We eat in silence for a while, or at least Tim allows me to eat before he fills me in on what's been happening since I've been away.
"So, she's just been turning up as and when she pleases?" I say in disbelief. It's completely out of character for Amelia to hang her career on the line like this.
"Not to begin with. Some day’s she'd be fine and others she would be an emotional wreck. I heard her arguing on the phone a few times to her boyfriend or whatever she wants to call him. To tell you the truth, if someone makes you cry like that, no way should they have the title of boyfriend attached to them. He sounds like a complete head fuck."
"Yeah, I think she was having a few problems with some guy before I left. The poor girl. I told her if she ever needed to talk to come and find me. So where is she now?"
"Who knows? You never know if she's going to make it in or not. Sometimes she comes in and then goes back home without a moment’s notice. I can't cope with it anymore Jess but I don't have the power to start any kind of disciplinary meetings and she knows she has me by the balls until Mal finds out anyway."
"Try and get hold of her for me. I think it's high time we had a little catch up. I just want to get to the bottom of why she's being so out of character."
Stanton's is dead. The whole vibe that I used to get a buzz off every day has vanished. "Jeez Tim, it feels like it's sucking your energy from your body. How the hell has it gotten this far? When was the last time the cleaners came out?"
"The last I heard, they turned up and Amelia sent them away because she had to head off in a hurry." Fucking hell. Old magazines are scattered around reception and it feels cold and dark.
"You, go stick that kettle on and fetch some bin bags and we'll make a start on trying to get this place back to normal." I try to call Amelia but yet again I have no luck. The longer this goes on the more pissed off I'm becoming.
As soon as I get into the swing of things, I feel my mood improving somewhat. "Have meetings been taking place here in this state?" I ask as the thought suddenly dawns on me.
"I've tried to make sure that all meetings have been offsite until I could arrange someone to come in and sort it out."
"Well it's done now at least." I'm still baffled how an office can get so disorganised in such a short space of time. "I think we need to buckle down and decide who actually wants to work for Mal and keep his baby soaring."
"I agree." Tim says as he plonks his arse down on a reception chair. "I meant to ask, but it thought I'd give you some headspace for a while."
"Ask away..." I say, fully aware of what's going to pop out of his mouth.
"How was Oz? Why were there no snaps on facebook?"
"Because my dear friend, I was too busy working to be talking selfies. But in all honestly it's amazing. It's completely out of this world. I mean who do you know that wakes up to a beautiful beach every morning?"
"Alright bitch, you don't need to rub it I'm that much. What's happening with tall dark and handsome?"
"Who Max? It's hard to tell right now. We're both still kind of figuring out where we want this to go. Well at least we were until I came back home without telling him."
"I bet he's one pissed off puppy. How many times has he been on the blower?" Tim's comments remind me that I actually haven't heard from him at all since I left. He must be really pissed at me to not even call. Normally if I've made him angry my phone is blowing up with calls and texts.
"I've not heard from him. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Well I've got this to keep me occupied for now."
"The least you could do is drop him a quick message to let him know thatyou got here safe." Good point, maybe I should. I pick up my phone and type out a quick message to him. Hopefully Liss puts in a good word for me.
"Have you been onto the I.T guys?" I ask Tim, quite anxious to get the ball rolling. Josh would have been the perfect guy for the job but no matter how much I want to get this resolved, there's no way I'm going to be asking him for help.
"I logged it last night as an urgent case so hopefully they'll be in touch with an update soon.
"Let's hope so. What's happening with the accounts? I think I'll tackle those next." I'm fully centred in my to do mode and can't seem to stop. When I get hold of the person responsible for this, and yes I'm adamant there is someone behind this, god fucking help them. "Right well, if you need me I'll be in the office."
I leave Tim by reception and set of in the direction of my office. Thankfully this seems to be in one piece. It could do with a quick dust but I guess that can be done later. I fire up the computer and bring up the programmes that I need. Shit, should I even be using this if it's been hacked?
"Tim." I call out. He's at my door in seconds. "How many accounts has this happened to? Maybe I shouldn't go into the server in case something else gets taken?"
"As far as I'm aware, it's just one of the major ones and nothing else seems to have been affected."
"Do you think I should open it or wait 'til I.T. get back to us?"
"I'd definitely play it safe and wait until I.T. come back to us. If we have been hacked we could potentially be opening ourselves up to all sorts of shit."
I make a few calls to see if I can chase anything up but everything seems to be going in slow motion. How hard can it be for bloody professionals to get to the bottom of such a critical incident? Deciding that nothing else can be done today I head out to grab a much needed coffee and I'm overjoyed when I hear the voice of one of my faves.
"Princess." George comes barrelling towards me as I walk through the door at Joes. I'm picked up off my feet within seconds and whirled around so fast that I feel dizzy. "Why didn't you tell me you were home? When did you get back?"
"I've missed you too." I say as I wait for him to lower me back to the ground. "Early this morning. I haven't has a chance to tell anyone yet. Let's just say the shit has well and hit the fan."
"Am I gonna have to work these muscles on some bell end from Australia?"
"No, not that kind of drama. Purely work stuff."
"Well I’m about to take a break so I'll bring your usual over, go get yourself a seat."
I look around and see that my favourite seat is available, tucked away in a little alcove next to the windows. I used to love dropping in here just to watch the world pass by.
"Here you go princess." I take my cappuccino from him as he pushes a chocolate chip brownie my way too. "What’s a bit of gossip without chocolate?"
I laugh at my best friend. No matter what the situation he's always there to help me, plus with the mention of gossip it's hard to keep him away.
"It's good to be back, but I'm bloody shattered."
"How come you're not still living the life of Riley? I didn't expect you to be back for quite a while to be honest."
"You know me George, I can't go for long without good old drama creeping up and biting me on the arse sooner or later." I wait for a smart arse comment but nothing leaves his mouth. Instead he nods his head as if to say "go on..."
"I received a call from Tim the other day and he was in a right state and I couldn't work out why he was calling at first. When he finally calmed down he told me that Stanton's had landed deep in the shit. One of the major client’s files has gone missing from the server along with all its super sensitive information on it. I haven't got a clue what I'm going to do about it and to make it worse, the client has somehow found out and are now threatening to out Mal and Stanton's."
"Shit. What took Tim so long to call you?"
"Oh I don't know. Maybe he thought he had everything under control or something. He's petrified of Mal finding out, that's why I ended up coming back as soon as I could.
"You know he's going to find out sooner or later princess." He states.
"I know. I'm just praying for a miracle before that happens." As if I don't already know that I'm fighting a losing battle. Jeez George is supposed to be on my side.
"So come on then. Don't keep me waiting in susp
ense."
"Hmm." I ask completely oblivious to what he's asking me. My minds all over the place and I can't stop my mind from wandering off and over thinking things.
"The mystery woman, you know the who is she scenario. I'm guessing it wasn't his wife after all. I bloody hope it wasn't because I would have expected this conversation to have happened much sooner than now.”
"Oh, you mean Stella?" Her name leaves a horrible taste in my mouth. I hate the thought of that vindictive bitch being around Max while I'm gone, patiently waiting to try and sink her claws into him once again.
"Judging by that face, I'd say you're a huge fan?"
"Seriously George, she's bloody vile and I've never hated someone so much in all my life. She's just one of those faces that you just want to ram into a brick wall, when you just know it won’t do enough damage that you want it to, you know?"
"What's her deal in all of this then?"
"Seriously, I wish I bloody knew. She's supposed to be Max's PA yet I've never once seen her working while I've been over there. She just turns up whenever she feels like it for no apparent reason. In fact the only time I ever saw her there was when she was making my life hell or taking advantage of a fragile situation and chose that moment to make a pass at Max."
"Nooo..." George shouts before his hand flys up and clamps over his mouth.
"I'm telling you, she's a fucking fruit cake and she sure as hell wouldn't last two minutes with Jen around. Actually, speaking of Jen, how is she? I haven't gotten around to calling her since I’ve been home yet."
"I reckon she'll be pretty made up to see you actually. I think you've come back at just the right time." His face pales as he gives my arm a quick squeeze.
"What did you mean?" I ask, slightly confused. "What's happened? Is she okay?"
George glances at his watch before standing and reaches out for my cup. "I hate to do this princess but I've gotta get back to work."
"George Matthews!" I shout. "You best tell me what's happened right now."
"It's really not my place to say. Just call her okay? You'll understand once you've spoken to her." What the fuck. Surely nothing serious could have happened to her. I only spoke to her last week and she seemed absolutely fine. She's always the first to tell me if something's wrong.
I quickly stop in at Stanton's on my way back from lunch to let Tim know that I'm calling it a day but I'll be available on the mobile. It shouldn't surprise me that Amelia's AWOL again. Something really needs sorting about that. You can't run a business with people who are happy and willing to take the piss constantly. One thing I am certain of is that it needs nipping in the bud and fast. There is no way she would have acted like this while Mal was here and if Mal left Tim in charge then she shouldn't be acting any different.
I can't get what George said out of my head. When I come to think of it, I've not actually heard from her since our last Skype session. Normally I'll get at least a few texts throughout the day about random shit but I've had nothing. I quickly check my email to see if she's responded to the last email I sent her the other day but nada, nothing is there. Deciding to give her a call, I make my way to the tube. It's just as busy as I remember with everyone trying to get from A to B on their daily commute. One thing I haven't missed is the obscene amounts of smelly armpits being shoved in my face. It's bloody horrid. People don’t need to concern themselves with pepper spray, all they need is to be armed with a can of deodorant to fend of these people. They’ll end up shrinking away like a witch does to water.
I arrive at Jens within half an hour and instantly I know that something is off. For a start her blinds are shut. The last time this happened, she'd completely closed herself off from the world while she overdosed on Ben and Jerry's and re-runs of friends when Alex, the then love of her life decided that she no longer had the right tools for the job, much to George's amusement.
I haven't got a clue what's happened since I spoke to her last but I swear to god if that knob has fucked her over, heads are going to roll.
"Jen... Jen it's me." I shout through the letter box. "Jen, bloody hell I know you're in there. I can hear the tele." If she doesn't open this door in the next two minutes I'm going to boot it down. "Answer the fucking door Davies, right now!"
I hear the lock go and nothing can prepare me for the sight that is before me. "Shit Jen." Her hair is in tatters and her mascara is all down her face from crying. She looks a right bloody mess. As if seeing me sets her off again and I pull her into my arms trying to reassure her that everything will be okay.
"Shhh, it's okay I'm here now." I soothe. I walk forwards with her still in my arms and lead her into the living room. I've never seen her look so broken and it tears me up inside.
"Jess I don't know what to do. How did I let it all get out of control?"
"How about I make us a brew and you can start from the beginning? I'm not going anywhere in a hurry." She doesn't answer me so I make my way to the kitchen. If this is down to Luke I'm going to fucking rip his balls off. I know she falls quickly but to see her like this is unusual. It feels like it takes forever for the kettle to boil so while I wait I pull out my phone and message George.
I'm at Jens. What they he'll has happened? She's a fucking mess and why did no one tell me about this?"
To say I'm pissed off is an understatement. Am I that much of a shit friend that no one has bothered to call me to tell me what's been happening? I thought George would have called me to tell me seeing that he's obviously been in the know for some time.
I place Jen's mug in front of her as I sit on the couch beside her. She looks like a little child again, wrapped up in her blanket with tears streaming down her face.
"Why didn't you call me? I would have been back here in an instant." Stroking her hair, I wish I could make whatever was causing her pain to go away.
"Exactly. That's why I didn't call you. As much as I'd like you to you wouldn't have been able to change anything anyway."
"Maybe not, but I would have been here for you and that's what's important. Is it Luke?" I ask unable to keep the question that has been dancing on my tongue back. The only answers I get are sniffles. "What's he done? Do I need to go all Jen on his arse because I will do. I might not be a pro like you but I'll bloody give it my best shot."
"He's not done anything wrong. Well not really. If I hadn't have been so stupid then none of this would have happened. What am I going to do Jess?"
"I'm not sure unless you tell me love. If he's not upset you then what's gotten you in this state and don't say you're just hormonal because that's utter bullocks."
"Don't hate me, please." My heads mashed and I don't have a clue what's she's saying. She is talking in bloody riddles.
"I could never hate you, sure you get on my tits like I don't know what but I could never, ever hate you." I continue to stroke her hair, anything to make her feel a little bit better. "Where’s Luke now?"
"I don't know. I can't face him, every time he calls or try's to come around I feel physically sick. I can't even bring myself to message him back. Fucking hell, he probably thinks I'm such a bitch."
"But why? I don't get it. If he's not done anything wrong then why would you ignore him?"
"I'm pregnant Jess."
I instantly burst out laughing and I can't help it. "Piss off Jen. Now isn't the time for pissing around." I wait for a smile to creep across her face to let me know she's trying to make light of a bad situation but it doesn't come. Instead she sits and looks at me with those puppy dog eyes and her bottom lip trembling as she tries to stop herself from crying again. "You're being serious aren't you? How do you know? Are you late?"
"I've done ten tests Jess and every single one of them is fucking positive."
"Shit. Have you been to the doctors?"
"I've not left the house since I found out. George got suspicious and called round and kind of put two and two together."
"And does Luke know?"
"Of course doesn't. What do you ta
ke me for? Me being so bloody careless has ruined everything for the both of us."
"You don't know that. Wait, does that test tell you how far you are?"
"No but I can only be about four weeks max. I haven't slept with anyone else for months."
"I'm not saying that you dopey cow. I'm just wondering how we're going to get you through this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well first things first. You're not staying here on your own tonight. You go and get a bath, you smell pretty bad." I shrug, "when you get out I'll make you something to eat and then tomorrow you'll be going to the doctors with me. They’ll need to check you over and stuff."
Jess
"I can't believe you brought me here so that I’m surrounded by sick people. What if I catch something in my condition? How selfish are you? You’re supposed to be my friend."
"Oh don't be such a wingebag. If you get ill then you'll just have to deal with it like everyone else does."
"You can be such a heartless cow at times you know." She says as she jabs me playfully in the ribs. It's good to see that she's got a bit of her personality back at least. "Thank you."
"What for?"
"For being here. It means a lot."
"Don't be daft, where else would I be you silly mare?" Honestly at times I wonder how she functions on her own. She’s like a walking hazard.
"Miss Davies." After an hour long wait we're finally called into the doctor’s office and she instantly turns a delightful shade of green. If it wasn’t such a sensitive issue for her I’d whip out my phone and take a picture for the Jess and Jen adventure album.
"What brings you to us today Miss Davies?" The doctor smiles encouragingly at her and I give her arm a light squeeze in encouragement.
"Um... I believe that I may be pregnant."
"Well congratulations. I take it that you have already done a test?"
Jen doesn't say anything; she just nods her head in the doctor’s direction, most likely desperate to get this over with.
Fallen Down Under (Down Under #2) Page 11