The Club

by Mandasue Heller

  Fabian! Of course! Why hadn’t she thought of that before, instead of lying in bed thinking that the world was falling down around her. Fabian could get her something to take the edge off. He wouldn’t want to see her suffer like this.

  Filled with anticipation now, Melody hurried her shower and rushed back into the bedroom to get ready.

  Tony took off as soon as they got to the club. He no longer entertained his star friends at his table now that he was the owner, he spread himself about instead, visiting them at their tables, making his presence felt in every corner.

  Alone at her table, Melody was so busy looking around for Fabian that she didn’t notice Leonard approaching. She jumped when he stood right in front of her.

  ‘Shit! You scared the fucking life out of me.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Frowning, because he wasn’t used to hearing women swear like that, Leonard leaned down to kiss her on the cheek – a habit he’d picked up from Tony, but one which Melody, for one, didn’t appreciate, because, while Leonard had undoubtedly lost weight, gained in confidence and regained a little of the once-famous sparkle in his eyes, his weight loss wasn’t enough yet to have rectified the excessive sweating. ‘Are you feeling any better?’ he asked now. ‘Tony told me you’d been sick. Nothing too bad, I hope?’

  ‘No, I’m fine,’ Melody murmured, glancing pointedly past him, wishing he’d get lost.

  ‘Shame I didn’t know you were coming,’ Leonard went on, not taking the hint. ‘Avril would have loved to have seen you, I’m sure. She was only saying the other day that we should arrange another dinner party. And, you never know, my children might actually be free this time.’

  ‘That would be nice,’ Melody lied, getting to her feet. ‘Sorry, Leonard, you’ll have to excuse me. I’m starting to feel a bit sick again.’

  ‘Oh, dear. Well, off you go.’ Stepping back to let her pass, Leonard called, ‘Shall I tell Tony you’re still not feeling well?’

  ‘No, leave him,’ Melody called back over her shoulder. ‘I’ll be fine in a minute.’

  Seeing Tony chatting with Robbie Williams at the bar, Melody made a dash for the stairs. He’d liked Robbie ever since he’d done the Rat Pack tribute album, so he would spend hours with him, given half a chance. And Eddie would be busy doing what he did best – finding people to intimidate in his new role of security chief. Which left Melody plenty of time to find Fabian and get sorted out.

  Dashing around the lower floor looking for him now, she spotted him at the foot of the stairs to the DJ’s booth and crept up on him.

  ‘Hello, stranger . . . remember me?’

  Turning round, Fabian raised an eyebrow when he saw her. Melody hadn’t been in much since Tony had bought into the club, and he was a little shocked by how much weight she’d lost. Looking her over surreptitiously, he saw that her voluptuous body was in danger of becoming thin – and that wasn’t good, because she’d been perfect as she was. And her face was beginning to suffer, too, he noticed: her cheeks were gaunt, her eyes dull.

  ‘How are you?’ he asked, half expecting her to say that she’d been ill.

  ‘I’m all right,’ she said, smiling up at him flirtatiously. ‘Have you missed me?’

  Folding his arms, determined to keep this impersonal, Fabian said, ‘I’ve been too busy. Your boyfriend likes to keep us on our toes.’

  ‘Don’t talk to me about him,’ Melody grunted. ‘I get enough of him at the hotel.’

  ‘Still there, are you? I’d have thought you’d have found yourselves somewhere more permanent now that you’ve decided to stay.’

  ‘Hey, Tony might have decided, but I haven’t.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ Fabian shuffled his feet uncomfortably. ‘So, what have you been doing with yourself?’

  Smiling secretively, Melody said, ‘You don’t want to know.’

  Guessing that she must have found another supplier, Fabian said, ‘Ah, well. I’m sure you’ve been having fun.’ Glancing at his watch then, he said, ‘Right, well, lovely to see you, but I’d better get moving before your boyfriend complains that I’m not pulling my weight.’

  ‘Is he giving you a hard time?’ Melody asked, delaying him because she hadn’t hit him for what she really wanted yet.

  ‘Not really. He just makes you feel like he’s watching you all the time.’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ Melody snorted. Then, smiling again, she said, ‘But he’s not watching us now. So, how’s about we nip up to your office – for old times’ sake?’

  ‘I don’t really think that’s a very good idea,’ Fabian said, glancing around nervously.

  ‘Aw, go on,’ Melody persisted, fluttering her lashes at him. ‘We always had fun, didn’t we?’

  ‘Yeah, and look how it ended up.’

  ‘We don’t have to do that. But I could use a little line, if you’ve got one. And you know I’ve never said a word to anyone, so you can’t say you don’t trust me.’

  Inhaling deeply, Fabian thought about it, then nodded. ‘All right, but we’ll have to be quick. And if anyone comes up, I’m just going to say I’m showing the new boss’s girlfriend around. Okay?’

  ‘Fine by me,’ Melody said, already licking her lips in anticipation.

  Up in his office, Fabian laid out two lines. Letting Melody go first, he did his, then locked everything away again.

  Rubbing his hands together, he said, ‘Ready, then?’

  ‘Just give me a minute,’ Melody said, pinching her nostrils together because her eyes were smarting. ‘Wow, what’s in that? It’s really tingling.’

  ‘I think it’s been cut with something,’ Fabian said, shrugging. ‘Don’t worry. You get used to it after a while.’

  ‘So, you’ve got quite a bit, then, have you?’ Melody asked snidely. ‘Enough to spare an old friend some to take away and see her through the night?’

  Peering down at her, Fabian frowned. She was acting weird; her tone was wheedling, and a bit pathetic. And she looked awful, he thought again.

  ‘Have you been doing smack?’ he asked, the words coming out of his mouth as soon as the thought entered his head.

  ‘No,’ she lied, dipping her gaze.

  ‘Oh, Christ, you have,’ he said quietly. ‘What the hell are you playing at, Melody? That’s the worst thing you could possibly do.’

  ‘Don’t you think I know that?’ she snapped, annoyed that he was preaching and trying to ruin what little buzz she’d got off the line. ‘It wasn’t my fault. Chase spiked my coke with it.’

  ‘Chase?’ Fabian repeated. ‘Chase Mann? You’ve been seeing him?’

  ‘Well, what was I supposed to do?’ Melody retorted accusingly. ‘You didn’t want me – you made that perfectly clear.’

  ‘I was scared,’ Fabian shot back. ‘Bloody hell, Melody, did you think it was fun having to look over my shoulder all the time in case your boyfriend was sneaking up on me with a baseball bat?’

  ‘I told you I wouldn’t say anything,’ she reminded him. ‘Didn’t you believe me?’

  ‘Not at the time, no,’ he replied bluntly. ‘You’re too unpredictable.’

  ‘I am not,’ she gasped, looking up at him with pain in her eyes. ‘You’re making me out to be some kind of idiot, and I’m so sick of being treated like that. Tony talks to me like I’m a piece of shit. Eddie doesn’t talk to me at all. You turned your back on me. The only one I had left was Chase. And at least he listens to me, and doesn’t talk down to me all the time.’

  Watching as Melody’s eyes filled with tears, Fabian felt the old stab of sympathy in his gut. She was a beautiful woman, who had, just a few short months ago, had the whole world at her feet. He knew she’d been frustrated about Tony’s reluctance to go home, but there was more to this story, he was sure, otherwise she’d have given up on Tony and gone back to Hollywood where she belonged. But she was still here: obviously still frustrated, twice as unhappy as last time he’d seen her, and desperate enough to be taking smack.

  ‘Want to talk?’ he asked.


  Shocked when she burst into tears, he reached out and patted her on the shoulder, almost falling over when she immediately jumped up and threw herself into his arms. Hesitant at first, because this was what he’d wanted to avoid, he relented after a moment and held her to him.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Melody sobbed, her tears soaking his jacket. ‘But it’s been so awful. Tony’s got my passport, and he won’t let me go home. And now my agent’s dumped me because he’s got a new bitch to push. And Chase went and slipped smack into my coke!’

  ‘All right,’ Fabian said softly, patting her back as she wailed. ‘Come on, stop crying. You’re making a lot of noise, someone’s gonna hear you.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Melody said again, making little wet choking noises as she tried to quieten down. ‘I’ve just been feeling so bad. I might as well tell Tony everything and let him get on with killing me. At least I’d be out of this misery.’

  ‘Don’t talk rubbish,’ Fabian said firmly, still holding her as her shoulders heaved. ‘You can’t tell him anything, because he’ll kill you, me, and Chase.’

  ‘I don’t want to get you in trouble,’ Melody cried. ‘But I’m so fed up of this. He won’t even let me have any money.’

  ‘You’ve got your own, haven’t you?’ Fabian said, wondering why she was letting Tony control her like this. ‘You must have earned a fair bit from the films.’

  ‘Yeah, but Tony’s got my credit cards,’ Melody told him. She seemed to be slowing down with the crying at last. ‘He took everything off me months ago, because I said I was going home without him.’

  ‘If things are that bad between you, why wouldn’t he just let you go to be rid of you?’ Fabian asked, rubbing her back soothingly.

  ‘Because he reckons he owns me.’ Reaching up, Melody dabbed at her nose with the back of her hand. ‘Sorry, I’ve made a bit of a mess of your jacket.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Fabian said, easing her away from him. ‘Sit down – I’ll get you a drink.’

  Pouring two straight brandies, he handed one to her and perched on the edge of the desk.

  ‘So, what makes him think he owns you?’ he asked, wondering if he really ought to be getting this involved again.

  Shrugging, reluctant to reveal the surgery she’d had at Tony’s expense, Melody said, ‘He kept me when I was struggling to make it in Hollywood, so now he reckons it’s payback time.’

  ‘Why don’t you run away?’ Fabian suggested. ‘You must have friends you could stay with? And once you’re safely out of the way, you could send the police to get your things. He couldn’t threaten them.’

  ‘No!’ Melody looked up at him with genuine fear in her eyes. ‘You don’t know him. He’d kill me if I ever sent the police after him. That’s the one thing I wouldn’t get away with.’

  ‘Why? What’s he scared of?’

  ‘God knows. I don’t know half of what he gets up to. But whatever it is, Eddie’s in on it. And Leonard – but they’re just using him.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know. But they’ve got to be getting something out of him. Why else would they be letting him hang around with them? It certainly isn’t because they like him – not if you heard the way they talk about him behind his back.’

  ‘Yeah, I wondered about that,’ Fabian said, frowning thoughtfully.

  ‘Yeah, well, don’t go saying anything,’ Melody warned him, worried that she might have said too much. ‘If Tony finds out I’ve been talking about him, I’m dead.’

  ‘I won’t say anything,’ Fabian assured her. Glancing at his watch then, he said, ‘Subject of, we’d best get moving before he comes looking for you.’

  ‘Before we go,’ Melody said, reaching out to stop him when he went to stand up. ‘I’m sorry for asking, but is there any chance you could spare a bit more coke? Only that line didn’t really do anything. Guess I’ve built up a bit of a tolerance, huh?’

  ‘Bloody hell, Melody, how much have you been doing?’

  ‘Unlimited supplies.’ She gave him a sheepish grin. ‘Chase always has loads.’

  ‘And Tony’s never noticed?’

  ‘He was too busy working his way in here,’ Melody sneered. ‘Anyway, he thought I was at the gym, or the hairdresser’s, and there’s no way he’d ever set foot in a place like that. He hates anything to do with women’s things, and exercise is a dirty word to him.’

  ‘Okay,’ Fabian said, getting up and going back to the safe. ‘I’ll give you some more for now, if it helps. But you need to quit the other shit, or you’re gonna be in a real mess.’

  ‘I never wanted it in the first place,’ Melody said, her voice glum. ‘But I can’t just quit without something else to see me through.’

  ‘And coke’s going to do that, is it?’

  ‘It’s totally different, but better than nothing. Have you never tried smack?’

  ‘Never,’ Fabian said, splitting his stash in half and looking in his drawer for a spare bag. ‘It wrecks your looks.’

  ‘Not always,’ she muttered defensively.

  ‘Don’t kid yourself,’ he murmured, glancing up at her. ‘Come on, Melody, you must know you look like shit. And don’t tell me it’s worth it, ’cos you’ve just been in floods of tears telling me your life’s in pieces.’

  ‘Because of Tony,’ Melody countered. ‘I was coping when I had the smack. And I’m only like this now because Chase pissed off with it and I don’t know anyone else to get it off.’

  ‘So as soon as he comes back, you’re just going to start all over again, are you?’

  ‘No.’

  Fabian shook his head. One minute she was saying she didn’t want to do it, then she was defending it. But there was no point trying to talk her out of it, because she would do whatever she was going to do, whatever anybody said.

  Slipping the bag into her bra when he handed it to her, Melody said, ‘Thanks. I’ll try and make it last for a couple of days, but do you think you’ll be able to get me some more? I’ve still got a bit of money stashed away, so I’ll pay.’

  Folding his arms, Fabian sighed. Another lie? She’d just been crying that Tony wouldn’t let her have any money, now she reckoned she had some stashed away.

  ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he said.

  ‘Great,’ Melody said, her voice filled with relief as she stood up. ‘And thanks again for this.’ She patted her breast. ‘You’ve been a real friend.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Fabian said, going to the door and checking the corridor. ‘All clear. But if anyone sees us going out, just tell them I’ve been showing you the offices and the boardroom, okay?’

  ‘Whatever you say.’

  They were halfway down the stairs when Tony walked in through the lower door with Brenda Thompson.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked Melody, his narrowed eyes flicking from her to Fabian.

  ‘Being shown around, seeing as you couldn’t be bothered doing it,’ Melody said accusingly, giving Brenda the cold eye. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Same,’ Tony grunted. ‘Brenda’s never been backstage before. Thought I’d give her the guided tour.’

  ‘Hardly compares to a real backstage,’ Melody muttered, folding her arms, wondering if this old bitch . . .

  But no. There was no way Tony would touch it. She was about thirty years too old, for starters. And ugly.

  Turning to Brenda now, Melody gave her an icy smile. ‘You’re in for a real treat. I’ve never been so bored in my life.’

  ‘Yeah, well, you won’t want to stick around for a second viewing, then, will you?’Tony said, waving Brenda on ahead. Turning back as they passed on the stairs, he said, ‘Yo, Fabian. Make sure she gets back up to the VIP lounge all right, ’cos I don’t want no repeats of the last time you was supposed to be looking after her.’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Fabian replied evenly, refusing to let show in his eyes the anger that Tony was still blaming him for that incident with the men who had hassled Melody, even th
ough he hadn’t even been there.

  Seeing Jenna at the bar when he had escorted Melody back to her table, Fabian went over to have a word.

  Smiling up at him when he reached her, she said, ‘I’m just taking a five-minute break. Care to join me?’

  ‘Yeah, thanks.’ Sitting down beside her, Fabian waved Kalli over and ordered himself a brandy. Then, turning back to Jenna, he said, ‘Can I ask you something? About Tony.’

  ‘Oh, yes?’ Jenna said, a flicker of something that Fabian couldn’t quite read passing through her eyes.

  ‘Yeah, I was just wondering what’s going on,’ he said. ‘Only, I found Leonard moving stuff out of the storeroom earlier, and he said Tony had told him to because they were converting it.’

  ‘Did he now?’ Jenna said coolly. She hadn’t known about that, and it pissed her off that Tony was obviously planning on going ahead without waiting for her answer. ‘I don’t suppose you’d know where he put it?’

  ‘In the boardroom,’ Fabian told her, sensing that she might not be as happy about this as Leonard had suggested – if she knew at all. ‘He reckons they’re going to turn the storeroom into some kind of private members’ club.’

  ‘Yes, well, we did discuss it,’ Jenna said, not wanting to admit that Tony was walking all over her.

  ‘I see,’ Fabian said quietly. ‘Well, I guess you know what you’re doing. But I’d appreciate being told when these kind of decisions are made, because it’s pretty hard to do what I’m supposed to do if things keep changing. I mean, what am I supposed to say if the staff hear something and ask me about it and I don’t know anything?’

  Sighing, Jenna gave him a weary smile. ‘I understand what you’re saying, and I’ll try to keep you informed in future. But you might have to bear with me, because Tony’s a bit . . .’