Under Grey Clouds (The Osprey Series Book 2)

by Kaylie Kay

  ‘It’s just that,’ she began, clearly not wanting to make Susan feel left out now that things had gone this far, ‘it’s the hotel manager.’

  ‘Oh!’ Susan didn’t turn around, couldn’t trust her face. ‘Wow, okay, I understand why you’re keeping that to yourself!’

  ‘You know,’ Claire was incorrigible, not fazed by Gemma’s reluctance to divulge everything, ‘Tony, the really hot one!’

  ‘Oh, yes, I know Tony,’ Susan said as flatly as she could, her pulse racing. It had been Gemma she had seen him with that night, she realised. Now that she could put a face on the girl in the shadows it was definitely Gemma; same hair, same height, same gorgeous figure. Susan’s thoughts were all over the place and she was relieved when the others came back from break moments later, bringing an end to the conversation, Susan would have to think about this another time, in a different frame of mind.

  Chapter 55

  Oh, how Susan Harrison’s world was changing. The drive home from the flight was spent in reflection, processing thoughts and memories, trying to form a picture of how things stood at this moment in time.

  Mark, over.

  Luke, over.

  Tony, over?

  Was Tony over? Could she be as excited to see him now that she knew about Gemma? When the ‘others’ were faceless, nameless, they didn’t exist. But now she was real, and she was crew. Susan tried to work out what exactly it was that bothered her about it being crew so much. She had never expected Tony to be monogamous, but now she felt cheapened, like everyone knew she was just another of his many, not anything special. She remembered now how his friend had looked at her when she left the hotel that last time, and now that look seemed to be mocking her. Gemma probably wasn’t even the only other crewmember that Tony ‘visited’.

  If she was honest, the fact that Gemma was ten years younger than her was a problem too. As much as she was confident in her looks, if she was Tony she would probably prefer Gemma, and that thought was crushing. She glanced in the rear-view mirror at her reflection. The night flight had taken its toll and her eyes looked tired. A few years ago she had prided herself on how fresh she looked at the end of a flight, but things were starting to change. It wouldn’t be many more months before she would reach her thirty-sixth birthday, and the thought made her shudder.

  She thought about Mario for a moment, her only remaining lover, but he too would probably settle down soon. Perhaps, she thought in a moment of inspiration, she could find some more interests? She hadn’t met anyone for a long, long, time, having enough to keep her busy, but she could always start looking.

  Susan sank back into her seat, the thought of actively looking for someone to have an affair with not sitting well with her. The others had all happened naturally, no effort required on her part. But now she was that much older, that little bit less confident in herself. Before, she had truly believed that she was irresistible, and she realised now how arrogant that had been. Now she questioned whether she was anything special at all, or if Tony had only been with her because she was easy. She didn’t like this last thought, shaking herself off, deciding not to give it any energy. She wasn’t completely stupid, and they had all, definitely, been under her spell.

  Her phone pinged, and a message from Jeff flashed up on her screen. She smiled, his name bringing her back to reality, the one here and now. She was lucky, Jeff would always adore her, and while Susan Harrison needed all of the others, Susan Kennedy didn’t. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps Susan Harrison’s days were numbered.

  Susan smiled as she listened to Jeff singing away in the shower. She laid out the outfit she had chosen for him on the bed next to hers, taking a moment to appreciate how they complemented each other with the different shades of blue, albeit hers being much more sparkly and Christmassy. Hair and makeup done earlier at the salon, nails on all limbs manicured, she slipped the sequinned dress over her freshly spray-tanned body, and admired the finished look from each angle in the mirror.

  ‘Wow!’ Jeff stood in the bathroom door with a huge grin of appreciation on his face.

  ‘Do you like?’ Susan stood on her tiptoes, simulating the killer heels she was yet to put on, and doing a twirl.

  ‘Very much,’ nodded Jeff. ‘You look absolutely stunning.’

  Jeff had no idea about her faltering confidence, but she loved him so much right in that moment for saying exactly what she needed him to say.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said graciously.

  Susan walked over to her dresser and opened the drawer that held all of her occasion jewellery, the expensive pieces that only came out once in a blue moon. To be honest, she preferred the more fashionable dress jewellery that she wore regularly, but tonight she would don diamonds because they were what Jeff had bought her.

  ‘That’s odd,’ she said as she brushed aside boxes, unable to find what she was looking for.

  ‘What’s up?’ Jeff asked as he wriggled into his trousers.

  ‘Oh, nothing,’ she said, distracted. ‘I just can’t find some earrings.’

  She could have sworn her diamond solitaire earrings were on the top in their little green box the last time that she saw them, but they were nowhere to be seen now. She opened a few other drawers just in case she had misplaced them, but she knew deep down that she hadn’t put them anywhere else. They were always in the drawer, and now they were gone.

  ‘Sophia, have you borrowed some diamond earrings from my drawer?’ Susan asked casually, trying not to be accusing, standing at her daughter’s bedroom doorway.

  Sophia shook her head, looking up confused from where she was lying on her bed, reading.

  ‘Okay, no worries, I just can’t find them. You haven’t seen a little green jewellery box?’

  ‘No.’ Again her daughter shook her head.

  ‘That’s odd.’ Susan shook her own head as she walked back to her room.

  ‘Did she have them?’ Jeff was sitting on the side of the bed putting on his shoes.

  ‘No.’ Susan wasn’t sure what to think of it all. She believed her daughter, like she did about the makeup, but she was the only one who it made sense to suspect.

  ‘I’m sure they’ll show up,’ Jeff said reassuringly.

  ‘Yes, you’re right, maybe I took them away and they’re in a bag somewhere.’ She knew that she hadn’t but it was a feasible explanation. ‘Anyway, we had better get going,’ she said, looking at her watch.

  ‘I’m ready.’ Jeff stood up.

  ‘Very smart.’ Susan was impressed with how well he had scrubbed up. ‘Go on down, I’ll be two minutes.’ She just needed to find some alternative jewellery first.

  Chapter 56

  The driver dropped them at the end of the street and Susan held Jeff’s arm as they walked along to the restaurant in St Katharine’s Dock. London was her favourite place to go out, and now in its Christmas finery it looked even more wonderful than usual. It was true that she had been to cities that were taller, more modern, busier, but London just had that perfect balance between the romance of its history and the success of a world leader. She must make more of an effort to come into town, she made a mental note to herself.

  They walked towards the restaurant, a wooden three-storey building that had obviously stood there watching over the docks for hundreds of years. Her romantic side pictured people from bygone ages walking these same steps, and she could almost hear their voices. This was the first time she had been to this part of the capital, and she squeezed Jeff’s arm to signal her approval. He didn’t seem to notice, eyes firmly focussed on the restaurant; obviously he had been here before and the ambience was lost on him somewhat.

  Ever the gentleman, Jeff held the door open and Susan walked into the hustle and bustle of the busy venue. Log fires were burning in the far corners, and a sea of people stretched across the huge room, the echoes of a thousand conversations hanging in the air.

  ‘Upstairs.’ Jeff must have seen her hesitate, forgotten for a moment that she hadn’t been
here before. He pointed across the room to the staircase, taking her hand and guiding her through the throng of people. When they reached the first step Susan stopped for a moment to remove her dress coat; she was warmed up now, and ready to make an entrance. She wondered what this feeling was in her stomach, refusing to believe that it was nerves. She had never been nervous before, even when she was meeting a whole group of people she didn’t know. She took a deep breath, blocking the thoughts that had plagued her confidence lately. She would be absolutely fine, and they were all going to love her, she told herself. All except Janice!

  Jeff led her across the quieter first floor to a long table at the back. She almost didn’t recognise Janice at the far end of the table, not because she looked markedly different to the last time she saw her, but because she didn’t think she had ever seen her laughing before and that was just what she was doing.

  She was relieved to see a familiar round face at the end of the table closest to her, although she couldn’t remember his name, but he had worked for Jeff for a long time. She hoped that the pretty girl with the cute brunette bob sitting next to him was his partner, as she could tell immediately that they would get along. Susan hung her jacket on the back of one of the empty seats next to them in the hope that they could sit there. She smiled at the girl, who returned it immediately. Yes, here would be perfect, especially since they were at the opposite end to Janice, who had just adopted her jaded face again as soon as she had seen her. Susan wasn’t imagining it, she really did hate her.

  ‘Aren’t you going to introduce me to everyone?’ Susan whispered in Jeff’s ear as he hung his jacket on the back of the empty seat next to her, much to her relief. He had been busy acknowledging everyone else, but seemed to have forgotten that she was there.

  ‘I’m sorry, my love,’ he apologised. ‘You know Nigel and this is his partner Mel.’

  ‘Yes of course.’ That was his name, Nigel. ‘Good to see you again, and nice to meet you.’ She held out her hand and kissed Mel on the cheek. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve seen anyone from Jeff’s office.’

  ‘Nice to meet you too,’ said Mel. ‘I don’t know anyone here!’

  ‘Oh, well a couple of glasses of wine and I’m sure we will feel like we’ve been friends for years!’ joked Susan, reminded that she, as Jeff’s wife, had absolutely no reason to be nervous. She pulled her shoulders back and walked confidently around the table. There were some familiar faces that she was pleased to see, albeit a couple of years older, along with plenty of new ones, and she stopped to talk to each of them. At some point a glass of bubbles was placed in her hand, and just a couple of sips was enough to soften the blow as she reached Janice.

  ‘Janice, how lovely to see you.’ People were watching, and there was no way she would let them think that the obvious frostiness was coming from her. She leant down and air kissed her cold cheek, feeling the stiffness, as if kissing a corpse.

  ‘Hello, Susan.’ Janice wasn’t even trying to hide her dislike. The laughter had gone and she didn’t even manage a smile.

  ‘How are you, Janice?’ Susan could handle this, she had had more difficult passengers. ‘You look absolutely wonderful.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said reluctantly. The people sitting around were all watching, and Susan was sure that they couldn’t have failed to notice Janice’s behaviour. ‘Please excuse me, I have to use the ladies’ room.’

  Susan stood back, not letting her smile drop as Janice leant down and picked up her bag, pushing back her seat to stand up. She didn’t even make eye contact as she stepped past her.

  ‘Hi, I’m Susan,’ Susan said cheerfully. If Janice wanted be like that she would make sure she annoyed the hell out of her with her friendliness and popularity. She held out her hand to shake that of the young lad who had been sitting next to her, relieved that he smiled back at her. At least Janice didn’t seem to have enlisted anyone else in her hate campaign.

  Chapter 57

  She had been right about Mel, they had hit it off immediately. The wine was flowing, in fact her glass never seemed to be empty, and the food came and went, hardly noticed, she was enjoying the conversation so much.

  ‘So, what do you do, Mel?’ Susan asked, realising that she had just talked about her job for at least the past twenty minutes. Not that Mel had shown any signs of boredom, people generally liked to hear about it, but it was rude nonetheless.

  ‘Oh, I’m really boring, I’m afraid,’ she said apologetically. ‘I work from home doing accounts and bookkeeping.’

  Susan was surprised that this obviously fun and outgoing person had such a, by her own admittance, boring job.

  ‘Oh wow, how did you get into that? You must be very clever!’ she said, there was no way she would let her know that she agreed with her description of boring. Ultimately, she was actually more successful in her career than Susan, probably earned more money, so she certainly wasn’t going to look down on her for her career choice.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Mel, rolling her eyes. ‘Unfortunately, I was clever at school, and my dad was an accountant, so it just happened. I bloody hate it though, I’d much rather do what you do.’

  Susan had heard that so many times before. She was lucky though, that she didn’t need to earn a fortune, as a part time cabin crew wage wouldn’t have kept them in any kind of luxury. She was pretty sure that Nigel must be earning a good wage after all this time with Jeff though, so perhaps Mel wasn’t financially tied, she wondered.

  ‘Well we are always recruiting, and you’d be great at it, maybe you should give it a go?’ Susan said, meaning it.

  ‘Really? Don’t I need languages? Aren’t I too old? I’m in my thirties!’ Mel was wide-eyed now.

  ‘No,’ Susan laughed kindly at the common misconceptions. The days of having to retire from flying in your thirties, or needing to be fluent in other languages were long gone, along with the lucrative contracts. ‘Honestly, you’d be great. Have a think about it and if you’re still interested when the wine’s worn off, come round and see me. I’ll help you with the application!’

  On cue the waiter filled their glasses and they raised them in a toast. Susan could see Mel’s excitement bubbling behind her eyes and she hoped she would hear from her. Suddenly though, her face changed to a more serious one, and she was now looking past Susan. She wondered what she was going to say as she leant in towards her.

  ‘Who is that woman at the other end of the table, and what the fuck is her problem?’

  Susan didn’t even need to turn around to know that only Janice could have reduced Mel to her first public use of the F word. Not that Susan was averse to it, but it was normally held back until friendships were cemented, or she was with crew. She turned around anyway, wanting Janice to feel the looks she had obviously been throwing returned by two pairs of eyes. Her nemesis looked quickly away.

  ‘Oh, that’s Janice, or I like to call her Jaded Janice, and for some reason she hates me,’ Susan said matter-of-factly, before smiling as she took a sip of her drink.

  ‘You don’t say!’ Mel was still staring back at her. ‘If looks could kill you’d be dead a thousand times over. What’s her issue?’

  ‘I have absolutely no idea, but thank you for confirming what I already knew, that she hates me,’ Susan said again, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly, before laughing. She had found the funny side now that she had someone to laugh at it with, glad that she wasn’t alone with her suspicions.

  ‘Haven’t you said anything to her?’ Mel asked.

  ‘No.’ Susan wondered for a moment why she had never said anything all those times she had been abrupt to her on the phone, realising that it was probably because she had never got the chance, the dial tone always replacing any opportunity to speak. Even now, when she knew she wasn’t imagining things, she would never dream of making a scene, and she hated confrontation anyway.

  ‘Well you’re better than me, I would have had it out with her. Does she work with these guys?’

  ‘Yes,
she’s Jeff’s PA.’ As she said the words she could see her own thoughts reflected in Mel’s eyes. Was Janice jealous of her? Did she have her sights set on her husband? The conversation with Claire jumped out of her memory box, her warning about watching your husband’s secretaries.

  ‘Oh,’ Mel said, looking down at her glass, obviously unsure of what else to say for a moment. ‘Well, don’t let her get away with being rude to you, you’re the boss’s wife! Anyway, let me have your number, I would love to take you up on your offer of help with an application.’ She smiled broadly, lightening the situation, and Susan was relieved to change the subject.

  Despite trying to ignore it, Susan just couldn’t help but notice the daggers that Janice would throw her way every once in a while. It was probably the effects of the wine, but as the evening passed her usual composure was being threatened.

  ‘Long time no see,’ she quipped when Jeff finally returned to his seat.

  ‘Sorry, I’ve been trying to make sure I speak to everyone,’ he apologised.

  ‘The pressures of being the boss,’ Susan said with as much sympathy as she could muster. She had never been needy and demanding of his attention, in fact she knew that she was always extremely reasonable and understanding, but some things were just too much.

  ‘Honey, please don’t think I am being difficult,’ she began, speaking quietly so that Jeff had to lean in to hear her. ‘I thought it was just me, but other people have noticed it too. Janice keeps on looking at me in a horrible way, and completely blanked me when I spoke to her earlier. Do you have any idea why she seems to be so upset with me?’

  Jeff shook his head but said nothing.

  ‘Any chance you could have a word with her as it’s making me feel really uncomfortable?’ she asked, trying to sound as mature as she could despite her childish complaints.