The Key (4 page)

Scott
was standing next to the refreshments table with a bespectacled
,
equally shabby looking man. Carly edged closer in order to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“I thought it was you
Scott
,” said the man with the glasses, “
it’s Malcolm Sweeney, remember me
?
P
robably look different with the glasses on. What you doing with yourself these days
?
It’s the first time I’ve been back in town for years.
See your Vince
nt
made it big
. I
s h
e here? I haven’t seen him yet. He hit lucky didn’t he. Now don’
t get me wrong;
if I’d had the opportunity to marry a wealthy young woman who’d just inherited her father’s pub chain, I’
d have done it too.” Pausing for a moment to take a breath and a small drink from his soda bottle, he laughed as he continued, “s
hame he had to give up the women though. He always was a bit of a
wild one.”

Scott
looked visibly annoyed at the mention of Vincent, although Malcolm Sweeney didn’t appear to notice
. He
carried on, “
I got
married
myself a while back, but it didn’t last
. S
he said I was never there for her. I was in sales and you know how it is
;
always on the road.
I’m s
till in sales now actually, but it’s a lot tougher these days.
How about you
? M
arried
?
K
ids?
”

When Malcolm paused to take a breath,
Scott
was finally able to get a word in
. “No, I’m single
. N
o kids. I’m assistant manager at the
Cabbage Tree
pub in town, so not much
time for socializing. When the boss retires I’ll be running the joint
.
I already do
,
really. The place wouldn’t survive without me.”

It was patently obvious that the once reserved
Scott
was trying to big up himself, and Malcolm
Sweeney
saw
straight
through it.
Sparing
Scott
any
more humiliation
,
he did not repeat the question about whether Vincent was there, but instead made his excuses and wandered off.

Wondering whether she was making the right
move
, Carly decided
that she would
talk to
Scott
herself. Just as she was about to speak
,
a dozen John
Travolta’s
hit the dance floor after
the band went into a
rather loud
rendition of
the Bee Gees
‘
Saturday
Night Fever’.

“
Looks like a g
ood turn out,” she shouted
to
Scott
.

“Sorry, I don’t know your name
. W
here’s your name badge? You’re way too young to be an
e
x pupil,
but if you are really my age, then
I want your secret
.
”
Scott
’s
attempt at flirting was cringe worthy
, especially as he
had
to shout over the music.

“Oh no, I’m not an
ex pupil.
I’m with the band
. W
ell a helper with the band
,
actually. My name’s
Carly,
and I guess you are
Scott
,” she smiled as she pointed to his now peeling name badge.

“
Yeh
, that’s me. I don’t really know why I came here tonight. It’s not as though I had such a good time in college anyway. Now, my brother Vince, well there’s another story. Everyone loved Vince.
The life and soul of any party.
They would be flocking round him like flies round a
turd
if he was here, but me
,
well I’m what you call invisible.”

Carly could feel the bitterness oozing out of
Scott
as he pulled the small gin bottle from his inside pocket
. Pouring it slowly into
a
white plastic cup on the refreshment table, his right hand trembled,
spilling some of
the precious liquid onto the table. Quickly replacing the cap he popped the bottle back in his pocket, then mopped up the spilt liquid before eagerly licking his fingers. “Waste not - want not, as the saying goes,”
Scott
shouted,
just
as the music ended and the room fell quiet.

It suddenly seemed that all eyes in the room were fixed on the two of them, and Carly suddenly began to feel very uncomfortable in his presence.

“What you
lot
looking at you morons. Looking down your nose at me, who the
heck
do you think you are,”
Scott
ranted as he stumbled drunkenly towards the dance floor.

“Come on
Scott
, let’s get you into a cab and get you home
.
I think it’s time for bed
,”
urged a kind looking woman in a gentle tone.

“Is that an invitation,” he smirked
sarcastically
.

“Hey man, don’t disrespect the lady.
She’s only trying to help you,” yelled a voice from the dark.

As
Scott
yelled his final words, “What the
heck’s
it got to do with you,” all hell broke loose, and the fists began to fly.

The band tried to diffuse the situation by launching into their signature number ‘Hot Stuff’, but the ‘Blondie lookalikes’ were drowned out by the
noise from the mass brawl.

Time for a sharp exit
, Carly thought
,
before someone calls the police
, but before she could leave, a
woman screamed, and
Carly found
herself
wide awake and
staring up at her bedroom ceiling.

When Carly awoke she felt exhausted. That was an experience she never wanted to repeat. She realized that getting to Vincent Halliday through his brother
Scott
was not going to be as easy as she thought.
Scott
had
issues
.
B
ig
issues
.
A
nd most seemed to stem from his feelings towards his brother.

I’m never going to get
close
to Vincent,
as he’s a
respectable millionaire and family man. B
ut if I can find a way somehow to get in with
Scott
, he might give something away. I think the answer is in the here and now. There was no love lost between
Scott
and Vincent back in 1999, so let’s
find out
if it’s the same today
.

Carly was
beginning to formulate a plan of attack.

I need to find out if
Scott
is still working at the
C
abbage Tree
chain of pubs
owned by his brother
. It’s a long shot, but it’s all I’ve got
. Let’s hope he got some therapy, sorted out his problems, and I can get something useful out of him.
The sooner I get down to Harvest Spring Junction, the better
.

Before the morning was over
,
Carly planned to be on a bus
making her way to
Harvest Spring Junction
.
She wasn’t quite sure what she’d do when she got there, but felt sure it would
all
work out. So far, she’d managed to bluff her way out of difficult situations, and if she had to
,
she’d do it again.

“Well, that’s me done,” Carly said as she put the finishing touches to her
makeup
. A quick flick of her little finger removed a spot of misplaced strawberry lip gloss from the edge of her lip. “Perfect. Now it’s
off
to the bus station to see what time the next bus is.”

Living alone for so long had caused Carly to frequently have entire conversations with
herself
. But she reasoned that, while it may appear strange to outsiders, it was perfectly acceptable, and much
more
preferable
to
having a roommate
or live-in partner.
In her opinion
,
l
ife was much simpler this way, and she rarely disagreed with herself!

It was early afternoon when the bus pulled in to the
bus station at Harvest Spring Junction
. Carly was glad to be able to stretch her legs after being cooped up on a warm bus for over an hour.

She wandered around familiarizing herself with the small town,
and i
t soon became apparent that like most small towns
,
a stranger was immediately noticed. But that was good news; because that also usually meant that everyone
k
new everyone else’s business. So, if
Scott
didn’t prove to be useful then surely somebody else in town would.

Several people had bid her a good afternoon before she finally reached the
Cabbage Tree
pub
, and w
hen Carly walked through the
door
it was like a step back in time.
Seventies music played in the background.
The old wooden floors
.
Th
e old wooden tables
.
T
he old wooden bar stools
.
T
hat
unmistakable
musty smell of old furnishings and stale tobacco.
It was a
far cry from the ultra modern wine bar
that
she was used to
. T
his pub hadn’t seen a refurbishment in years.

From the corner of her eye she saw a familiar, if older face behind the bar.
He was serving the only other customer in the place.
She cautiously walked up to the bar and waited.
When he
started to
approach
her it was obvious that the years had continued to be unkind to him.
Haggard and decrepit
were Carly’s first thoughts.

“Afternoon, what can I get you?”

Being rather assumptive
,
Carly reckoned
Scott
would
not
have
ever
seen a cappuccino let alone know how to make one, and as it was far too early for alcohol, she settled for the easy option.

“
Hello
; just a glass of lemonade please.
”

Clanking the glass down onto the
well-worn bar
,
Scott
smoothed his
now
thinning
grey
hair
.

“Haven’t seen you round here before.
New in town
?
O
r just passing through?”

“Depend
s
.
I’
m traveling
around
just now, but I
might stick around for a few days,
and
if
I can get some casual part-
time work
,
then I might just stick around
a bit longer
.”

“Well, this is your lucky day. I was just going to put a sign in the window for a job vacancy, but you’ve saved me the trouble.”

Carly
felt a little uneasy. She c
ould tell
that
he was lying, but she let him continue anyway.

“It’ll only be for a couple of hours in the evenings
, during our busy time
, but if you want it the job’s yours.”

“
Do you own the place, then
?”