Good Vibration

by S M Mala

  ‘So you admit you took it!’ said the woman calmly.

  ‘Have you bothered to speak to Piers about this?’ she said staring at Finlay. ‘I think you should. Am I being arrested? Do I need to call a solicitor?’ Sylvie shook her head from side to side. ‘I should be grateful you decided to do this in the office and not at my home or when everyone’s here.’

  ‘I called Piers first thing to get here for when you arrived,’ Finlay quietly replied.

  ‘We need to take you in for questioning,’ the woman said sharply. ‘If you’re not going to admit to anything then…’

  ‘Check Piers is on his way,’ she said turning to Stephen. ‘Tell him police officers are in the building accusing me of theft for two hundred and fifty pounds a month plus forty grand which can’t be proven as it’s not really missing.’ Sylvie stood up as they all looked at her and she wanted to do something mean to all of them. Then she remembered the can of numbing spray hidden in the cupboard. ‘I’m not doing a runner. I’m going to make a cup of tea. Would anyone like one?’

  ‘No!’ Finlay said shaking his head from side to side and she knew he’d figured out what she would do. ‘I’ll make it.’

  ‘Spoilt sport but you’d have got half the bloody can,’ she hissed and sat back down, her heart pounding fast because she knew soon it would all kick off.

  Finlay left the office.

  ‘He’s a prick to believe this without having the common courtesy to ask me because he’s in for a shock.’ She put her feet up on the desk and smiled. ‘I’m not sure at posh school they taught them how to make tea, I think it was mostly buggering. Isn’t that so, Stephen?’

  No one laughed.

  ‘Piers is coming in now. He’s not happy,’ said Stephen looking ashen.

  ‘I bet he’s not.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Stephen, is this because I won’t sleep with you?’

  ‘That’s not the point! Why’s money being paid into your account?’

  ‘Ask Piers.’

  Finlay returned with the teas and sat at his desk as she opened her laptop. They waited for ten minutes as Stephen promptly left them and went to his own office.

  ‘We can’t waste time hanging around here,’ the woman officer said. ‘I think we should take you to the station for questioning. What do you think Mr Chambers? There obviously has been a theft.’

  ‘Really?’ Sylvie sniffed as her anger built up. ‘Did you call them Finlay, just in case I went mental with the dildos and try to stuff them up your arse as I made a break for it?’

  Finlay looked agitated as he sipped his tea.

  Again silence in the room.

  She heard the heavy clank of feet as Piers appeared followed by an extremely dishevelled Toby.

  ‘What’s the bloody meaning of this!’ barked the older man. ‘Sylvie’s done what?’

  ‘Embezzled the company money and played with forty grand that’s not really missing at all,’ she sighed and looked at Finlay, who was frowning. ‘I’d brace yourself, Mr Chambers.’

  Sylvie stood up and let Piers sit down. She realised he was anxious and shrugged.

  ‘I’ll go to prison if you want but they’ll make me do things that even I wouldn’t do to myself,’ she smiled for a moment. ‘It’s okay we’re not the ones who are going to get arrested for wasting police time. Finlay might have to have his teeth knocked out if he gets sent down to give better blow jobs in prison.’

  ‘Please?’ said Toby, putting his hands over his ears. ‘I’ve not had my Weetabix.’

  ‘I’m sorry officers for the waste of your time,’ began Piers. ‘But there really is a simple explanation. Over eighteen months ago I made a mistake in purchasing-.’

  ‘Along with Samina,’ added Sylvie.

  ‘And we got stung for forty thousand pounds from a firm recommended to us. It was awful as I didn’t want to tell anyone, let alone get a begging bowl and go to my wife and stepson’s company.’ Piers grimaced for a moment. ‘But I needed an injection of cash. Sylvie gave me seventy grand to cover the loss but, as I can’t pay back the lump sum, then we agreed on monthly instalments. When the money came in over the next year or so, she’d get the outstanding amount.’

  ‘What?’ Finlay said and she noticed the deep set frown.

  Sylvie tried to hold back the smile that was eventually coming to her lips.

  ‘I knew then she was the only person who could help and, well, as you know, she practically runs the company, actually owns it,’ Piers said quietly. ‘You see Finlay when your mother humoured me that the company was put in my name, probably as she was willing to write it off, it meant I had ownership. I decided, without any persuasion before you go blaming Sylvie for something else, to give Ms Mather a share. So I did to make sure she didn’t leave me in the shit and she hasn’t.’

  ‘I have a forty per cent and this place owes me some dosh. And if you do sell, I will have to agree the terms and who the new partner will be. We didn’t want to tell you as we thought it wouldn’t have to come to this. I’ll forward the paperwork,’ she said noticing Finlay’s confused expression.

  ‘I didn’t tell your mother but I better go home and explain now.’ Piers got up. ‘Can you drive me home, Toby?’

  ‘Sure daddio,’ he said half sleepily. ‘So Sylvie, you’re sort of my boss woman.’

  ‘Sort of,’ she said feeling triumphant.

  ‘And what is ‘DMH’?’ the woman asked standing up staring hard at her.

  ‘My daughter’s savings account. Literally the money came from the mouth of babes, that babe in particular as it was part of her inheritance from her father.’

  ‘I’ll be eternally grateful,’ whispered Piers. ‘But I feel good it’s now all in the open but I’m not happy the police got involved.’ He turned to Finlay. ‘You, like your mother, should try discussing things first before making wrongful assumptions.’

  Sylvie kissed Piers on the cheek as Toby put out his lips. Sylvie patted his cheek and sat back down as Finlay stood up and escorted the others out. She didn’t know what to say as her smile faded, knowing the man she cared about thought she was just a common thief, or more realistically, just common.

  ‘It’s legal,’ the company solicitor, Henry, replied as Finlay stood in his mother’s offices and glanced at Alice’s pale face. ‘They did everything correctly and there’s nothing we can do about it. You set up the company calling it ‘Piers Caplin Holdings’ and in the contract you never mentioned about not selling shares.’

  ‘I never thought he would!’ exclaimed Alice.

  ‘He therefore could sell his shares and has done so. He handed over part of them to Ms S Mather and it’s all signed and sealed. She paid him one pound for them. You can pull back Piers’s shares but you can’t touch the other part. If you wish to sell your shares, the other owner will have to agree it given that they will have a new partner.’

  ‘And to shut it?’ asked his mother anxiously.

  ‘Well you can certainly say you’ll sell your shares or…’ Henry blushed for a moment. ‘Or buy her share. Either way you can play nasty and threaten to sell but if you don’t get a buyer then you could say you want your assets, leaving the other partner in a bit of a pickle if they don’t have the money, therefore forcing the closure of the business if it is deemed financially unviable for yourselves.’

  ‘Why that little minx,’ Finlay mumbled realising what she had up her sleeve and was more impressed than he wanted to reveal to his mother. He laughed out loudly. ‘Plus Piers knew about it so he can’t be that bad when it comes to business.’

  ‘You also know they managed to put the deeds of the land in his name then transferred a percentage to Ms Mather?’ Henry said gravely. ‘They own the land too.’

  ‘What?’ he said, the smile being ripped away. ‘How did that happen?’

  ‘Oh god that devious bastard,’ Alice said and shook her head.

  ‘The good news is that you have an agreement with Piers so, effectively, own his share but, to be honest, he shou
ld have consulted you on the partnership.’ Henry stood up. ‘Personally, you need to tread carefully with Sylviana Mather.’ He hesitated for a moment. ‘Is that the same Sylviana from a few-.’

  ‘Thank you Henry,’ his mother said quickly and Finlay realised the man had heard of Sylvie.

  He wanted to ask how but could tell Alice wasn’t happy.

  ‘If only I’d told you of this at the beginning, then none of this would have happened. You would have checked everything,’ she said on the verge of tears. ‘When I get my hands on Piers I’m going to kill him! And Sylvie? She knew all along and has played us for a fool.’

  ‘Played me,’ he said letting out a sigh. ‘What do I do now?’

  ‘Don’t you bloody well help them, do you hear me? I want that company to go under and teach the pair of them a lesson!’

  ‘That’s not very-.’

  ‘And ‘Le Font’? Finlay, you better do your homework and recheck what they’ve been up to. I know your wife apparently runs it with you but I trust her even less than these two. Actually, check everything. Every bloody company we’ve got to make sure nothing else slipped through!’ she said angrily.

  Finlay drove back to the warehouse around lunchtime and noticed Sylvie was walking down the road, happily whistling. He immediately stopped and got out of his car as she stood still.

  ‘Don’t talk to me!’ she said defiantly. ‘You really are a fucking shit and you manage to turn the screws on every time I feel sorry for you.’

  ‘You deceitful bitch!’ he said seeing her shrug with a grin. ‘You knew all along our hands would be tied.’

  ‘Be nice to me or you won’t get your money back,’ she replied smugly as he wouldn’t let her pass.

  ‘Get into the car!’

  ‘No! And don’t you dare tell me what to do as I’m sick of your snide and pathetic comments!’

  ‘Get in as we need to talk!’ he said sharply starting to get angry with her arsey attitude. ‘You know my mother is really upset.’

  ‘Good!’ she snapped. ‘And how do you think it feels to know, when my back is turned, you call in coppers to put me bang to rights when they were wrong? Didn’t it occur that asking me might have not wasted their time?’

  ‘I admired you not so long ago but now, you know what, I think you’re a devious cow full of subterfuge and-.’

  ‘Oh fuck off with your subterfuge this and subterfuge that! Why can’t you say deceitful or a crook?’ she laughed out loudly. Finlay wanted to strangle her but there was an urge to kiss her out of full admiration. ‘You might have a larger percentage share but I’m my own company in this instance, so shove your subterfuge right up your arse!’

  ‘We’re doing the papers so you can’t get any more shares.’

  ‘Don’t care, don’t want them. Got enough thanks for asking!’

  ‘Get in the car Sylvie,’ he said looking at the ground feeling he could kill her there and then.

  Thirty one

  She watched his vein throb in his neck. Sylvie wondered if he’d have personally taken her to the police station. Shaking her head in disbelief, she ran across the road and started walking faster, knowing he wouldn’t be able to turn his car around.

  Sylvie got a shock when her wrist was pulled a few minutes later, as she was grabbed with a sudden jerk by the current jerk.

  ‘We need to talk,’ he said through gritted teeth, bending over her to meet her eyes.

  ‘Get your person to speak to my person, chow,’ she smiled, masking her true fury, as he looked like he was going to combust. ‘Take your hand off me!’

  ‘Right, we need to go somewhere private,’ he said and started marching her down the road.

  ‘I’m very busy!’

  ‘You’ll be very dead if you don’t shut up!’ Finlay hissed and she realised he was taking her to the hotel as he literally dragged her up the staircase, opened the door to their room and pushed her in.

  Sylvie stood there and didn’t want to remember the last time she was in there and what they were doing as he hadn’t let go of her. It instantly made her sad then angry.

  ‘Talk,’ she said and watched him shake his head from side to side. ‘Finlay, you’ve been really nasty and-.’

  ‘My wife is pregnant and there are three possibilities it might be mine. Nought, fifty or a hundred per cent,’ he said and she realised his voice was shaking. ‘I don’t know if she loves me, she says she does and I think I love her but I’m not sure. My mother knows but no one else and it’s killing me, the whole thing, as I don’t know what I should do.’

  Finlay slumped to the floor, still holding her wrist as she looked down at him.

  ‘I was really nasty to you on Tuesday and then this morning… When I found out yesterday that the money was going into your account, I didn’t know what to think. You confuse me.’

  ‘I knew about the baby,’ she said, again pissed off with herself for feeling sorry for him. ‘I overheard you on Monday that’s why I didn’t argue back on Tuesday. I realised you needed to vent, even though you were so rude and cruel to me. It was obvious something else was eating you up.’

  ‘I’m sorry about the way I spoke to you. I feel really bad about it! I’ve got no one else to talk to. I can’t admit it to our friends what she’s done and especially about the baby. I told her to get rid of it,’ he said gulping hard. ‘I thought I was willing to kill my child so as not to face this shit. She said ‘no’ and is still convinced it’s mine.’

  Sylvie sat down and looked at him putting his head in between his knees as she gently prised her wrist out of his palm.

  ‘I just want to run away and hide,’ he said as tears sprung to his eyes. ‘And now I find out we’ve been shafted by my stepfather and his sidekick, which has made my mother go berserk and she wants me to look at everything! Fuck, what a life!’

  He looked up, tears streaming down his face as she wiped them away and sat next to him against the bed. Sylvie wrapped her arms around his shoulders because she knew that’s what he wanted. She tried not to grin too hard at knowing she’d upset his mother and had an ace card that he had no idea about.

  Eventually she picked him up, took off his jacket and made him lie down as she opened the curtains so she could see the sky before settling next to him. They weren’t touching but there was a relaxed silence. Then she noticed he turned his head and was looking at her.

  ‘What’s the connection between you and my mother?’ he asked as she let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling before diverting her eyes to the sky. ‘And why don’t you use your married name?’

  ‘Questions, questions,’ she replied. ‘I thought we didn’t do personal?’

  ‘And the twenty second comment on Monday was a bit below the belt.’

  ‘It was below the belt if I remember and I think I was generous with the twenty seconds, as it was more like twelve.’

  ‘And when I left, why were you under the covers?’

  ‘Did your mother belt you one, that’s why you’re asking too many things?’ she replied, turning her head to look at him, his green eyes glaring at her. ‘It’s all dull and of no interest to you.’

  ‘I’m asking, so I’m interested,’ he said flatly.

  ‘Your mother knows my estranged mother in law and Alice helped her shaft me when my husband died. The woman thought I wasn’t good enough for her son and decided that money she lent him to purchase a house had to be repaid on his death. I had no money and I didn’t want to think about it but there were solicitor letters and things coming within 24 hours.’ Sylvie bit her lip for a moment and gulped hard. ‘I put the family home up for sale and within five days and it sold, found the first available place to buy which is the ex-council maisonette and moved. All my loving memories of my previous life wiped out.’

  ‘And my mother?’

  ‘I went to her, knowing they were friends and asked if she could stop. I knew Piers from odd parties or fundraisers and had met your mother. She said it had nothing to do with her but your
company financed the lawyers to come after me. Luckily, as we now know, your lawyers aren’t that good and I managed to pay the witch back the money but made her pay for the expenses.’ She cleared her voice for a moment. ‘Angry bitch demanded I drop the married name which was fine as I didn’t use it … then she wanted Daisy to drop it too, questioning whether the child was her son’s biological offspring.’

  ‘Jesus, that’s really nasty,’ he said sitting up on his elbow.

  ‘Her only kid so she acted like the fucking shit bitch she is. Then I came back and said if that’s what she thinks about Daisy, the woman would never have access to her, has to keep away from me and leave us alone.’

  ‘But my mother supported her?’

  ‘Your mother had the task of telling me and my family we were not invited to the gathering after my husband’s funeral, at the request of his mother.’

  ‘That’s bad,’ he gasped.

  ‘Roo was engaged to a nice girl from a nice WMC family then I came along and spoilt the in-breeding,’ she said as he frowned for a moment.

  ‘You really are spectacularly insulting,’ he hissed.

  ‘Thank you,’ she smiled as he grimaced. ‘And to cut a long story short, your mother could have stopped it. That’s why Piers offered me the job because he was incensed by Alice and her mate.’

  ‘Who is her ‘mate’?’

  ‘I can’t say her name without being physically sickened and I don’t want to bring this whole shit up again.’

  She watched him lie back down and stare at the ceiling for a few moments.

  ‘Did you plot this, years ago? The revenge on my mother?’

  ‘No but I won’t lie that when Piers suggested giving me part of the company, I did imagine the look on her face then refused for ages. He sort of battered me down without the use of a sex toy,’ she said before laughing out and turning to face him by lying on her side. ‘I know she’s your mother but it had to be done. Wish I was in the room when she found out.’

  Finlay turned to face her and she noticed his faint smile.