With her head musing over the kiss she locked the doors up and set the alarm before trundling up the stairs to bed. I wish I wasn’t alone.
Chapter Ten
The streamlined blue and white Cessna Denali aeroplane stood waiting on the tarmac at London City Airport. Standing at the bottom of the three short steps, Stella waited impatiently. Her foot tapped repeatedly against the black asphalt, and every minute her wristwatch displayed the time, she scanned the horizon for what felt like the fiftieth time, trying to spot her travelling companions.
The sky was dark with orange tints at it edges, hinting at the approaching day. White fluffy trails of plane vapour ran through the colours creating an intricate pattern.
The silhouettes of four people and a luggage trolley caught her attention. “What time do you call this?”
Claudia stopped dead in her tracks and put her hands on her hips. “Early! So don’t start bitching at us, none of us have even had a coffee yet.”
Stepping to the side so Claudia could board the plane, Stella’s eyes fell on Carly. Taking the four steps necessary to reach her, she wrapped her arms around Carly and kissed her cheek. “Hey.”
Carly placed her hand on Stella’s face and pulled her closer for another kiss. As there was so much to be done in the last few days, they hadn’t seen each other. Their phone calls were only long enough to talk about work.
“George and I have missed you. He was upset you wouldn’t be working on the model this weekend.”
“We can work on it after school one day this week.”
One side of Stella’s mouth curled upwards. “He’s got you exactly where he wants you—wrapped around his little finger.”
Carly couldn’t argue with that. “We need to get going or we’re not going to have time to prepare.”
Stella took Carly’s hand and led Carly on board. Their luggage had been loaded, and the pilot was in the cockpit waiting to take off. After slipping a tip to the porter, Stella buckled herself into the plush cream leather upholstered seats and clasped her hands together on the table between her and Carly. To everyone’s surprise, a tall blonde appeared from behind a curtain partition, he checked their seatbelts were buckled correctly and ran through some safety features.
Stella peered over to Claudia; her friend’s cheeks were pale, her eyes sunken, and her face was contorted in a scowl. “Claudia, we’re not going to be in the air long. As soon as we land, I’ll get you the biggest cup of coffee I can find.”
Stella had thought long and hard about their mode of transport for the weekend. To travel by car was an option, but if there was a lot of traffic on the roads their plans would be thwarted. The trains were also unpredictable with delays occurring all the time, so flying was the best option if they wanted things to go smoothly.
“There’s no need, ma’am.” The steward took his seat and secured himself. “When the plane levels out after take-off, I’ll prepare a pot.”
Stella smiled her thanks. “I’m sorry, but she has this switch that turns her crazy in the mornings, and the only way to turn it off is to fill her with coffee.”
“Ha, bloody, ha,” Claudia grumbled sarcastically, sinking into her seat and closing her eyes.
Carly couldn’t stop the snort that left her and was quick to cover her mouth and nose with her hand. “Oops.”
The plane moved and positioned itself on the runway for take-off. “If you’ve never flown in a small plane you might want to hold on to something. These things are fast, and we’ll be in the air before you know it.”
As she finished talking, the plane rolled forward. The increase of speed was quick, and Claudia and Trish instantly put a hand over their stomachs. From a side pocket on her chair Stella produced two paper-bags and handed them over. Turning back to Carly to see if she was in any distress, she was pleasantly surprised to find her unfazed and happily gazing out the small window.
Feeling eyes on her, Carly turned back around, a beaming, exuberant smile lighting up her features. “This is frigging awesome!”
The glee on the other woman’s face caused a muscle in Stella’s stomach to twitch. Carly was practically glowing, and a vibrant energy seemed to surround her.
It took them a little over an hour to reach Manchester. The club was on Canal Street, situated in the gay village area of the city. The clientele was mixed. It was one of the company polices that discrimination would not be tolerated. From the reports, she and Carly had gone over quickly on the plane, the club had a high turnover and was very popular.
A large white Lexus RX350 SUV waited for them on the tarmac. Stella was thankful she’d remembered to arrange for the hire car company to meet them.
Claudia emerged from the plane a different person, smiling at everyone she saw, including the two security guards from the airport who checked their luggage before it could be placed into the car. After she’d loaded hers and Trish’s bags, Claudia jumped into the backseat, leaving Stella and Carly to organise their own.
Stella heaved her case into the boot, grunting at the weight. “That’s bloody charming!”
Carly lifted her bag up and placed it next to Stella’s. Their eyes met and widened when they heard a soft moan from the backseat. Like two naughty schoolgirls, they peeked over the top of the parcel-shelf to see Claudia and Trish locked in a passionate embrace. Shaking her head, Stella slammed the boot shut and walked to the front passenger door opening it for Carly.
Carly briefly covered the hand that rested on the roof with her own before she slipped inside the warmth of the car.
Stella winked and shut the door. Once she was situated behind the wheel, she peered into her review mirror—Claudia and Trish were still locked at the lips. Clearing her throat loudly, she hoped to gain their attention. Stella leaned closer to Carly. “What should we do?”
“Hang on, I have an idea.” Carly turned in her seat and cleared her throat. “Claudia! You’ve got to let the poor girl up for air.”
They finally separated, and Claudia looked up to see Carly and Stella staring at them. “You’re both comedians today! However, shouldn’t you be gearing up for the meeting instead of teasing Trish and I?”
Stella started the car. “You’re right. Okay, ladies, let’s prepare for battle!”
Carly saw Claudia roll her eyes at Stella’s overdramatic outburst and couldn’t help but giggle.
When they reached the club, they piled out of the car and smoothed their clothing so their suits didn’t appear wrinkled. Stella and Carly grabbed their briefcases, and Carly slipped the strap of her laptop bag over her shoulder. They locked the car and made their way to the entrance. They’d taken maybe seven steps when Stella stopped and saw she and Carly were alone. Turning around, they saw Trish had Claudia backed up against the car ravishing her lips.
Sighing with impatience, Stella marched back to the car and slapped the roof hard with the flat of her hand, causing it to tingle with the force she’d struck it. It had the desired effect and made both women jump. “Can’t you control your hormones for a few hours? Seriously, Claudia, I’m going to need you to bring your A game in there. You can’t go in all starry eyed in case you miss something important.”
Claudia smiled bashfully. “I’m sorry. You're right. I need to concentrate to make sure I can defend you properly.”
Claudia wiggled her shoulders, and they all watched in rapt fascination as her facial features changed, her eyes darkened, and all hint of the radiant smile she’d been sporting since the airport was gone.
“Shall we, ladies?” Claudia gestured to the door with her hand.
The four of them strode purposely towards the large double frosted glass doors. A bald, heavyset gentleman was leaning on the red brick wall, and as they approached, he stood to his full height. Stella gulped as her eyes fixated on his humungous biceps. The thickness of them was astonishing and could probably crush her with one tight squeeze.
“Hello, I’m Roger Porter from Eagle Security.” His smile softened his features, l
essening his first lethal impression. “Which one of you is Ms. Miller?”
Claudia stopped in front of him and extended her hand. Stella frowned as she shook his ham-sized hand. “I took the liberty of hiring a security company. It’s a precaution in case anything should happen inside.” Claudia introduced Roger to the others.
He greeted the other women with a warm smile and more handshakes. “My associate should be with us in ten minutes.”
Stella pulled a set of keys out of her pocket. “I hope the locks haven’t changed.”
Claudia stepped to her side and quirked her eyebrow in question.
“Jen kept copies of all the club’s keys at home. I only remembered them last night.”
The lock made a soft clinking sound as it disengaged, and Stella breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as they were inside, Stella swiped the key fob over an alarm scanner on the control pad inside of the door. About to lock the door, she saw a muscular woman, jogging across the street. She was dressed similar to Roger: black combat trousers and boots, with a tight black t-shirt with Eagle Security embossed over her left breast, and the image of the bird in flight was underneath the lettering.
“Ladies, this is Emma Whitehall.” As he introduced her, Roger slapped her on the shoulder. “She’s the best female guard I have.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Emma.” Carly pointed to the empty dance floor. “Okay, let’s get started. That looks like the ideal place to set up.”
Trish walked towards the bar. “I’ll make coffee.”
Once everything was arranged and Carly had her laptop hooked up to the server, she and Stella sat down to look through the employment files.
Dual gasps filled the club a short time later.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Carly slapped the table with her hand and jumped from her seat to pace the floor. “This is gross-misconduct! We could get in serious trouble because of this.”
Stella sat with her head in her hands. “Shit! We need to check this against the hard copies.”
She thrust herself from her chair and ran to a door that had the word “Manager” stencilled on it. With no effort, she raised her leg and kicked the door twice before it swung open, and she strode inside. A quick rummage through the two file cabinets and she re-emerged with all the staff folders in her arms and carried them back to the table where she and Carly were working.
“We should cross check the others while we’re at it. I don’t want anything else to catch us out!”
With a set jaw and a curt nod, Carly dove into the folders. Stella joined her, and for several minutes, they worked in silence. Stella casually leaned over Carly’s shoulder a couple of times and pointed to a few things on the laptop screen, then held up the corresponding paperwork to cross reference the information. Carly released a few choice curse words as she stared at the screen in disbelief.
Standing to her full height, Stella stretched the stiff muscles in her back. “We’ve got a serious fucking problem, and if we don’t get on top of it today, we’ll have to shut the club until a solution can be found.”
Claudia stomped up to the table and crossed her arms over her chest, pinning them both with a hard stare “What the hell’s going on?”
Carly sighed heavily as Stella swept her hand out, indicating she should be the one to tell Claudia. “We’ve found an issue with two of the door staff. It appears they’ve been operating without a security industry authority licence.”
“Oh, fucking great!” Claudia threw her arms up in the air, her anger pulsating through her aura. “I thought that was a requirement by law and that the staff had to wear their credentials on a lanyard around their necks when working.”
“That’s why we’re in the shit.” A thought occurred to Carly. “Hang on, let me look at their application forms, I should be able to see if they originally stated they had the qualifications.”
Carly took a quick peek in the paper folders. They yielded an even bigger surprise, as it appeared the manager had been aware of the lack of licences when they were hired.
“There’s no mention on the application.”
Claudia’s ire spread and filtered into Carly. Her face flushed and her fists clenched into tight balls. “I can’t wait to meet the manager and hear what she has to say for herself.”
A knock on the door drew their attention.
“I’ll get it.” Claudia snatched the keys from Stella’s hand and stormed to the front of the club.
Within minutes the room filled with employees. Carly and Trish directed them to the coffee while they waited for the rest of the staff to arrive.
Stella’s head moved from side to side as she peered around the room and counted the people. Hmm, we’re one person short! Turning her arm, she glanced at her wristwatch. One minute to go.
As the thought entered her mind, the large door squeaked opened and closed with a loud thud. A middle-aged woman stalked into the club, cussing up a storm, her hands moving wildly through the air as she ranted.
Stella stared daggers at her as she got to her feet. “It’s nice of you to join us.”
The woman returned the hard look.
“Come in and take a seat so we can begin.” Stella pointed to a chair dismissing the woman with a flick of her wrist. “Okay, where's your manager?”
The woman who’d just entered sauntered cockily up to the table and joined them. Stella didn’t try to hide how unimpressed she was with her attitude and behaviour and eyed her from head to toe.
“It’s not your day today, is it?”
“Who the fuck do you thin─” the manager got no further as Stella raised her hand.
“For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Stella Williams. I’m the owner and CEO of Misfits.”
“What!” the manager exclaimed. She grimaced, rubbed the back of her neck, and reached for a chair to sit on. “I can't believe you’ve come up from London just for this meeting.”
Stella ignored her and carried on addressing everyone else. After introducing Claudia and Trish, she turned to grin at Carly.
“This lovely lady is Carly Martin. She’s the new business manager for the whole Misfits franchise.” She paused for a second to let the news sink in and watch the manager, whose eyes were threatening to bulge right out of her head. “The reason we called the meeting is going to have to wait as there’s something more pressing for us to discuss. Are Michael Roberts and Fiona Dawson here?”
Two hands rose.
“Please come up and have a look over Ms. Martin’s shoulder. I want you to tell me if the forms you see on the desk are the ones you filled in when you started working here.”
While they did as she asked, Stella turned back to the manager. “I'm sorry I didn't catch your name.”
“Trudy Marshall.”
“I’ve also got something for you. But I'll get to that in a minute.” Stepping to Carly’s side, she stared at Michael and Fiona. “Are they the applications?”
Michael wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Yes, Ms. Williams.”
Stella paced the floor, her hands clasped in front of her. “Good, can you tell me where on the form it states you have an SIA licence?” She was greeted to nothing but silence. “If either of you want to keep your jobs, you’ll answer me.”
Fiona hung her head in shame. “We're not SIA licence holders.”
Spinning so quickly on her heel she thought she’d get whiplash, her voice rose. “Yet you work on the door at one of my clubs. Can you explain that to me?”
Both of their eyes widened, their faces grew ashen, and Fiona’s bottom lip trembled.
Carly swivelled in her chair to listen to the explanation, and what she heard shocked her. It also stunned Stella, as when she stepped back, she nearly fell over. With lightening quick reflexes, Carly put her hand on her back to stop her, and then rubbed her hand in small calming circles on Stella’s lower back.
Fiona and Michael were both employed by Jennifer and Trudy and were told they didn’t need to worry abo
ut the licenses or credentials. The final explanation made Stella’s blood boil, and she glared murderously at Trudy.
“When we questioned them, they told us that if we didn’t keep our mouths shut we wouldn’t have any work at all.” Fiona sat down heavily in a chair and took her head in her hands. “I can’t afford to lose my job.” Her sob sent a tremor through Stella. “I’m a single mother—I can’t support my kids if I don’t work.”
Squatting down in front of Fiona, Stella took her hands in hers. “Hey, I understand this isn’t your fault…”
Trudy jumped to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. “Hang on a minute, don't I get a say in this?”
Stella levelled her with a murderous glare.
“Sit down! I’ll get to you in a minute.” Her attention went back to Fiona. “If you want to continue working for us, I’ll pay for you to do your SIA training. But you’ll have to sign a contract stating you won’t leave the company for two years.”
The tears of despair that leaked from Fiona’s eyes turned into tears of happiness as she and Michael graciously accepted her offer.
Standing to her full six-foot height, Stella stalked towards her main prey. She had Trudy firmly in her sights and wasn’t going to be so easy on her. “Okay, Ms. Marshall, now you can have your say. Where do you want to start?”
Swallowing hard, Trudy’s whole demeanour changed. She fiddled with her coffee cup and nervously tapped her foot on the floor. “What do you mean?”
Her expression reminded Stella of a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car.
“I think you know. Tell me, have you been having problems using your credit card recently?” Watching Trudy closely, a perverted twist of justification jolted in the pit of her stomach as she saw her pale considerably. Turning back to address the room, Stella held her hands out. “Here's a lesson for you, guys. If you’re having an affair with someone and they give you a credit card to use, don’t be stupid and continue to use it when she dies. You’ll eventually be caught and all your dirty laundry will be aired for everyone to see and hear.”
Absolute Betrayal Page 10