The Club (28 page)

‘Oasis have been getting away with it for years,’ he countered. ‘And I sell as many records as them, easy.’

‘If you say so,’ Melody said, switching the machine off and reaching for her towel.

‘Don’t you believe me?’ Chase asked, letting the weights go and standing up, reluctant to end the conversation. ‘I’ve got platinum discs all the place. My last album went triple, here
and
in the States.’

‘Oh, I know you’re big,’ Melody said, her eyes sliding surreptitiously to his shorts as she patted the sweat from her neck. ‘But you know what they say: the higher you are, the further you fall. Why risk everything you’ve worked for for a spliff? If I was you, I’d be working my backside off to stay up there.’

‘I suppose,’ he murmured glumly. ‘It’s just really hard to keep at it when you’ve got no choice.’

‘Take it from me, it’s a damn sight better than not being able to do it at all.’

‘That the voice of experience?’

‘Mmm,’ Melody murmured, not really wanting to talk about it, because it was still too raw and she just might end up screaming.

‘So, you’re a singer, too, are you?’ Chase persisted.

‘Actress,’ she told him, putting her towel back into the bag. ‘Hollywood stuff. You probably won’t have seen them if you’ve been working.’

‘I watch shed-loads of DVDs on the tour bus,’ Chase said, realising that she was about to leave and wanting to delay her. ‘Tell me what you’ve been in – I might have seen it.’

‘Okay,’ Melody said, smiling now, because she always got a buzz talking about her films. ‘I did
Help Wanted
with Sandra Bullock last year, and
Gentle Rain
with George Clooney a few months ago.’

‘Seen the first one,’ Chase told her. Then, smiling sheepishly, ‘Don’t remember seeing you in it, though. Which part did you play?’

‘Sandra’s room-mate.’

‘No way!’ Drawing his head back, Chase looked at her hard. ‘She was really plain.’

‘Er, that’s why they call it
acting
,’ Melody said, delighted that he’d obviously been telling the truth and had seen it.

‘Christ, you were good,’ he said admiringly. ‘I mean,
I
thought you were, anyway, the way you and Sandra bounced off each other. And when you had to team up and go undercover as hookers to get in with the bad guys, you were so kind of . . .’ Pausing, he shrugged. ‘Realistic, I suppose. But now I’m seeing you in the flesh, I’m realising how good you
really
were. To make anyone believe you’re that plain and frumpy when you’re actually . . . well, pretty hot, I guess.’

‘Yeah, well, I thought I was pretty good,’ Melody said, sighing now because it was bringing up memories that she didn’t want to be thinking about right now.

‘So, what’s next?’

Shaking her head, Melody said, ‘Nothing. I’m taking a break at the moment.’ Shrugging then, she added, ‘Knowing my luck, nobody will want me by the time I get back, anyway.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ Chase said sincerely. ‘I mean, I know I didn’t recognise you, and probably still wouldn’t if you hadn’t told me who you were in the film. But you’ve got talent. Why wouldn’t they want to use you again?’

Oh, let’s see,
Melody thought bitterly.
Maybe because they’ve got a clone going by the name of Deanna Shelby to keep them occupied. And she hasn’t got a control-freak man forcing her out of the limelight.

Anyway, nobody ever
did
recognise her, so she might as well stop kidding herself. The Sandra Bullock film had come up before her biggest bout of surgery, so it hadn’t been as hard as Chase imagined for her to act the part of a plain girl. And she’d been in a black wig for the whole of the Clooney film, so even though she’d had the tits and lips by then, still nobody would know it was her unless she darkened her hair. In taking on character roles, she’d missed her chance to be known as herself. The Julia Roberts film would have given her that, and she’d have been right up there with the best after it hit the screens. But that was gone now, so she might as well give up dreaming about it.

‘I, um, don’t suppose you’d fancy having lunch with me, would you?’ Chase asked her suddenly. ‘Only I haven’t had a decent chat in weeks. Not one that doesn’t include the words “fuck-up” and “or else”, anyway.’

Looking at him, Melody thought,
Why not?
Tony wasn’t here to stop her, and nobody at the hotel could think enough of it to go running to him with stories when he got back. They’d be just two guests having a chat over lunch. And it would be nice to talk to someone who appreciated her for her abilities, instead of putting her down or mocking her.

‘Yeah, okay,’ she said, picking up her things. ‘Just let me go take a shower and get dressed.’

‘Meet you in the lobby. Half an hour all right?’

‘That’s fine.’ Smiling, Melody left, blatantly ignoring the envious gazes of the fat women.

Lunch gave Chase and Melody a chance to air their grievances against the people who they saw as screwing up their lives. Melody stopped short of telling him the whole truth of her situation, just in case it ever got back to Tony, but she felt better for having a good old general moan. And Chase felt better that somebody had actually listened to his gripes about touring without telling him to pull himself together. Although Melody did manage to persuade him that he must still have a love for his music buried inside him somewhere, and that he should stop seeing it as something he was doing for everyone else and start doing it for himself again.

Taking their conversation up to the penthouse suite, they wasted the afternoon lying on the huge circular bed, getting stoned and giggling at their reflections in the overhead mirror as Chase’s albums played on a loop over the built-in speakers.

‘I think I’m a convert,’ Melody told him when the first album came around again. ‘I’m an R’n’B girl usually, but I could really go for some of this stuff. Not the really rocky ones, ’cos they’re just noise, but definitely the ballads. You’ve got a lovely voice.’

Thanking her, Chase leaned up on his elbow and peered down into her eyes, which were sexily half-closed. ‘You’ve got a lovely voice, too,’ he said. ‘And a lovely face.’ He stroked a finger down her cheek. ‘And a lovely body.’ He let the finger continue on down to her breasts.

‘And you’ve got a lovely dick,’ Melody giggled, not trying to stop him.

‘How do you know?’ he asked.

‘I was looking at it when you were doing the weights. You really should wear underpants if you’re going to sit with your legs apart, you know.’

‘Yeah, and you should wear a bra when you’re running on the treadmill,’ Chase said, smiling seductively. ‘Those nipples send out “come and get me” signals.’

‘So what are you waiting for?’ Melody murmured, peering up at him with a challenge in her eyes.

‘The right time,’ Chase said softly. ‘I’ve had too many meaningless fucks in this bed. I want this time to be different.’ Pausing now, he bit his lip. ‘How do you feel about coke?’

‘With my brandy?’ Melody asked, knowing exactly what he was getting at. ‘Yeah, great.’

‘No, with a
straw
,’ he said, rolling across to the bedside table and reaching into the drawer for his stash.

Looking at the glistening white heap he tipped onto the mirror, and at the gold purpose-made snorting straw, Melody licked her lips. ‘My, my, you
do
know how to keep a lady happy, don’t you, Mr Mann?’

11

Jenna was not in a good mood when Friday came around. Ever since she’d taken over the club, this had been the start of Vibes’s weekend slot, and she’d looked forward to it more than any other night because, even without the attraction, she’d liked him more than the other DJs, and preferred his style of music. But he wouldn’t be here tonight – or ever again.

Spending the day in the office, doing the books and getting all of the mundane paperwork out of the way to keep herself occupied, she locked up when she’d finished in the afternoon. She intended to go into town and do some shopping, then head home and get ready for tonight. Her dark mood deepened when she got down to the club floor and saw Fabian showing his friend up the stairs to the DJ’s booth. Watching from the doorway as the man strutted into the small room and stood silhouetted in the window, his head bobbing to an imaginary beat as he got a feel for the place, Jenna decided there and then that she didn’t like him.

In her – admittedly limited – experience, DJs fell into one of three categories: the gift-of-the-gab tossers who thought themselves
hilarious
and super-cool, and who interrupted every track to make supposedly witty comments; the flashy, smooth-talking lover-boys who dressed better than the punters and spent the whole night focusing on one “special lady” on the dance floor, with the aim of taking her home at the end of the night – and her mate the next; and, lastly, the genuine talents – like Vibes – who weren’t looking for the sex, and who didn’t have to impress with gimmicks or catchphrases or fancy clothes, because their pure love of music shone through without effort.

And
this
one, Jenna surmised when Fabian led him back down the stairs to the dance floor, and she took in the sunglasses perched on top of the scruffy bleached-blond head and the junkie-surfer-boy clothes complete with patterned knee-length shorts and flip-flops, was a definite gift-of-the-gab merchant. She didn’t care
how
good Fabian reckoned he was, she just
knew
he was going to be terrible.

Bringing him over to meet her, Fabian said, ‘This is the guy I was telling you about, Jenna. Bubba Zee – Jenna Lorde.’

‘Enchanted,’ Bubba drawled, giving her a cheeky grin as he added, ‘Don’t worry, Fabes has filled us in on what a slave-driver you are, so I’ll stay out of your way as much as. Just chuck a wet bone in the cage every so-so, and I’ll be sorted.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘He means he’d like a drink taken up to the booth for him now and then,’ Fabian explained.

‘I see,’ Jenna replied coolly. ‘Well, I’m sure
you
can arrange that, Fabian.’

‘Hey, Babes, don’t stress,’ Bubba said. ‘I was only joking.’

‘I’m not stressing,’ she snapped. ‘And don’t call me
Babes
.’ Turning to Fabian, she said, ‘I’ve got some things to do in town, then I’m going home. I’ll be back by ten. Call me if you need me before that.’

‘Do I get the job?’ Bubba called after her as she walked away.

‘Depends if you’re any good,’ she called back without looking at him.

Watching her, Bubba whistled softly. ‘Man, she is
fit
. Just like Liz Taylor at her wank-inducing best.’

‘Told you.’ Fabian gave him a sly grin. ‘Don’t think she likes
you
much, though.’

‘She will.’ Bubba gave an unconcerned shrug. ‘I just take a bit of getting used to.’ Looking slowly around then, he pursed his lips. ‘Kinda
Hit Man & Her
meets
Come Dancing
on the Starship Enterprise, innit?’

‘Wouldn’t let Jenna hear you describing it like that,’ Fabian chuckled. ‘It’s her pride and joy, this place. She spent an absolute fortune getting it like this.’

‘Nowt wrong with it that can’t be fixed,’ Bubba said. ‘Just needs something – I dunno – a bit
sexier
, maybe.’ Giving Fabian a nudge then, he said, ‘Remember that gig I had in Crete, where they wouldn’t let the girls in till they took their tops off and rode the pole?
That
’s what this gaff needs. Bit of sleaze and grit, and we’d have ’em piling in from all over.’

Snorting softly, Fabian shook his head. ‘Don’t really think that’s the kind of place Jenna’s looking to run here.’

‘And there was me thinking
you
was the decisions man,’ Bubba teased.

‘Cat – skin – plenty of ways,’ Fabian replied enigmatically. ‘Right – so have you got everything you need?’

‘Just about,’ Bubba said. ‘But I wouldn’t mind a shufti through that stuff you said the last guy left. Sounds like he had some good imports.’

‘I don’t know,’ Fabian said uncertainly. ‘I really don’t think Jenna would like it.’

‘Aw, man, you’ve lost your balls but
good
!’ Bubba laughed. ‘And if that’s what working for a woman does to you, I don’t think I’ll be sticking around too long.’

‘I didn’t say no,’ Fabian retorted, annoyed that Bubba was taking the piss. ‘It’s just that it’s all locked in her office.’

‘Haven’t you got a key?’

Pursing his lips, Fabian thought about it. He
did
still have the key, although Jenna didn’t know that. And would it really hurt if he let Bubba take a couple of bits? Vibes would probably never come back for it, anyway, so nobody would be any the wiser. And the customers had loved his music, so it would benefit the club.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘But don’t mess anything up in there, and don’t take too much. And don’t tell a soul, or it’ll be my arse on the line.’

‘My lips are sealed,’ Bubba assured him, grinning slyly.

Jenna was even more irritated by the time she’d finished her shopping and gone home. There must have been an idiot convention in town, because people were running around like fools. She couldn’t count how many times she’d been barged into on Market Street, and she’d come very close to punching the woman who had deliberately run over her foot with that shopping-laden pram in the Arndale. Her toes were still hurting.

Tutting when her mobile began to ring just as she was struggling to get her bags through the door, she dropped everything in the hall and kicked the door shut. Then she dragged the phone out of her pocket, answering it without even looking at the screen because she was too busy kicking her shoes off.

There was a moment of static, then, ‘Hello, Jenna . . . you there?’

Her heart lurched at the sound of his voice. ‘Vibes? Is that
you
?’

‘Yeah, it’s me. How you doing, Princess?’

‘Fine,’ she told him, hopping through to the lounge and sitting down on the couch, her bad mood evaporating in an instant. ‘It’s really good to hear from you. Everybody’s been asking about you all week.’