The Club (15 page)

Right now, though, Fabian was stuck between the rock of meeting Melody’s demands and the very high ledge of not doing so. And there wasn’t a thing he could do about it, except sit it out and pray that Tony would agree to take her home soon.

Watching Fabian as he wallowed in his thoughts, Jenna shook her head. If he was as fine as he made out, how come he was struggling to keep his eyes open? And why was his chin getting closer and closer to his chest? Tapping his leg, she smiled amusedly when his head jerked up.

‘Not tired, huh?’

‘I’m fit as a fiddle,’ he grunted, sitting up straighter and widening his eyes. ‘There. Do I
look
tired?’

‘You were practically asleep,’ Jenna pointed out. ‘Anyway, I’m not asking you, I’m
telling
you to take a break. I’m sure we’ll manage without you for a week or two.’

‘I don’t
want
you to manage without me,’ Fabian countered, frowning now. ‘You might decide that you don’t want me back.’

Before Jenna had a chance to deny this, there was a knock at the door.

‘Guess what I’ve just heard . . . ?’ Kalli burst in without waiting for an answer, her pretty face glowing with excitement. Stopping in her tracks when she saw Fabian, she said, ‘Oh, sorry. I thought you were alone.’

Assuring her that she wasn’t interrupting anything, Jenna said, ‘What have you heard?’

Flicking a nervous glance at Fabian, who was giving her the cold eye, Kalli said, ‘Austin’s friend works at Morgan’s, and he reckons their door takings are right down. And The Nest is supposed to be even worse. They’ve started a happy hour to try and bring the customers back, but it isn’t working.’

‘Wow!’ Smiling, Jenna turned to Fabian. ‘That’s great, isn’t it?’

‘Yeah, great,’ he murmured. ‘Is that it, Kalli?’

‘Er, yes.’ Kalli backed towards the door. ‘I just thought Jenna would want to know. Anyway, I’d best get going. Austin’s waiting for me.’

Turning to Jenna when they were alone again, Fabian said, ‘I don’t want to burst your bubble, but that might not be as good as you think. It’s one thing losing a few customers, but nobody can afford to lose too many. If the other clubs realise we’re the cause, they’re going to get pissed off.’

‘But that’s just part and parcel of business, isn’t it? Nobody’s got the monopoly on customers.’

‘No, but businessmen aren’t the most magnanimous of people when their profits are under threat.’

‘Well, that’s not very fair,’ Jenna said, frowning now. ‘It’s not my fault if my club’s more popular than theirs. They should make more of an effort to keep people interested.’

‘True, but that won’t stop them blaming you. Just don’t be surprised if they start playing dirty, that’s all I’m saying.’

‘Dirty? How?’

Shrugging, Fabian said, ‘Slashing their door prices. Going all out on drinks promotions so that we can’t compete. There’s all kinds of ways they could get at us. And if it costs them more in the short term, they might figure it’s worth it to put you in the red.’

‘That’s outrageous,’ Jenna gasped. ‘We’re only charging the going rate on the door, and the drinks aren’t cheap, so it’s not like we’re undercutting anyone. What am I supposed to do? Sack all the DJs so nobody wants to come?’

Peering into her angry eyes, Fabian smiled to himself. She was clueless about the cut-throat nature of this highly competitive business, but she looked so damn raunchy when she was pissed off, if she wasn’t his boss he’d be tempted to . . .

Whoa, there!
He pulled himself up short. He might go there one day – when Melody had gone and his dick had recovered. But not now. He was too knackered to even
think
about getting it up.

Sighing resignedly beside him, Jenna finished her drink and shrugged. ‘Oh, well. If anything happens, I’ll just have to deal with it, won’t I? But I’m proud of what we’ve achieved, and I’ve got no intention of lowering my standards to satisfy whoever can’t match them.’

‘Fair enough,’ Fabian said approvingly. She had balls, you had to give her that. Finishing his own drink then, he put his glass down and got up. ‘Think I’ll make a move,’ he said, stretching languidly. ‘Anything you want me to do before I go?’

Smiling up at him, Jenna said, ‘Yeah, book yourself a holiday. Just let me know when you’re going and I’ll have the agency send a temp in to cover for you.’

Sensing that she wouldn’t stop going on about it if he didn’t seem to make an effort, Fabian agreed to think about it, but he had no intention of doing it. This was
his
club, and there was no way he was leaving the way clear for some chancer to come in and take over – like he had with his predecessor.

Anyway, there was no way he was risking going off the scene while Melody was still in town. If she started suffering coke withdrawal symptoms and he wasn’t there to make her feel better, there was no telling what she’d do. And he didn’t fancy coming back to find Tony Allen and the goon waiting for him.

Across town just then, dropping Fabian in it was the last thing on Melody’s mind. Not long back from the club, she’d been banished to the bedroom of the hotel suite that was fast becoming home – to Tony, at least – while he and Eddie got on with some ‘private’ business in the lounge.

Melody was sick to death of Tony and his secrets. Every night for weeks he’d been dropping her off here after the club and pissing off out to God only knew where with Eddie. And on the rare occasions that he actually stayed in, he spent all his time with Eddie, having conversations that she wasn’t allowed to join in with. She’d given up trying to listen through a glass, because the walls were too damn thick and she could never make anything out, so she invariably went to bed to catch up on her beauty sleep. But she was way too wired to sleep tonight, so she decided to call her agent, Scotty Nash, on the off chance that she might actually reach him this time.

Melody had been here for six weeks now, and to start with Scotty had called daily to tell her what was happening back home, and to ask when she was coming back, because he had big things planned for his ‘favourite girl’. But two weeks ago he’d suddenly stopped calling, and she had found it impossible to get through to him since. If she called his office, his secretary said he was in a meeting; and whenever she tried his mobile it was either switched off or he just wasn’t answering – and she suspected the latter to be the case.

Realising that her mistake was to always call him from her mobile, the number of which he obviously knew and could therefore ignore, she decided to trick him by using the hotel line. Asking the operator for an international line, she tapped Scotty’s number into the bedside phone and settled back against the pillows.

‘Ah ha!’ she crowed when he answered on the second ring. ‘So glad I caught you when you weren’t busy –
for once
!’

‘Melody,’ Scotty said, his voice betraying that she had been dead right about him avoiding her. ‘Hi, Sweets. How are you? I’ve been meaning to call, but you know how it is this end. Work, work, work!’

‘Yeah, and I’m supposed to be your most important client,’ Melody reminded him icily. ‘So, what’s happening, Scotty? What have you got lined up for me?’

‘It’s been a bit hectic lately,’ Scotty said evasively. ‘What with the Oscars coming up, and the preparations for Cannes, and everything.’

‘What about my audition?’ Melody cut in impatiently. ‘Have you been in touch with the producers?’

‘Sure, I’ve been in touch. But you know how it is with those guys – too many dinners to eat, too much booze to drink.’

‘Never mind that, what are they saying about
me
?’

‘Ah, well, that’s the thing, see . . .’ Scotty sounded like he was sweating now. ‘They, um, kinda passed.’

‘Passed?’ Melody repeated croakily, feeling like a bucket of ice water had just been tipped over her head. ‘What do you mean,
passed
? They didn’t want me?’

‘Something like that, I guess. But, hey, you know . . . there’ll be other parts.’

‘I don’t want
other
parts,’ Melody whined. ‘I want
that
part. Why didn’t you get it for me, Scotty? You’re supposed to have stayed on it. That’s what I pay you for, you dumb shit!’

‘Hey, don’t be ragging on me,’ Scotty shot back at her. ‘It ain’t my fault you took yourself out of the picture for so fucking long and let them producers forget you exist. I did warn you. You know how competitive this market is.’

‘It’s only a
holiday
,’ she gasped. ‘It’s not like I’m never coming back.’

‘Try telling them that,’ Scotty countered. ‘These guys got better things to do than sit around waiting on someone who ain’t even in the news no more.’

‘I’m not?’ Melody murmured, feeling sick now because she’d been a regular column-filler before leaving – if not quite the headliner she’d planned on becoming once the Julia Roberts film was in the bag.

‘Nope. Not a thing in weeks,’ Scotty told her – sounding remarkably unconcerned, she thought, considering that he should have been tearing his hair out thinking up ways of keeping her name in print while she was away: feeding gossip to the press, leaking rumours –
any
thing to keep her out there.

‘So, have they cast the part yet?’ she forced herself to ask – not wanting to hear an affirmative, but needing to know if there was still time to get home and rectify things. If they hadn’t chosen anyone else yet, she might still be able to persuade the producers that she was their girl. Or maybe she could go directly to Julia. She’d read through the scene with Melody at the audition and had said she was fantastic. If Melody could get to her—

‘Remember that girl, Deanna Shelby?’ Scotty cut into her thoughts.

‘
No
,’ Melody muttered, feeling sicker than ever. ‘Please don’t tell me
she
got it?’

‘Yup.
Wowed
’em, by all accounts – really blew them away.’

‘How?’ Melody gasped. ‘She might as well
be
me – but without the talent. She’s a fucking freak! Copying my style, and turning up at all the same auditions.’

‘Well, it’s obviously working for her,’ Scotty commented snidely. ‘Word is, it was actually a toss-up between you and her for a while. But she’s been getting herself out and about since the audition, and you’ve disappeared off the face of the earth, so it wasn’t that tough a decision in the end.’

‘But that’s not fair!’ Melody whined. ‘I’m the real deal, she’s just a fucking clone! And the critics—’

‘Are raving about Deanna now,’ Scotty jumped in. ‘
She
’s their
Next Big Thing
now. And you should see the headlines she’s been getting.
Boy
, that girl knows how to get herself column inches!’

Hearing him chuckle at his end, a light switched on in Melody’s head.

‘You’re representing her, aren’t you?’ she demanded icily.

‘Well,
hell
, yeah,’ Scotty admitted. ‘I’d have been a fool
not
to when she was practically begging me, don’t you think? I mean, now she’s in there with Julia, it’s gonna be mucho buckolas all the way.’

Melody slammed the phone down.

Scotty had told her everything she needed to know. She was on her way out; the door was already closing behind her. The fickle producers who had so recently wined and dined her had already forgotten her; and Scotty scumbag Nash was effectively dumping her, because he’d be too busy pouring all of his time and energy into his new money-cow from here on in.

And Deanna Shelby was the biggest cow going!

The ugly witch had crawled out of the woodwork last year and come trailing after Melody like the annoying slug that she was, copying Melody’s clothes, getting the same hair colour and extensions, and the same porcelain veneers. She’d even gone to the trouble of finding out which tuck-and-suck man Melody had used, and got herself the same boobs, nose and lips. She’d been so desperate to
be
Melody, and it looked like she’d finally achieved her aim. In six short weeks she had stepped neatly and completely into Melody’s shoes – and there wasn’t a goddamned thing Melody could do about it, because she was wasting away over here, in the no man’s land they called Manchester, England; while Deanna was stealing her thunder back home.

And it was all Tony’s fault for bringing her here in the first place, on this holiday that he’d booked behind her back as a ‘reward’ for all the hard work she’d been doing lately. The holiday she’d never even wanted, and hadn’t enjoyed one fucking bit!

Screaming with frustration now, Melody snatched her glass of brandy off the bedside table and hurled it at the wall.

In the lounge, Tony heard the sound of shattering glass and, fearing that Melody had had an accident, rushed in to see if she was all right.

Stepping back when a piece of glass crunched under his shoe, he looked down at the shards embedded in the thick carpet, then up at the wet patch staining the expensive flock wallpaper as the brandy dripped slowly down.

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ he demanded, glaring at Melody, who looked like a madwoman, sitting in the middle of the bed with her face a mess of tears and her hair all over the place. ‘Have you lost your fucking mind? I’ll have to
pay
for this.’

‘
Good!
’ she screamed, balling her hands into fists and slamming them down on her thighs. ‘You
should
pay for what you’ve done to me, you bastard!’

‘Keep it down,’ he barked, closing the door. ‘You want the whole fucking place to hear you?’

‘I don’t
care
!’ Melody wailed, snatching up a book and throwing it at him. ‘You’ve ruined my
life
!’

Narrowing his eyes, Tony frowned deeply. She was acting crazy, and he didn’t have the first clue what was eating her.

‘I just spoke to Scotty,’ she yelled at him accusingly. ‘And guess fucking
what
, Tony? I didn’t get that part I was after!’