"Hey Max. What's up?"
"I'm trying to get hold of Jess but it keeps going to voicemail. Is she around?"
"Erm..." She says after a pause.
"Where is she Liss?" I demand, trying to hold back from lashing out at her from my frustration.
"She's on her way back home. She told you yesterday."
"What the fuck? I told her that she wasn't to leave until we had this shit under wraps. Fuck, when did she leave? What the fuck were you thinking letting her go?"
"I've no idea. I woke up to her note this morning. She said she'll call when she lands. What's up your arse anyway? I can’t keep her here against her will Max."
"If she calls you when she lands make sure you tell her to call me, you understand?"
"I don't know what's happened but learn to fucking talk to me properly Max."
"Hey Liss, I'm sorry. Do me a favour hey? Stay safe."
"Umm. Okay. You're weirding me out but can do." I slam the phone down in frustration. Why the fuck can't people just listen to me? Life would be so much fucking easier all around for everyone involved.
Jess
I still can't get hold of Amelia. I don't know what she's playing at but I'll make bloody sure I do when I land. She told me she could handle the workload but as soon as I leave she's off sick. What's that about? I knew she’d been having problems but still. I'll hold my hands up and apologise for being a bitch if she's genuinely ill but to me something sounds off and I'll make it my mission to find out what if I have to once I have dealt with this other drama. I can't believe Tim has been left to deal with most of this on his own either. I dread to think how far this could have gone if he hadn't have called. The aim of the game is to have this little situation resolved before Mal finds out or worse, before his pride and joy falls down the shitter.
This flight is going to be the longest one of my life. In the mad rush I didn't think about what I would need, so as soon as Tim called and told me that there was a flight due to leave in a few hours I didn't hesitate and left for the airport. I did remember to leave a note for Liss but I know Max is going to hit the roof. I guess I'll just have to deal with that crazy whirlwind when the time comes. All that I can do now is dig out my headphones and watch whatever they decide to show throughout the journey.
Max
"Mr wild. Please come this way." I look up to the tall leggy blonde before me. In the past she would have been right up my street but not anymore. Sure she's pretty but she seems to lack the kind of class that surrounds Jess. She's completely ruined me for anyone else. I walk into the office and feel the same apprehension that I felt the last time, but now things are getting completely out of hand.
"Max." Don nods at me as I take a seat on the sofa before him. "Glad to have you back. Will you be staying this time?" My head falls into my hands as I realise how out of control my life has become in the past few weeks. I never asked for any of this shit.
"I need help Don. It fucking kills me to admit it but I do. I can't go on like this anymore. Whatever it is you need to do, just do it. I need to be fixed."
Unfolding his legs, he leans forward to examine me closely. A look of uncertainty mixed with disbelief, I'm not too sure passes over his face and then it's gone just as fast as it came. "Are you ready to tell me what's eating at you?"
"The nightmares have retuned. I can't sleep with the intensity of them. It's getting to a point where it's affecting my day to day life."
"What kind of nightmares? Are we taking flashbacks?"
"Flashbacks would be more liveable. It's like I'm reliving all the bad moments again and again only know it's mixed you with the present." Fucking hell. What good is this doing me? Sat here pouring my heart and soul out to look like a fucking pussy once again.
"You said last time that this started again after you travelled back to England? Do you think something there could have been a trigger for you?"
"No. Maybe, oh I don't know. Living in England was always my safe place Don. You know this already."
I watch him as he riffles through my file, looking for something, but what I'm not so sure. "Ah yes' here it is. How is Melissa these days?"
"She's fine. Why?"
"Do the nightmares have a pattern? After specific events or when you spend time with a specific person?"
"How the hell am I supposed to remember that? All I know is that they're getting more and more frequent with each day that passes. Now it's getting to the fucking point where he's penetrating my dreams, threatening to take away my only true piece of happiness."
"Is that what you're worried about Max? This one piece happiness, did she come into your life before these feeling started to return?"
"Does it matter?" My heads fucked. I don't really see how Jess being in my life could make such an impact. "Can you fix me or what?"
"I can give you something to help you sleep but these issues that you're facing Max, I can't help you unless you are prepared to face them head on." For Jess, I'll do whatever it fucking takes to keep her safe from my past and also that vile bastard who ruined it all for us.
"You can count on it Don. I'll be out of town for a few weeks but I'll schedule another meeting once I'm back."
I leave Don's office not sure I have resolved anything. Maybe once I get some of these pills in me and have a decent night’s sleep I'll feel better.
"Max, hey. I didn't think you'd be back after your dramatic exit last time." Sasha smiles at me as I walk past reception.
"Hey yeah. I guess that wasn't my best move hey?"
"You didn't call. I've missed you Max, it's been too long." Her eyes light up expectantly waiting for my response.
Now really isn't the time to be getting into this. Jess has gone back home against my wishes, Mal's business is on the line and I need to get to the bottom of my issues. I know I'm a heartless bastard, that's old news but I need to do this. I don’t have the time nor the patience to be stood here right now.
"Sash listen. I've got some major shit taking off right now, hence why I'm here and I can't stop and chat. I'll catch up with you next time I'm here but I wouldn't read anything into it if I were you. I'm not into all that casual shit anymore." Her jaw opens in shock but nothing comes out and I take that as my cue to leave.
"Max where are you?" Liss' tone sounds panicked on the other end of the line. "I've been trying to call you for the past hour."
"Have you heard from Jess? Is she okay?"
"Max, she's still in the air. Mal's been calling here asking for her and I've had to tell him she's headed home because of a family issue so we need to get our stories straight so he doesn’t start jumping to conclusions."
"Okay, shoot. What did you tell him? I'm on my way to his now so be as quick as you can."
"Well, when we went to Mal's party last week her mum called and she was pretty shitty to her in a way no mother should speak to their child. She was pretty upset but she tried to hide it. Don't ever tell her I told you this okay? I told Mal that she needed to rush back to her mum but didn't say why and now I worried I've done the wrong thing Max."
"Don't worry about it. Just so I'm clear. Jess' mum called on Friday and she was upset and she's had to rush back for some reason?" Shit what issues has she been having with her mum. I had no idea and she didn’t even tell me.
"You got it. But Max, promise me you won't tell her I told you that? I don’t think she’d be too happy with everyone knowing."
"I promise. Remember if you hear from her, call me ASAP. I'll come to yours once I've been to Mal's."
I click the call off and put my foot down and take off to Mal's. I need to find a way to go after Jess without raising any suspicions.
As I pull up outside the house I have to go over again in my head what I'm going to say. I hope Daisy's not around; I never could get away with lying to her.
As I walk through to the living room, Mal's positioned in his favourite chair looking better than ever watching the television.
"Max my boy. It'
s good to see you. I guess you've heard about Jess then?"
"Yeah. Liss said she had to leave last night without a moment’s notice."
"I hope everything's okay. Jess and her mum have never really seen eye to eye from what I can remember but it must be bad if she's rushed off. Anyway while your here I may as well run it past you too."
Settling down on the sofa I look at him to continue, unsure of where this is leading. "Go on..."
"I've been doing a lot of thinking while I've been sat here this past week. What with my ill health it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to fly for a while and I was hoping to talk to Jess about Stanton's."
"What about it?" There is no way he could know about the security breach, no fucking way.
"I always planned to hand the business over to her when I fully retired but now my time has been pushed forward. What do you think of me making her a permanent CEO for Stanton's? She'd have to work here for 6 months of the year and then 6 months in the U.K."
"I think she'd bloody love it. She loves Stanton's, you know that."
"Yeah I do. It would have been nice to propose it to her face to face though." Mal is an absolute fucking genius and he doesn't even know it.
"You still can. Why don't you ask her when she comes back? I was thinking while she's over there I could join her and check in on Stanton's. Everything's good with the development on this side. Thanks to Jess we're way ahead of schedule."
"You know Max that sounds like a great idea. I'd appreciate you checking in and make sure you keep an on that special girl of mine." I smile knowingly at Mal. It seems he’s always had a bit of a soft spot for Jess. Shit who doesn’t?
"You betcha."
"It's good to see you happy son. It's about bloody time too if you ask me." The pride on his face makes me feel like a little boy again always receiving his praise no matter what I did..
"Thanks Mal. She's something else entirely." I laugh.
"Max dear, would you like something to eat?" Daisy asks as she pops her head around the door, her smile visible ear to ear.
"I'm good but thanks anyway. I best get going if I want to catch a flight out today. Is there anything specific that you want me to keep an eye on while I'm there?"
"Just make sure the guys are working as well as they normally do and that all the accounts are up to date."
"Sure thing boss." I nod as I get up to leave. “I’ll call you when I’m there.”
The first thing I do as soon as I leave the house is call the airport to see what available flights they have available. I must have done something fucking right as they have a seat available for first thing tomorrow morning. It's not soon enough but shit, it will do.
"Liss, you here?" I shout out to the silent house before me. "Hello." I shout again.
Still I get no answer. It's not like Liss to go out and leave her door unlocked. Maybe she's in the shower or some shit, so I'll sit here and wait until she shows up.
After about ten minutes or so I hear Liss' high pitched laughter coming from the hallway. I go to shout her again to let her know that I'm here when she comes barrelling into the kitchen in nothing but a towel with fucking Heath hot on her heels. Their faces drop as soon as they see me sitting here.
"Fuck, fuck fuck." Melissa hisses. "Max what are you doing here? Do you not know how to call or maybe knock before you come in?" She snarls. Now there’s a guilty fucking conscience if ever I saw one.
"What the fucks this?" I ask signalling the two of them in nothing but towels. I eye Heath instantly. "You wanna tell me what's going on here mate?"
"We went for a surf earlier and we've just got back. Thought I'd get changed you know?" The casual tone in his voice has me riled up in no time.
"You expect me to believe that bullshit? Do you think I haven't noticed how you two have been acting around each other lately? Fucking hell Heath, I thought the two of you would finally grow some balls and admit what’s been going on. I guess not hey?"
"You're not angry?" Melissa asks as she looks at me in disbelief.
"Nah, I'm not angry. I'm pissed you didn't tell me but I get it. Fuck her around Heath and then you'll see angry." I warn. Anyone dating my sister is going to piss me off, but if it's someone I know and trust I can't really interfere. She's an adult and I guess she has to learn from her own mistakes. But if he so much as hurts a hair on her head, mate or not, I'll fucking kill him.
"Um, well this is all starting to feel a little awkward so I'm gonna go and stick some clothes on. I'll be back in five. Oh and Max..."
"Yeah?" I ask as she turns to face me.
"I love you."
"Quit with the soppy shit, I've got plans to make and I need both of you on this okay?"
Jess
I finally land on home turf after what feels like an eternity. All I want is my own bed and that's exactly what I'll be doing as soon as I leave this airport. Heathrow is bursting at the seams as usual and it smells like home. I didn't bring any luggage so at least I don't need to faff about waiting for anything. As soon as I'm past customs I call for a taxi to pick me up. I would have called Jen or George but it's six in the morning and I can't be bothered running through the drama straight away. When they chew my ears off later, I need to have some strength in me.
Everything looks just the same when I walk through the door. It even smells the same and a feeling of happiness swims through my body. I don't think twice as I step into my bedroom and dive into my ready and waiting bed. It's been a long thirty hours and as soon as my head hits the fluffy pillows I feel myself drifting instantly as I allow the darkness to consume me.
My eyes are heavy and sore as I try to open them. I don't know how long I have slept for but it doesn't feel long enough. It takes me a few seconds to figure out where I am. As my eyes slowly adjust to the room around me I realise that I'm home. I stretch out in my own bed and it feels bloody good. Well it does until I remember why I've come home. Ugh I don't know where I'm going to start. Do I tackle Amelia first or should I at least call Tim to let him know that I'm back and we can create some kind of plan. I drag myself out of bed and my muscles ache so bad. I don't think I'm built for this jet lag shit and to make it worse I don't have Max to hold my hand this time. Oh fuck. At the thought of Max, I feel a pang of regret at just ditching him without a moment’s notice and not saying goodbye. He's going to flip his shit. Well it’s not like I have to face him for a while and it's highly unlikely that he'd fly halfway across the world to give me a stern telling off anyway.
As the hot water sprays down on me I try to devise a plan but I'm coming up blank. I'm praying we can just get one of the I.T guys to retrieve the file and have done with it but something tells me it's much bigger than this. Surely it couldn't have been an inside job. How else would the client have found out if they hadn't been given a tip off? As harsh as it sounds, I don't even think we have anyone with those kind of brains at Stanton's. If we did, then they’ve done a bloody good job of hiding it.
"Hey Tim, its Jess. How's things?"
"Oh Jess what are we going to do? The client is making some pretty hefty demands and I don't have a fucking clue what to do about it."
"Well I'm back now. How about you come over to mine and we can try and figure something out. Who knows maybe there could be a trail of some sort to lead us to the culprit?"
"Wait, you think someone has done this deliberately?" I don't know why he sounds so shocked.
"Tim we live in a very competitive workplace darling and sometimes competitors will take you by the balls no matter what the consequences."
"At times you scare me with that mind of yours Jess. I'll be over within the hour."
As I wait for Tim to arrive I spend my time going through the mail that has collated on my door mat. When I got in this morning I didn't even notice it but now there's easily thirty or so letters to get through. No doubt most of them will be junk but I've got to get through them eventually.
Well that's half an hour that I'll never get back.
All my mail consisted of bills for Josh and takeaway menus and not forgetting the latest deals down at gala bingo over the next month. Maybe I should save that for George when I see him. He'd bloody love that. I can't wait to meet up with those two; I just need to get this situation under control first of all before I can enjoy some downtime with my besties.
When Tim turns up I actually fall in love with him all over again. As he walks through the door my eyes dart to the Starbucks bag in his hand.
"I take it you haven't had a chance to grab something to eat and I know you don't function without coffee."
"Tim, remind me why we're not married." I laugh as I remember how bare my cupboards are.
"Oh Jessica love, if only you had the right toolkit."
I lean in for a hug suddenly realising how much I have missed him. "I'm sorry you've had to deal with all this shit on your own Tim. I wish you would have called me sooner you know."
"You know me Jess. If there's one thing I hate it's admitting defeat. Especially when it's something major that I have been entrusted to look after." He passes me my cappuccino along with a ham salad and my stomach grumbles letting me know that it is in desperate need of some fuel.
"You know that no one, least of all Mal is going to blame you for this? Whatever it is we'll get to the bottom of it so I wouldn't worry too much. As long as we stick both of our heads in right, we'll get to the bottom of it. Mal doesn't know about any of this by the way."
Fallen Down Under (Down Under #2) Page 10