table so that he was facing her just completed the claustrophobic circle.

  Forcing herself to smile politely, she looked from one to the other of them, saying, ‘What can I do for you?’

  ‘Remember when I called you?’Tony said, taking the lead. ‘Said I needed advice about some business ideas I had going?’

  ‘Friday,’ Jenna murmured, remembering it clearly, because that was the same day that Vibes had told her he was leaving.

  ‘Yeah, Friday,’ Tony said, frowning because her eyes had clouded over. ‘You all right, Jen?’

  ‘Uh?’ Snapping her gaze back to him, she nodded. ‘Sorry . . . yes, I’m fine. What were you saying?’

  ‘Well, you suggested I talk to Lenny,’ Tony continued, watching her carefully. ‘And we did have a chat that night, which kind of put me right about a couple of things.’

  Cutting in here, oblivious to Jenna’s distracted state, Leonard said, ‘You see, Tony was having a little difficulty knowing what to do with his money.’

  ‘I want to set something up over here,’ Tony jumped back in. ‘And I was thinking along the lines of a casino, to start with, but Lenny pointed out that I’d be wasting my time pursuing that, because—’

  ‘Oh, it’s an incredibly tough procedure,’ Leonard chipped in. ‘Terribly difficult.’

  ‘So, anyway . . .’ Tony said, frowning at Leonard to shut him up. ‘Then I was thinking along the lines of opening up something like this place. As you know, I’ve had one of my own already back home, so it seems kinda logical to stick to what I know best.’

  ‘Yes, I remember you saying,’ Jenna muttered, feeling a little sick from having to twist her head from side to side to look at each of them as they spoke.

  ‘Well, Lenny kind of scotched that for me, as well,’ Tony said.

  ‘Because that’s equally hard for a man in his position,’ Leonard interrupted. ‘Sorry,’ he said then, holding up an apologetic hand.

  ‘Anyway, like he said, it seems that might be a bit of a problem, too,’ Tony went on. ‘Me being foreign, and all. But then he suggested I should think about investing in a going concern, instead of trying to set something up from scratch. And I’ve been mulling it over all night, but I couldn’t think where to start, ’cos I don’t really know anyone well enough yet to approach them. But then he suggested I talk to you.’

  ‘I don’t think there’s anything I can tell you that Leonard probably hasn’t already,’ Jenna said. ‘I’ve already told you that I don’t really know very much about the business side of things yet.’

  ‘No, you don’t get me,’ Tony said, smiling now. ‘He meant talk to you about you. Well, not you personally,’ he added quickly, ‘but this place.’

  ‘Oh, you mean as in talk to me about investing in the club?’

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Well, I’m flattered that you thought of me,’ Jenna said, smiling apologetically. ‘but I’m not really looking for a partner right now.’

  ‘I’m not suggesting leaping headlong into a fifty-fifty deal, or anything like that,’ Tony assured her, sensing that she needed convincing. ‘I
t’s just that I need something to put my money into, and I’m pretty sure you could do with an injection of ready cash. I know you inherited the place, and Lenny’s told me how much work you’ve done to get it like this, so I figure you must be up to your neck in it with the bank.’

  Choosing her words carefully, because she didn’t want to offend him, Jenna said, ‘That’s not something I feel entirely comfortable discussing, actually, Tony. With respect, I like to keep my business private.’

  Looking at her, Tony said, ‘I understand that, and I wouldn’t want you to think I was trying to pressurise you. But will you at least think about it?’

  Sighing, Jenna shrugged. ‘There doesn’t seem much point when I already know the answer.’

  Looking at her for a moment, Tony nodded respectfully. ‘I appreciate the honesty, but don’t rule it out altogether, yeah? If you ever think about taking a partner in the future, you know where I am.’

  ‘Of course,’ Jenna said, relieved that he wasn’t going to push it. ‘I doubt it’ll happen, though,’ she added, just to be sure that he wouldn’t go away thinking it was a done deal. ‘And you might not even be here by then, anyway. But if you are, you’ll be the first to know.’

  ‘That’s good enough for me,’ Tony said, smiling again. ‘Me and Lenny will put our heads together and come up with something else in the meantime. Right, Len?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Leonard agreed, feeling as if he’d let Tony down somehow. ‘Anything I can do – you know that.’

  ‘Well, good luck with that,’ Jenna said, standing up. ‘And I’m always willing to talk if you ever want to discuss anything – not that I’ll be much use to you. But, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’d better get back to work.’

  ‘Take it easy,’ Tony said.

  Having got up to let Jenna out, Leonard sat back down and sighed heavily. ‘Sorry about that. It probably wasn’t one of my better suggestions.’

  ‘Hey, don’t knock yourself,’ Tony told him. ‘It was a good idea. Anyway, who knows . . . she might still go for it at some point.’