Sapphire (21 page)

Alfie answered his phone on the first ring, ‘Trouble in lovers’ paradise, Sapphire?’ he said drily.

‘What’s Ryan’s connection to that Ukrainian?’

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line and then Alfie said, ‘I think I know the man you mean.’ He sighed, ‘Do yourself a favour Sapphire, just don’t go there.’

‘Please Alfie, if you know something, tell me.’

‘I can’t over the phone.’

Sapphire laughed in disbelief. ‘Why, do you think your phone is tapped?’

She expected a wisecrack reply from Alfie, but instead he said seriously, ‘Enjoy the rest of your stay and I’ll see you when you get back.’

What kind of bullshit answer was that? Sapphire stormed over to one of the many bars in the hotel and ordered herself a double vodka and tonic. And then she ordered another. It wasn’t going to solve anything, but it took the edge off.

Halfway through her drink Ryan found her. ‘I thought you were going to the spa, babe.’ He was back to being the smooth operator again. She shrugged. ‘I didn’t feel like it after all.’

He sat on the stool next to her and ordered himself a large whisky and surveyed the scene. ’God, I love it here. It’s like a pleasure dome where you can forget about the real world and just enjoy yourself. I wish we were staying another week. In fact I reckon I could stay here forever and never get tired of it. Who needs Paris when you can see the Eiffel Tower here?’

Any longer and it would be Sapphire’s idea of hell. It was becoming clear that she and Ryan really had very little in common.

‘Is there something on your mind, Ryan?’ Sapphire asked, hoping that he might take the opportunity to open up about what was troubling him. She didn’t want to admit to eavesdropping on his phone call.

‘Nothing on my mind, babe, but plenty in other areas.’

He took her hand and guided it onto his jeans where she could feel his erection straining against the denim. ‘How about we finish our drinks and go back upstairs? We’ve only one more day of the mirror experience and I want to make the most of it.’

It wasn’t exactly the answer Sapphire had hoped for.

She felt unsettled for the remainder of their trip – there were no more phone calls but Ryan continued to seem on edge. As for Sapphire, she felt a tightness in her chest every time she thought of Jay. When she was on her own she found herself looking at the pictures of him she had on her phone, wondering if he was thinking about her. Probably not – she had blown that one big time.

Back in Brighton Ryan seemed no closer to confiding his troubles, whatever they were, to Sapphire. When she
went to see Alfie he was evasive and a little on edge himself. For a start he wouldn’t even talk to her in the club but insisted they went for a walk on the seafront. It was mid December and bitingly cold. They grabbed a coffee from one of the cafés and clutched the cups for warmth.

‘So what is it about Ryan and this Markov? Is there something dodgy?’

Alfie shrugged, ‘I don’t ask, Sapphire, and if I were you, I wouldn’t either.’

Sapphire wasn’t about to give up. ‘But Ryan said something about girls and about one girl having been hurt, do you know what he was talking about?’

At this Alfie’s face clouded, ‘I mean it, Sapphire, just don’t go there, you don’t want to know.’

Sapphire suddenly felt even colder and that wasn’t just due to the icy wind whipping off the sea. ‘I met him with Ryan and he insisted on me giving him my card, said how he was looking to expand in Brighton. Said it would be good for my business to have his investment. He texted me suggesting we meet up. And I’m pretty sure he sent me a designer dress.’

Why had Ryan introduced her to him? He hadn’t exactly been thinking of her best interests, only his own.

Alfie put his arm round her in a gesture of reassurance and Sapphire was feeling so anxious that she didn’t even try to push him away. ‘Just keep your distance, it was probably a power kick he was on. I’m sure it will be okay.’

But even Alfie didn’t look as if he believed his words.

Sapphire couldn’t get rid of the anxiety in the days that followed but she did what she always did when she was stressed and buried herself in her work, and there was plenty to do in the run-up to Christmas, including the lingerie night, and pre-Christmas pampering parties they were laying on where women could get beauty
treatments and chill out after Christmas shopping. Everywhere the talk was of the recession and the credit crunch, of businesses folding and people losing their jobs. Sapphire almost stopped wanting to listen to the news, or read a newspaper; to her it felt like the country was willing itself to disaster. And on top of all that was the dull ache she felt inside every time she thought of Jay, no matter how many extravagant dates she went on with Ryan.

‘So is it serious between you and Ryan?’ Jazz asked Sapphire as the two prepared the boutique for the men-only shopping night. Sapphire was arranging champagne flutes in rows and was hoping she could restrict the guests to one glass.

Sapphire’s heart sank, she didn’t welcome personal questions right now. She put on her breezy, I’m fine voice. ‘Not especially, but that’s good right now. I think we’re quite similar, neither of us wants a long-term relationship – we just want to have fun.’

But had she been having fun? Sapphire wondered. There’d been the Vegas trip, plenty of expensive meals out, and nights out clubbing, Ryan seemed incapable of ever staying in and chilling. But she wasn’t sure if it had been
fun
. Underlying everything was her worry about what Ryan might be tied up with and of course there were the women – Ryan flirted with practically every woman he came into contact with and his good looks meant he received a great deal of female attention. Was he faithful? Sapphire didn’t know, but she knew she couldn’t trust him. When she asked him if he believed in fidelity, he just laughed and said how could he have the energy to shag anyone else after her? It wasn’t exactly what she’d been hoping to hear.

‘Well, I guess you’ve got your no-strings-attached fling that you wanted,’ Jazz continued and by the tone of her
voice Sapphire knew she disapproved. Both she and Sam had met Ryan several times now and she could tell they didn’t exactly warm to him. And while Ryan was his typical charming flirtatious self with Jazz he was slightly less charming to Sam, and Sapphire couldn’t help wondering if that was because he didn’t fancy her because he thought she was fat. By comparison, Jay was friendly and easy-going with everyone, so kind and loyal, so many things that Ryan wasn’t. Jay would never judge anyone on their appearance, but he wanted more than Sapphire could give. Ryan was shallow and egotistical, but he didn’t place any demands on her. And that was what she wanted, wasn’t it?

‘Yeah, it’s great,’ Sapphire decided to be economical with the truth. ‘I mean, I really liked Jay, but he was a bit of a boy, and now I’m going out with a man.’

Jazz frowned. ‘Jay is a man, don’t be so dismissive of him, Sapphire, just because he was nice to you and didn’t flash cash around.’

Sapphire felt the familiar tightness in her chest at the mention of Jay’s name. She tried to keep her feelings about the break-up locked away and she wouldn’t, just wouldn’t, think about Jay, wouldn’t think about all the very good things about him, wouldn’t allow herself to admit just how much she missed him.

‘I know, I didn’t mean it to sound like that, let’s not talk about it, okay? I’ve got to focus on tonight. I need you to help me to decide what lingerie set to wear. Vanessa is going for the red, I thought maybe the cream? And we’ll both wear silk robes.’

‘Rather you than me,’ Jazz said grimly.

Sapphire sighed. ‘Well it’s not exactly my idea of fun, but I need to get those punters in and spending money. And if baring some flesh is what it takes to do it, then I’m just going to have to grin and bear it – pun intended.’

Two hours later everything was ready in the boutique and Sapphire was kitted out in the cream silk lingerie. She’d had to down two glasses of champagne very quickly in order to give her confidence. She felt horribly exposed in the lingerie and stockings, even with the robe. This had better work, or she was going to feel like a hooker. It was getting the men through the door that worried her most. Once they were in, she was pretty sure of her sales techniques. For the first twenty minutes her worst fears were realised as no one turned up.

‘Any minute now tumbleweed is going to start rolling through the store,’ she tried to joke to Jazz, but she was on the verge of tears.

Then Ryan walked in, accompanied by four Eastern European-looking men. ‘Brought you some customers, babe,’ he said, taking her in his arms and kissing her, then he pulled back and whistled. ‘You look fantastic.’

‘Just make them spend,’ Sapphire whispered.

‘Will do,’ Ryan replied and winked. He was a little worse for wear; she could smell whisky on his breath.

‘So come on, gentlemen, pick out an outfit for your girlfriends and wives and my lovely girlfriend and Vanessa here will model it for you.’

Sapphire exchanged a slightly anxious glance with Vanessa. But Vanessa shrugged; she had no problem with showing off her gym-toned body, her view was if you had it, you may as well flaunt it.

Immediately the men made a bee-line for some of the more revealing outfits. Hopefully the end would justify the means so long as the men dug deep into their wallets, Sapphire thought grimly as she wriggled into a tiny black lace thong and matching bra that one of Ryan’s friends selected for her. She had at least put out her most expensive underwear. The customers had no chance to be cheapskates in her boutique. By now more men had come into the boutique, swelling the numbers to around
twenty, and Jazz was busy handing out glasses of champagne and bottles of beer and generally being chatty.

Vanessa got everyone’s attention by emerging from the dressing room in a hot-pink number. She looked fabulous; the men stopped talking and stared at her as if they couldn’t believe their luck, as Vanessa turned and faced them, hands on hips, looking like a gorgeous supermodel. ‘Gentlemen, welcome to Something For The Weekend, where we hope you will pick up something lovely for the lady in your life. To help you make your selection Sapphire and myself will be modelling a range of lingerie, so if you want to see something on, please let our sales representatives know.’

‘Can’t we see it off as well?’ one lad shouted out to a chorus of laughs.

Without batting an eyelid Vanessa shot back, ‘Spearmint Rhino is round the corner, but that’ll cost you way more than getting something sexy for your girlfriend – which really, boys, as I’ll think you’ll agree, is the gift that keeps on giving.’

She then nodded to Jazz who turned up the music while Vanessa strutted her stuff across the room to Kylie’s ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’, pausing at one end to strike a pose, then sashaying back. She definitely had the moves, Sapphire thought enviously and from the captivated expressions on the customers’ faces, they thought so too.

Then it was Sapphire’s turn. She felt horribly self-conscious as she came out of the dressing room. It’s for the greater good, she chanted to herself as she paraded across the boutique as if on a catwalk, pausing at the end to strike a pose, though she was sure her pose was more wooden than Vanessa’s. Ryan caught her eye and winked and she managed to smile back. However uncertain she was of her performance, the modelling seemed to have
broken the ice and many of the men began looking through the lingerie on display – clearly the prospect of seeing it on Vanessa and Sapphire was tempting.

Jazz and Kiki were rushed off their feet getting the right sizes for the girls and writing down which man wanted what so they could close the sale with them afterwards.

By the fifth outfit Sapphire was starting to feel more blasé; she was pleased to see that they had already sold several of the more expensive lingerie sets so she had an added spring to her step when she strided out from the dressing room in a sexy leopard-print number. But something in the crowd – a flash of white-blond hair – caught her eye. She froze for a few seconds as the two muscle-bound bodyguards she recognised from the club moved to one side revealing their boss, a dressed-down Markov in designer jeans and a pale cream leather jacket who smiled at her. Yuk – he looked like mutton dressed as ram and what the hell was he doing here? She felt a shiver of repulsion run down her spine at the memory of his meaty hand on her bare skin and as she recalled Ryan’s phone call to him with his comments about girls being hurt.

Hating his gaze on her she swiftly made her way back to the cubicle. She and Vanessa had decided to take a short break to allow the customers to make their purchases, so Sapphire slipped on her robe and began circulating, chatting to the guests, making sure they had bought something, all the while avoiding Markov.

‘Can’t I have you for Christmas?’ one cheeky bloke asked.

Sapphire was about to reply that there was no way that he could afford her, just as Ryan came up behind her and put his arms round her possessively. ‘Mate, I’ve got exclusive rights on this bird.’ And to Sapphire’s annoyance he slapped her playfully on the bum. She might be having to
parade half-naked but that didn’t mean Sapphire wanted to be treated like a bimbo.

She managed a smile and then moved away. Ryan followed and when she was sure no one could hear them she hissed, ‘Don’t do that again.’

‘Don’t do what?’ Ryan slurred. He’d been hitting the champagne and seemed pissed.

‘Slap me on the bum.’

Ryan just laughed and reached out and groped her bum, ‘Why not? It’s such a lovely arse and anyway it gives me a proper thrill knowing how much these men want you but only I get to have you.’

Sapphire didn’t want to make a scene but she was perilously close to telling Ryan to fuck off. She didn’t like being mauled like this. Who did Ryan think he was?

‘Babe, I’ve got to work, I’ll catch up with you later,’ she said disentangling herself from his embrace and she moved swiftly away before he could lurch for her again.

But then she found herself walking slap bang into another unwelcome situation as Markov stepped in front of her, ‘Ah, the beautiful Sapphire.’