The Club

by Mandasue Heller

  ‘Are you sure Leonard wants to be involved?’ Jenna asked. ‘And are you really sure you want to do it like this? It’s a massive risk handing over that much money and letting him put his name to your business. What if he decides to cut you out? You’d have no proof that it’s got anything to do with you.’

  ‘You kidding me?’ Tony chuckled. ‘Lenny’s a diamond. I’d trust him with my life. You must know how decent he is, what with him and your dad being friends and all.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ Jenna murmured. Then, ‘Well, I guess if you’re both okay with it, there’s no reason for me to object, is there?’

  ‘Partners, then?’ Tony held out his hand.

  ‘Partners.’ Jenna shook it.

  ‘And no one knows about our arrangement, but me, you, Ed and Len. Agreed?’

  ‘Agreed.’ Laughing softly now, Jenna shook her head, wondering what on earth she’d let herself in for.

  PART TWO

  15

  Unlocking the door, Tony walked into the larger of the club’s two storerooms. It was a vast space, with rough brick walls and a dirty cement floor, situated behind the wall housing the DJ’s booth. It spanned the entire width of the club, and had several sub-rooms and alcoved sections. It was also freezing, stank of damp, and was too far away from the back yard and the bars to make it practical for storing alcohol, so all it was used for was storing the cleaning supplies and equipment.

  Switching on the light now, Tony held the door open for Jenna to precede him in.

  ‘I was thinking that if we moved all this out,’ he said, waving at the boxes of toilet rolls, kitchen towels, soaps and disinfectants that were stacked floor to ceiling along one wall, ‘we’d have room for a small bar. And if we take these down –’ he indicated the ancient built-in shelves that lined the opposite wall ‘– we could put in seating. Then we could lay down a small dance floor over here,’ he went on, walking across to the back wall. ‘Toilets in that section, and a small kitchen in that, where we can get us a chef to do special-occasion dinner parties, and what have you. The rest is just cosmetics – change the overheads to wall lights, give it a good paint job, and it’ll be perfect. What do you think?’

  ‘I think we don’t need another VIP area,’ Jenna told him, repeating what she’d already said before he’d insisted on dragging her in here to take a look. ‘The celebrities like to be separated from the general public, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get a kick out of flaunting themselves in front of them. They want to be seen up there in the lounge. It’s like a “you can look at me in my castle, but you ain’t getting in” kind of thing.’

  ‘Yeah, maybe some of them do like being visible,’ Tony conceded. ‘But there’s plenty more who’d rather keep their leisure activities hidden.’

  ‘If we’re talking illegal activities,’ Jenna said, folding her arms now. ‘I don’t want any of that in my club.’

  ‘Our club,’ Tony reminded her softly. ‘And, no, I’m not talking illegal, I’m talking private. Take it from someone who knows, Jenna, there’s stars out there who don’t want to risk having pictures of them falling over drunk, or taking their mistresses out for dinner and a dance sold to the papers. They’re the real stars – the real money. And there’s no one in town accommodating them at the moment, so if we got this off the ground we’d have us some real kudos.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Jenna murmured. ‘I just think it’s a waste of money for something we don’t really need – because it would cost a fortune to get it up to scratch. And we’d need permission to open it up as a public area, and that means being inspected by the Planning Department – which I’d really rather not have to get into,’ she added, remembering why she hadn’t sold the club in the first place.

  ‘Believe me, it won’t be wasted money,’ Tony assured her. ‘And the planning aspect won’t be a problem, because Lenny’s still got friends in high places.’

  ‘I’m sure he has,’ Jenna muttered. ‘But I doubt even they could pass this without raising eyebrows.’

  ‘Aw, quit worrying,’ Tony said, flapping his hand as if he weren’t concerned in the slightest. ‘Lenny’s already worded up a couple of his guys, and it’s practically a done deal, so that ain’t a problem. And there’s a shit-load of politicians chomping at the bit to get at it. We won’t even have to advertise, ’cos these people got an inbuilt radar for safe places to play. All I need is for you to say yes.’

  ‘I’ll think about it,’ Jenna lied, hoping that he would be satisfied with that for now. And, knowing him, by the time she got around to telling him no, he’d have already moved on to something else. Glancing at her watch now, she said, ‘Right, I’d better get home or I’ll never be ready in time. You staying here?’

  ‘For a while,’ Tony said, still gazing around, envisaging the private members’ club that he would set up – with or without Jenna’s approval. He liked her, so he’d let her believe that her thinking about it meant something, but he would go ahead regardless.

  Jenna was frowning as she made her way across the club floor. She’d been desperate when she’d phoned Tony that day, but he had taken immediate control, telling her that he would sort it all out. And he had done exactly that. She didn’t know how, and she didn’t want to know: she was just grateful that it had been so effective. The men who had threatened her hadn’t shown their faces again, and there hadn’t been a single worrying incident at the club since, apart from the odd little scuffle – which was totally normal and which the security guys were more than able to handle. Now, almost two months into the partnership, the club was well and truly back on its feet, with a full customer turnout and a full VIP lounge every night.

  Jenna couldn’t have been happier about that, but she was finding the transition from sole owner to partner a little harder than she’d anticipated. She felt dwarfed by Tony’s larger-than-life personality, and she had to admit that it peeved her that certain members of staff had jumped so fast onto his side of the new ship. Maurice, in particular, was thrilled to have a male boss again, and Jenna had to battle not to jump down his throat when she saw him sucking up to Tony after he, Maurice, had treated her with barely concealed contempt for so long.

  The major problem that she had with the new situation was the way Tony walked around as if it was his club. His club, his rules, his way or the highway. Some of his ideas had worked really well, like throwing a party for all of the original New Year’s Eve guests, to bring them back into the fold. And the advertising campaign he’d organised, comprising posters being put up all around town, adverts in the press, radio plugs, and even back-of-bus ads, to let the public know they were back on track. But others were just plain annoying. Putting Eddie in charge of security a week after coming on board without even consulting her, for example. That had really pissed her off, but by the time she’d heard about it Jacko had already walked out in protest, taking three of the doormen with him. Fortunately, Bobby and Flex stayed and brought in a few of their friends to fill the spaces, so everything was pretty much back to normal on the security front. But it still annoyed her when she thought about it.

  Still, Tony was here now and there was nothing she could do about it, so she tried not to let it get to her too much. Jenna reminded herself – frequently – that Tony could think he was in control, but that didn’t make it true. She still had the extra one per cent, and everybody knew it was her club really. And, generally speaking, things were going pretty well, so she supposed she shouldn’t complain.

  Letting herself out into the yard now, she forced herself to smile when she saw Leonard manoeuvring his Jag in beside her car. He was here all the time these days, but he wasn’t too bad when you cut through the pretentiousness. The only problem Jenna actually had with him was that he was so far up Tony’s backside it was difficult to know where the one ended and the other began. And with Eddie completing the triangle of power, she felt a little overwhelmed at times.

  ‘Hello, there,’ Leonard called to her now, jumping out when he
’d parked and greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. ‘And how are we tonight?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ she lied, opening her car door. ‘You?’

  ‘Grand,’ he told her, his smile a mile wide. ‘Tony around?’

  ‘Inside,’ she said curtly, climbing into the car.

  Rushing to the gate to close it after her, Leonard leaned down with his hands on his knees when she pulled up alongside and wound her window down.

  ‘Could you make sure it’s properly locked, please,’ Jenna said. ‘The delivery guys have left the beer crates outside again, and I don’t want anybody getting at them. In fact, you’ll probably see him before I do, so could you tell Maurice to bring them inside as soon as he gets here?’

  ‘My pleasure,’ Leonard said, waving as she reversed out.

  Going in through the back door when he’d locked the gate, Leonard made his way through the kitchen into the clubroom just as Tony came out of the storeroom.

  ‘You took your time,’ Tony called, dusting his hands off. ‘I thought you said you’d be here this afternoon. I was waiting for you to give me a hand.’

  ‘Avril wanted me to take her into Didsbury to pick up some material, then she wanted me to wait for her to get ready so I could drop her at her women’s-forum thingummyjig,’ Leonard said, going to him.

  ‘And what the good lady wants, the good lady gets, eh?’ Tony shook his head scornfully. ‘Well, now you’re here, you can help me move these boxes. I don’t know where Eddie’s got to, but he’s getting a bit fucking good at disappearing when I want him nowadays.’

  ‘He’s out front having a smoke with a couple of the security chaps,’ Leonard told him, slipping his jacket off and looping it over the back of a chair. ‘I passed them on my way in.’

  ‘Figures,’ Tony grunted, propping the door open with a box and waving Leonard into the room. ‘Right, I want all this shit out. We’ll put it in the boardroom for now.’

  ‘I take it Jenna’s agreed, then?’ Leonard asked, rolling up his shirtsleeves.

  ‘Sure she has,’ Tony lied, passing one of the boxes to him. ‘Did you speak to your guys?’

  ‘Yes, I rang round before Avril dragged me out. They’re all thrilled with the idea.’

  ‘And you told them about the membership fee?’

  ‘Yes, and it’s quite acceptable. Lord Kimberly had a bit of a grumble, but he’ll stump up once he realises that he’ll have a place to hide away from Maureen and hang out with the chaps.’

  ‘I don’t imagine he’ll be too averse when he realises what he’s gonna get for his money,’ Tony said, grinning.

  ‘Jenna doesn’t know about any of that, does she?’ Leonard asked. ‘Only I don’t think she’d be too happy if—’

  ‘She don’t know nothing, and she ain’t gonna,’ Tony cut him off. ‘She might stick her nose round the door when we get up and running, but she won’t be interfering, don’t you worry about that.’

  ‘And you’re sure those girls won’t say anything?’

  ‘No one’s gonna say a word,’ Tony said, getting irritated now. ‘’Cos they know what’ll happen if they do. So quit freaking out.’

  ‘Okay,’ Leonard murmured, aware that he was getting on Tony’s nerves.

  Working on in silence until all the boxes were stacked on the dance floor, Tony glanced at his watch.

  ‘Right, I gotta get back to the hotel. I need to get washed and changed, and check Melody’s all right.’

  ‘Oh, dear, is she still sick?’

  ‘Something like that,’ Tony grunted, shrugging into his jacket. ‘See you later.’

  ‘Bye for now.’ Watching as he walked out – the front way, obviously planning to pick Eddie up at the door – Leonard looked at the boxes and sighed. The club would be opening in a couple of hours, so they obviously couldn’t stay where they were. Big job for one man, but, oh, well . . . If it shifted another couple of pounds off his waist he wouldn’t complain.

  Lifting the first box, he’d just reached the office door and was struggling to unlock it when Fabian came in.

  ‘What’s going on?’ he demanded, looking from Leonard to the rest of the boxes.

  ‘I’m taking them to the boardroom,’ Leonard told him. ‘Tony wants them out of the storeroom.’

  ‘Oh, does he now? And why’s that?’

  ‘Because we’re going to be converting it.’

  ‘Into?’

  ‘A, um, private members’ club,’ Leonard muttered, not sure whether he should be telling Fabian anything but unable to bring himself to tell him to mind his own business. He was the manager, after all.

  Peering at Leonard narrow-eyed, Fabian put his hands on his hips. ‘Does Jenna know about this?’

  ‘Yes, and she’s quite happy about it,’ Leonard replied, wondering why the man was giving him such a hard time. He had never been as unfriendly when Leonard had been just a customer, but he’d been decidedly frosty lately and it was beginning to grate.

  Giving a grunt of disapproval now, Fabian shook his head and unlocked the door. Propping it open, he said, ‘Make sure you stack them neatly, because I don’t want them getting in the way. And be quick about it, because we need them off the dance floor before the customers arrive.’

  ‘Well, maybe if you gave me a hand it’d be a lot quicker?’ Leonard suggested, but Fabian was heading up the stairs already as if he hadn’t heard him. Exhaling loudly, Leonard shook his head. There really was no excuse for such rudeness.

  Going into his office, Fabian slammed the door, muttering ‘Fucking idiot!’ under his breath. He couldn’t stand Leonard. Couldn’t stand him hanging around all the time. But there was nothing he could do about it, because he was Tony’s friend. And Tony was God – everyone knew that!

  Jenna had obviously lost her mind when she took them on, and Fabian was getting seriously pissed off with the lot of them. In fact, he’d have been tempted to walk out like Jacko, but he didn’t see why he should have to. This had been his club before any of them came along. He’d run it when James Lorde had been alive, and he’d carried on doing exactly that when Jenna took over – even if she hadn’t realised it. But it was getting to be a bit of a joke now that there were three chiefs stoking the fire.

  Still, it couldn’t last for ever. Sooner or later, Jenna would come to her senses and realise that she didn’t want to be involved with a thug like Tony. All Fabian could do was cross his fingers and wait.

  Melody was still in bed when Tony reached the hotel. Walking into the bedroom, he shook his head at her, a glint of disgust in his eyes.

  Pulling a sulky face, she said, ‘You don’t have to look at me like that. I can’t help it if I don’t feel well.’

  ‘You’re a fucking hypochondriac,’ he snapped. ‘There’s nothing wrong with you. You just need to get your ass up out of that bed and quit moaning.’

  ‘I didn’t expect you to understand,’ she muttered, pulling the quilt up higher around her chin.

  Sucking his teeth, Tony went to the wardrobe and took out a suit. Laying it over the back of the chair, he opened the drawer and took out some clean underwear, then went into the bathroom, slamming the door on her miserable face. He didn’t know what the hell was wrong with her, but she was doing his head in with all this moping about.

  Back in the bedroom, Melody rolled over in the bed as another bout of shivering kicked in. Chase had gone off on his tour of the States a day and a half ago – and she had been counting every single second of every hour in slow motion since, because he had forgotten to leave his stash with her like he’d promised. Or, more likely, he’d accidentally-on-purpose taken it with him – the selfish bastard. He knew that she didn’t know anyone else to get it off, and now he was going to be away for months, so not only did she have to put up with Tony again with no relief, she had to face going cold turkey as well. And it was already killing her, so God only knew how she was going to get through the worst of it without Tony finding out.

  Chase was such a bastard for slipping
that smack into the coke that time.

  Thought you’d like it, he’d said. Thought you’d get off on the different textures of the stone.

  Yeah, right! He hadn’t done it for her, he’d done it because he was a junkie, and like all junkies he’d wanted her to be a junkie with him. Such generous people, these smack-heads, always looking for someone to share the experience with.

  Coming back from the bathroom just then, Tony grabbed Melody’s dressing gown and threw it at her, saying, ‘Get up. I’ve had enough of this shit. You’re coming to the club.’

  ‘Aw, no, Tone,’ she moaned. ‘I can’t.’

  ‘Get the fuck up,’ he growled, glaring at her.

  Peering up at him over the edge of the quilt, Melody knew she had two choices: get up – or stay put and get battered, and then be made to get up.

  ‘Okay,’ she muttered, an expression of pure martyrdom on her face as she eased the quilt back and sat up. ‘But I’m only doing this for you, so don’t expect me to put on a show when we get there.’

  ‘I expect you to get your face on, get dressed up, and get your ass on the dance floor and make like you’re having fucking fun, is what I expect,’ Tony said, spraying himself with deodorant and reaching for his shirt. ‘I own the place now, and you ain’t even shown your face there in weeks. Always too busy in the fucking gym, or getting your freaking nails and hair done. Well, enough’s enough, ’cos the gym obviously ain’t doing you no good, and your hair looks like shit.’

  ‘I take it you approve of my nails, then?’ Melody sniped under her breath as she stomped into the bathroom.

  Sticking two fingers up at the door as he ranted on behind her, she reached in to turn the shower on. Stepping beneath the hot spray, she winced as it poured over her head and face. It felt like thousands of tiny pins digging into her flesh, and her stomach was tied in a sickening knot of tension. But she couldn’t refuse to go to the club again, because Tony would get really mad. Still, it might not be so bad, as long as she didn’t have to sit with Tony and his sycophantic fan club. And she hadn’t seen Fabian in a while, so that would be nice.