The Club Read Online Free Page B

hadn’t thought to spend a little more money maintaining it, though. But judging by the state of this place and the house, he’d obviously let a lot of things slide lately.
    ‘Care to join me for a drink?’ Fabian was asking now. Adding, with a cheeky grin, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t charge you.’
    Jenna was starting to get irritated. First he’d called her dad ‘Jim’, which nobody had ever done – not even her mum. And now he was offering out drinks as if he owned the place.
    Shaking her head, she folded her arms and said, ‘No offence, but who exactly are you?’
    ‘Fabian King,’ he told her over his shoulder as he helped himself to a shot of brandy. ‘The manager,’ he added, turning back to her.
    ‘ Really ?’ She frowned. ‘What happened to Frank?’
    ‘Long story. Let’s just say he and Jim stopped seeing eye to eye.’
    ‘Dad never said,’ Jenna murmured, wondering what could have possibly happened to make them fall out. Frank had been the manager here for over ten years, and her dad had considered him a friend as much as an employee. ‘When was this?’
    ‘Last year,’ Fabian told her, leaning back against the counter. ‘I came in to cover Frank’s holiday time, originally. But your dad asked me to stay on, so obviously I said yes. Don’t mean to blow my own trumpet,’ he went on – doing exactly that, Jenna thought – ‘but this place was going steadily downhill before I came on board. It’s been a struggle, but we’re on our way back up now. Well, we were ,’ he added, giving her a pointed look. ‘Still could be, if we don’t stay shut too long.’
    Taking a sip of his drink now, he carried on looking at her, waiting for her to respond. When she didn’t after a moment, he said, ‘If you don’t mind me asking, what are your plans?’
    ‘I haven’t made up my mind yet,’ Jenna told him evasively. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll let you know as soon as I do.’
    Pursing his lips thoughtfully, Fabian nodded slowly. What he really wanted to know was, if she did keep the club on, would he still have a job? But she hadn’t been very forthcoming, so far, and he sensed that it was probably best not to push her. Yet.
    Vibes came back just then, several cases of CDs in his hands and a holdall of vinyl albums over one shoulder. Avoiding making eye contact with Jenna – because Fabian was already doing such a good job of leering at her and Vibes didn’t want her to think she’d landed on Planet Lech – he said, ‘I’ll have to leave the rest for now – if that’s okay?’
    ‘It’s fine,’ Jenna assured him. ‘If you want to give me your number, I’ll give you a ring and let you know when I’m coming in again.’
    ‘Cool,’ Vibes said, putting his stuff down. ‘Never remember it off the top of my head, though, so you’ll have to give me a minute to find my phone.’ Searching through his pockets then, he frowned. ‘Damn! Don’t tell me I lost it again.’
    ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Fabian jumped in quickly. ‘I’ll have to take Jenna up to the office to show her the books anyway, so I’ll give it to her from the file. You can get off now, if you’re done,’ he said then, giving Vibes a pointed look. ‘I’ll take it from here.’
    Giving him a knowing half-smile, Vibes shared a brief conspiratorial look with Jenna which conveyed his question: Are you all right with that? and her answer: Don’t worry, I can handle him.
    ‘I’ll leave you to it, then,’ he said, picking up his things. ‘Nice meeting you, Jenna.’
    ‘You, too. I’ll give you a ring within the week.’
    ‘Much appreciated.’ Nodding goodbye, Vibes opened the door and left.
    Relaxing now that the competition for Jenna’s attention was gone, Fabian downed what was left of his drink and put the glass in the small sink. Then, waving her through the opening in the counter, he said, ‘Shall we?’
    Jenna hadn’t intended to stay long, but she decided that she might as well get this over