Sapphire (8 page)

She grimaced. Was she really going to be able to do business with him?

He caught the look and said, ‘Do you have that low an opinion of me, Sapphire? Of course I didn’t shag Georgia Cox. I got her back to her hotel room and tried to get some coffee down her. She would have been up for it though, she was all over me. I pity the poor bastard she’s marrying.’

There was a pause. Was he expecting her to congratulate him on his self-restraint? Tosser. She simply arched one of her eyebrows. Alfie, realising she wasn’t going to say anything, carried on, ‘So, on to business.’

‘That’s why I’m here,’ Sapphire couldn’t resist saying sarcastically. Did he seriously think there could be any other reason?

Alfie registered her tone with a wry smile. ‘I know you’re not my number-one fan, Sapphire, but I hope we can at least be friends.’

Sapphire wanted to say that her friends didn’t usually betray her but decided that would only extend the line of conversation and really she just wanted to hear Alfie’s business proposition and get the hell out of there. She nodded slightly and Alfie took that as encouragement to carry on, ‘So, I’ve been working on some figures and here’s the deal we can offer you, if you agree to continue to use the club on a regular basis.’

He reached across the desk and handed her a sheet of
paper. Sapphire scanned the figures. She wouldn’t have to pay an entry fee for any of her parties, they’d get to see the strip show for twenty pounds per person, with two free drinks thrown in. It was a better deal than before.

‘Why such good terms?’ she demanded, instantly distrustful.

‘Because I want a guarantee that you’ll always use the club. It’s worth giving you this deal to secure that.’

At that moment there was a knock at the door and one of the bar staff walked in holding a tray of drinks. She set them down on the desk. ‘Anything else, Alfie?’ she asked in a thick East European accent. She was pretty, but she looked ever so thin and her dyed auburn hair badly needed the roots redoing.

‘No thanks, Larisa, we’re cool.’

Larisa left the office.

‘Where’s she from?’ Sapphire asked, just making conversation.

Alfie rolled his eyes. ‘The Ukraine, I think, somewhere like that. Ryan, my business partner, has got this thing going with Eastern European workers, an endless supply it seems.’

Alfie appeared ill at ease talking about it and Sapphire was about to press him when there was another knock at the door.

‘Come in,’ Alfie called out and in walked one of the most drop-dead gorgeous men Sapphire had ever seen. He was just under six foot, with a powerful, muscular body, jet black hair, wickedly sexy green eyes, and a sensuous mouth. Hello! Instinctively Sapphire smoothed back her hair and sat up straighter.

‘Sapphire, this is Ryan.’

‘Hi,’ she said, looking at him from under her lashes as they shook hands.

‘Hi, I’ve heard so much about you from Alfie but he really didn’t do you justice.’

Sapphire liked the flirtatious comment – very much, and not just because Alfie obviously didn’t. Ryan had the most gorgeous Southern Irish accent – Sapphire was a sucker for a lovely accent.

‘So, shall we get down to the matter in hand?’ Alfie put in, a little abruptly.

Ha! Sapphire thought, this should make business meetings more interesting.

As they talked about what bookings Sapphire had coming up, and in particular, Georgia’s hen weekend which absolutely had to go well, Sapphire found herself sneaking glances at Ryan when she thought he wasn’t looking. But every now and then their eyes locked. It seemed Ryan was as interested in her as she was in him. The feeling of apprehension she had about having to work with Alfie was now being replaced by one of excitement. As long as Ryan was in the picture, it even made dealing with her ex-husband bearable.

At the end of the meeting Ryan offered to show her round the refitted club. Sapphire had no great interest in what Alfie had done but she was perfectly happy to spend more time with the gorgeous Ryan.

In fact, although she hated to admit it, Alfie had transformed the club, which had been looking decidedly seedy, into a sophisticated, cool space. He’d made the most impact in the private strip club, which had been a homage to the eighties and not in an ironic good way. Now it was an altogether more intimate space with dark red walls, ornate gold mirrors, a mix of private red leather booths and gold tables and chairs, and a large mirrorball that threw out circles of light.

‘I love this,’ Sapphire exclaimed walking in. ‘It’s a massive improvement.’

‘Glad you think so,’ Ryan said, sitting on one of the tables. He seemed the kind of man who was at ease in any
situation. Sapphire found his confidence very sexy. ‘I designed it. In fact I came up with the design for the whole club.’

Typical Alfie, trying to take the credit to impress her, she thought.

‘It reminds me of my own place,’ Sapphire continued, walking round the room, intensely conscious of Ryan’s gaze on her.

‘It should do – you inspired me. I took a look at your place a couple of months ago to get some ideas. You’ve created a fantastic business.’

Sapphire glowed with the compliment; she liked nothing better than to be praised for her work. They stood looking at each other for a second longer than you would if you were only business associates. Sapphire was the first to speak, ‘I’ve really got to go now; I’m meeting some friends.’

‘I’ll see you out,’ Ryan said, walking her through the club. He paused at the door, ‘I still don’t feel I know Brighton very well as I only moved down a month ago. Any chance you could show me around sometime?’ He gazed at her with his green eyes, challenging her, daring her.

‘Sure, no problem,’ she said casually, while inside she performed a little victory dance.
Sapphire
Jones
,
you
have
not
lost
your
touch
! ‘I’m tied up for the rest of the week but I could do something next week.’ She didn’t want to sound too available. ‘We could go for lunch and take a walk round the city.’ Lunch, businesslike, safe. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was a work contact that was all.

‘I’d like that. Here’s my number.’

He handed her his card and their fingers brushed against each other. Sapphire tried to ignore the chain reaction that this triggered inside her, but she couldn’t deny the jolt of attraction. Ah well, she reasoned walking along the seafront and towards the bar, there was
nothing wrong with a little flirtation. That never hurt anyone did it?

She was still smiling she walked into the Star Bar, an intimate, trendy bar, just off one of the roads by the sea which the girls had adopted as their local. Jazz and Sam were sitting at their regular spot, on the brown leather sofa by the window. ‘So, it wasn’t that bad seeing the evil one then?’ Sam said as she and Jazz noted the smile. ‘We were expecting you to have the right hump.’

‘Not so bad at all. The deal he’s offering me is a good one and,’ Sapphire’s smile broadened, ‘he has got the most gorgeous business partner!’

She looked at Jazz and Sam expecting them to share her enthusiasm but they both frowned. ‘You’ve got a gorgeous boyfriend – remember?’ Sam put in.

‘I know! I was just window shopping, keep your hair on!’ Sapphire shot back, hating her friends’ judgemental attitude. She hadn’t done anything wrong. ‘Shall I get the drinks in? Or do you want to carry on having a go at me just because I happened to say that another man is good-looking?’

‘Vodka and coke, please,’ Jazz replied.

‘Mineral water for me,’ came Sam’s request.

Sapphire raised her eyebrows, ‘Not like you, Sam.’

‘Yeah, well, I’m on this diet and for once I’m going to stick to it and that means no alcohol. I know myself too well. I’ll have one drink and then I’ll have another then another and then I’ll be starving and it won’t be the steamed fish and veg I reach for but a bloody great bucket of KFC, but not this time!’ Sam’s hazel eyes took on a determined gleam. ‘This is the year I become a size 12 and meet the man of my dreams!’

‘Go, girlfriend!’ Sapphire replied. Please let this diet work, she didn’t know how many more times she could listen to Sam going on about her weight.

Sam rolled her eyes, and Sapphire added, ‘I wasn’t being sarcastic. Honestly, I think it’s great. I tell you what, why don’t I ask Jay if he could give you some one-to-one training sessions. I could pay; it could be my early birthday present to you.’

She was fully expecting Sam to make a list of excuses as she hated going to the gym, and was pleasantly surprised when she replied, ‘I’d love that Sapphire, do you really think you could?’

‘Course, I’ll speak to him tonight.’

Sapphire headed off to the bar, feeling very pleased with herself, convinced that Jay could work wonders with Sam. It was while she was waiting to be served that she remembered her mum’s text. Shit! She reached for her phone and discovered she had two missed calls from her mum and when she accessed her voicemail the messages her mum had left sounded desperate. She didn’t usually sound so upset when she called Sapphire; something really must be wrong. Quickly Sapphire selected her mum’s number. Christine answered on the first ring and was decidedly shaky.

‘Mum, are you okay?’ Sapphire asked, feeling suddenly anxious.

‘No, I’m not, Sapphire. Can you come over? I can’t talk about it on the phone.’

Wondering what on earth could be that urgent Sapphire made a quick goodbye to her friends and grabbed a taxi to her mum’s house.

Her mum never exactly looked like the life and soul of the party but even so Sapphire was shocked at her appearance when she opened the door. She seemed to have aged ten years, her skin looked sallow and she had dark circles under her eyes. As soon as she saw Sapphire her face crumpled and she broke down in tears. Sapphire hugged her. ‘Hey Mum, what’s the matter?’

‘I’m so sorry, Sapphire,’ was all she could say as Sapphire led her through into the kitchen. Sapphire hadn’t seen her mum in this state since her dad died; she couldn’t imagine what had caused it.

‘Okay, Mum, sit down and tell me what’s wrong, you’re freaking me out.’

Her mum slumped at the kitchen table and picked at a thread in her jumper.

‘Sorry,’ she said again.

‘
Mum
– please, tell me what’s up!’ Sapphire repeated, growing more and apprehensive.

Without saying anything her mum reached across to the pile of mail on the kitchen table and handed Sapphire three letters. Sapphire read the first one with a feeling of complete disbelief. Her mum’s overdraft stood at five thousand pounds and the bank wanted to know when she was going to pay it off. They were threatening to take her to court. Sapphire didn’t even realise her mum had an overdraft. She knew her mum wasn’t exactly rolling in it but she thought that she had enough to live fairly comfortably. The other two letters were from credit card companies – she owed a further five grand on her cards. What the hell had she been spending her money on?

‘I don’t understand, Mum, how on earth did you get into this much debt?’

There was a pause where her mum seemed to slump still further into her seat. ‘I’ve been playing poker,’ she said quietly.

‘What? At the casino?’ Sapphire said incredulously; her mum rarely went out and if she did it was with one of her friends to see a film or go for dinner. She simply couldn’t imagine her mum in a casino.

Christine shook her head and in a barely audible voice said, ‘I’ve been playing online.’

‘Jesus Christ, Mum!’ Sapphire slammed her hand on
the table, causing Christine to wince. ‘What the fuck possessed you!’

Christine winced again at the language but Sapphire was having none of it.

‘You’ve just burnt ten grand, I’m allowed to say fuck!’

She couldn’t believe that her mum had got into this situation. How could she have been so foolish? Tears continued to slide down her mum’s cheeks. Sapphire suddenly felt sorry about her outburst, her mum looked so upset. However shocked she was by this bombshell, she was going to have to pull herself together and take control.

‘Okay, I’m sorry, I really wasn’t expecting this. Why don’t I make us a cup of tea and we can talk this through.’

Christine nodded. Sapphire tried to collect her thoughts together as she went to put the kettle on and reached for the mugs. She suddenly had a splitting headache. For the millionth time she wished she had a sibling to share the responsibility that pressed down on her so relentlessly. She set the mugs of tea on the table and added a generous teaspoon of sugar to each, ‘But I don’t take sugar!’ Christine protested.

‘It’s good for shock,’ Sapphire said grimly, ‘Now I want you to tell me from the beginning what happened.’

Christine reached out for her cigarettes, lit one with a trembling hand and then began to speak. The gambling had all been a bit of fun to begin with, she was lonely on her own, didn’t Sapphire realise that? At first she won, three thousand pounds in fact. She was going to suggest that she and Sapphire went on holiday somewhere really nice. But then she thought she could make more money if she gambled with the three grand. And then she started losing heavily. And the more she lost the more she bet, convinced like so many gamblers before her that she just needed one win to make everything right. Christine concluded the sorry story by saying, ‘I’m really worried
that I’m going to lose the house, Sapphire, and it’s all I’ve got.’

Sapphire was tempted to reply that her mum should have thought of that before she started gambling. Instead she said, ‘We’ll have to come up with a way of paying the bank and credit card companies back in instalments. I can cash in my ISA and pay off half the debts but I think you’re really going to have to get some kind of job. I don’t want to take any money out of the business if I can avoid it; things aren’t that great at the moment.’

She wanted to say we’re in the middle of a credit crunch, do you know what that is? But her mum seemed so defeated, she didn’t have the heart.

Christine nodded, ‘Thanks so much, Sapphire, I knew I could rely on you.’

‘Just promise me, Mum, that you’re going to stop gambling right now.’