Before going to the office, Luke made for the gents to check on his injuries. Looking at himself in the mirror over the sinks, he could see the mess that had been made of his face. Two livid scratch marks ran from just under his right eye, down his cheek and stopped level with his top lip.
‘Shit.’ He winced as he splashed it with water. He soaked a hand towel and dabbed that on. When he lifted it away he saw blood on the grey of the towel and winced again. The sight of his blood made the injury somehow worse.
In Anna’s office, which was really nothing more than a broom cupboard with a desk, two chairs and a CCTV monitor, Luke sat, arms crossed, and waited for her to arrive. His mind was a stew. He knew better. His job was to deflect situations not amplify them. He’d managed effectively hundreds of times, why was tonight so different?
Stupid question.
Admit it, you’re rattled. Very rattled. He shouldn’t be so hard on himself. Who wouldn’t be rattled when faced with a struggling business, mounting debts and a failing relationship, then a photo that hinted at a threat against a child he deeply cared for.
He should have taken the night off. He should have listened to the big man and gone home. What was he thinking? He could lose his job here.
Maybe Anna would be sympathetic. The women were out of order, groping him and Ken like that. And surely the big guy would back him up.
He stewed some more.
On the CCTV monitor he could see a number of views. Ken, big and solid and centred, arms by his side, opening the door and smiling at people as they entered. Anna at the bar, surrounded by the women who’d effectively assaulted him and Ken. All of them now armed with tall glasses bedecked with paper umbrellas. A visible demonstration of the maxim that the customer was always right.
Minutes later Anna pushed open the door and stepped inside. She took a seat, chewed on the inside of her cheek.
‘They’re making serious allegations against you, Luke.’
‘Aww, come on…’
‘One of them said you grabbed her breast. Another that you cupped her…’ Anna made quote marks in the air ‘…“front bottom”.’
‘That’s ridiculous. No way did I do that. They just want some free drinks. And by the way, get a load of the damage to my face. Just who’s come off worst here?’
Anna stepped closer to look at his face. She winced. Then turned to the CCTV monitor as if comparing the damage to her employee with the possible damage to her business.
‘They’re serious, Luke. Talking about going on Twitter etc and trashing us.’ Anna’s face was pale. Business wasn’t exactly going down the pan, but a hounding on social media could have a disastrous impact on the place. ‘One of them showed me a photo of you on her phone. And you were looking pretty scary. Pretty bloody scary.’
‘What about this?’ He pointed to his face. ‘And them grabbing my dick? And groping Ken? Is that okay? Give them a free cocktail and everything’s dandy.’
‘All I saw on the CCTV was you surrounded by a bunch of drunk women. Then someone gets pushed to the ground.’ Anna’s face was tight. ‘It’s your job to keep a lid on things, Luke. That down there was the opposite of keeping a lid on things.’
‘They were all over us, Anna. They were well out of order.’
‘High spirits and lots of booze. Nothing more than you’ve dealt with hundreds of times.’ She paused. ‘Unless you can prove otherwise?’
Luke sat forward on his seat and looked over at the CCTV screen. ‘Anything on there? You must have been able to see what they were doing?’
‘Nope. There’s only one camera aimed at that doorway. As I said, all I could see was a scrum of people round you. And then a girl being sent flying. And now I have women alleging sexual assault.’
‘I’m not a piece of meat, boss. I’m not going to just stand there and let anyone manhandle me.’
‘So you assault them right back?’ Her face was long with disbelief. ‘I’m going to have to get the police in, Luke; you realise that, don’t you?’ she demanded. She shook her head. ‘Jesus. You’ve dealt with that kind of thing numerous times, Luke. What the hell?’
Doesn’t make it right, he wanted to say, but didn’t, because it would make him sound whiny and weak.
Luke looked down at his hands, clasped on his lap. He had no answer. She was right. He had lost it.
‘Why don’t you just go home? Have the rest of the night off, eh?’
‘Boss…’
‘I’ll get in touch when I want you back in.’ Her face was resolute. ‘In the meantime, don’t go anywhere, and expect a visit from the boys in blue.’
‘Fuck.’ He rubbed his scalp hard with the knuckles of his right hand. ‘Boss…’
There was no arguing with her. She opened a drawer under the desk with her right hand, and pulled out a small, square tin. She unlocked it and pulled out a handful of notes. Folding them she pushed a small parcel of money towards him across the top of the desk.
‘This should cover you for tonight. I’ll get your wage slip to you in the post.’ The conversation was over. And judging by the face on Anna, no way would he get another night’s work with her. Ever.
*
In his car, he pushed back into the driver’s seat, head against the headrest and stared up at the roof of the car. What the hell was he going to do now? He really needed the extra money that the door work brought in. Once word got out his name would be dirt.
Fuck.
How quickly had his life turned? Just getting back on track after Lisa. The wee man settling down, not scared to let him out of his sight, as he was for a long time after his mum died. And his own suffocating grief … He squeezed his eyes shut and clamped down on his jaw muscles. Don’t go there, Luke. There might be no way back this time.
Depression hit him hard after Lisa died, and if it wasn’t for Nathan and Gemma he might have ended up as one more addition to the suicide statistics.
Right, breathe. What could be done about all of this? There’s always a way, he heard Lisa say in his mind. That was her favourite saying. Nothing stifled her. If she wanted something, she went for it. If something proved more difficult than she first thought, there was always a way.
Perhaps he could go back and have a word with Ken. See if he could persuade Anna to change her mind.
Not going to happen, mate, he thought as he reminded himself of the look on her face. You don’t come back from that kind of allegation. His time on the doors of this city were over.
But how had it turned so quickly?
He scanned the events of the evening, feeling his emotions being triggered yet again by the actions of the women surrounding him.
A moment snagged his attention. A dark-haired woman in a shiny silver top. Face rouged with drink. But there was something about her. A focus.
Nah, he was seeing things that weren’t there. Trying to justify his loss of professionalism. But the moment snagged again. That look on her face. It was something approaching triumph when the other woman fell. What was that about? And she was the first one to shout that she’d been molested by him when anyone not doused with alcohol could tell she was too far away.
He dropped his gaze from the roof of the car, and spotted something white and square tucked under one of the windscreen wipers. Who’d be dropping flyers at this time of night?
No, it couldn’t be…
In a flash he was out of the car and plucking the paper off the screen. He unfolded it and saw a similar image to the photo that had been on his doorstep. Him and Nathan at the park, this time kicking a ball back and forth. The little boy’s face shining and wide with delight.
A noise sounded from his car. His mobile phone, which was tucked into his jacket pocket. Probably Ken checking up on him. Bugger it. He couldn’t be bothered talking to anyone. He’d get the big guy in the morning and see if he could persuade Anna to change her mind. Maybe by then common sense would have prevailed, and she would have calmed down.
The phone stopped. And then immediately started ringing again.
‘Take a telling, for Godssakes,’ he shouted. Waited. It stopped ringing. And then started up almost immediately.
Crying out loud.
He stomped over to the door, sat inside and reached across to his jacket. Pulling out the phone, he read the notification. It was Gemma. Jesus, something must be up. She never phoned while he was working.
‘Luke. It’s Nathan,’ Gemma said in a breathless panic when he picked up. ‘That arsehole of a father. His dad. His other dad.’ She started crying.
His other dad?
She must mean his biological father, Rab Cameron. Where had he appeared from?
With the heavy weight of anxiety in his stomach Luke anchored himself by making a fist with his free hand and forced calm into his voice.
‘I’ll be home in twenty minutes. In the meantime, tell me exactly what happened.’
‘He turned up at the door, barged in and dragged the wee fella from his bed. I couldn’t stop him. He was too strong. And wee Nathan … the poor wee mite was screaming for you. Oh God, Luke. What are we going to do?’
‘Wait a minute. You saying Rab Cameron came over in the middle of the night and took Nathan away?’
Gemma managed a sentence through her sobs. ‘He said he was Nathan’s real dad, he was well within his rights, and we’d never see him again.’