“Good. Just remember that, because what’s coming your way is going to be hard.” I nod and our eye contact holds. “If we’re going to dig our way out of the mess he left behind, you’ve got some tough decisions to make.”
“We, you mean?”
“No. I mean you. This place is yours now. You’re the boss. You say jump, and we all ask how high. The success of this place is yours to create.”
“Jesus.” The weight of what’s been placed on my shoulders suddenly feels heavier than anything else I’ve dealt with in my life.
“Ready?”
“Can’t wait.” It might sound sarcastic, but Mum knows I’m taking this seriously—or at least I hope she does.
Mum turns when there’s a knock at the door and Betty comes walking in with two mugs in her hands.
“Thank you, Betty.” She smiles politely at us before scurrying from the room again. “Erica?”
Getting up from my seat, I walk over and join Mum at the meeting desk at the other end of the room.
Erica takes the seat next to me, her face tight with the stress of keeping this place going.
“Where’s Lauren?” Erica asks, pointing out the obvious.
All eyes turn to me, and I hesitate to answer because it’s my fault she’s not here. “She’s…uh…”
“She handed in her notice last night, effective immediately.”
“What?” Erica shrieks. “She can’t do that. We need her.”
“I think Ben’s got his work cut out for him to get her back.” Mum’s stare turns on me, and I groan in response.
“That’s a work in progress, but it’s not our most vital issue right now.” Eyes widen at my quick dismissal of Lauren’s position here, but I can’t dwell on the fact that she’d rather not be here right now. “We need to nail down what work we’ve got, what we’ve got coming up, and we seriously need to look at staffing. I hate to say it, but we’re going to need to cut costs, and getting rid of any dead wood seems like the best place to start.”
“So it’s probably a good thing then that Steve’s retiring at the end of the month?”
“Seriously? No, that’s not a good thing. We need someone to run the jobs we’ve got.” Steve has been the main contracts manager at Johnson & Son’s as long as I can remember. He’s absolutely not one of the people I was considering that needed to go.
“Okay, right… We’re going to need to sit down separately then, and make a plan of action. For now, though, let’s look at the jobs.”
We spend hours strategizing and trying to come up with a plan to save as much money and as many jobs as possible. The last thing I want to do is take over and make a load of people redundant, but with our financial situation, I’m not sure what else to do.
“There’s one more thing I wanted to talk to you about,” Mum says once Erica’s gone back to her desk.
“Shoot.”
“I think it might be worth looking at different premises. Maybe move a little farther out of the city. This place is quite a cost every month.”
“No.”
“Ben,” she says with a sigh. “I know how important this place is to you. Trust me, I understand. It’s like a second home to me, but we need to think with our heads, not our hearts, if we want to turn this around.”
Ripping my eyes from hers, I look around the office. I’ve got so many happy memories of Dad in this place. I can’t imagine moving the business somewhere else, but I know Mum’s right. Now’s not the time to be sentimental.
“I’ll start looking for options.”
“I’ve got faith in you, baby.”
I nod, not wanting to get into that kind of conversation right now. My head is still pounding from last night’s whiskey, and now it’s spinning with everything I need to do here. Add the fact that I’ve just agreed to visit our biggest site right now to see how it’s going, into the mix, and I’m ready to call it a day. It’s not that I don’t want to go to the site—I’m actually quite excited to see it as the project sounds incredible—but the problem is who’s running it.
Pulling up to the old factory on the outskirts of Kensington, I sit back and appreciate the Victorian architecture hiding behind the cage of scaffolding. This building is going to be stunning once its restoration is complete. The luxury apartments inside are going to be worth a pretty penny. This is our most lucrative project currently running, so it’s vital that we pull as much out of it as possible. That means I need to be on top of everything, as well as working closely with the site manager…Joe.
Reaching behind me, I grab my high-visibility jacket and hardhat from the van I borrowed, as my car’s still parked somewhere by the strip club. Telling myself that I need to be civil and polite, I head off to find the man in charge.
There are people everywhere, both inside and outside the building. I know from looking at the schedule back in the office that they’re on a tight timeline to get the works complete, but still, it seems a little crazy.
Hearing from a couple of our guys that Joe had gone up to the roof, I find a ladder and start climbing.
When I eventually get to the top of the scaffolding, I find him talking to a couple of others by a broken section of tiles.
I’ve only taken a couple of steps towards them when his head snaps up and his eyes find mine. His expression hardens and only gets angrier the closer I get. It takes a few seconds for the guys he’s with to notice, but when they do, they stop talking and turn my way.
“Ben, mate, it’s so good to see you. I heard you were back.”
“Will,” I say, nodding to a guy I used to consider my friend. “How’s it going?”
“Good, good. This one’s a bit of a hard taskmaster though,” he says, nodding to Joe.
“I’m glad he’s keeping you on your toes. Do you mind? Joe and I have some things to discuss.”
“Sure thing, boss man…you are the boss now, right?”
“I am, so I suggest you get to work.”
“He used to be fun, you know,” Will calls over his shoulder as he and the other guy I don’t recognise head towards the ladder.
Every muscle in my body is tense as we stand in silence, waiting to see who’s going to speak.
In the end, I break first. “I don’t know how much you know about the current situation with the company,” I say, assuming that Lauren will have filled him in, “but needless to say, this is our biggest job right now and it’s imperative that it’s as successful as possible. That means you and I will be working closely together in the coming weeks. So unless you intend on finding a new job, I suggest you get used to the fact that I’m going to be in your life whether you like it or not.”
“Until things get too hard and you run again,” he mutters.
“Excuse me?” I want to believe I misheard that, but I know I didn’t.
“You heard. You don’t belong here, and you know it. You made your bed six years ago, so I’d recommend you go back to wherever it is and lie in it.”
“I’m not here to discuss my life with you or to argue over what’s mine.”
“That’s good, because nothing here is yours,” he spits. Red-hot anger races through my veins and my teeth grind in an attempt not to put my hands on him.
Stepping up to me, his fists clench at his sides. A smug grin twitches at my lips. Good, I’m getting to him. “You and I both know that’s not true. There’s only ever been one man for Lauren, and that man’s me. Just give it time. You’ll see.” I know I shouldn’t be rising to this, but the look on his fucking face is too much to deny. He thinks he’s winning here, but he has no understanding of the thing between Lauren and I. Hell, most of the time I don’t understand it. But it’s there and it’s very real, even after all these years.
“Remind yourself of that when you’re lying in a cold and empty bed tonight and her hot little body is wrapped around mine.”
“Fuck you,” I spit, wrapping the fabric of his shirt in my hand and pushing him back against the scaffolding. My chest heaves a
s I stare deep into his eyes, trying to rid the image of the two of them together once again. “She doesn’t want you. Not really. You were just a filler.” His eyes narrow slightly at my blatant disregard for their relationship. It’s obvious he cares for her, loves her even, but it will never be a match for what the two of us have, and I’m pretty sure that, deep down, he must know that. He knows she’s been fucking sleeping with me for fuck’s sake—of course he knows.
“Like the strippers are to you?”
“What?” My stomach knots and my hand loosens in surprise. Stepping back, he manages to put some space between us.
“That’s right. She knows all about what you got up to last night, so don’t try the fucking innocent act with me. You were all over those women. How do you think that made her feel when you say you only want her?”
“Motherfucker.” I launch myself at him, but before we connect, there’s an almighty crash below us, and the world falls out from under me.
Chapter Four
Lauren
I ended up staying at Mum’s last night. By the time we’d analysed the situation with Ben from every angle possible, I’d had too much wine and it was too late to faff around getting a taxi when I could just stay in my old room.
I stayed in bed long after Mum got up and left for work. The rollercoaster of emotions over the last few days have left me exhausted, so I made the most of the peace and quiet, and of course the fact that I’m now unemployed.
I’ve had a job since the week I turned sixteen, so not having somewhere to go, something to do or anyone waiting on me is the weirdest feeling. Emailing Ben my resignation was a bit of a spur of the moment decision, but after what happened out in the car park, I just knew it wasn’t a good idea for us to spend time together. Was resigning from my job crazy? Maybe. But I couldn’t—I still can’t—see any other way. Seeing him after all this time is so hard. Seeing the longing in his eyes every time he so much as glances my way damn near rips my heart out.
I desperately want to believe the words I keep telling everyone, that we’re over, that I don’t care about him anymore. But they’re all lies. I always knew I’d never stopped loving him, but seeing him again made it so fucking obvious.
Feeling lost, I drive to a spa in the hope that treating myself might make me feel slightly better. I book myself in for a facial, back massage and mani-pedi. I might feel like I’m dying inside with everything that’s going on, so I guess I should at least try to look like I’m surviving on the outside.
Resting back in the relaxation room in my white fluffy robe after my first two treatments, I allow the soothing music and the soft scent of the candles to wash through me and try to push out all the stress.
It’s all going well until my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. Seeing Erica’s name, I pause before answering, knowing that she’s probably only ringing to bend my ear about leaving.
The call rings off, but no sooner has the screen gone dark than it lights up again. My curiosity gets the better of me and I swipe to answer.
“Lauren?” Erica asks in a rush before it’s even to my ear.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“There’s been an accident.” My heart drops into my stomach hearing those words.
“Ben?”
“Ben and Joe. They’re on their way to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.”
Jumping from the chair, I rush towards the changing room. My robe’s been discarded before I’ve got anywhere near my locker in my need to get to them. “I’m on my way.”
My entire body trembles in fear as I try to get myself dressed. It takes me longer than it usually would, and I get more and more frustrated at myself for my inability to keep a cool head right now.
I don’t know anything. They could be fine. They are fine, I repeat, trying to stay relaxed and focused on what I need to do.
The drive to the hospital is a total blur. I’ve no idea how I got here in one piece. For all I know, I jumped every red light and cut up every car I came in contact with.
It’s the longest twenty minutes of my life before I walk through to the accident and emergency waiting room.
“Lauren,” a female voice calls the second I step towards the reception desk, but everything’s a blur. I’ve no idea what happened or if they’re alive. My heart starts to race, and I fight to suck in breaths as the reality of the situation starts to hit me. “Lauren.”
Everything around me fades to black. Hands touch me, but I’ve no idea what they’re doing. The only thing I feel is sheer panic. My heart races and my chest heaves to drag in the oxygen it needs.
He has to be okay. This can’t really be it for us. He has to be okay.
“Lauren, it’s okay, sweetheart.” The sound of Jenny’s soothing voice eventually breaks through the haze. When I come back to myself, I realise that I’m sitting on one of the reception chairs with Jenny, the woman from reception, and a kind looking nurse all staring at me.
My heart is still racing, but I feel like I can actually breathe again.
“It’s okay, love. You just had a wee panic attack,” the nurse says like it’s nothing to worry about. “Call if you need anything.”
Nodding at her, I continue to focus on my breathing as she and the receptionist head back to work.
“What’s happened?”
“There was an accident on site. A lorry hit the scaffolding and Ben and Joe were at the top.”
“At the top?” I screech. “Are they…Are they...?” I can’t bring myself to say the words.
“I’ve no idea.” It’s only now that I see the fear in Jenny’s eyes.
Jenny takes my hand in hers, and we sit back in silence, both lost in our own thoughts and prayers. I’ve never been even slightly religious, but I’ll do whatever it takes right now to ensure that I see them both again. I’ve already lost six years with Ben. I can’t even comprehend—
“Are they okay?” Erica asks, rushing into reception a while later followed by Betty, who’s trying her best to keep up.
“We don’t know.”
Betty pulls Jenny into her arms, and it’s the final straw because she sobs on her shoulder. I know she was trying to be strong for me, and I appreciate it, but I’d rather she didn’t keep it all inside.
I watch, feeling totally useless as Erica marches up to the reception desk and demands to know what’s going on. The receptionist is busy trying to calm her down when a familiar figure walks through the door.
“Joe,” I cry, racing towards him and throwing my arms around his shoulders. He winces and sucks in a sharp breath.
“Shit, I’m sorry. Are you okay? What Happened? Where’s Ben?”
Gently pulling me back to him, he slowly walks us towards where the others are not so patiently waiting to hear more. It’s only once we’ve sat down that I get a good look at him. He’s got a black eye and swelling down the side of his face. He’s clutching onto his ribs with a scratched and bruised arm.
“Shouldn’t you be in there?” Jenny asks, concern filling her voice.
“I’m fine,” he says, but he looks anything but. “It looks worse than it is. Ben broke my fall.”
“Is he…?”
“I don’t know, sweets. He was taken in a different ambulance, but he looked to be in a bad way.” A sob bubbles up my throat and Joe pulls me into him as Jenny cries behind me.
“You look like you’ve gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. What the hell happened?”
“Ben happened.”
“Ben did this?” I ask, pointing at his bruised and swollen face.
“I confronted him about the strip club, and he lost it. The next thing I knew, we were both falling towards the ground.”
Anger licks at my insides that Ben would allow his emotions to get in the middle of work like that.
“It’ll be okay, sweets,” Joe whispers, but it does little to stop the fury raging inside me.
It’s well over an hour before a doctor walks out from the same doors Joe did and asks for Mr
s Davis. All of us stand as he heads our way. The expression on his face is neutral; I can’t tell if he’s about to give us good or bad news. My body trembles and Joe once again tucks me against him.
“Mrs Davis?” he asks again once he’s in front of us.
“Yes, yes. Is my boy okay? Please tell me he’s okay,” she begs.
“Would you like to come through to the relatives’ room, and I’ll talk to you about his condition.”
“Condition. He’s alive?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, I really can only talk to immediate family.”
“I’m his…sister,” I say with a wince. It’s the first and only time I’ve ever referred to myself as that, and it feels wrong.
“Okay, well both of you come through then.”
Joe reluctantly lets me go and I thread my arm through Jenny’s as we follow the doctor through the doors.
We sit together as the doctor explains how Ben fell from the top of the scaffolding. Thankfully, the panels below broke their fall, but Ben had a potentially critical blow to the head as well as fracturing his arm and four ribs. He was unconscious when he arrived and they’ve now got him sedated until they can get him a MRI scan to assess any swelling on the brain. My hands tremble with fear. Although he’s stable right now, things can change very quickly with brain injuries.
“Can we see him?” Jenny asks.
“Of course. But just the two of you. Follow me, I’ll take you through.”
My heart races as the doctor opens the door and the end of a hospital bed is revealed. Tears burn my eyes and I swallow down the giant lump in my throat as I prepare to see Ben lying there, totally helpless.
“Oh my god,” I sob the second his body comes into view.
Jenny rushes forward to him, but I stay frozen to the spot, just staring at his lifeless body. My vision starts to blur again and I reach out to the doorframe for support as my heart races too fast. The anger that’s been simmering within me since seeing the photo of him in the strip club last night collides with my panic.
The only time I’ve really spent in a hospital before today was the day Dad died, and that was only to collect his stuff. His heart attack hit him while he was driving. Thankfully, he knew something wasn’t right, pulled over and called for an ambulance. But he never made it to the hospital. He crashed in the ambulance and they weren’t able to revive him. I knew at the time that I wouldn’t be able to cope seeing him hooked up to machines, but I think that might have been easier than what I’m witnessing right now.
Fighting for the Forbidden: Forbidden Series #3 Page 3
