Roxanne McPhail crossed the road and kept her eye on the salon. Peering through the window, she saw Arabella standing at the reception desk, looking glamourous as if she didn’t have a care in the world. It annoyed Roxanne a little that Arabella had it all. Coming out of prison was a doddle for the likes of her when she had her dear old boyfriend to throw money at her. Money that came from guilt, of course.
Arabella looked up from the booking diary at the reception desk and locked eyes with her, before giving her a sarcastic smile and waving her in. She’d sent Roxanne a text first thing that morning, asking her to come to the salon to speak to her.
Roxanne reached the door and pushed it open before stepping inside. She glared at Arabella but put on a smile for the sake of everyone else.
‘Hi,’ Arabella said. ‘I’ve got a little unexpected surprise for you.’
Roxanne regarded the tone and in an instant, it got her back up. There was a hint of sarcasm in there and from the look on Arabella’s face, she could tell Roxanne was suspicious.
‘Look, I don’t want us to fall out,’ Arabella said, stepping out from behind the desk and standing next to her. She placed a hand on Roxanne’s arm and gestured for her to follow as she headed towards the back of the salon. ‘But there’s someone here that really wants to see you and they insisted they wait until you got here.’
Roxanne watched as Arabella walked away and had no choice but to follow her so as not to make a scene in front of the customers and the other stylists. The anger building inside was overwhelming. She didn’t like that Arabella had some of the power now.
She reached the kitchen door and Arabella was already holding it open. Roxanne stepped inside and her heart almost jumped into her throat. Turning, she frowned at Arabella.
‘What the fuck is this?’
‘Look, there’s obviously some air to be cleared. So, I’m happy for you to use my salon to do that. Have fun catching up with your old friend. I’ve heard all about what you got up to back in the day.’
Roxanne watched as Arabella closed the door with the most sinister smile she’d ever seen on her face. She turned to face her visitor.
‘Charlene, long time no see,’ Roxanne said.
‘Not long enough, if you ask me.’
‘Then why come here?’
Charlene was leaning against the counter next to the kettle, but pushed herself off and stood with her back straight and shoulders pushed back.
‘Is he here to see you?’ Charlene asked and Roxanne thought she detected a hint of emotion in her voice.
‘Who?’ Roxanne said, playing dumb. Of course, she knew Charlene was talking about Jez.
‘Don’t give me that shit. It just so happens that he comes to Scotland “on business”,’ she said, using her fingers to do air quotes. ‘And suddenly you show up.’
‘I can’t show up if I’m the one who lives here, can I? Charlene, I really couldn’t give a shit if you think Jez came here to see me. And I don’t care if he wants to see me. I’ve got things going on here that don’t concern my past at all. So, if you don’t mind, I’ve got to get on.’ Roxanne pulled out her phone and handed it to Charlene. ‘Here, check it if you don’t believe me.’
Charlene’s eyes narrowed as she took the phone from her. ‘Yeah, your little friend out there told me all about your drug-peddling here. Was ten years in the jail not enough for you? You want back in?’
Roxanne shook her head. ‘Are you still jealous that I was shagging Jez back then? Do you know what, Charlene? I did know you and Jez were together, but I’d just arrived in Spain and I thought, fuck it.’ Roxanne spun the lie so well, she almost believed it herself. There was nothing that she would be able to say to Charlene that would make her believe anything else. She truly believed that Roxanne had screwed her over willingly, so why not use it and wind her up about it? Roxanne would only hit the same brick wall she had twenty years ago if she tried to convince her that she’d had no idea that Charlene was seeing Jez.
‘I wanted to live, I wanted to have fun,’ she continued. ‘Did you come all the way from Majorca to find out if your husband was still sleeping with me? Woah, that’s intense, and a little psycho if you ask me.’
Roxanne laughed and watched as Charlene’s shoulders tensed. It was crazy to think that they’d been best friends once.
‘No, I didn’t come here for that. Well, not only that. I came to do this.’
Charlene swung her arm up and back-handed Roxanne across the face. Her cheek exploded as Charlene’s diamond ring connected with her skin and she fell to the floor. A foot flew at her face and Roxanne buried her head in her hands and tried to angle away from the blow. Charlene clearly anticipated the defence and changed her tactic and Roxanne felt a boot to the stomach. One, two, three more before she relented.
‘That’s for fucking up my marriage before it even got started. You can fucking have him, you two deserve each other. And you can tell him that the next time you see him.’
The sound Charlene made as she hawked back as much saliva as she could made Roxanne rage, but she couldn’t get to her feet from the pain of the blows.
Saliva rained down on her before the sound of heeled boots left the room via the back door. Roxanne stayed down for a few moments, trying to regain some of her composure. She’d never been treated that way, not even in the early days at Kirktonhill. She felt humiliated even though she was on her own. Had Arabella known this was going to happen? Roxanne hadn’t told Arabella about her time in Majorca, or about Charlene, so how could she have known? Unless Charlene had told her everything. But they were strangers, so why would Charlene spill all to Arabella?
Roxanne attempted to get to her feet but the pain in her stomach kept her down. She managed to pull herself to a sitting position and leaned her back against the cupboard. The door opened just a few inches. When she looked up, she saw Arabella’s face peering through the gap.
‘What happened?’ she asked, slipping into the room and closing the door behind her. ‘Did that girl do this to you?’
‘Oh, don’t give me that shit, Arabella. You knew fine well what was going to happen in here and you let it happen because you can’t handle the fact that I have control over this place.’ Roxanne winced as she moved onto her knees and stood up. Glancing in the small mirror on the opposite side of the wall, she saw the blood trickling down her face from where Charlene had hit her. Bitch, she thought. But the attack was not unlike the way Roxanne would have handled the situation herself. She had to give it to Charlene, she had some back hand on her.
‘I didn’t know she was going to physically attack you, Roxanne. I don’t condone violence. Not anymore.’
‘You mean after you murdered that guy on the river path?’ Roxanne sneered. ‘You’re so full of shit, Arabella.’
Arabella didn’t respond, instead she moved past Roxanne and opened a drawer, pulled out an envelope and handed it to her.
‘What’s this?’
‘It’s the papers for this place. Here, take them. You want full control then you can have it. I want nothing to do with any of it.’
Roxanne looked down at the envelope and took the papers out, glanced over them and smiled. ‘What’s the catch?’
‘No catch. I had Eddie contact his solicitor first thing. He fast-tracked it. The place is yours. Run it into the ground, turn it into a brothel for all I care. I’m done. All you have to do is sign and the place is yours.’
Arabella turned and headed for the back door, but before she left, she said, ‘Just make sure you read it. I don’t want you coming to me and telling me that I’ve screwed you over when things go wrong here.’
‘You’re trying to tell me that you’re signing this business over to me?’ Roxanne winced again.
‘Yes. I’ve told Eddie everything and I don’t want anything to do with this place if you’ve got your claws into it. I’m not having you drag me down. I got out of prison and I want it to stay that way.’
Roxanne narrowed her eyes, tried to play things coolly even though her face was pulsing with pain and her ribs and stomach felt as though they were about to fall out of her arse. ‘You do know what Eddie’s been up to, don’t you?’
Arabella nodded and smiled. ‘Yes, I know everything. Have a nice life, Rox.’
With that, Arabella exited the salon via the back door and as it closed behind her, Roxanne stared down at the papers in her hands and smiled. As easy as that? It had taken a lot less time than she’d first anticipated, but Arabella had been very easy to manipulate. From the first time they met in prison, Roxanne knew that Arabella was someone that could be used to get what she wanted. But she’d never have betted she’d get a business out of her. Regardless of the pain from the beating Charlene had just given her, Roxanne couldn’t help but smile.
Pulling the papers out, she read over the first page and it all looked legit. She’d run it past Jake. Or maybe she wouldn’t. He’d been so distant lately, maybe this was what she needed. A fresh start away from Jake. Maybe she’d go legit herself? She didn’t know the first thing about business but she could learn.