25
More Secrets
Jerome laced up his trainers and looked out of his bedroom window.
It was ten to six and still dark outside.
Well at least it had stopped raining, thought Jerome.
This first week of December had literally flown by for him.
December was always busy but this year he just didn’t seem to have enough hours in the day.
La Casa was fully booked over the holidays and Level One was finally in order.
The new managers he’d taken on had already eased the pressure off him.
In fact the Gym and Spa were running better than they’d ever done over the last year.
The new staff had brought new memberships at a time when they normally tended to dwindle.
It had become obvious that Liz had not been running the business to its full potential and for the first time Jerome realised that his decision to put Liz in charge of it, was probably not one of his best business moves.
She’d never been interested in the Level One but he’d wanted her to have something of hers to run.
Hindsight was a wonderful thing, Jerome thought ironically.
If he had never pushed her to run Level One, then she’d have never screwed Jonathan.
He shook his head. Well at least she’d been trying to make amends.
There had been fewer problems at Sky too.
Paul had only reported one case of a pusher in the club.
He knew that they were going to have to be careful, drugs were big trade and a club like Sky was a perfect dealing ground.
And with the holidays coming up, the dealers would be missing out on potentially big business.
Jerome pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his sports bag and jacket and headed downstairs.
“Morning. You’re up early again.”
Jerome found Liz pouring her tea in the kitchen. It was just after six. Liz usually didn’t surface before eight but over the last few days she’d been up before him. She shrugged, then wrapped her pale hands around her cup and took a sip.
“Is everything okay?” Jerome furrowed his brow as he looked closer at her. She looked tired, drained even. “Are you worried about Wednesday?”
Liz scrunched her nose. “A bit,” she lied. She was worried a lot.
Jerome’s expression softened. “Hey, don’t worry. You’re perfect for the job. Graham said so.” He paced over to her and rubbed her arm awkwardly. He furrowed his brow, why did their time together feel so awkward? She gazed up at him.
“Thanks. It’s a big contract and…” she shrugged again.
She’d been feeling edgy since yesterday and she wasn’t entirely sure why.
Sleep was proving difficult and not seeing Jonathan over the weekend had made her a little agitated.
Since they’d acquired the flat they’d seen each other almost every day.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“You’d do that?” Liz couldn’t hide her surprise.
“Of course I would. I know it’s important to you. I said I’d support you didn’t I?” Jerome cocked his head to the side. “Do you want me to?”
Liz took another sip of her tea. Did she want him with her?
He began to move smoothly around the kitchen collecting various ingredients.
Liz watched him closely. He looked so comfortable and at ease dressed ready for his work out in his black sweat pants and vest that clung to his toned chest. His hair was dishevelled but he still looked stunning.
He placed everything on the counter, then started putting various seeds, fruits and protein powder in to the blender.
He flicked the switch and the blender jumped to life.
Jerome turned off the blender and twisted the jug free from the base and lifted off the lid.
“If it’s not too much bother, I’d appreciate it.”
He turned to face her resting his hip against the granite work surface. “It’s no bother. Did you book your ticket?”
Liz nodded.
“Okay, give me the details and I’ll book my ticket as soon as I get to La Casa.”
Liz smiled and he could see the relief on her face. “Thanks.”
Jerome tilted the jug towards her. “Here’s to a successful meeting.”
Liz grinned and lifted her tea cup. Jerome clinked the jug against the teacup and winked at her, pleased she looked more relaxed.
He really couldn’t work her out sometimes.
She was so confident and hard most of the time but then she’d show small cracks of vulnerability and all he wanted to do was reassure her.
Maybe a day trip to London was what they needed; a small step in the right direction.
He lifted the jug to his lips and chugged down his drink, then quickly rinsed it out and placed it in the dishwasher.
“What have you got planned for today?”
“I’ll be going to Graham’s this morning, then I’ll be home. You’re going to the restaurant? On a Monday?” she tried to keep her tone even.
“Just going to do some paper work, Paul’s going to be going over the security. Just a check-up.” Jerome smiled tightly. “He’ll be checking here too in the afternoon, but you don’t need to worry about anything, I’ve told Nina to let him and his team in.”
He could’ve arranged it another day, in fact it would’ve been easier on any other day but he’d purposely scheduled Paul on Monday knowing Dani would be at his mother’s. He looked at his watch, he was late. “So I’ll see you later? And message me your flight details.”
“Sure.”
Jerome stepped closer to her and leaned down planting a swift kiss on her cheek, then pulled back quickly. “Don’t worry about Wednesday. You’ll do fine.”
Liz stared up at him and nodded weakly. Striding out of the kitchen Jerome grabbed his jacket and sports bag and headed for the garage. How on earth was she going to tell Jonathan that Jerome was coming with her?
“SO, DO YOU THINK you’ve got the hang of it?”
Gia twisted her mouth and then grimaced, “I’m not sure. It’s fine when you’re sitting next to me but I’m not sure I’ll remember when I’m on my own.”
Dani had been at Gia’s for almost two hours going over what she’d taught her over the last couple of weeks and was now progressing to more work related programs. They were sitting in Gia’s office rather than her apartment.
It was very similar in decor to her home, very feminine with soft pastel colours.
Silk curtains framed the large windows, which made the room light.
The sumptuous chairs upholstered in complementary tones.
The desk looked like an antique dining table with a matching sideboard, which Gia used as a filing cabinet.
The only photos Gia had on her desk were a black and white shot of Kara and Alessandro and a colour family photo with Gia, her late husband, a smiley teenage Cosimo, a moody nine year old Jerome and a cheeky seven year old Arsenio.
The picture looked to have been taken by an Italian lake.
Behind her desk was a sepia framed picture of Sophia Loren in her twenties posing seductively.
The words under the picture reading, ‘everything you see I owe to spaghetti.’
“Mio Dio! Is that the time? I can’t believe it’s already eleven. The time’s just flown by. I was supposed to ring the Doctors at ten thirty.”
“Ah that’s because we’re having fun,” joked Dani. “The Doctors? Are you not well?”
“Yes, we are having fun and no, I’m fine. I just need to book in a mammogram.”
Dani cringed.
“Yeah I know.” Gia shivered at the thought. “We got so engrossed I haven’t managed to teach you any Italian today.”
“That’s okay. I downloaded some course off the Internet and listen to it on my way to and from work. I get at least a full hour coming and going.”
“Good idea. That’s the best way to learn, listening to it as much as you can. You need a nice Italian boyfriend.” Gia winked at her and Dani chuckled. “You still haven’t found anywhere to move closer?”
“No. I think I’ll just have to put up with it. I’ll start looking maybe in the springtime when my money comes through from my house in London.”
“So you’ve put it up for sale, then?”
“No. My ex-boyfriend is buying out my share. He’s promised me the money by mid-January.
” Dani scrunched up her nose, feeling suddenly embarrassed.
Her previous good mood suddenly replaced with irritation.
Jez had been messaging her sporadically, anything between, one message every couple of days to five or six in one day.
Most of them made her angry. He could be very bitter when he wasn’t getting his way.
Some were touching though, which made her heart ache.
“Well at least you’re both civil to each other and have come to some arrangement.” Gia smiled softly.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that. He messages me constantly, sometimes his messages are nice, or civil at least. Other times, not so much. I choose to ignore them all,” Dani huffed, thinking back to the last few rather insulting messages she’d received over the weekend, obviously alcohol driven.
“He took the break up badly?”
Dani rocked her head from left to right and twisted her mouth. “More like he couldn’t accept that I’d leave him after he… well, it’s complicated. I just want to get my share of the house. Then all my ties with him are done and I can move on.”
Gia nodded her head slowly, understanding far more than Dani had admitted to. “And then you’ll buy?” Gia’s tone brightened as she leaned back on her chair. It was obvious Dani wasn’t comfortable talking about her past.
“Yes, I think so.”
Gia nodded, “Yes, it’s a better idea to invest in property, if you have the cash that is. And property in London is more expensive, so you’ll get more for your money up here.”
Dani shrugged. “Well until the money comes through in January, I’ll just have to use my commute time to learn my Italian.”
Gia chuckled and patted her arm affectionately.
“Alright, then. Let me go make us both another espresso and you see if you can put in those last three reservations,” Dani suggested.
Gia’s doe like eyes widened.
“Don’t look so frightened. It’s only a computer. It won’t bite,” chuckled Dani.