Paul liked Kate, she was a nice girl; he could see half the reason that she threw herself so passionately into her work was so that she didn’t have to think about losing the baby. He felt pleased that Kate had confided in him about that, she had done so well holding herself together and he had offered her whatever support she needed. At first, he thought maybe she could have done with a bit more time off, but soon realised she needed a distraction and the club was ideal for that.
Kate was just leaving for the day when she overheard Paul on the phone to Suzy, who seemed to be saying that she wasn’t coming in to work again tonight. She could tell Paul was stressed about it, as he was tapping his foot impatiently on the floor as he sat on the edge of his desk.
“Problem?” Kate asked when Paul had put down the phone.
“Suzy isn’t coming in again tonight; that’s the second time this week.” He sighed. “I think you’ve put her nose out of joint a bit.”
Kate felt awful, the last thing that she had wanted to do was to come on board and tread on someone else’s toes.
“Don’t worry,” Paul reassured her, as if he could read her thoughts. “If she had been doing such a great job, I wouldn’t have needed you, would I? I thought she had the place running great, but you have done more in one week than she has for months.”
Paul hoped Kate felt better at his words, and as he said them he knew that they were true. Suzy had seemed to have done a good job up until now, but thinking about it the place was so much more organised thanks to Kate. She had only just started but she had made a real impact already.
Kate hadn’t really taken to Suzy; she had been the only person in the club who hadn’t made her feel welcome. In fact, Kate thought that Suzy had gone out of her way to make her feel very unwelcome, with her glaring, steely looks and her harsh tones, which left Kate feeling like a silly child.
“Only problem is, there’s going to be no-one to run the bar in the gentlemen’s lounge upstairs tonight, I’ll have to close it and stay down here, the guys can’t be down here on their own, it will be too busy.” Paul rubbed his forehead, as he tried to work out the best plan of action.
Kate didn’t need to think twice before she spoke, she loved being at the club, there was a real buzz about the place and she enjoyed working there.
“Well, why don’t I stay?” She knew she would only be going home to an empty bed until Jay crept in, in the middle of the night, and she thought of the extra cash too, which would come in handy. “I can help you out down here, and you can run upstairs as normal.” She smiled at him eagerly.
After a bit more persuasion from Kate, Paul agreed. He hadn’t wanted to take advantage of her good nature, but he could see that she was happy to help out so he showed her the ropes. The bar staff were friendly, showing her where everything was, how to use the till, and the general running of the bar. It was funny, Kate thought, as she poured the pints and lined up the shots later that evening, she had spent hardly any time with Jay this week, and she was starting not to mind so much. In the past, she had been on his case, especially when she had been pregnant; she had wanted him to give her more affection, a little bit of his time, but he had seemed disinterested. Even after she had lost the baby, she could see that he wasn’t that bothered about her or the loss of their child. Losing their baby had affected her more than him. She had thought at first that helping to sort out the rift between Jay and her brother might change things, but still they weren’t quite right; in fact, during the short amount of time she had spent with Jay that week, he had seemed irritated. Oh well, she thought to herself, at least she could keep busy with this little job.
Kate smiled to herself as she passed some shot glasses to the two pretty girls she was serving, she was really enjoying the hustle and bustle, the club had a good vibe, and it was proving the place to be. You could hardly see the dance floor for people dancing, and the bar was so busy she doubted she would even get a two-minute break, not that she minded.
Paul had been upstairs for most of the night and the place had again been packed, there had been no trouble up there, but then there rarely was, as the guys in the gentlemen’s lounge always seemed quite happy with everything that was provided for them. The new girls were grinding to the rhythm of the music and were having lots of admiring glances; it always surprised Paul how fickle men could be, flash a bit of tit and arse and the loving wife or girlfriend waiting at home was forgotten in an instant.
Sure, Paul could appreciate beauty when he saw one, but he wouldn’t go as far as leering or pestering. He felt very old-fashioned in that respect: if you have a nice bird, look after her was his maxim; he had been brought up to believe that you don’t truly love someone unless you have that respect for them. He was a rare breed, he knew, most men in here had and would pay for a blowy behind their women’s back in a heartbeat.
It was getting late. Paul, in a rare quiet moment, nipped downstairs to see how Kate was getting on. He peeped through the swing doors, not wanting her to see him and think that he was checking up on her; it wasn’t that he didn’t think she could cope: he just wanted to make sure that she was okay.
He could see her laughing and joking with the other bar staff and going from customer to customer serving drinks, smiling and chatting away. She was seemingly unaware of the admiring glances she was getting from the men around her. Paul could see the looks that she was getting and he was surprised when he realised that he was feeling jealous. Kate was having a very strange effect over him; he had decided a long time ago that women were best left alone. At least in a long-term relationship sense, he had plenty of offers from young gorgeous girls, but he could see them for what they were and what they were after, which didn’t interest him. Sure, he had a few flings, he was human, but beyond that there was no real interest. He had been hurt before, and could just about admit even to himself that it had cut him really deep. That was years ago now, though, and despite the heartache he had felt at the time, he had got something special out of that relationship, something that was worth every second of the heartache that he had endured.
He wouldn’t be making the same mistake again. He was a bit old-school like that, call it old-fashioned. He wanted more than a fling; he was waiting for someone with something special about. Shaking his head, as he went back upstairs to the bar, he wondered if he was going soft in his old age, as Kate had really got under his skin. Pushing the double doors open, he tried to put her out of his head: no doubt, he would have a long queue of thirsty customers waiting for him.
25
Jay had a thumping headache; it was probably from the stress of running around making drops for fucking Billy-boy all week. He had been given an “in”, or at least that’s how Billy had made it seem. Jay wasn’t happy though: he was talked down to and he had to swallow his pride and just get on with everything he was told to do. Being treated like a dog’s body was wearing thin.
He knew that Billy still hated him, but he also knew that Billy was trying to do his upmost to please his sister; Jay had been given the job for Kate’s benefit only. Jay knew that he had not been accepted by Billy, or Billy’s cronies, he was barely tolerated by them. He could see that by the way they looked at him, like they all had no ounce of respect for him. Billy made sure that Jay was kept busy running around doing jobs like an errand boy, and it was starting to grate. He had a few ideas of his own as to how to change that, though.
Jay pulled up outside a block of flats; he had just dropped off a package for Billy round the corner, about the fiftieth package this week and while he was in the area, he figured that he may as well make a bit of wedge for himself on the side. Stepping out of his beamer, he locked the doors and did a quick scan of the road. If there were any little hoodies hanging around he would make sure that they wouldn’t dream of touching his car, but it was a quiet day. The car was alarmed up to the bollocks anyhow so he thought it would be fine.