The Tangled Web

by Lacey Dearie

Vicky shook her head sharply at her sister and mouthed the words, “Good one.”

  Pamela rolled her eyes theatrically, grabbed Sasha’s hands and clapped them as she continued, ‘So they all rolled over and Magnus fell out.’

  Sasha chortled delightedly as Magnus looked stunned that he had been the one of the group who had been chosen to be pushed out of the fictitious bed.

  ‘I’m going for a smoke, phone me if there’s any news,’ Maria announced to no-one in particular as she sniffed back her tears.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Bob said. Vicky caught glimpses of worry in her father’s eyes but he was trying not to show it. She wasn’t sure if his concern was primarily for his son or his wife. Her mother had been known to find stressful situations like this difficult to handle and was prone to chain smoking to cope.

  ‘Keep an eye on Pamela,’ Bob mumbled as they walked past Vicky.

  She nodded her reply. She was sure her sister would continue to keep Sasha entertained as long as Sasha stayed awake. As soon as Sasha fell asleep, Vicky guessed she could keep Pamela away from their mother with a game of, “Guess The Ailment,” a favourite of theirs whenever they were in a doctors surgery or hospital waiting room. Whoever could come up with the most gruesome reason for a patient’s visit was usually the winner.

  ‘I need a drink,’ Flic huffed.

  ‘Go get one then,’ Pamela spat.

  ‘Oi! Mind your manners!’ Vicky cautioned.

  ‘She doesn’t need to be here,’ Pamela snorted.

  Vicky noticed that Flic was staying silent and staring into space. A lack of response to Pamela’s snarling was not what she expected from Flic.

  Vicky inhaled sharply and attempted to swallow the lump of tension she felt gathering in her throat. This was a room she did not want to be in, with a group of people who should not be there. Her eyes darted around, taking stock of the situation. Everyone was absorbed in their own emotional struggle. She doubted if anyone would notice if she started texting, however inappropriate it was.

  Vicky: “Are you still up?”

  Christos: “Yep, what you doing awake agapi mou? Is Sasha keeping you up?”

  Vicky: “No, total nightmare of a night. Scarlett came round all agitated because she and Peter had a fight about us investigating him. She actually told him! Now he wants to write a story about us. Then Magnus came over to say Adam was in a car crash. I’m at the hospital now.”

  Christos: “OMG! How is he?”

  Vicky: “Being operated on at the moment. Broken arm, broken leg and they’re putting pins in his leg.”

  Christos: “Doesn’t sound pleasant. He’ll be alright though?”

  Vicky: “We think so. That’s the annoying thing about hospitals, nobody ever says everything’s going to be ok.”

  Christos: “I know. If I was there I’d give you a big hug :( “

  Vicky: “I know :(”

  Christos: “Are you with someone?”

  Vicky: “Yes. Loads of people here. Mum’s gone out for a smoke. Dad’s with her. Pamela’s entertaining Sasha. Dread to think of what germs Sasha will pick up off the toys in the toy box :S Flic’s here. So are Scarlett and Peter. And Magnus.”

  Christos: “Right, you won’t be lonely then! LOL. Didn’t Flic have a date with Adam tonight?”

  Vicky: “Yup. Didn’t go well. Don’t know why she’s hanging around actually. It didn’t sound like he wanted to see her again.”

  Christos: “Awkward :/ What’s Scarlett doing there? She and Adam hate each other.“

  Vicky: “She’s addicted to drama.”

  Christos: “Peter?”

  Vicky: “Smelled another story and came to investigate. And pick up Scarlett. Though I think he’ll dump her now he knows about her hiring us.”

  Christos: “Can’t believe she told him.”

  Vicky: “Me neither.”

  Christos: “What’s Magnus doing there?”

  Vicky: “I like to think he’s here to comfort me ;)”

  Vicky awaited a reply and after a couple of minutes decided it wasn’t coming. Christos must have gone back to bed.

  ‘You two could probably go now. Vicky will let you know what happened in the morning,’ Pamela called across the waiting room to Scarlett and Peter.

  ‘It’s not a soap opera Pamela, we can’t just find out WHAT HAPPENED at a later date! This is real life!’ Scarlett boomed.

  ‘Look, nobody needs to be here except me and Vicky. The rest of you, do one!’ Pamela roared.

  Vicky suspected a fight was brewing and Sasha was bound to get upset. She reached into her pocket and found some coins.

  ‘Make yourself useful and go buy a bottle of water. When you get back you can give Sasha one of the rusks from my bag.’

  ‘And something for myself?’ Pamela tried hopefully.

  ‘Alright,’ Vicky sighed, handing over more coins. It was a small price to pay to keep the peace right now.

  Sasha waved as she was carried off and squeaked at her mother. Vicky smiled at the little girl and beamed as everyone but Magnus waved and said goodbye to Sasha. He was busy inspecting a copy of Men’s Health which had been lying in front of him.

  ‘Perhaps we should go after all. It’s not really our place to be here,’ Scarlett suggested to Peter, while eyeing Magnus nervously.

  ‘No, I’d like to stay. I have some questions to ask,’ he insisted.

  ‘It’s not the time or the place,’ Flic cautioned, her eyes flashing a dark warning at Peter.

  ‘I know it’s not the time, which is why I’m waiting. I’m happy to stay here until Adam gets the all clear. This is as good a place as any though.’ Peter was adamant.

  ‘We’ll call you when Adam’s out of theatre and let you know the outcome. You can get your story then. I don’t want him upset or involved in your questioning. We don’t know what kind of reaction he’ll have to the accident. I mean mentally and emotionally,’ Vicky grimaced.

  She understood it wasn’t a bad accident but any kind had to be difficult to come to terms with. Especially to someone like Adam, who was usually so in control. And he would be devastated to have to stop training in order to recuperate.

  ‘I really couldn’t help you with a story, I’m just a concerned friend here to make sure he’s alright,’ Flic shrugged.

  ‘Perhaps you could tell Peter what was so shocking in your text to Adam that made him crash,’ Magnus suggested. ‘When I got to the scene he was conscious and told me he’d been an arsehole and been texting while he was driving. I asked who he was texting and he said you.’

  Flic closed her eyes and pinched her brow. Vicky felt her heart sink on Flic’s behalf. It wasn’t her fault but she knew that Flic was a glass-is-half-empty kind of person and would be seeing it that way. She would blame herself for Adam’s crash.

  ‘If I hadn’t sent that message…’ Flic trailed off, shaking her head.

  ‘He didn’t have to pick it up and read it,’ Vicky reasoned, reaching over to rub Flic’s arm reassuringly.

  Flic looked upwards at the lights. She snorted and shook her head again. Vicky couldn’t tell if Flic was praying or cursing.

  ‘Well thank heavens Pamela isn’t here, she’d pounce on that little bit of information!’ Scarlett mused.

  Vicky stared open-mouthed in horror as Flic then reached into her tiny handbag and removed a small pink jewel encrusted hipflask and took a swig.

  ‘What are you doing? What’s in that?’ Vicky demanded.

  Scarlett grabbed it and took a sniff. ‘Smells like blackcurrant.’

  ‘It’s kir royale actually,’ Flic announced then grabbed her hipflask back from Scarlett.

  ‘I don’t believe this,’ Vicky rubbed her eyes. Her brother was in theatre. Her parents had disappeared. Her sister wanted to fight the world. Her daughter should have been in bed now. Her best friend had brought her domestic dispute into the hospital. The object of her affection wasn’t interested in being any comfort. There was a sleazy journalist wanting a stor
y. And her business partner had turned the hospital waiting room into a cocktail bar. It was too much to handle at this time of night.

  Vicky felt something inside her snap and she decided to take charge of the situation as much as possible. She turned her head towards Peter.

  ‘You! Get out! Adam’s injuries are not severe. There’s no story here. Just go!’ she bawled.

  ‘Wait!’ Peter commanded everyone’s attention. ‘I think you’ve all got this wrong. It’s not Adam’s crash I want a story on. That would barely manage a column in the paper. No, no no. It’s your virtual prostitution.’

  Flic took a bigger gulp from her hipflask. Vicky stared Peter straight in the eye. Had he really just announced that to the whole waiting room?

  Magnus set down the magazine he’d been hiding behind and perked up a little. ‘What’s this? Who is virtually a prostitute?’

  ‘These two,’ Peter pointed at Vicky and Flic. ‘They’re honey trappers.’

  ‘You went ahead with that? You started a business and didn’t tell me?’ Magnus checked, clearly stung.

  ‘It’s...still in the early stages,’ Vicky faltered.

  ‘I thought that was all talk. I had no idea you two planned to go ahead with it. Why didn’t you get my help? I could have given you all sorts of advice,’ Magnus whined.

  ‘Maybe they wanted to do it themselves. Maybe they didn’t want Mr. Ten Percent getting in on the act,’ Scarlett tittered.

  Magnus looked round at her as if seeing her for the first time. They stared each other out for a moment, Magnus breaking their gaze first.

  Vicky dropped her eyes to the floor, wondering how she could put Peter off writing his story. This would be disastrous. It would mean the end of her anonymous blogs about the business before the venture had really started. Everyone in Inverness would be able to read about what she and Flic had been up to, trying to chat up Scarlett’s partner for money. What would her family think? She had to put Peter off!

  ‘It’s not really a proper business yet. We’ve only just taken on one client. Scarlett was our first and only client. And that’s been a disaster. We’re probably going to give up now,’ Vicky covered.

  Flic took another swig of kir royale.

  ‘The minute you took on one client, it became a story for me,’ Peter smirked.

  ‘Don’t give up on this Vicky,’ Magnus urged. ‘This is your dream!’

  ‘Oh shut the fuck up!’ Scarlett snarled at him.

  Vicky got up and walked over to the window to try and bring some clarity to her thoughts. She inwardly squirmed as she thought this over and tried to drown out the continuing bickering between Magnus and Scarlett. She took a deep breath and attempted to empty her mind. It seemed like there were too many problems to deal with in one night. She had to deal with one thing at a time. She turned and looked at the waiting room. Who to reason with first?

  She made the decision to attempt Peter first, as he was the one who could do the most damage and cause major embarrassment. That was until Flic began waving and shouting, “bonjour!” to a man who had just been brought in to the waiting room with a large gash on his head.

  ‘The mademoiselle with the rhinestones on her dress! Bonjour, doll!’ he replied.

  Vicky decided to forget Peter for the moment. Her partner in crime was a loose cannon and quickly getting drunk. She needed to deal with her first. She marched over to where Flic sat, tugged on her arm and was grateful that Flic moved easily from her chair over to the window where Vicky had previously been standing.

  ‘Can I have a drink?’ Vicky asked.

  ‘Sure.’ Flic handed over the hipflask to Vicky who put the container to her lips and pretended to drink.

  ‘What are we going to do about Peter?’ Vicky asked.

  ‘Is this all you’re worried about? When Adam’s in theatre?’ Flic groaned.

  ‘I can’t do anything about Adam. The doctors are in control there. But I can do something about this situation with Peter.’

  ‘I’d be more worried about him,’ Flic turned and pointed at Magnus. Vicky snapped her head around and saw the two men sitting together, heads bowed, deep in hushed discussion.

  ‘What the hell are they talking about?’ Vicky worried.

  ‘And what about her? Does she ever just chill out?’ Flic nodded in Scarlett’s direction. She was sitting with her back to the wall, her shoulders stiff, her legs and arms folded tightly, her lips chewed so much they looked ready to bleed. Her eyes were like darts aimed at Magnus and Peter.

  ‘No. Never,’ Vicky muttered, becoming more agitated that nothing was being resolved.

  She slumped down onto a chair under the window and watched as Magnus and Peter continued their conversation. They were very chummy all of a sudden. She couldn’t understand what they would have to talk about so intensely. She continued to watch and absentmindedly stroked the jewels on Flic’s hipflask with her thumb. She had to get this resolved before Pamela came back with Sasha. The last thing she wanted was for Pamela to get wind of any of this.

  Magnus looked over at Vicky as he continued to talk. The two men shook hands and then they approached Vicky. Magnus perched himself on the edge of a small wooden table littered with magazines while Peter stood alongside Flic.

  ‘Peter and I have discussed your situation,’ Magnus began.

  Vicky and Flic exchanged nervous glances. They remained silent.

  ‘We’ve decided that Peter should go ahead and write the article. No publicity is bad publicity.’

  Vicky tutted. Confusion mixed with annoyance. Who did Magnus think he was to be making these decisions? He wasn’t her boyfriend. Yet. And he wasn’t at all involved with the business.

  ‘No. It’s not happening,’ Flic asserted.

  ‘I’m writing it whether you like it or not. I’ve been a victim of your little venture and I’m entitled to report the facts,’ Peter countered. ‘A story like this is just the boost I need for my career. It could go national!’

  ‘Oh that’s just what you need, darling!’ Scarlett encouraged from across the room.

  Vicky sneered at Scarlett in horror. Whose side was she on?

  Flic rose from the seat she had occupied and stood in front of Peter, looking him square in the eye. ‘We don’t want anyone to know about this business. The ramifications are horrific. Can you imagine how our families would react? What it would mean for any future relationships? And national?’ Flic spat the word. ‘No. I moved here so that nobody down my neck of the woods would know anything about my life now. I can’t be having them reading about me being a virtual tart for money. Oh no. Not happening!’

  ‘We realise that,’ Magnus soothed.

  ‘She’s right. It’s not happening.’ Vicky crossed her arms defensively. She felt Flic’s determination and assertiveness rub off on her and she liked it.

  ‘Magnus and I have agreed that I will write the article, changing your names, and he will become a partner in your business. He’s paying me to keep this anonymous for you two,’ Peter explained.

  ‘A partner?’ Flic queried.

  ‘This project is a brilliant idea. I’d be happy to be your financial backer. I’ll get my money back within weeks. You’ll make a packet – with the right people behind you. I want in,’ he confirmed.

  Vicky wasn’t sure what to say. It sounded too perfect. A motivated, experienced business partner who’d provide the funds they needed to make a go of this and publicity from Peter, without consequences for their personal lives. And being in business with Magnus would mean she could spend more time with him. There would be opportunities for meetings. And late night calls to discuss clients. And more opportunities for flirting during those late night calls. Win-win! Where was the catch?

  ‘Flic, shall we discuss this?’ she asked.

  Flic nodded and they moved to the opposite end of the waiting room. Flic waved to the man with the gash in his head on her way, making Vicky realise that Magnus would probably be a better, more professional partner than
Flic was.

  ‘This is actually sounding like a good idea to me,’ Vicky whispered. ‘Can you think of any reason why we shouldn’t take them up on this?’

  ‘Well we don’t want Magnus bossing us around or getting too involved in the day to day running of things, do we? I like the set-up as it is,’ Flic frowned.

  ‘How about we make him a silent partner then? He gets his share of the benefits – financially – and we run the show. We have a weekly meeting, the three of us, to let him know how things are going, but apart from that he’s not involved,’ Vicky proposed.

  ‘Do you think he’d go for that?’ Flic wondered.

  ‘He’s got so many irons on the fire, he’s not got the time to devote to this. He will definitely want to be a silent partner,’ Vicky reasoned.

  ‘Ok, you do the talking then, you know these guys better than me,’ Flic said.

  ‘Hardly! I’ve met Peter a handful of times and I met Magnus at the same time as you!’

  ‘YOU do the talking!’ Flic repeated, ushering Vicky back towards Magnus and Peter.

  ‘Um,’ Vicky faltered.

  ‘Yes?’ Magnus and Peter responded in unison.

  ‘We’ve decided that Magnus should be a silent partner and we’re happy for Peter to write the article using fake names for us,’ Vicky trembled with nerves.

  ‘Silent? What do you mean by silent?’ Magnus twitched.

  ‘Flic and I are responsible for the day to day running of the business. We’ll have team meetings once a week which you can attend, or not, to bring you up to speed on what’s happening and you’ll get to see what’s happening financially,’ Vicky rambled.

  ‘And of course you’ll be involved in any major decisions. And get your share of the profits,’ Flic added.

  ‘Of course,’ Vicky nodded.

  ‘That’s not really silent, but yes, I’ll go along with that. We can meet tomorrow to deal with the formalities.’ He waved his hand dismissively.

  Vicky got the impression he was only interested in the economic side of things and wouldn’t be too concerned with the decision making. It suited her.

  ‘Make sure you have a babysitter for your daughter, we don’t want any….distractions,’ he advised.