The Final Note (DJ Series Book 1) (10 page)

Luke waves for me to come over and my eyes widen when Dayton curls a finger at me, telling me to go to him. Is he crazy? There is no way he is getting me up there. I put my hands up in surrender and shake my head apologetically. Dayton looks disappointed but shrugs in defeat and smiles. I’ve already emphasised to him that I could never do the job he does because I’d faint in front of a crowd of this size. I’m way too bashful for an audience. Dayton may be modest but he isn’t shy, he loves performing, he just doesn’t let the attention go to his head.

Dina comes and puts her hand out for me to follow her to the VIP area where the others are all camped out in a booth. Corrine jumps from her seat. “This round is on me, lady. Come help me with the trays.”

We head for the bar and my smile slips when I see Regina behind the bar; we are undoubtedly her least wanted customers of the night. I give her a tired look, are we really going to have to do this every time we come face to face? I realise Corrine has been jabbering and I haven’t been listening to a word. We perch on stools at the end of the bar. “Sorry, Cor, what were you saying?” Corrine rolls her eyes.

“I said I’m so happy for you. If any couple deserves each other then it’s you and Dayton. I think you’re gonna be so good together.”

I smile, thanking her. Regina makes a point of serving a guy in a leather jacket. None of us mention it but when she ignores us and goes to serve the buxom blonde from the dance floor Corrine leans on the bar. “Hey, we were here first.” The pair of blondes turns and gives us filthy looks. “She ought to hurry up, I need to pee,” Corrine mumbles. Regina seems to be making a meal out of serving the blonde and when her friend comes to the bar Regina asks for her order, too.

“Are you going to serve us tonight, or what?” Corrine shouts and Regina turns slowly.

“Do you want me to call security, or what?” Her lip curls and I see Corrine’s eyes widen. She sucks in a breath to reply before I whip the twenty pound note from her hand.

“Corrine, you go to the ladies’ and I’ll get the drinks, vodka and cokes all round?”

“Ross and Brent want jagerbombs. I won’t be long.”

Corrine begrudgingly leaves the bar and I flick Regina a challenging glance, there is no one else for her to serve except me. She rolls her eyes before flicking a bar towel onto her shoulder and sauntering over.

She stands before me, a very unimpressed look on her angelic face. When I don’t say anything she opens her arms wide. “Well?”

“Are we seriously going to do this, Regina?” I ask in a very bored note.

“Do what, exactly?”

“Play this game? Compete for Dayton? You’ve had three years to lure him in, don’t you think it’s time to let it go?”

She looks surprised I’ve cut the shit and got straight to the point. When she recovers herself she widens her stance and pulls the towel from her shoulder, slapping it down on the bar with a snap. “Who says I’m playing games, Alannah?” She says my name like it tastes bad. “And who said I was ready to let him go?”

“He isn’t yours to
let go.
Like it or not, he’s mine now. I’m not into foolish games.”

“If you really think he’s yours then you’re the fool. I won’t give him up without a fight. The first sign of trouble and he’ll come running to his most trusted friend – me.”

“There won’t be any trouble, so you’re in for a long wait. In the meantime I suggest you find a new gym buddy.”

“Dayton
always
has trouble with the ladies, honey. He’s very unlucky like that.” She winks before walking away, leaving me with no doubt in my mind this isn’t the first time she has sabotaged any chance of a relationship Dayton has ever had. Maybe that’s why he gave up dating? Another waitress comes out of the door at the back of the bar that Regina just left via and asks for my order.

I mumble out the list of drinks we want and Corrine comes back to the bar. I’m still trying to process everything Regina has just thrown at me and second-guessing what she has planned. I’m lost in my own thoughts when I feel two hands circle my waist and I jump at the unexpected caress until I hear Dayton laugh into my ear. “Hey, sweet stuff. Want me to give you a screaming orgasm?”

I turn on my stool and look up into his excited blues, he’s obviously on a high from playing his set. “Dayton Scott, are you being rude?” I ask teasingly and he laughs, dropping a kiss on my forehead.

“Are you faking innocence? I’m talking about a drink, babe. They do a lethal shot called a screaming orgasm. Do you want one with me?” He nods his head at a poster behind the bar listing shots available and they all have silly names like ‘Spunky Monkey’ and ‘Creamy Cum Shot’ etcetera. Sure enough, there is a Screaming Orgasm shot. I spot Regina standing at the opposite end of the bar, arms folded, watching Dayton and me.

“Okay, babe. I’ll do one with you.”

“That’s my girl. Regina,” he calls down the bar. “Screaming Orgasms, please.”

She saunters over, smiling at Dayton. “Coming right up, babe.”

Dayton roars laughing. “Nice! Coming right up, you get it, babe?” he asks me and I give him a tight smile, nodding that I do. Regina pours the shots, placing them in front of us. A cocky smile on her face and her eyes scream at me - Game on.

“On second thoughts, gorgeous.” I lay my hand on his forearm, his fingers clutching the shot glass. “Let’s up the stakes. I want multiple orgasms.” I grin at him and his eyes widen before he gives me a huge smile.

“Oh, yes. I like the sound of that,” he says quietly before leaning over and kissing me, not a quick kiss, a leisurely, wet kiss that I return with fervour, running my fingers down his jaw and moaning. When he breaks away, his eyes are glazed and I’m a little short of breath, my body wanting more of what we have already shared.

“Four shots then?” Regina snaps and I shake my head, my eyes still transfixed with Dayton’s.

“Six, we can always come back for more,” I answer but my eyes speak a different language to Dayton and I know he is hearing the double meaning.

Four more shot glasses are slammed in front of us and filled as Dayton whispers against my mouth whilst kissing me some more. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.” I smile against his mouth.

“Twelve pounds, please.” Regina demands and Dayton throws a twenty pound note on the bar before turning to me.

“Ready?” He passes me my first shot, picking up his own. “3.2.1.”

We knock the shot back, swallowing quickly and grimacing. Through watery eyes he hands me the second shot, his eyes urging me on. I nod and we down the second, shot. My throat and stomach are burning, my eyes watering and I quickly swipe up the last shot glass, throwing it back down my throat wanting the experience over with quickly. When our glasses slam down onto the bar simultaneously we both burst into tears of laughter, wiping our eyes and I lean against him, giggling as my stomach lining is burnt away. “They were absolutely mortal orgasms,” I croak, my throat on fire.

“Agreed. They do nothing to compare to the real thing,” Dayton laughs. “Maybe we should order something else to chase off the god awful taste?”

“I’ll take a VK blue, please,” I say to Regina whose mouth is pressed into a tight narrow line. “My treat, babe, what do you want?” I turn to Dayton.

“I’ll take a bottle of water. I have another set to play and don’t want Brent giving me the third degree about playing whilst blottoed.” He laughs and Regina almost slams the drink on the bar as I pass her my cash. She snatches the note from my fingers before returning and almost throwing my change across the bar at me.

“Gosh, steady on, Regina. What’s got your back up?” Dayton asks and I don’t know if he genuinely hasn’t seen all the cold glares and long stares or whether he has just been ignoring them.

“I’m feeling pretty sick. Casey, I’m taking a break.” She storms out of the staff only door behind the bar.

The next month is sex filled fun and I drown in a sea of Dayton style days out and nights fuelled by passion and desire. He has treated me to day trips to the craziest places including paintballing and Granada Studios. It was totally surreal to tour the set of Coronation Street with him and drink in The Rovers Return. Our nights together have been explosive. He has taught me so much about the pleasures of sex in just six short weeks. Sometimes we are rough, savagely biting, hair pulling and carnal in the heat of the moment. Other times he is so gentle and loving, I swear our souls combine and I’m more tied to him than I ever have been any other person.

I think it’s safe to say our relationship has been a whirlwind. He has swept me up and carried me off to a world where I don’t feel complete unless I’m with him. When we are temporarily parted I am counting the hours until we are together again. I have shunned girly nights with Corrine, Dina and Macy to be alone with Dayton and he has declined invites to be with the guys just to cook me dinner.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed by my parents that I’m spending more time at his flat than at home. Mum actually commented that she rarely sees me for more than an hour at a time lately.

My coursework has gone in for marking and I’ve finally started applying to legal firms for work. I’m eager and raring to go. Dayton is working away with the roofing firm from today, Monday, until Thursday, and to stem my withdrawals and keep my mind occupied I’ve made a point of running to a post box four miles away to send out my latest job applications.

I’m happily running with garage anthems pumping into my ears when my phone getting a call stops the music. I ignore the call, not wanting to break my rhythm but a minute later it rings again. I pull the ear plugs out and see the caller’s ID is withheld but I answer anyway.

“Hello,” I pant into the phone but I hear nothing. “Hello, anyone there?”

When I get nothing but silence again I end the call, plugging my headphones back in. I haven’t been running more than five minutes when the caller rings again and again I’m greeted by silence. By the time I’m making the return run home I have answered four times, each time getting no reply so I stopped answering. It didn’t stop the calls interrupting the music and my run though. When I get home I have eight missed calls which stop as soon as I get through the front door.

That night when Dayton finishes work he calls, both of us needing to satisfy our withdrawals.

“What have you been up to?” he asks, sounding incredibly tired and I snuggle down into my duvet, pulling it around me like he is cuddling me and talking to me as we fall to sleep.

“Nothing much. Work was boring, I went for a run and sent out some CV’s to prospective firms. Did you try calling earlier, from a withheld number?”

“Not me, babe. Why?”

“Oh, nothing important. I just got a bunch of cold calls but they’ve stopped now.”

“Did you give your number out to anyone new?” He yawns.

“Nope.”

“You really shouldn’t have it on your Facebook profile, you know.”

“You’re probably right. It just annoyed me because it kept interrupting the music on my phone that I was listening to.” I chuckle.

“Well, hopefully you won’t get anymore. I’m missing you already, I hate working away.”

“Me, too. It’s going to go so slow until Thursday night,” I whinge and pout, it earns me a small laugh from him.

“You’ll just have to fill your time with shopping with the girls and reading. I’m stuck on this damn contract and want the job finished as soon as possible so I can get home to you.” He yawns again and I imagine him working on a roof all day, the thoughts of him being tired and careless because I’ve kept him awake so late with long phone calls worries me.

“You sound exhausted, baby. I’m going to go and let you get some sleep. Speak to you tomorrow?”

“Okay, sugar. Dream of me, won’t you?”

“It goes without saying. Night, Dayton.”

“Good night, baby.”

He ends the call and I put my phone on the bedside table, my whole body craving his good night kisses and cuddles. I pull the duvet up to my chin and cuddle my pillow, noting the empty feeling inside. My feelings for Dayton are greater than I ever imagined they could be. He undoubtedly owns a part of my heart now and the only thing about that which scares me is the fact that Regina has already started her hate campaign against me, her first play to come between us.

Last weekend I noticed Dayton watching me intently when I was talking to Brent on the dance floor. Dina and Ross were dancing with us so it wasn’t like I was dancing with Brent, we weren’t touching, just dancing collectively. The slight crease on Dayton’s forehead told me he wasn’t happy and I was unsure how to broach the subject. Later that night when Brent offered to help me carry the trays from the bar Dayton quickly interjected
he
would help me. I couldn’t resist asking him in the taxi if we had a trust issue and he shook his head.

“I trust you, Alannah. It’s him I don’t trust.”

“Dayton, you do know he is seeing Dina, on and off, right? They aren’t serious but he’s not pursuing me in any way, shape or form. Anyway, he idolises you. You know how I feel about you. We would never do anything to hurt you.”

“That’s not what I’ve heard. Apparently Dina was overheard telling Macy she is worried he has eyes for you. I’ve heard he is very attentive to you when you’re out in the bars, too. Didn’t you say yourself he gave you his jacket when you were caught in that shower last weekend?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I just knew where the things he had
heard
had come from. Regina’s smarmy smirk played in my mind and I could almost hear her cackled laugh.

“Everyone had a jacket except me, he was just being chivalrous. I thought you of all people would understand that. Anyway, I bet I can guess your source of information. That’s bullshit about hearing such a conversation between Dina and Macy. If Dina was unhappy we are more than close enough to talk things through. She had no such conversation,” I replied, very irritated and his silence annoyed me further.

I dialled Dina who answered with a smile in her voice. I put her on loud speaker for Dayton to hear.

“Babe, have you and Macy recently had a conversation in regards to Brent having eyes for me?” I cut to the chase and Dayton’s head snaps up, his eyes wide and looking incredibly worried.

“What?! Don’t talk shit. The answer to that question is a definite no.”

“You don’t think for one minute there is anything between Brent and me, do you?”

“Of course not. That’s ridiculous. Hang on, I’m with Macy and Brent now, I’ll put you on speaker.” There is a change in the clarity of the connection. “Macy, have we had a conversation in which I have said I think Brent is crushing on Lana?”

“What the fuck?” I hear the disbelief in Brent’s voice.

“Of course not. Who came up with that horse crap?” Macy asks and I flick my eyebrows at Dayton who looks pretty embarrassed.

“Say shit twice and you will get it the third time. Nasty rumours are being spread and I’m not fucking happy,” I state the obvious.

“That evil bitch is lucky I don’t rip her a new arse hole. I’m so fed up of her,” Dina almost growls and I agree with every word she says.

“Well, as long as we are all cool. Yeah?”

“Of course we are, babe. Listen, don’t let the bitch get to you, she is just trying to push you and Dayton apart. Don’t let her get in your head, she is poison,” Dina answers and I take her off speaker, putting the phone to my ear, satisfied Dayton has heard all he needs to.

When I end the call he quickly pulls me onto his lap. He couldn’t apologise enough and he promised he wouldn’t listen to the lies Regina was putting in his mind. He swore she must have an unreliable source but I couldn’t convince him she
was
the source and she had created this conversation between Dina and Macy in her head to put doubts in his.

I get a chill run through me and I pull the duvet tighter around me, pushing the whole episode to the back of my mind and trying to fall to sleep. I don’t want the last thing I think about before sleep to be Regina so I revisit some of my happiest times with Dayton, one of them being a picnic at Tatton Park before touring the gardens.

The next morning I wake up feeling like I haven’t slept more than an hour, my head aches and my eyes are sore and gritty. I roll over and see I’ve actually overslept by more than an hour and am going to be late. Regardless I drag my ass into the shower and wash quickly before wolfing down a bowl of cereal and grabbing my keys from the hallway table.

“Oh, my days! You have got to be shitting me,” I grind out through gritted teeth. My tyre is totally flat and I look up to the heavens, wondering what I did to deserve the morning from hell. Could this get any worse? Well, the answer to that is a definite yes.

“It’s a blatant slash, dew drop. Kids for you,” Dad confirms after putting on my spare, pushing me to sixty minutes late. My phone bleeps a text and it’s from Gemma which tells me David Hallam is annoyed I didn’t bother to call the office if I needed the day off sick. I reply quickly telling her I’m on my way in. “Listen, I have no bookings today until eleven so I can nip it in and get you a new tyre on that alloy. You get yourself off to work, love.”

“Oh, thanks, Dad. You’re a gem.” I quickly slap a kiss on his cheek before jumping in the car and rushing to work.

When I rush through the door I run into David in the staffroom. I mean literally, I wind him and almost fall flat on my ass. “Shit, sorry, David. I mean, sorry I’m late, someone slashed my tyre and I got in as quickly as I can. I should probably have called ahead to say I was on my way but I was…” I trail off when David shakes his head and puts his hand up.

“Alannah, just stop blathering and get to work, Josh has been alone all morning. You can take lunch after him today.”

I simply nod and shoot past him out onto the shop floor, totally flustered and in the worst mood I’ve been in for a long time. Josh gives me an unimpressed look and goes through to the stockroom without a word. Great, even he is in a mood with me today. I spend the next two hours rushing from one customer to the next, barely getting time to speak to Gemma.

I’m just serving a young man in his twenties when David comes to stand beside me, I instantly prickle, knowing he wants
a word.
I think I literally feel my stomach drop into my ass when my phone starts to ring in my pocket. I look from the customer to David then back to the customer who puckers his lips before rolling his eyes. I apologise and fish the phone out of my pocket and stab decline on the call, which, would you believe it, was from a withheld number again. I switch my phone off and mumble another apology.

“I believe the customer wanted the Adidas in a size 11, Miss Matthews,” David squeezes out and I can practically see the venom in the spittle at the corners of his mouth. I nod and quickly scarper, damning myself and my phone to hell. I totally forgot it was in my pocket and I haven’t had a minute to visit the locker room all morning to lock it away. I quickly escort the customer to the pay point and let Gemma serve him. She gives me a sympathetic look and gazes past me. Sure enough, when I turn David is behind me, looking like someone just pissed on his strawberries.

“Alannah, a word, please.” His tone fills me with dread and he nods towards the steps to his upstairs office. I give him a small nod and obediently skulk off to his office. His daughter, Tracy, sits in his outer office and gives me a sympathetic smile and I try to smile back but thus far today I haven’t had a damn reason to smile.

David opens his door and directs me to a simple office seat which I perch on and David rounds his simple pine desk to his pretty boring looking swivel chair. The whole room reeks of budget bargains. I wait silently, not knowing what he is going to grill me about first, being late or taking my forbidden phone onto the shop floor. He takes a deep breath before giving me an even look.

“I understand you’re not having a great day, Alannah. I’m trying not to take your late start this morning into account. I am, however, struggling to find a feasible explanation for your phone being on the shop floor when we provide perfectly safe lockers for personal belongings.” I try to interject and explain I’d forgotten in my haste to make myself useful. I am cut off by David raising his hand and shaking his head. “Your explanation aside I have received a complaint from a very disgruntled customer this morning, too.”

My mouth falls open. Did I hear that right?

“Pardon? A complaint? About me?” I can’t keep the astonishment out of my voice.

“I’m not going to repeat myself, Miss Matthews. My point is that regardless of how bad your morning has been I won’t tolerate unhappy customers. They come before your moods and frankly I have no care for your explanation. The long and short of this meeting was to inform you that I have issued you an official written warning. Take this as your notice to get your act together or I will have no choice but to ask you to leave.”

“What?! Listen, David, I have worked here the whole time I have been a student. You know me and I have
never
had a customer complain about me. None of the customers I’ve served today have given the impression they were unhappy with the service I provided.”