She’d always been stubborn; stubborn and highly strung. An explosive and unpredictable combination.
Faye Devere had always been a maelstrom of enthusiasm to my calm. She was creative and flamboyant, with her head too high in the clouds for her own bloody good, but her ideas, more often than not, were spot on. She thought big and I thought real, and somehow between us we’d find that sweet spot, where shit got done and it got done well. It was Faye who’d set her heart on the Explicit venue in the first place, way beyond the scope of my initial investment. Faye who’d convinced me to dig fucking deep and take a chance on it, onus.Explicit was her grand vision, brought to life by my bullish determination to make a fucking go of it. We’d gone in big,I’dgone in big, and it had paid off.
And then she thanked me by pissing off into the sunset without so much as a goodbye.
I wasn’t going into that fucking office, not even if I had to tie myself to the coffee table and watch a whole fucking day of soul-destroying TV.
Just as well I had Vincent cunting Blackmore’s shitty novel to keep me occupied.
Topaz’s expression was one of both fear and relief as I strolled through the bar at just gone seven that evening. She was perched on a stool with her earplugs in, fingers only slightly more covered in glitter and glue than the bar top beneath them.
“You’re back!” she said, her cheeks flushing.
“Clearly,” I muttered. I leaned over her shoulder, trying to work out what in the name of hell she was actually doing.
“Faye’s idea,” she said. “Explicit gaming cards, for truth or dare night.”
“Truth or dare night?” I pulled a face. “And when exactly is this truth or dare night supposed to be happening?”
She shrugged. “I’ve no idea. I’m just getting them ready.”
I fished a completed card from the glitter, and it looked like a poorly executed primary school project.
“Kiss my ass. Five points. It’s time for your partner to get down on all fours and pucker up for some deep anal smooching. Five straight minutes of asshole worship are heading their way. Tongue penetration compulsory.”
“Do you like it?” Topaz asked, hopefully.
I flicked through the rest of the pile, fighting the urge to laugh at the curly writing.
“Ride ’em, Cowboy. Five points. It’s bronco time! Your job is to ride your partner and hold on tight, their job is to buck you off. Whoever gets off first is the winner.”
“See what I did there?” she smiled. “Whoevergets off first?”
I declined the opportunity to comment either way.
“So, where is she?” I said. “And how much of a hissy fit am I walking into?”
“In your office,” she replied. I stared her out until she continued. “She’s… a little upset.”
“Upset as in hysterical tears, or upset as in carving knife to the face?”
She shrugged. “I think you’d better find that out for yourself.”
I hung up my coat without a word, glancing across her desk for just a moment on the way to mine. Today’s mail was still in piles, unopened.
“You’ve missed the post,” I said. “Those cheques should have been banked hours ago. If you want to take the reins, Faye, you’ve got to steer the bloody horse.”
Her mouth was a puckered little hole of hate. “Where the fuck have you been? Where the fuck were you today?!”
“Annual leave,” I said. “You’d have to agree, I’m owed quite some time.” I took my seat and fired up my laptop. “I trust you coped just fine in my absence,partner?”
Her palms slammed hard against her desk, but I didn’t even look in her direction. “Why are you being like this?Iwon the toss!Youflipped the fucking coin! We had a fucking agreement, Andy. You promised me!”
“Poor little Faye, my heart fucking bleeds,” I said. “Don’t even start. I wasn’t in today, big fucking doo dah.Youhaven’t been in for three fucking years.”
In a heartbeat she’d gathered up the half-opened mail and thrown it in my lap. “Sort this fucking post, Andy,” she hissed. “It’syourjob today.Youshould have been here to do it on time.”
I gathered up the envelopes and launched them back in her direction. “No, Faye.Yourjob.Yourresponsibility. A stupid bloody coin toss doesn’t change the basic premise of our dynamic here. The truth is that you don’t know the first thing about running this club, and today has merely proved my point.”