AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Without batting an eyelid, the girl reaches into one of her pockets and takes out her phone, scrolling down it for a moment before turning it towards Forrest and playing a video clip. It’s clearly recorded from another of the hotel rooms, with a background of raised voices and foul language, followed by the sound of glass breaking.
‘It went on for three hours,’ the girl says pointedly. ‘No-one has the right to come here and behave like that – and that includes your client.’ She’s silent for a moment. ‘In the circumstances, ten grand is more than fair. If she really doesn’t want to pay up, we’ll see her in court.’
Forrest considers his options. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. ‘Look, I’m not denying the fact that she’s caused you a bit of a problem, but she’s spent a lot of money with youover the last few months. I’d say five thousand is more than reasonable.’
The girl stares at him. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
Leaving the hotel, Forrest is distracted. In his experience, there’s almost always a compromise to be reached – except not this time, it seems. The manager had been intransigent. Irritation flares up inside him. Fine. If this ends up in court, he’ll represent Athena himself. He’ll see to it the hotel regrets this.
But for now, the snow has let up and the weekend awaits. In a couple of hours he’ll be off to meet Joe in a bar in Chichester. In self-congratulatory mode, after dissecting the court case in microscopic detail, they’ll more than likely end up hammered. Getting into his blue Jaguar F TYPE, Forrest revs the engine and speeds home.
That evening, as he walks along Chichester’s streets on his way to meet Joe, his phone buzzes in one of his pockets. Reaching for it, his PA’s name flashes up on the screen. Guessing it’s too late to be anything to do with work, he thinks about ignoring it. Joe’s always teasing him that Freya has a major crush on him. Forever championing a worthy cause of some kind or another, Freya most definitely isn’t his type, but it serves him well to keep her onside.
‘Freya! All OK?’
‘Hi. Sorry to bother you… I’d hoped to catch you at work.’ She sounds a little breathless.
‘Ah, I bunked off early. Don’t tell anyone, will you?’ Forrest teases.
‘No. Of course not.’ She hesitates. ‘I wanted to remind you about tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow?’ Forrest turns to avoid a group of oncoming pedestrians, scrolling through his brain for something labelled ‘Saturday’.
‘The fundraiser for the local animal sanctuary.’ She sounds disappointed.
It’s no wonder he’s forgotten. A fricking fundraiser run by a bunch of animal welfare nutters is so far off his radar. ‘Of course I haven’t forgotten. I’ll do my best to make it.’ Sounding as sincere as he can muster, he has no intention of going. ‘Got to go, I’m afraid. Hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.’
Ending the call before she can reply, he buries his phone in his pocket just as he reaches the bar. Smiling as he sees Joe already inside, he pushes the door open.
After the obligatory bottle of champagne and a bottle of expensive red, he and Joe start on a second.
‘We were so good, mate.’ Pissed, it’s at least the tenth time he’s said that. ‘So frigging, unstoppably, brilliantly good.’ Suddenly he looks more sober. ‘Shame about those kids, though.’
‘I don’t want to think about the kids. And divorce is a fact of life, my friend.’ Forrest raises his glass. ‘If some bastard stands to make a killing out of it, it might as well be us.’
‘I’ll drink to that.’ Thedrinkcomes out asshrink.
‘Ease up, mate. We have a party to go to – remember?’
‘Just this last one.’ Picking up the bottle, Joe sloshes wine onto the table as he tops up their glasses. ‘Cheers. And cheers… boss.’ He chuckles to himself, a contagious sound that turns into hysterical laughter. ‘How does it feel?’
‘Fucking great.’ It’s the best feeling in the world. Money, success, ambition… All these beautiful things are what drives Forrest. ‘Right now, everything’s fucking great.’ With Forrest’s star rising, there’s no reason why they won’t stay great, either. ‘We should plan a holiday. The Maldives, Rome, a luxury resort on a Greek Island…’
‘I want to fly to the moon, buddy.’ Serious for a moment, Joe holds Forrest’s eye, before his face crumples and he collapses into laughter again.
As at last they get up to go, Forrest’s eyes wander towards the bar just as a girl walks in. Recognising the girl from the hotel this afternoon – the manager who’d refused to do a deal, he freezes as he studies her more closely. She’s wearing skinny jeans and chunky black boots, her long dark hair hanging in unruly waves.
Watching her, he frowns. There’s definitely something about the way she carries herself that reminds him of someone.
‘Who’sat?’ Joe breathes beer breath over him. ‘Fancy her, do you mate?’
‘She manages that hotel in Arundel – the one where Athena goes to shag her boyfriend.’ Joe knows about Athena’s affair. ‘I offered her damages, but apparently it wasn’t enough.’
‘Want me to have a go?’
‘You?’ Laughing, Forrest rumples his friend’s hair. ‘Mate, you can barely speak a coherent word, let alone walk over to that bar without falling over. No. Leave this one to me.’ Anyway, in his mind, it had already become some kind of personal challenge, one that no way he was going to lose.
He watches her order drinks before turning towards the guy she’s with, saying something to him before picking up a menu.Taking in her body language, Forrest has the distinct impression she doesn’t want to be here. It’s her restlessness, the way when the guy leans in too close, she moves almost imperceptibly away.
