The Club

by Mandasue Heller

  She paused to find the right word, and Fabian went through a whole list in his mind that would have fitted the gap perfectly: presumptuous; arrogant; rude; dismissive; crooked; bent; bastard.

  ‘Impulsive,’ Jenna said. ‘He’s got all these ideas floating round in his head, and he likes to get stuck in while they’re fresh.’

  ‘But the final decisions are still yours?’ Fabian asked, concerned that she might be losing control.

  ‘Of course,’ she said, meeting his gaze. ‘My dad left the club to me. I might have screwed up and had to take a partner to keep us afloat, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let Tony take over.’

  ‘Glad to hear it,’ Fabian murmured. ‘And who knows?’ he said then. ‘One day, when everything’s going great again, you might be able to buy him out and get it back to how it used to be.’

  ‘You never know,’ Jenna replied quietly, doubting that Tony would ever relinquish his share now that he’d finally got it.

  ‘So, this private thingy,’ Fabian said now, his expression clearly showing what he thought of the idea. ‘Is it actually necessary on top of the VIP lounge?’

  Smiling, because he was echoing exactly what she had already said, Jenna shrugged. ‘Tony seems to think so.’ Leaning towards him now, she added conspiratorially, ‘Anyway, I’d have thought you’d be pleased, if it means you seeing less of him and Leonard?’ Finishing her drink, she put her glass down and got up.

  ‘See you,’ Fabian said, smiling now because she obviously saw more than she let on.

  As she walked away, Jenna’s smile quickly turned into a tight-lipped frown. She wasn’t amused about Tony presuming that she would okay his plans, and she would have words with him when she saw him. Yet again, he’d made her feel as if her opinion counted for nothing in her own club, and she was getting pretty bloody sick of it.

  Jenna didn’t get a chance to confront Tony until the end of the night. Every time she’d seen him before that, he’d been talking to somebody or other and she hadn’t wanted to disturb them. Catching him as he was about to leave, she called him to one side and said, ‘So, what’s this I hear about you moving those boxes out of the storeroom?’

  ‘Just thought I’d make a start,’ he told her, giving her a cheeky grin. ‘No point hanging about if you were only going to say yes anyway, was there? And the faster I get the builders in, the faster it’s done, eh?’

  Looking at him, Jenna sighed. She wanted to reprimand him for going over her head; wanted to say that she still had the extra one per cent, and that he should respect that and wait until she had given him the go-ahead before he put his plans into effect. But she knew that they would be wasted words, because he was obviously hell-bent on going his own sweet way.

  ‘As it happens, I was going to give you the go-ahead,’ she said instead, refusing to let him think that he’d got one over on her. ‘But I expect your builders to keep the noise and mess to a minimum,’ she went on, asserting what little authority she had left. ‘And they absolutely must not get in the way of the club, so no late nights rushing to get finished. Okay?’

  ‘Oh, absolutely,’ Tony drawled, giving her a wry smile. ‘They’ll be here at eight-thirty tomorrow morning, so they won’t be disturbing no one. And the first thing they’ll be doing is opening up that back door that’s bricked up, so they won’t even need to set foot in this side once that’s out of the way.’ Winking now, he said, ‘Chill, partner. I’ve got it all in hand.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure you bloody have,’ Jenna muttered under her breath as he walked away. There were times when she really regretted taking him on, and this was one of them.

  16

  As Tony had promised, the building work caused minimal upheaval to the rest of the club. They had unbricked and replaced the old door with a heavy-duty security one, and had used that as their entry point since, so Jenna had barely even seen anyone coming and going. In fact, she’d all but forgotten they were in there when Tony called her down from her office three weeks later to take a look.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked, throwing the adjoining door open and stepping back to let her go in ahead of him. Hanging back in the doorway, he folded his arms. ‘Pretty cool, huh?’

  Looking around, Jenna’s eyebrows crept up. It looked exactly as he’d described it to her that time: small dance floor complete with its own tiny DJ box, gleaming buffed-oak bar, plush seating area, signposted kitchen and toilets. It was classily decorated, too, in subtle shades of scarlet, green, and muted gold, the wall lights adding a warm glow to the whole.

  ‘It looks great,’ she said, truthfully. ‘But how on earth did you manage it? You only mentioned it for the first time a few weeks ago.’

  ‘Hey, you know I don’t like hanging around when I get an idea,’ Tony said, shrugging casually. ‘I just told the builders what I wanted, and left them to it.’

  ‘Yes, but how did you get them to finish so fast?’ Jenna turned to look at him now. ‘It took my builders almost two months to finish my office bathroom, and that was already half done.’

  ‘It’s a man thing.’ Tony grinned. ‘You just gotta know the right thing to say.’

  ‘What, like, do it fast or I’ll break your legs?’ she teased.

  ‘Now you’re getting it.’Tony chuckled. ‘But, hey, don’t knock it if it works. And as you can see, it does.’ He waved a hand around the room.

  Taking another look, Jenna nodded. ‘Credit where it’s due, you’ve done an amazing job. So, what’s the plan?’

  ‘We open tonight,’ Tony told her, relighting the cigar he’d been chewing throughout. ‘Lenny’s got a load of his old buddies coming in, and I’ve got some folks lined up, too. It’ll be a blast.’

  ‘Do I get an invite?’ Jenna smiled up at him.

  ‘Hey, you don’t need no invite,’ Tony told her, throwing an arm around her shoulder. ‘But I don’t think you’ll like it much, ’cos it’s gonna be a lot quieter in here than out there. Just a load of old guys smoking and drinking, and chatting about the good old days, when the jitterbug ruled and women knew their place at the kitchen sink.’

  ‘Oh, so you’ve aimed this firmly at the ancient MCP crowd, have you?’

  ‘The stinking-rich MCP crowd,’ Tony said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. ‘A grand a year in membership fees,’ he lied, knocking a full thousand off the price he had set and already received from quite a lot of his new members. ‘And for that, they get their own entrance and exit out of the public glare; a free glass of champagne every visit; and we got us a top-notch chef to dish up the grits. Can’t be bad, huh?’

  ‘Hate to admit it, but you could be onto a winner,’ Jenna said, gazing around again. ‘I didn’t think we needed another VIP area, but this is nothing like the lounge.’

  ‘That was the intention. No offence, but the decor up there ain’t what these folks are used to. They want this posh old shit. And Lenny helped me out on that, so I’m figuring it must be spot on.’

  Nodding, Jenna said, ‘It reminds me of one of those gentlemen’s clubs you see in the old Sherlock Holmes films.’

  ‘Perfect. Just what we wanted.’

  ‘Well, you got it,’ Jenna said, walking back out into the main clubroom. ‘So, I guess I won’t be seeing much of you if you’re going to be spending all your time locked away in there?’

  ‘You’ll see me,’ Tony assured her. ‘But locked away is kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, ’cos there’s gonna be no access from this side of the club. Once the door’s shut, it stays shut till the club’s closed.’

  ‘That’s a bit impractical, isn’t it?’ Jenna said. ‘What if I need to see you?’

  Shrugging, Tony said, ‘You’ll have to give me a ring and let me know you’re coming, so I can get Eddie to let you in round back.’

  ‘Outside?’

  ‘’Fraid so.’ Tony shrugged again. ‘If we open the adjoining door, the Zenith punters will see straight into The Diamond, and that’d negate the absolute privacy guarantee, wouldn’t
it?’

  ‘The diamond?’ Jenna gazed at him blankly.

  ‘Oh, yeah, that’s what I’m calling it,’ Tony told her. ‘Got a nice ring to it, don’t it? The Diamond Den.’

  ‘Very original.’

  ‘Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, Eddie’ll be doing the security to make sure that no jokers try getting in from this side. And me and Lenny will be in there for the most part, so you’ll have to ring if you need either of us. Or we can get some walkietalkies, or something? Whichever you prefer.’

  ‘How’s about I just let you get on with it and I get on with this side?’ Jenna suggested, thinking it was all too much hassle. ‘I’m not walking all the way around the outside of the club in the dark. If I’ve got a problem, I’ll ring and you can come round here.’

  ‘However you want it,’ Tony agreed. ‘Before I forget,’ he said then. ‘I’ve stocked up the bar, but I’m gonna need to sort out an independent supply tomorrow, ’cos we can’t be running round here every time we need a refill. Oh, and I need a couple of the waitresses for tonight.’

  ‘My waitresses?’

  ‘Our waitresses. Yeah, I want two for my side. We can spare them, can’t we?’

  ‘It’s a bit short notice,’ Jenna murmured. ‘But I suppose we could juggle things for one night. Anyone in mind?’

  ‘Yeah, them two blondes – JoJo and Vanessa.’

  ‘Really?’ Jenna was surprised. She’d have expected him to go for some of the older, more respectful girls, given the type of clientele he was catering to.

  ‘Yeah, they’ll go down a bomb,’ Tony said. ‘They’re young and attractive enough to please the eye, but sassy enough to fend off any nonsense if the grandads get out of line. And they’re friends, so there won’t be none of that bitching we get with some of the other girls.’

  ‘Well, it’s your choice.’ Jenna shrugged. ‘I’ll have a word with them when they come in, see what they think.’

  ‘If they’re all right with it, send ’em straight in to me,’ Tony said, glancing at his watch now. ‘I want to talk them through my rules before we kick off.’

  ‘Rules?’ Laughing softly, Jenna shook her head. ‘I don’t envy them.’

  Tony drew his head back. ‘Hey, I’m just a big old softy, you know that.’

  ‘Er, remind me again how you got the builders to finish so fast?’ Jenna said, giving him an incredulous look.

  Summoned to Jenna’s office when they arrived a short time later, JoJo and Vanessa could barely keep a straight face between them when she asked if they wanted to try out working for Tony in the new room. They had known about it for ages, way before she had even known that he was planning it. Tony had approached them as soon as he got the idea, letting them know exactly what would be expected of them, and what they could expect to get out of it.

  And exactly what would happen to them if they breathed so much as one word about it to anyone – ever.

  ‘I don’t mind giving it a go,’ JoJo said now, shrugging, as if she really couldn’t be fussed either way. ‘As long as I can come back in here if I don’t like it.’

  ‘That shouldn’t be a problem,’ Jenna assured her. ‘How about you, Vanessa?’

  ‘I’m easy,’ Vanessa said, coughing to cover a giggle as JoJo gave her a dig with her elbow.

  ‘Right, well, Mr Allen would like you to go and see him now,’ Jenna said, standing up and waving them to the door. ‘Just make sure you’re on your best behaviour,’ she went on, following them out into the corridor. ‘Mr Allen’s catering to a much older crowd than you’re used to, so you need to be respectful at all times – which means no swearing, arguing, or flirting. Okay?’

  They both nodded, their expressions suitably chaste, even though they were both thinking the same thing: that Jenna didn’t know Tony at all if she thought he was expecting respectful behaviour from them.

  ‘Good.’ Jenna smiled. ‘Give it a week and see how you get on. If you don’t like it after that, come and see me and I’ll see what I can do. Oh, and you’d best take your things in with you,’ she said, walking into the clubroom and glancing at her watch. ‘It’s not long to opening, and you won’t be able to come back through this side once the club’s open.’

  ‘What, so we’re gonna be, like, locked in?’ Vanessa asked. ‘We can’t get out, and no one can get in?’

  ‘That’s the general idea.’

  ‘Not even you?’

  ‘Not even me,’ Jenna confirmed, not noticing the sly glance that passed between the two of them.

  ‘Girls,’ Tony drawled when Eddie brought JoJo and Vanessa in. ‘Welcome to a whole new world.’ Beaming, he put an arm around the shoulders of each of them and walked them to the bar. ‘This is my new barman, Juan,’ he said, introducing them to the good-looking young man on the other side of the counter. Juan had glossy jet-black hair, and huge brown eyes framed by lashes that were longer than both of theirs put together.

  ‘Hello, Juan,’ they both said, eyeing him with immediate interest.

  Nodding, Juan got on with polishing his glasses. He knew they both fancied him, and that he could have taken his pick of either of them, right here and now. But they had the wrong parts to get his engine running. Anyway, just like them – he suspected – when he put out he expected a damn good return for his efforts, ’cos nobody got this hot bod and gorgeous face for free.

  ‘Right, girls, tell him what you want, then I’ll show you to your dressing room.’

  ‘Anything we want?’ JoJo asked.

  ‘Anything at all,’ Tony told her magnanimously.

  ‘Great, well, we’ll have champagne, then – won’t we, Van?’

  Clicking his fingers at Juan when Vanessa nodded, Tony said, ‘You heard the ladies.’

  ‘It’s really nice in here, Mr Allen,’ Vanessa said, gazing around wide-eyed.

  ‘Glad you like it,’ he said. ‘Because you’ll be spending a lot of time in here from now on – depending how you get on. So, what did Jenna say?’ he asked then.

  ‘That we should be on our best behaviour,’ JoJo told him, smiling slyly. ‘She’s got no idea what we’re going to be doing, has she?’

  ‘None whatsoever,’ Tony replied, his voice low as he added, ‘and if she ever finds out, I’ll know exactly who to blame, won’t I?’

  ‘She won’t hear anything from us,’ JoJo assured him quickly. ‘We’re not that stupid.’

  ‘Let’s hope not,’ Tony said, still smiling. Picking the two girls’ glasses up when Juan placed them on the bar, he handed them to them, saying, ‘Right, follow me. The customers will start coming in at about eleven, so you’ve got plenty of time to get into your costumes and get your faces on. Oh, and in case you need a boost I’ve left you a little something in the dressing room.’

  ‘We can’t afford to lose two waitresses,’ Fabian complained when Jenna brought him up to date. ‘The rota is worked out to give us exactly the number we need each night.’ Not that he should even have to be telling her this, he grumbled to himself.

  ‘I know. But I imagine Tony forgot in the rush to get finished,’ Jenna said, defending him because she’d already okayed him taking JoJo and Vanessa. ‘It shouldn’t be too much of a problem if we shuffle everyone around.’

  ‘I don’t think Maurice would agree with you,’ Fabian replied tersely. ‘He relies on JoJo when it gets full later on. Patsy’s useless when there’s a rush on, and this is by far the busiest bar.’

  ‘Right, I’ll send Kalli down to help Maurice,’ Jenna said, knowing that he was right. ‘And tomorrow I’ll arrange proper cover. Okay?’

  ‘Not really.’ Fabian folded his arms now. ‘Kalli’s needed upstairs. We can’t let that stupid boy run the VIP bar on his own.’

  ‘Austin’s a good barman,’ Jenna told him, trying to stay calm – Fabian was annoying her now. ‘And he’ll have Diane to help him, so I’m sure they’ll manage.’

  ‘Neither one of them is good enough to run the VIP bar,’ Fabian pointed out, a note of exasperation cre
eping into his voice. ‘Kalli’s got to stay up there. If anything, we should send the boy down here to help Maurice and Patsy. But I’m still not happy about it,’ he added peevishly. ‘You should never have agreed to let him take those girls at such short notice. Anyone would think his stupid room was more important than the club.’

  ‘Okay, Fabian, I get the point,’ Jenna retorted irritably. ‘But it’s too late to do anything about it now, so we’ll just have to get on with it. I’ll sort it out tomorrow.’

  ‘I sincerely hope so,’ Fabian said, glancing at his watch. ‘Right, I’d best go and have a word with Maurice – make sure he doesn’t start sulking, or we’ll be buggered.’

  ‘I’ll send Austin down,’ Jenna said, heading for the VIP stairs.

  ‘Aw, do I have to?’ Austin moaned when Jenna told him he was working downstairs tonight. ‘I can’t stand Maurice. And that Patsy’s a right wimp. Please, Jenna, I’ll do anything you ask, but not this. I need to be with my Kalli.’

  ‘It’s not a bloody crèche,’ Jenna snapped, seriously pissed off that everybody seemed to be arguing with her these days. No matter what she said or did, somebody always had an objection. Or, like Tony, just disregarded her opinion.

  ‘I don’t mind going downstairs,’ Diane chipped in helpfully.

  ‘No,’ Jenna said firmly. ‘I want Austin down there. No offence, but he can handle a rush much better than you, Diane, and it’s the busiest night tonight, so I don’t want to take any chances.’

  Nodding, Diane stepped back and left them to it.

  ‘Please,’ Austin implored, looking up at Jenna through his lashes. ‘I really, really hate Maurice. He’s a horrible old man.’

  Jenna had to fight the urge to laugh. She knew exactly how Austin felt, but she wasn’t about to say that, because it was hardly professional. Instead, she gave him a mock-stern look and said, ‘Yes, well, just try and stay away from him as much as possible and you’ll be fine. If we’re still short-staffed tomorrow, I’ll think about letting Diane go down. But I need you down there tonight.’