Business: Phoenix #1 (18 page)

         Casey

The following Friday Matt drops me off at work in the Audi,
he is going to meet his friend Scott before meeting James and Grace to take
them back to the hotel they have booked for a week. I can't wait to see them,
especially now James has come to terms with our relationship and I can't wait
to get to know Grace on a friendly level.

I am searching Google for a contact number for a man
called Noel Briggs. I heard about him a long time ago from a friend of a friend
and he is one of the best private investigators in the UK. I heard he is
expensive but really good at the job he does.

I come across a number and dial it into my phone... I take
a deep breath...

"Noel speaking." His voice is flat and I can
tell he is an older man. I picture a man in his fifties with a bald head.

"Hi Noel. My name is Casey, I have heard all about
you and what you offer. I would like to use your services if possible?" I
say politely. My heart thumping so hard I can hear it.

"Absolutely. I prefer not to discuss my services over
the phone. Would you like to meet and discuss it over a cuppa?" He asks.

"Of course. When will you be available?"

"How urgent do you need me?" His tone is still
low.

"As soon as possible." My voice is tight,
anxiety starting to show.

We arrange to meet in a cafe a few blocks away in half an
hour before ending the call. I grab my bag and lock my computer before making
my way down to reception. Hannah bumps into me as I am on my way through the
door.

"Where ya goin’?" She asks.

"I'm going to meet Matt for lunch." I smile.

She looks at me quizzing. "I thought he was picking
his hot shot brother up from the airport?"

I should have known she would be on to me. "That hot
shot brother is your boss and he doesn't have to pick them up until later so he
surprised me with a lunch date." I smile. The more I tell these white lies
I get better at it.

She raises her eyebrow at me before smiling. "Okay,
see you soon. Enjoy!" and she continues towards the elevator.

I hurry out the door before anybody else stops me and continue
on my journey to meet Noel.

I get to the small cafe early and it is empty, just a
middle aged woman behind the counter. I order a diet Coke and take a seat at a
small table at the back. I watch as a man walks through the door and to the
counter. He is mid to late forties with dark hair and pale skin. He isn't very
tall and is medium build. He notices me, nods and walks over.

"Casey?" He asks and I stand and shake his hand.

"Nice to meet you Noel." We both sit.

"How can I help you?"

"Well... I don't know where to start."

"The beginning is always the best." He laughs
and takes a sip of his coffee.

"I've been getting emails for around four months now.
It wasn't very many at the beginning, but it progressively got worse, the
emails turned into calls, then texts and I haven't got a clue who the person
behind it is. Some were innocent at the beginning, but became more and more
aggressive.  Some were even sent to my assistant, Hannah." I look down at
my glass and can feel his eyes on me. “One of my work friends called into work
one day and said she would never come back - which is not like her in the
slightest. She didn't give a reason and left it like that. I thought I must
have done something to upset her.  I’ve tried repeatedly to get in contact with
her.  I feared the worst, but hoped she took an extended holiday until I
received a text off the person saying that Julie misses me. I think they have
got her." My voice breaks a couple of times.

"So, you want me to track the person behind it
down?"

"Yes, please. I need help. The police said they can’t
do anything." My eyes study his face, he has a few wrinkles but for his
age he is a good looking man.

"That's fine. I'll need to see a few of the emails
and texts, I'll have to take the number and email address down to see if I can trace
them." I nod my head at him and scroll through my phone and show him
emails and texts.

He pulls a small notebook from his coat pocket and starts
to jot the information down. I also forward some of the emails to his email
address which he gives me.

"If you ring and a man answers, it will be my
boyfriend and I don't want him to know about this, he will go crazy if he knows
I am tracking my stalker down." I explain as best as I can without
sounding crazy.

"It’s okay, Casey. I understand. I'll tell him I am
your doctor." He laughs and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was
holding.

"Thank you so much."

"Casey, what are you going to do when you find
whoever is behind the messages?" He asks.

"I-I haven't thought about that yet." What was I
actually going to do?

"As long as you don't do anything silly and put
yourself in danger I am happy to offer you my services." He smiles
genuinely and I know he is a nice man.

"I won't." I return his smile.

Casey

The six of us decide to celebrate Grace and James coming
to visit; so have come to a local club. Hannah and I get to know Grace over a
selection of cocktails whilst the men sip different whiskeys and beers whilst
playing a game of pool.

"So do I have to call you boss?" Hannah asks
Grace and I can tell that she has had one too many,

Grace laughs and shakes her head. "Not at all. Only
James calls me that."

"I should try that rule with Andy." Hannah
laughs and finishes off the rest of her drink before flagging down the
bartender. She points in our direction. "Same again please!"

"Andy?" I laugh.

"Andy." She winks at me. "I'm his girlfriend;
I get to call him nicknames."

"You're his girlfriend? When did you become official
and why didn't you tell me?" I try to look as offended as possible but
after having numerous cocktails it just doesn't work properly.

"He asked me if I would be his girlfriend when we
spent the day at my mum’s house." She explains, her wide grin showing how
happy she is.

"Aw I am so happy for you!" I grab her and hug
her.

I look over to the men who look like they are all getting
competitive over the game. It’s funny watching how their faces get so
frustrated when they don't do as well as they had hoped. I see it's Matt's turn
to play and I watch how his face tenses and his eyes narrow whilst he is
concentrating. I bite my lip and watch as he pots two balls.

"Honestly, can you not get enough of my
brother-in-law?" Grace nudges me with a laugh.

"I can't help it, he's gorgeous!"

The club starts filling up and the atmosphere is great, the
music is loud and we are in great company. The men have joined us and James has
got another round of drinks in. The banter is flowing around the table and it
turns out to be a brilliant night.

A remix of Bruno Mars - Uptown funk comes on and I slide
from the table, grab Hannah's and Grace's hands and start dancing.

"I'm too hotttttt...Hot damn!" I sing whilst the
girls and I get lost in the music.

I sway my hips from side to side; my arms are up in the
air.

"Uptown funk you up!" Hannah sings to me and we
all burst in to a laughing fit.

Sigma - Nobody To Love is the next song to be played and
the crowd goes crazy. Hannah grabs my hand, I grab Grace's and we head to the center
of the dance floor.

I feel hands on my hips and I turn around to tell whoever
it is to sling their hook when I realize it is Matt. I turn and notice Hannah
and Andrew are dancing, so are James and Grace.

I move my hips in sync with Matt and purposely grind into him;
I know it will drive him insane so I continue doing it. I hear his growl in my
ear.

"What are you trying to do to me woman?" He
murmurs against my ear.

I don't reply, I just continue dancing against him.

We dance for a couple more songs before we all return to
our table. We get another drink each - I opt for a vodka and lemonade this
time.

"What time is it?" Hannah shouts across the
table. The amount of drink she has had evident in her eyes.

James
looks down at his watch. "1am." He says with a smile.

~~~~~

Matt

Getting Casey to bed would have been easier if she had
passed out.  Unfortunately, she is drunk and trying to flirt with me.

I can't really tell what she is trying to say to me
because her speech is slurred. So I just nod and smile in agreement.

I pick her up and sling her over my shoulders and carry
her to the bedroom. Of course, a drunken Casey is an argumentative Casey. She
hits my ass in protest and I can't help but laugh.

I playfully throw her down on the bed and her drunken
hands are all over me - under my shirt, dipping into my jeans. My rock hard
cock is starting to ache from being stuffed in my jeans but I'm not going to
fuck her when she is this drunk, chances are she wouldn't remember in the
morning.

"Go to sleep!" I laugh.

Casey doesn't listen instead she stands and starts to do a
'sexy' strip tease - she pulls her dress up above her head and gets stuck and
ends up falling backwards into the closet. "Ouch!" she shouts.

I can't stop the laughing but go over and help her. I pull
the dress from her head and she flutters her eye lashes at me like she is
having a fit of some sort.

"Casey, I know you're trying to be sexy sweetheart.
But it's not working." I say as serious as possible.

Some more slurred words come out and she climbs into bed.
Within moments she is asleep.

I shake my head.

This woman is definitely a keeper.

Casey

My head hurts.

I turn to the bedside table where there is a litre bottle
of water and two tablets. I gulp the water until there is only half left and
take the two tablets with a sip of water.

I put the bottle back on the table and roll over in bed.
Matt isn't there.

Oh,
a few more hours sleep sound so good.

I
bury my head in the pillow and drift to sleep.

~~~~~

Matt

I checked on Casey at 10am and she was still asleep so I
decided to go for a run. The weather was mild and there were quite a few
runners out since it is Saturday morning. I pushed myself harder and faster
than I should have because I can feel muscles starting to ache. All that kept
running through my mind was how to keep Casey safe.

I’m back at home and I’m dripping with sweat so I peel my
t-shirt above my head.

I look at my watch – 11:30am and she is still sleeping off
her hangover.  I decide making her something to eat will help her battle her
hangover, and the smell of food may wake her.

The clanging of pans in the kitchen wakes Casey.

“Matt, is anybody else here?” She calls down the stairs.

“Nope, just me.” I call back.

I hear her faint footsteps and she enters the kitchen,
wearing one of my shirts like a dress. Her hair is sticking out and wild from
last night and she has raccoon eyes from her makeup.

“Hello.” She yawns as she pulls a bottle of water from the
fridge.

“Are you bicycle zombie girl? Please don’t hurt me.” I act
shocked and back into the kitchen counter and she raises an eyebrow. “It’s an
American TV show? The walking dead?”

 “What? Shut up and leave me alone.” She playfully sticks
out a pet lip. “Have you never seen a hung over woman before?”

“Is that what you are, a hung over woman?” I tease. “Have
you looked in the mirror yet Case?”

She shakes her head. “Should I?”

I walk back to the stove where I am cooking bacon and
eggs. “I would probably eat first.” I laugh.

I hear her make her way in to the living room to look at
the mirror in there. “Oh my God!” I laugh at her reaction.

“Is it that bad?” I shout between my laughter.

She doesn’t reply and I hear her running upstairs. I begin
to butter some bread buns placing a slice of bacon and an egg in each bun. I
pour us both a glass of fresh orange juice and lift a bottle of water out for
myself.

Casey emerges a few moments later, she has washed her face
so the dark circles have gone and she is now fresh faced, her hair pulled up on
the top of her head. She takes a seat opposite me.

“Sorry about that. How embarrassing.” She says before
taking a bite of her sandwich.

“I thought you looked more attractive that way.” I wink
playfully and she raises her eyebrows.

“I can’t even remember how we got home last night... I was
so drunk and I never get drunk.” I can see her eyes trying to remember what
happened last night.

“We got a cab back Casey, Hannah and Andrew stayed out a
little longer so we shared with James and Grace. We dropped them at their hotel
and came back here and you put on a show for me.” I explain, as her eyes widen.

“I put on a show?” She asks mortified.

“Yep, I carried you to bed and when we got to the room you
tried to seduce me by stripping. Only your head got stuck in your dress and you
fell back into the closet and a few minutes later you were passed out.” I laugh
at her expression she looks humiliated.

“I thought the reason I was aching this morning was just
because we were dancing a lot. I am so sorry.” She looks down at the plate in
front of her.

“Don’t worry about it sweetheart, I suppose you take the
good with the bad.” I wink.

~~~~~

Casey

 You know one of them moments when you wish the ground
would swallow you up? I have just had one of those.

Seeing Matt in the kitchen with his chest bare in his work
out shorts, looking more gorgeous than ever after this morning workout, his
hair pushed back and his skin glistening with sweat. Made me feel much better
for climbing out of bed when I really wanted to stay there all day and hide
from the world.

Until he asked me if I looked in the mirror.

I can’t believe what was staring back at me.

Matted hair, mascara smudged under my eyes, makeup smudged
all over my face. I looked horrendous.

I couldn’t get upstairs quick enough to wipe myself with a
makeup wipe and tie my hair back.

Yet, Matt didn’t seem bothered about how I looked, he was
just himself.

~~~~~

We spend the rest of the day in the house, we shower –
together and get changed into some comfortable clothes, pyjama bottoms and a
vest for me and some jogging bottoms and a white t-shirt for Matt.

We watch a few movies – Twilight, The Hunger Games and
American Sniper. Before deciding which take-away to order. We both settle for
an Indian – Chicken Tikka, Lamb Rogan Josh, two portions of Boiled Rice, a
portion of chips and Nan breads.

After our feast I feel like I can’t move, I’m bloated but
I’m laid on the couch in Matt’s arms, so I am happy.

I’ve fed my hangover so that has disappeared and I have
spent the day relaxing.

The next day we take James and Grace North for a
traditional Sunday lunch. I opt for beef, whilst the rest opt for chicken.

I will need to start running on a morning with Matt at
this rate; I think I will have gained quite a few pounds this weekend on the
amount of alcohol and food I have demolished. Especially the Indian last night.

I suppose it’s not too bad considering Matt and I burned
the majority of the calories off last night and this morning.