18
A month had passed since Leah had gone on her date with the rich prick and, according to everyone around me, I wasn’t getting any easier to deal with.
“You’re maybe a little less shouty than you were last week?” Rollie tried as he stepped onto the elevator.
“I’m sure I can do it,” Flo said, her hip popped.
“Thanks, Flo,” Chaos said as he checked the time. “I’m sure you could, but they said they want to talk to one of us. If I didn’t have this…other matter to deal with.”
“Yes,” Rollie said suspiciously. “What is this other matter you have to deal with.”
“Never you mind. Might be nothing, but it’s a big client and you will all be informed if it comes to anything.” Chaos shot me a look.
“Yeah, thanks. I’m not quite so hopeless I’d let it slip, am I?”
I did know about the big client coming up. The bare bones anyway. Chaos kept me abreast of the basics since my name was just as high up as his on the papers. But I honestly hadn’t really cared about his ‘big client’ since I had a big enough client of my own to deal with.
“What big client?” Rollie whined, holding the elevator doors open.
“Let go,” Chaos said. “We both have places to be.”
“I want to know,” I heard Rollie saying as the doors closed.
I let go a heavy breath and looked at Flo.
“You got this, dude.”
I nodded. “Thanks, Flo.”
I paced the office floor until the client came in. Had my phone been tracking my path, I would have looked like some sort of crazed Pong game. I was so hyper alert that I heard the elevator ding and I hurried into the waiting room to meet them.
“Miss Fern?” I asked as I stepped forward with my hand extended.
“Yes. Mr Grace?”
I nodded. “That’s me. Please, come and sit down.”
I showed her into the meeting room and let her take a seat.
“Tea or coffee?”
She adjusted her seating. “No. Thank you.”
“Okay.” I sat down opposite her and hoped I was wearing my best warm and friendly face. Based on the expression on hers, I wasn’t.
“I trust this meeting is under the strictest confidentiality, Mr Grace,” she said.
I nodded. “Of course, it is.” My tone was a little shorter than I’d intended it to be, but that’s what you got for sending me in to deal with important shit when I couldn’t even deal with my own shit. Breathe and do not fuck this up, I reminded myself.
“I am here on behalf of the band Valjean. In particular, our bassist, Nora Curry.”
I nodded and, “One-Night Nora,” popped out of my mouth.
Miss Fern’s lips pursed. “Indeed. She’s had some trouble with a…fan and we’re looking for an appropriate bodyguard for the foreseeable future.”
I made some notes on my pad. “Okay. At any point would the guard be responsible for the rest of the band?”
“I had assumed perhaps that could be negotiated.”
This woman seemed mighty uptight for the manager of a rock band. That, or it was my bad mood showing.
“It can. It just all needs to be worked into the contract and the fee.” Again, I was being too short. Not enough smiling, my words were terse and my body language was anything but relaxed. I tried to breathe deeply and just let it go.
“I see. And there are five members of the Grace Grayson Security team?”
I felt my eyes narrow and knew I was losing it. “There are.”
She nodded. “Wonderful. It’s a shame Mr Grayson wasn’t free.”
“Well, we’re all very busy people, Miss Fern.”
Her lips pursed again. “Aren’t we all.”
Stick to the job, you know this shit in your sleep. “What sort of hours would you be looking for?”
“It would need to be very general at the moment, I’m afraid. Not around the clock, but close to.”
“Have you been to the police?”
Her look sternly told me this wasn’t her first rodeo. “Naturally. But there’s only so much they can do.”
I nodded. “Sure. When were you thinking for start date?”
“Ideally as soon as possible. If that wasn’t too much trouble.”
I looked up at her tone and knew my face wasn’t as neutral and accommodating as it was supposed to be. “No trouble at all. We’re very accommodating.”
“Grace Grayson’s reputation is well-spoken of.”
“For good reason, too. We’re the best at what we do, Miss Fern. We don’t play at making friends. We get the job done. Whatever that entails.” Again, too short, idiot.
“On the phone, Mr Grayson implied you would need some time to pull up a quote.”
“I can tell you our standard 12-hour shift is twelve hundred, pro rata of course.”
“Of course. And that would include overnight and in-home?”
I nodded. “It includes whatever you want it to include.”
Oh, good fuck. My tone wasn’t just bordering on passive-aggressive sarcasm, but now innuendo. I was usually good at this. I was usually the face of this stuff. Chaos did it out of necessity and I did it out of skill.
I didn’t need to see Miss Fern’s face to know my skill had deserted me.
“Okay.” She stood up and I hurriedly followed suit. “I’ll talk it over with Nora and get in touch with Mr Grayson.”
“Excellent. It was lovely meeting you, Miss Fern,” I said as she started walking to the elevator.
She hit the call button and turned to look at me, clearly unimpressed. “Likewise, Mr Grace.”
The doors opened and she stepped in. Her face kept its unimpressed expression until the doors closed again and she was gone.
“You do not got this, dude,” Flo said sympathetically.
I nodded. “Thanks, Flo.” I cleared my throat. “I’ll be in my office until Chaos is ready to yell at me.”
She gave me a nod. “Noted, boss.”
I slunk back into my office and waited for the inevitable time when my best mate and business partner walked back into the office and heard all about my meeting with Miss Fern. Thankfully he was the last one back.
“Team meeting, now!” he roared as he stormed to the conference room.
Rollie gave me a panicked look as he ran past my office door. Ready to face the music, I slumped into the conference room and joined the others around the table.
“Okay,” Chaos said slowly. “We have a VIP.”
“Shut up!” Rollie said excitedly.
Chaos silenced him with a look. “They need a bodyguard and it cannot under any circumstances be Hawk. We barely scraped through with this contract as it is.”
“Please, boss!” Rollie begged, practically lying across the table towards Chaos.
Chaos threw me a look. “This would have been easier if you hadn’t fucked up.”
“She was the one on a date with that rich prick!” I snapped.
My best mate all but rolled his eyes at me. “I was referring to your stellar behaviour with Miss Fern but, by all means, let’s talk about your general failings.”
I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms in a huff. Had I not, like every member of the team, been required for this meeting, I’d have told them all to fuck off. Had I had a choice, I would have told Miss Fern to fuck right off and stormed out of there.
“Whatever,” I said sullenly.
“I can do it. I’m a very good boy!” Rollie insisted.
“Yes,” Nico said dryly from his reclined position, feet on the table and tablet in hand. “You plus rock band is definitely not going to end in tears for anyone.”
“Rock band?” Rollie’s eyes went wide and he looked like all his Christmases had come at once.
“Twat,” Chaos directed at Nico.
Nico shrugged. “He was going to find out at some point.”
“He knows everything,” Chaos sighed exasperatedly.
“Oh my God, who is it?” Rollie squeaked, his eyes wide.
“Never mind who it is. We need someone with a decidedly steadier head on their shoulders than you,” Chaos said.
“That just leaves Tank,” Nico said.
“Or you,” I reminded him.
Nico looked like he was thinking about it and he didn’t hate the idea. “I can’t see the dress code being monkey suit, at least.”
“Nah, you and your cargo pants would fit right in, mate,” I said.
“Nico’s pretty busy,” Chaos said, looking down at the paper in front of him.
“What do you mean I’m pretty busy?” Nico asked suspiciously, leaning forward.
Chaos looked up at him. My best mate’s face was all business except for the glint of humour in his eyes. “I mean you’re busy. I pay you to be busy, don’t I?”
“Like I can’t program shit from the road.”
“Since when do you want to be out of the office?” Rollie argued.
“I don’t. I just don’t–”
“There you go,” Chaos said over the top of them before a proper argument could erupt. “Nico doesn’t want to leave the office. Hawk fucked up. I don’t have time. And Rollie would get us into a world of trouble. That does, in fact, just leave you, Tank.”
The quiet giant shrugged. “Suits me. How many hours do they want?”
“Pretty full time. She’s got a stalker, so that’ll be some shifts at hers, some at work, possibly even on the road. Depends how long it goes on.”
Tank seemed to think about it. “All right.”
“No-oo,” Rollie breathed. “I can do it! I’ll be really good!”
“For the last time, you are not going anywhere near Nora Curry!” Chaos snapped.
Rollie turned to look at him in surprise. Had he not been so shocked by Chaos’ outburst, he definitely would have been all over the whole Nora Curry thing.
“Sorry,” Chaos sighed. “Sorry, mate. I just… This Leah thing is getting to be a massive pain in the arse.”
“I’ll do my best to move on from the love of my life, shall I?” I asked, venom in my tone.
“Whoa…” Rollie said.
Even Nico looked up from his tablet.
Tank was silently watching me with interest.
And there was nothing but sympathy in my best mate’s eyes.
I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. “Okay!” I huffed. “Maybe I love her.”
“Right,” Chaos said. “You get one more month’s pass, then you sort your shit. All right?”
I nodded and gave him a salute. “Aye, aye, boss.”
“Good man. Let’s get back to work people.” He pointed at Rollie in warning. “I don’t want anything about Nora Curry leaving this office.”
Rollie nodded. “Aye, aye, bossman.”
Chaos gave a single nod and swept out of the room. I let the rest of them leave before I even thought about standing up. Tank touched my shoulder on his way out and I nodded in thanks.
Yeah, all right. I was throwing around four-letter words staring with ‘L’.
Two really.
I was in love with Leah.