by Michelle Day
In the material sense, Marissa lacked for nothing but Paul was painfully aware that Eve wasn’t fond of being a mother and after one particularly vicious argument, the decision was made to employ a nanny.
Once the nanny was in situ and with Eve hiring herself a driver to take her on lengthy shopping sprees, Paul was free to see his son. He chose to have him with him for the weekend instead of going to Gloucester. Carmen doing the usual of meeting him half way. He was surprised that Gavin was alone, his little buddy and cohort Luke was usually part of the deal but at almost three years older than his son, Luke was developing somewhat of a social life with play dates and birthday parties to attend that Gavin simply hadn’t been invited to.
After checking that the nanny was happy to take care of Marissa, he took his son to the apartment above the club for some quality one on one time with him. Although he had to work, he arranged for Monica to stay overnight while he was downstairs in the club, knowing he would get a good four hours sleep before his son woke and they would be able to spend a few days together, just the two of them.
Two nights away from his wife and somewhat fractious daughter rejuvenated Paul, top that off with doing the thing he loved, working the club and he was a very happy camper.
Sitting in his office, cut off from the hustle and bustle of the main body of the club as he finished the following weeks staff rosta, he pushed back from his desk and flicked on the CCTV monitor. Resting his feet on his desk, he turned up the volume on his walkie talkie as he used the remote control to flick between cameras.
His feet hit the floor with a thump and his nose almost touched the monitor when he came to the dance floor camera. Speaking to the member of staff closest to the dance floor, he directed them to the person he’d seen and gave instructions for that person to be brought to his office.
She smiled as the door closed behind her but stepped back when he leaned in to kiss her cheek. She caught his frown and then his shrug as he rounded his desk and sank into the leather chair, steepling his fingers as he looked up at her.
“Did you just friend zone me?” He asked.
She laughed and perched on the edge of his desk. “I think for both our sakes, it’s the best thing to do.”
“Of course it is because we are both content and absurdly happy with our respective spouses.” He played along.
“Absolutely, I couldn’t imagine living any other way can you?”
“Now you’re asking Suzie, I can imagine plenty of other ways. I don’t need to believe in heaven and hell because I’m already in the latter.”
“I second that.” She sighed. “We can’t be together even though I’d like nothing more.”
Paul dragged his hands through his hair and changed the subject. “What are you doing here?”
“Girls night out.”
“And you had to come here? There are plenty of other clubs in town.”
“Haven’t you heard? This place is THE place to be and be seen and besides, I feel safe here and I wanted to see what you had done to it to make it an overnight success.
“And?” He steepled his fingers, looking at her over the top.
“I love what you’ve done but I have an idea that you might want to explore.”
Paul gestured for her to take a seat and leant forward. “I’m all ears.”
“Well, having seen the calibre of your male staff, it struck me, why not have a ladies only night staffed by purely male staff? Do it say one night, every other month or something, if you make it a week night and don’t stay open quite as late as weekends, it should be a riot, you can compensate your female staff by giving them extra shifts so they don’t lose out money or just give them a bonus or something.”
Busy writing her ideas down, Paul tapped his pen on the pad and began thinking out loud while Suzanne watched him. She loved that he was enthusiastic and animated and hadn’t instantly trashed her idea. He was the complete opposite of her husband who rarely let her get a word in these days and never listened to her ideas.
“I’ll leave you with it. I should get back to my friends.” She stood and had made it to the door before he caught up to her.
“Thanks for the idea, it’s a good one.” He bent, just to kiss her cheek but she again pushed him away.
“Friends.” She reminded him.
“Always but remember this Suzie, we will be together, although not until both of us are free. I want what we have to be pure and unsullied by either of our bad decisions but one day, you will be mine.” He was smiling inside, knowing she was ready for change, ready for him and he fully intended to grasp any opportunity she gave him and hold on tight.
“And you will be mine.” She confirmed.
Leaning back against his office door as it swung closed behind her, Suzanne sighed. It was so refreshing to be listened to. She shouldn’t be surprised really, Paul had always been open minded and generous with his time as well as just about everything else about him. Now she was seriously questioning why she remained married to Cameron.
The first ladies night was a roaring success. Sitting in his apartment above the club, Paul counted the takings for the night three times before it sunk in just how much profit just one evening had made the club. It assured that ladies night would have a regular spot on the clubs calendar from now on. Only his Suzie could have come up with an idea like that. He loved her quick mind. Who was he kidding, he loved everything about her, mind, body and soul.
With the club now being his main focus, Paul began to ease back on the time he spent as the front man of his gardening company. Phil was more than capable of running it and it kept the older man in the office which suited him better these days than the hard graft outside. He ran a tight ship and Paul’s presence was no longer a necessity.
As he had more free time, every other weekend, after closing the club in the early hours of Sunday morning and catching a few hours’ sleep having learned his lesson from totalling his Quattro that driving tired was so not the way to go, Paul would jump in his car and zoom up to Gloucester and spend a few days with his son. Once a month, Carmen would bring Gavin to him, an arrangement that worked well for all. Paul would return home on Wednesday in order to have lunch with his mother before returning home to his wife and daughter.
This would be his life for the foreseeable future. He thought he deserved an Oscar or at the very least, a medal. The cold, hard reality of it was the knowledge that he had done it to himself. He provided for both his children with aplomb. Played the part of the good husband in public but rarely spoke to his wife at home.
In short, he was miserable. The only light at the end of his tunnel was the two nights each week he spent at his apartment above the club. Here he could truly relax. Here he entertained although he never let any of the women who got to see his inner sanctum into his bedroom nor did he allow them to spend the night there. The monthly account he held with a local taxi firm was vast.
His bedroom here, in the place he considered his home, would only ever have the one woman in it for as long as he owned the place and she wasn’t his just yet.
Chapter Thirty Three
The next four years disappeared in a blur, where the time went, he couldn’t tell you. With the increasing demands from the mothers of his children for clothes, money, time, he barely had a moment to himself.
On his drive to Gloucester to visit to his son, he was struck by the fact that his little boy was now approaching eleven, in a few years he’d have a teenager on his hands. Everyone said how much his son resembled him but he could only see it in photographs. Gavin had his mother’s hazel eyes. They truly were the mirror to his soul and his mood was easily gauged these days by his very expressive eyes.
Although largely a quiet, studious boy, Gavin was easily provoked and there was no middle ground with him. He was either mild and mellow or in a full blown rage. This was something that bothered both himself and Carmen considerably but even though the boy had been through extensive counselling, the only conclusion tha
t had been wrought was that he was bright and advanced for his age and easily frustrated.
As a toddler, Paul had had a close relationship with his son, this was beginning to wain slightly as Gavin got older. He didn’t want cuddles or affection from his father but draw him into a deep discussion or pull out the chess board and you had his undivided attention. In truth, Paul missed holding his son. He hoped this current chilly state of affairs would rectify itself as he stumbled through parenthood.
In complete contrast to his son, Luke was loud, brash and as laid back as they came. He often made jokes, often at his own expense and he seemed to be the only person who could pull Gavin out of a mood with remarkable skill and speed.
On this particular visit, he was party to Luke, now almost thirteen, returning home from school and announcing to everyone present that as he was known as Luke Six out of the ten in his form at secondary school, he was taking steps to rectify the matter and from now on should be addressed as Novak.
Gavin embraced his friends’ decision but Helen was deeply upset by it. She protested loudly as Luke, sorry Novak rolled his eyes and huffed in typical teenage fashion. It wasn’t until Carmen suggested that Helen continue to call her son by his given name but everyone else would call him Novak if preferred that the situation began to settle.
Returning home on Wednesday, freshening up and then going straight out to lunch with Monica, he managed to bypass any form of conversation with his wife. His mother took it upon herself to grill him about the possibility of further grandchildren which had him shaking his head on a rueful smile.
“I think I’ve done more than enough to keep the Jensen name going and besides, I haven’t slept with my wife since our wedding night so any more children of mine won’t be squeezed out by her.” Monica’s stunned silence said it all making him realise that now was perhaps the time to begin seeking a divorce.
Lunch over, he had just enough time to call in on his lover, Eleanor Masters. He saw the suitcases in the hallway and presumed she was leaving for a short break. He was stunned when she announced she was leaving her husband for him, having made his intentions painfully clear from the very beginning. He again found himself making it abundantly clear that what had passed between them was nothing more than physical gratification for him. He had made no promises whatsoever, but he still found himself apologising for any wrong doing as her chin started to quiver. His words hit home when he walked out. As the first tears began to fall, Eleanor quietly closed the door on her lover and gave in to her grief.
Pulling up outside his daughters’ school, he felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. First his decision was to find a way to end his marriage and then the termination of his long running affair had lightened his load immensely.
He was always a welcome sight at the school on Wednesday afternoons. Given that it was the Nanny’s day off and Eve hadn’t once been to the school, Paul was quite literally fawned over by the present mothers and teachers alike. He would hide his smile at the comments of how sweet he was with his daughter as he cuddled her and blew raspberries against her neck making her giggle as they walked to the car.
The house was unusually quiet when they arrived home; Eve wasn’t in her customary place on the sofa watching endless episodes of Australian soap operas. Holding Marissa’s hand as she hopped up the stairs, he went to turn towards her room when he heard an unmistakable sound.
Sweeping his daughter off her feet, he strode down the hallway in the opposite direction, straight to the rooms occupied by the nanny. She answered his knock quickly and upon hearing the sounds from the other end of the hall, asked no questions. She simply took Marissa from him and nodded at his instructions to get her changed out of her uniform before asking the older woman if she would like to accompany them for dinner once he had sorted out the problem at hand.
Not for the first time was he grateful that his size hadn’t made him clumsy, he employed his best stealth skills as he pushed open the door to the master suite. Leaning against the door frame, arms folded over his chest, he watched his wife bounce up and down on the body of the well-built man beneath her. They were both groaning out their satisfaction and neither noticed them.
Having seen enough, Paul cleared his throat. “You know, if you’d ridden me like that, we might have had a more harmonious marriage.”
Absolute silence followed his words as the couple on the bed gaped at each other before Eve, still sitting astride her prone partner, turned to face him, covering her breasts.
“Get out.” She screeched.
Paul stepped forward as the man beneath his wife tried to pry himself out from under her. “Eve, I am taking Marissa out so no real need for you to stop. I do expect your partner here to be gone by the time I return and once our daughter, remember her? Is asleep, you and I will be having a discussion about what is going to happen from here on.” Turning to leave, he was stopped by the voice of the man on the bed.
“Sorry man.” Was all he said.
Paul turned back and addressed him. “Not your fault. In fact, I applaud you. She was never that enthusiastic about seeing my cock let alone riding it. You clearly have something I’m lacking.”
The demise of Paul’s marriage hit the society pages so quickly it almost gave him whiplash. He was photographed and questioned everywhere he went and it became old very quickly. The surrounding paps backed off quickly when their normally affable, play to the camera subject snarled at them. He was expecting the call that came from Phil that summoned him to the council offices.
Expecting to be slapped with a hefty fine for bringing attention to himself, he was pleasantly surprised when he was presented with an extended contract for ongoing works and the sympathy vote that his wife had cheated on him and therefore the scandal that his divorce was turning in to was not of his doing.
Knowing full well he hadn’t been faithful to Eve for even a single day during their marriage, he was unwilling to let her shoulder all the blame and simply stated that had he been a more attentive husband perhaps things wouldn’t have happened this way. He had to throw Phil a warning glance when the older man’s jaw hit the ground at his words.
The two men stopped for a quick bite to eat before Paul started to move his belongings into the apartment above the club. Catching up briefly on business, Phil placed his knife and fork on his plate and looked at his business partner.
“Was what you said back there what’s known as being economical with the truth?” He asked.
Paul smirked. “My fidelity has been a long standing curiosity factor since I tied the knot. It’s fairly well known that I’ve had affairs but none of it can be proved. I didn’t begin to try and make it work with Eve, that’s my burden to bear. She doesn’t deserve to be slated and be the only one blamed for the debacle that was our marriage. I didn’t make it easy on her and as recompense for my part, I will make it clear that the failure of the marriage is down to both of us.” He shrugged. “I’m an arsehole, I know that, doesn’t mean I’m willing to take all the blame though.”
“Jesus boy, you have some balls.”
“Didn’t get where I am today by resting on my laurels mate.” He laughed.
He settled back into bachelorhood with ease never really having given it up for very long. Being above the club permanently had distinct advantages, even more so when he had the feed for the cameras routed to his apartment so he could see what was going on before he made an appearance on the nights the club was open.
Always looking for ways to progress and expand, he began looking in to opening the club through the day as a sort of bistro. The space gained at the rear of the building by demolishing the VIP rooms would accommodate a small kitchen nicely and he worked out a system by which he could easily close off the bar area. He began looking at widening the entrance to the club to allow for it to be open fronted during daylight hours.
He took his time getting ready for Friday night in the club. Although he wore the same uniform as his staff, his
were made to fit him and only him, no generic sizing going on in his clothes. It put him a cut above the rest as was fitting for his position as owner.
Once the club was open and the initial rush dealt with, he retired to his office to finalise the delivery for the morning. Saturday was their busiest night and the amount of alcohol and mixers consumed was vast. Week by week he would spend thousands on supplies and gradually, he was beginning to negotiate lower and lower costs with the suppliers, an achievement in itself.
Placing the telephone receiver back on its cradle, Paul flicked through the cameras and had just lent in to get a closer look at one of the VIP areas when his walkie talkie crackled to life.
“Code blue, code blue, too many female hands on the goods.”
Laughing as he moved away from his desk, he spoke in to the device “I’ve got this.” Before making short work of the corridor and the stairs to the private room. He didn’t knock, he just waltzed into the room to find one of his male staff members prostrated across the table while the lovely ladies of the hen party did shots out of his navel. That in itself was not what had him laughing, the two pairs of hands making short work of his trousers while his hands were held firmly above his head was certainly cause for concern but Paul had never seen anyone look quite so panicked as this young man did. “Ahem, ladies. Is there a problem here?” Reaching for the young man being held down and successfully extricating him from the rabble, he put himself between the shaken young man and the voracious ladies.
“No problem.” The bride giggled.
“Nope, none, are you coming to take over cos wow. You. Have. Got. It. Going. On.” Drooled one of the bridesmaids.