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My phone rings in my pocket; when I look, it’s Millie. My heart sinks a little, knowing I’m going to have to break the news to her. I’m not sure how she will react, but as soon as I answer, she says, “So, I was walking down the hill towards work and guess what I saw in the paper outside the newsagents? Huh…can you guess?” she sounds miffed and I can’t blame her.
“I’m so sorry Mil, I’ve only just found out. I’ll try and get it taken out, or get them to stop any further stories. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, but I’d rather not be in the papers.”
“And on the internet,” I add with regret laced in my voice
“What…Really?” you can hear the frustration in her tone.
“Yep, Sorry,” I say, hanging my head. I know what this means for her, and I can’t help but think that she might be a little scared right now.
“I’ll be okay, I think. Not much I can do about it now.” That just makes me feel worse, I can hear the concern in her voice. We hang up after I tell her I’ll do everything I can to make it right.
When I told Millie a little more about me, what I owned, and why someone would take pictures of me, or us, she was pissed, to say the least, but what really shocked me was that she was not pissed about me being a billionaire but about me trying to intervene in her life. I feel like I fuck up more than I make things better. It’s a shitty feeling. I think she knows I would never do what he has done. Well, she says she knows. I suppose I’ll have to let her pay me rent now. I think it will make us both feel better in the long run.
Why can’t I go back to two weeks ago? Be back in Ibiza, in my bed, wrapped around each other, me diving into her most sensitive parts, worshipping every inch of her, lapping up every single bit of it.
It’s been so busy since we got back, one thing after the other. Millie is still working two jobs, and trying to get her own business up and running. She won’t tell me much about it yet, but I know she has set up a studio in the cottage. From what I can gather, her drawings or artwork are spectacular. I had to help her lug all the furniture up there. Those stairs are not meant for big furniture; we had to dismantle it all and rebuild at the top again. It was worth the effort just to see the smile on her face when it was all set up. Plus, we got a little sweaty after the furniture building. That brings a smile to my face.
My legal team spent the next week trying to get the photo retracted, but with no luck.
I’ve also been called away to my club in Ibiza; we had a fire breakout during one of our busiest times of the year. It’s not ideal. It’s a massive issue, I’ve had to fly back to Ibiza to help sort it out.
With the wedding only a month away, I’ve left Dan back in the UK and flown out on my own to try and figure out what’s happened.
When I arrived, I realised just how fucking lucky we were not to have any injuries. The fire damage covered the staff area, bar and part of the dance floor. God we were lucky. Everywhere you look, there is smoke damage and water damage from the fire crew that attended. What was bright and colourful is now dark, dirty and wet. It is soul-destroying to see your hard work look like this; charred, black, unrecognisable.
The fire crews said that it started in the hall leading to the staff area, the only place there are no cameras, but we have a few faces to check out from other cameras that might have caught something, ones that were nearby, just not where we needed them to be.What if it was arson, and not an accident?We should find out tomorrow what the cause was. We just have to wait.
“Most of the damage is superficial, easy to repair. We are looking at four weeks’ closure while we get it all back up and running,” Bobby says to me when we sit down in my office.
“Four weeks? Can we do it any faster? This is our busiest time Bobby.” My heart and stomach sank a little more.
Bobby has worked for me for the past three years. He is my go-to guy for any work that needs to be done, construction, remodelling, you name it, he can get it done. He has been great; he dropped everything to fly out with me to assess the damage.
“We can try, but I don’t want to rush it. I know we were planning to remodel this winter, we could bring it forward. I have everything in place ready, materials etc., all in the warehouse ready. I just need to wait for the fire officer, chief, whatever you call him over here, to sign it off to know it’s safe, then we can start.”
“That’s a great idea, I knew there was a reason I hired you! Alright, let’s remodel like we planned, no point doing it twice. However long it takes. We’re only a few weeks into the season. I’ll get marketing and do a massive PR launch, get them to put a spin on it. Not the best circumstances but it should work out to our advantage, alright, let’s do it.” That put a smile on my face. We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last two years on the renovation plans. Bobby has taken the lead, working with a local designer and contractor. It’s going to do wonders for this place.
“Great, I’ll get everything ready. I’ll let you know how I get on, how long are you here for? I can stay and supervise the whole thing if you need me to?” he added, knowing I won’t be staying long.
“That would be amazing, thanks Bobby. I’m here for the next few days. Let me know if you need anything. You can stay in my villa when I’m gone, save having to stay in the hotel.” He nods and walks out. I know he will do a great job, but I need to know when we can start. This happening at the start of the season will massively cut into our profits; the sooner we start, the better. The next few hours are spent talking to marketing, Bobby, as well as the staff. The fire officers who attended the fire tell me they will be here tomorrow with the final sign-off and be able to tell me the cause.
I know Dan has been talking with my security teams about how and who could have done this. I know I’m jumping the gun a little bit, but I know our club was safe. We only had the safety inspection a week before we opened and it was perfect. And I don’t know who would want to do this, not anyone on the island; we are all like family, looking after one another, helping each other in friendly competition.
A few hours later, Dan calls.
“Jack, how is it going? Have you had any news yet?” You can hear the concern lacing his voice
“Tomorrow, we should be able to find out, have you managed to find anything?”
“I have about 100 faces, we need to look into them all. I’ve got Isaac helping out, he knows faces better than anyone from working the bar. We should be able to remove quite a few.”
“I know we’ve not heard yet, but I know it’s arson. The club was safe Dan, it was only inspected a few weeks before, and it’s checked out every day. Who would want to do this?” There is so much frustration coming through in my voice. Dan lets out a sigh and says “I have no idea; something is niggling at me. I’ve got a bad feeling about this Jack.” Oh shit.
“Yeah, me too.” I let out a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair, I’m exhausted.
“Right, I’m heading back to the villa. Oh has Bobby emailed you?”
