Winner Takes It All (11 page)

‘
I’m sure you
are. Look I’ve got to go Tim, I think I can hear the phone in the
villa ringing. I’ll speak to you later.’

She hung up and noticed
Mel staring at her, mouth agog.

‘
You liar,’
she gasped. ‘The phone ain’t ringing.’

‘
I know, I
just didn’t want to talk to him any longer. He does my head in some
times.’

‘
I still say
you could do better.’

‘
Don’t get me
wrong, I do love him. But he just lives in a different world Mel.
I’m gambling with thirty million pounds of my dad’s money and Tim
is being given money to research Charles Dickens’ influence on
television. What does it matter? The man died over a hundred years
ago.’

‘
Academics
never grow up. They want to stay at school as long as they can and
play about doing ‘research’. Ten years down the line, you’ll be
head of Sheridans and he’ll be pissing about studying the social
impact of
Teletubbies
!’

***

The Felicidades Complex
was being built on a piece of wasteground no one ever used opposite
a little beach in San Antonio. The land had been bought by a man
called Fernando Alonso, a builder who was moving into property
development. He was very interested in Alex’s proposition, claiming
that seeing as it was close to the club Es Paradis, it would be
ideal for drawing in the young crowd. Alex wasn’t sure if she
wanted her hotel aimed at Club 18-30 types and knew she’d have to
give it some thought.

Alonso was a diminutive,
smartly dressed man but Alex got the feeling he wasn’t used to
wearing suits in hot weather as he was sweating heavily. Like Roy
Reid, he had some hard hats with him and gave one to each of the
women to wear. As he unlocked the main gate, he told them of how
when he was a boy, his grandfather had run a fairground on this
land and he always vowed one day to claim it back.

They entered and were
greeted with a vast expanse of nothingness. This was even more of a
shell than Walters back in Liverpool.

‘
Who else is
investing in the complex?’ Alex asked.

‘
A couple of
local shop keepers are looking to move in here when it’s done,’ he
replied in his heavily accented voice. ‘Also, my nephew runs a boat
hire place. He’s going to have a unit here too.’

‘
And I still
want me bar,’ Mel chipped in.

‘
How high are
you planning to build?’ Alex continued.

‘
Around five
floors,’ he shrugged, as though he hadn’t given it much
thought.

‘
If I’m honest
with you Mr Alonso, I don’t think I could look to build a luxury
hotel here. This part of Ibiza is far too young and loud. What I
would probably do is build a fairly small hotel that catered for
the holiday crowd. What is business like here in the
winter?’

‘
Slow, but you
always get people who come to the clubs, no matter what time of
year.’

Alex knew she would have
to ask her father’s advice. He’d asked her to buy hotels, not build
them and he might just feel she was treading on her brother’s toes.
After all, he had entrusted Michael with the holiday business, not
her.

‘
Okay,’ she
said. ‘I’m going to have to consult some people on this. When are
you looking to start building this complex?’

‘
Next month. I
already have enough buyers to proceed.’

‘
Okay, and how
much do you think it would cost – using your firm of
course.’

He looked into the
distance, sticking his bottom lip out and gripping his
chin.

‘
For a medium
sized hotel? I don’t know. Say five million Euros.’

‘
And would
that include all fixtures and fittings.’

‘
Everything,’
he said, smiling like a Cheshire cat.

‘
Right. Well I
need to speak to my backer and I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve
made a decision.’

They drove back to the
villa, Alex biting so hard on her nails she couldn’t steer
properly.

‘
Is this the
right thing to do?’ she fretted. ‘For half the year no one’s going
to be staying here.’

‘
Maybe not
from England, no,’ Mel replied. ‘But perhaps you could market it as
some sort of winter retreat for people from the mainland who wanted
to come down here for a break.’

Alex glanced at her
friend and smiled.

‘
You know you
can be a genius at times,’ she laughed. ‘Let’s see what daddy has
to say.’

Fired up by Mel’s
suggestion, Alex went back to the villa and phoned Christian. She
stamped her foot in frustration on discovering he was in a meeting
and while she waited for him to get back to her, she padded around
the villa muttering to herself, trying to make sense of the whole
thing. How would she be able to prove anything to him in just under
a year when the hotel would only just be finished by then? In that
time, with his connections, Michael could have his airline up and
running.

By the time Christian
called her back, Alex had worked herself into such a state, she was
convinced her father was going to tell her it was all a ridiculous
idea and she should come home and stop mucking about.

‘
Would you
believe I’ve just had to give an interview to the BBC?’ he said.
‘Apparently this Mrs Weller of Leicester is going crazy, accusing
Sheridans of forcing alcohol down her little darling’s
throat.’

‘
That’s
ridiculous. We’ve always taken care not to serve
minors.’

‘
I know
darling. It looks like this one’s managed to slip through the net.
Anyway, how did it go?’

‘
I need your
advice. This piece of ground is near to a big nightclub and there’s
no way I’m going to be able to build a luxury hotel there, but I
could probably open a mid-price place catering to young people who
come to the island to party. Mel also had the idea that perhaps we
could target the Spanish during the winter, just so it made some
money all year round.’

‘
Sounds
promising.’

‘
Trouble is,
by the time it’s built, my year will be up.’

‘
I wouldn’t
worry too much about that darling. You’ve got another two hotels to
buy and open. Anyway, if you oversee this whole Spanish thing well
it’ll just prove to me how organised you are.’

‘
He’s asking
for five million Euros. Does that sound like a lot to
you?’

Christian sighed,
obviously contemplating it.

‘
That’s about
three million pounds isn’t it? No, that sounds reasonable
enough.’

‘
So you think
I should go ahead?’

‘
That’s
entirely up to you darling,’ he laughed. ‘The whole point of his
exercise is for me to see if you’re capable of running things for
yourself.’

‘
Okay. Well
I’ll think about it some more. I don’t want to go wasting
money.’

Alex ended the call to
her father and knew what she had to do. She thought of her
forefathers. The original Sheridans were lowly hop-pickers who from
nothing built a mighty brewery. Indeed her own grandmother went
from being a publican’s daughter to the author of children’s books
– many of which were still immensely popular today. If they could
achieve that, she could build a hotel from scratch.

She found Mel in her
room, rifling through her wardrobe for an outfit to wear that
night. They were going to Pacha and as was the norm with Mel, she
wanted to stand out. Alex flopped down on the bed, looking up at
her friend and realised she was in no mood for partying; she just
wanted to get on with business.

‘
I’m going to
go for it,’ she said. ‘Do you fancy staying out here a bit longer
Mel?’

Mel turned around, a
shocked expression on her face.

‘
On me
own?’

‘
Yes!’ Alex
laughed. ‘I’ve got to get back to Liverpool and meet with Jack. Can
you liaise with Fernando Alonso? I want building to start as soon
as possible. You go to Pacha tonight, I’m going to get on the
internet and start looking at the sort of designs I want for the
hotel.’

‘
All work and
no play makes Alex a dull girl,’ Mel said with a shake of the
head.

‘
Maybe so, but
if I’m going to become head of Sheridans one day, it’s important I
start taking it all seriously.’

***

Alex arrived home late at
night to find Tim already asleep. She undressed quietly, hoping not
to wake him. The last thing she wanted was him pawing her, trying
to get her to have sex. Her head was so full of other things, she
had no time for that sort of thing. Or maybe it was just that she
had no time for Tim anymore.

Awaking the next morning
to leave and catch her train to Liverpool, she discovered her
boyfriend was still asleep in exactly the same position she’d left
him. Thirty years old and still living like a teenager, sleeping
until noon only to get up and piss about on the internet
‘researching’ Charles Dickens. Alex swallowed down her resentment,
feeling guilty for not appreciating his career. It wasn’t his fault
that she had the Cusack work ethic and thrived on business. She
could have been like him, bankrolled by her parents all her life
but she always felt the need to prove herself. That was how she
ended up going out with him in the first place. To prove she wasn’t
just some kind of bimbo. But things had moved up a level now and
she had a far greater responsibility resting on her shoulders. One
Tim couldn’t understand.

Like an excited child,
Alex had to keep distracting herself on the journey up to
Liverpool. As much as she tried to deny it, she knew the cause of
these feelings was the prospect of seeing Jack. She wondered how
she would cope with him without Mel around for moral support. As
his cousin, she was immune to his charms but Alex knew that he’d
only have to look at her with that sexy, lopsided smile and she’d
turn to jelly and seriously let the side down.

Her phone rang, awaking
her from her little trance and she hoped it wasn’t Tim berating her
for leaving without saying goodbye that morning. When she saw it
was Michael, she felt rather shocked. They’d barely spoken since
Christian had set their challenge.

‘
How’s it
going sis?’ he asked and straight away Alex could hear he was upset
about something.

‘
You know we
can’t discuss business,’ she said. ‘It’s unethical.’

‘
I know that,
but I just needed to sound off. Fucking Wings Air have pulled out
of the deal.’

‘
Michael
should you be telling me this….?’

‘
I’m just so
annoyed. I thought it was done and dusted and along comes some
other company offering them more money and they accept
it.’

‘
What company
was this?’

‘
I don’t know.
Some American company called FreeTime, I’ve never heard of them.
I’ve got to start from scratch again.’

‘
You’ll find
something else,’ she replied, feeling just a little guilty that her
plans were going so well and yet her brother’s were falling apart.
This may have been a competition, but blood was thicker than
water.

‘
Where are you
now?’

‘
I’m on my way
to Liverpool. I’ve a few meetings to attend.’

‘
Will you be
back on Wednesday? I know we’re rivals and all that, but you’re
still my sister and I’d like you at my birthday party.’

Alex had forgotten all
about it. Michael would be thirty one next week.

‘
Of course.
Where will it be?’

‘
Jem’s holding
it at her house. My flat’s too small.’

‘
Okay, Tim and
I will be there, I promise.’

‘
Glad to hear
it. Speak soon.’

‘
Yes, and chin
up Mikey, it’ll work out okay in the end.’

Jack was waiting for her
in the Shogun outside Lime Street Station. Today he was more
casually dressed, in a t-shirt and jeans and like an idiot Alex
blushed, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from his muscled
arms. He drove off at speed, heading down towards the
docks.

‘
Where are we
going?’ she asked.

‘
I thought
we’d go to my office,’ he replied. ‘Well, when I say office it’s
actually one of me flats. I ain’t decided whether or not I want to
rent it out or sell it, so at the moment I use it as a
base.’

‘
Where do you
actually live?’

‘
St Helens but
it’s easier to be based here in the City. What about you?
Whereabouts in London do you live?’

‘
Hoxton, very
trendy, I know.’

‘
Well, if you
can afford it.’

She went to say that she
split the rent with her boyfriend but something stopped her from
revealing this.

‘
I’m not some
spoilt rich girl,’ was what she did retort. ‘I work for everything
I earn.’

‘
Yeah, but how
many people are given millions by their dad to set up
companies?’

His contempt was
beginning to get to her and however good looking and sexy he was,
she deserved a bit of respect. He hardly knew her and she’d already
offered him the chance of a lifetime. A little gratitude wouldn’t
go amiss.