Chapter 9
Alice
“ G ood morning, Alice,” Sadie greets me, holding a mug of coffee out to me.
“You are such a star. You know this is the best-ever drink of the day.”
Sadie laughs as she rounds her desk and picks up a slip of paper. “Mr. Ronald wants you to attend a meeting with himself, Mr. Jeffrey, and Mr. Bradbury. It has to do with being on last warning.”
“Oh. Thank you and stop calling them Mr. They are just Ronald and Jeffrey. I’ll make sure I attend. It’s something we all knew was going to happen, but came faster than I thought it would.”
“You know the old saying about leading horses to water! Well, he was warned, and didn’t pick up his performance. I’ve left his performance sheet on your desk, along with other information you may need.”
“Thanks, Sadie.”
Half an hour later, I’ve read the information that Sadie has accumulated from reports on her system. It seems Mr. Bradbury, known as Lester, has not earned his monthly salary in quite some time.
He has lost four clients that were in the past large investors, and to have lost them could have led to new clients not coming to us, but going to other sources.
Financial services are not something you can afford to play around with. Our company offers advice on insurance, retirement plans, accounting, and investments. Investments being our fortè.
Picking up the paperwork from my desk, I walk out of the office and toward the conference room. Opening the door, I smile at Ronald and Jeffrey, who are already here and waiting with a tray of pastries and coffee on the table.
“Take a seat. We will start the meeting as soon as Lester arrives. We are a little early, but we will be away from today for a week. You will be in charge of the place while we are gone. Oh, the cheese and wine evening is going to have to wait, sorry darling,” Ronald slots that on the end nicely, and I give him a scowl before sticking my tongue out.
“Oh, dear, that’s not nice.” Jeffrey laughs, and he is the more masculine of the two of them, but he still has that darling vibe about him at times when he speaks.
“It’s not nice leaving a girl without a night out, too. Fancy dumping me like that.” I pretend to be hurt, but we all three know that I’m play-acting.
“Well, I’ve booked you a table at Wong’s Restaurant. Take whoever you would like to take. Have a good evening on us. We know how much you love Chinese food, and it’s okay having takeout, but go have an enjoyable meal, dress up a bit.” Jeffrey grins at me, knowing I’m not a dress-up kind of person but I do if it’s for work conferences, and the like.
The conference room door opens and Lester Bradbury walks in, looking like he’s about to be hung, drawn, and quartered. He has to know he’s about to lose his job. He is not a stupid man, and in the past has been an exemplary staff member.
“Good morning, Lester, take a seat.” Ronald is in work mode and the teasing we’d just been enjoying is not evident anymore.
Lester takes a seat and looks from one to the other of us. Before we can speak, he states in a matter-of-fact manner. “I’m here to be removed from my position with the company, aren’t I?”
“Yes, I’m afraid you are,” I quickly reply, before either Ronald or Jeffrey can.
“I knew it was coming. I’ve not been able to concentrate, and it’s been evident I’ve lost the company clients.”
“Why have you not been able to concentrate? It’s not like you at all. You have always been so proactive in your role here,” I ask.
“My wife is seriously ill. She’s going through a lot of treatment and with the insurance messing us around, it’s been draining mentally with the worry.”
“Why on earth did you not speak to us? You have health insurance through the company, and we would have been on the case quickly.” Jeffrey stands and walks out of the conference room. Ronald is giving Lester a look full of pity.
“What is wrong with your wife?” Ronald asks eventually when the room is quiet and starting to feel uncomfortable.
“She has cancer and is fighting it hard, but we had to miss her last treatment as we ran out of savings and I’m waiting for the house to be sold.” Lester has a tear trickle down his cheek, which cuts me to pieces.
“You take the house off the market, instantly. We will go to my office and speak to the insurance people and get her treatment underway again. Now you won’t be losing your job, but you will be on leave for two months while we get you all sorted out.” Ronald stands, grabs a hold of Lester’s arm dragging him toward the door, but turns at the last moment to speak to me. “Meeting dismissed. We’ll sort this all out so you can get back to managing, since you were promoted to manager.”
Ronald throws his head back, laughing as he pulls Lester out of the room, and I stand like a goldfish, mouth opening and closing. Manager! Since when was I made manager?
After lunch, which I persuaded Sadie to share with me, I pick up my phone and send a text message.
Alice: Do you want to go for a meal tonight? My boss's treat. Oh, bring Beast.
Jax: Yeah, we can pick you up. What time, and where are we going?
Alice: Wong’s restaurant and whenever you come pick me up, it’s a table booked for the whole evening.
Jax: Oh nice, I’m tasting it already.
Alice: C U later.
Jax: xxx
Jax sends me kisses. Geez, that is a shocker! He is cute though, and now that I have admitted to myself that Sacks and I would never have worked out, I’m happy to move on. It just took something to shake me out of the… ‘this is normal’ routine.
I leave work and get home early because I want to have a soak in the bath, find something to wear, and have a moment to myself. I’m looking forward to seeing Beast again. He may be huge, but his aura is just as large.
Two hours later I’ve had my bath, dressed in ankle boots, a black dress with a halter neck that reaches just above my knees. I have the purple leather jacket that I treated myself to when I saw it in a sale, and of course, I couldn’t resist. Last, my purple purse which matches the jacket. I’ll leave my jacket and purse near the door, ready to grab on my way out.
I’ve tied my hair into a messy bun and made sure my makeup was light. I’m more than happy with how I look, and I can be comfortable sitting during the evening. It’s rare I wear what I call my biker babe gear, but I love it and I think it suits me.
My phone ringing catches my attention and snatching it up I see it’s Aunt Mais…goddamn do I really want to speak to her?
“Hello.” I sound a little snippy, but I’m not bothered if it comes across that way.
“Have you seen Melody?”
Not stopping for niceties, I notice! Well, like breeds like. “No.” I give her nothing more than that.
“She is missing.”
I wait but she says nothing more, but I hold out. She can say something because I’m not. I look at my nails while I wait and notice a chip in one, now that has me frowning because I don’t have time to do nails now.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yeah, but what does that have to do with me? I’ve not seen her, and I don’t want to see her. She is dead to me, and Aunt Mais, you keep this attitude toward me up and we’re done.” I close the call and drop the phone on my purse, ready for when we leave.
Hearing a tap on the front door, I quickly walk over and open it, thinking it is Jax or Beast, but to my dismay, it’s my mother. Rolling my eyes, I wait to see what she has to say, but I don’t make room for her to come into the house either.
“What is it you want?” I ask, with more than a little sass to my tone.
“Don’t you speak to me like that. You’re not too old to get a slap.”
“You slap me and I’ll slap you right back, because I am too old for you to think you can say and do whatever you like. Now, what do you want because I’m about ready to go out?”
“Where is Melody?”
“I do not know. I don’t want to see her, speak with her, or even breathe the same air as her. You done?”
“What happened to you? This is not the caring person I know and love.”
“You happened. You, Aunt Mais, and cheating scumbag Sacks with my so-called best friend. That’s what happened to me. Now are you done? Because as I said, I’m on my way out.” I have noticed an SUV pulling up. When Beast climbs out the passenger side and quickly walks towards my front door, I can’t help the huge smile that crosses my face.
My mother obviously notices and turns to see who I’m smiling at, but what I don’t expect is what happens…
“Yvonne, is that you? Where the hell did you disappear to? Black looked all over for you.” Beast is staring at my momma and she’s as pale as a ghost, me, I’m fairly gob-smacked. But when Momma squeaks, then runs away from us, and down the sidewalk as though the hounds of hell are after her, I look at Beast with a raised eyebrow.
“We’ll talk about it over our meal.” Beast steps into the house, grabs my jacket, purse and phone, passing them to me as he takes the key out of the lock before closing the door and locking it. Handing me the key before placing a finger under my chin and pushing up to close my mouth.
Settled in the restaurant, Beast is still looking at me, but closely, which is making me squirm a little. “What’s going on, Pops?” Jax eventually asks.
“You know Black told you the story about his woman fucking off with his baby in her belly,” Beast says, looking at me still.
“Yeah, she ran off and he couldn’t find her. He looked for ten years, though.” Jax looks at me, then he does the same as Beast, studies me as though they’ve never seen me before.
“I think we found her. Alice’s mother is none other than Yvonne.”
“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me,” Jax explodes, but leans in and studies me even harder. “She has the right color eyes and that birthmark on her neck. I’ve noticed that before, but never put two-and-two together."
“We would need a DNA test done, to be sure,” Beast states, but he’s smirking now. “This is just awesome. All these years and she’s been here.”
“What will Black do?” Jax asks, and I’m looking from one to another.
“He’ll come and see for himself. He’ll want the test done, and he’ll claim her as his, that’s for sure.” Beast takes out his phone and before I can stop him, he’s taken my photograph and now tapping on the keyboard. I hear a ping when the message is sent and the smug look on Beast's face has me starting to get rather angry.
“Who and what are you talking about?” I snap.
“Oh, she has his temper, too,” Jax laughs.
The server walks over and interrupts what is becoming a heated conversation. We all three select our meals, plus beer and wine orders.
Once he has walked away giving us all a leery look, I quickly spin around on Beast. Point my finger at him and spit, “Talk.”
“Okay. Your mother was once Black’s woman. She disappeared one night telling no one, but in the bathroom, Black found a pregnancy test that said positive. We all searched for months and could find no trace of her. Ten years Black looked for her. He wanted his kid, even if Yvonne didn’t want to stay around. He wanted his child, who he would have loved dearly.
“You could be that child, Alice, and if you are he’s going to go mental. He will be here soon, I’m sure, and he’ll want a DNA test to see if you are his, but you have all the family traits. The ice-blue eyes, and the birthmark on your neck.” Beast grabs my hand. “Black is my best friend, and you would have been brought up as my niece. I’m thinking I recognized you in my heart and that’s why I took a shine to you right from the start.”
“Aw, Pops, you’ll have me crying in a minute.” Jax pretends to wipe a tear but laughs when Beast smacks him around the back of his head.
“I always wanted to know my father, but she would never tell me anything. I’m not going to be upset about this because if he is my father, then I’ll embrace that fact.” I give a huge smile to Beast and another to Jax, right as the server brings out our meals.
The rest of the evening Beast tells me about my father. What my mother was like, and oh boy, she is such a hypocrite. This is going to be interesting in more ways than one. But you know, I can’t help but hope he is my father. It would be great to be able to say ‘Papa’.