I'll Come out Fighting

Chapter 3

Jayne

The club has been open just over 6 months now and has been doing amazingly well. I moved out of Jamie’s place a few months ago, not because I was scared to live myself, I was just so busy with the club and I couldn’t find a flat that I liked enough.  I eventually found an amazing two bed apartment just around the corner from Jamie and about twenty minutes from the club.

Even though I don’t live with him, Jamie is still as over protective as ever, like now he is blowing up my phone. As he does every afternoon, he knows not to call before noon. Me being a night owl and all.

“Hello Jamie" I say as I answer his call

“Hey baby sis.  You ok today?” he asks, the same question every day.

“Same as always Jamie. Just up, having something to eat then meeting Jeff at the club. How are you?” again I give him the same response as every Monday, I do the same thing.

“Not bad, new boss started officially today. He seems like a decent guy. He’s organising a gathering this weekend for us all at your club.” Jamie goes on

“Nice. So no doubt I will see you in the club then, like every weekend" I laugh. Jamie sits in VIP most nights on the weekend, making sure I’m safe. I sometimes think he forgets I have security guards in the club, but he enjoys it just as much, he gets to flirt with the customers and sometimes the bar staff.

“That you will. Need to go now though, I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes. Love you sis” he says as he hangs up.  See what I mean. Every day the same call at the same time. No doubt he will pop by my apartment at some point this week before the weekend and moan I have no food for him to eat.

I’m meeting Jeff at the club, we need to catch up with paperwork and check the stocks after a really busy weekend, like we do every Monday.  Most weekends are busy, but the past weekend was crazy. It was almost like everyone from town and the neighbouring city were in.  Might have something to do with the cocktails that were on offer. We are known for doing very good cocktails.

After grabbing something to eat and getting showered and changed. I leave my apartment and head out. Jumping into my BMW Z4 convertible the afternoon air is warm. I flip a switch and the roof folds down, the drive to the club is a about twenty minutes away and the wind in my hair feels amazing.

I park my car in the carpark around the back of the club. It’s a secure carpark and CCTV is on 24/7 I will not risk anything happening to my babies, I mean my club and my car.  Jeff is just pulling up behind me.

“God woman you drive like a crazy b***h" he chuckles as he climbs out his car.

“I do not you cheeky f**k" I say back to him.  He just shakes his head at me as we head inside.

When you walk into a place that had just been freshly cleaned, you know how you get that instant smell of cleaning products hitting your nostrils, well let me tell you, I think it’s one if the best smells ever.  It makes me smile knowing that my cleaners have done a great job, I take a quick walk around making sure nothing had been missed, all the function rooms are spotless, just how I like it. Perfect way to start the week.

Jeff grabs his tablet and we start checking the stock in each of the function rooms and I quickly grab the till that was left in here last night, I must have forgotten it. Which is not like me but it’s coming up for the anniversary of my parents death, which also means the anniversary of my trauma, so sometimes my brain switches off a little, you know what I mean, everyone has those moments at some point in their life.

Once we are done upstairs we head downstairs to the smaller bar in the VIP area, checking stocks and refilling as we go along. As always the banter between me and Jeff gets a bit out of hand.

“So, did you get your hole last night?” I ask him as we walk over the dance floor to the main bar.

“Yip, and not just one either” he says winking at me.  Jeff is a bit of a player, he is only a few months younger than me and his list on conquests has grown considerable since he has been working in the club.

“You dirty f**k.  I hope you showered before you met me” I say as I slap his arm, playfully of course but with a little effort put it.  I don’t always agree with his antics in the bedroom department, but if the woman of this town are stupid enough to fall his charms, there is nothing I can do about it.

“Obviously, with my two companions, we had a shower before they left”  I shake my head at him and finish up checking the stocks.

When we are done checking the stock, we head up to the office to sort the massive pile of paperwork.  We play music in the background to get us motivated.  After checking the diary for the function rooms, we have one booked for the Friday night. Some business man has just moved to town and has taken over some company and is throwing a party as a welcome for his staff. Must be Jamie’s boss, he mentioned it earlier.  I’m not complaining just means more money in my bank.

Jeff gets on and orders what drinks we are needing for the rest of the week and into the weekend, I quickly get in contact with the catering company that we use for these sort of events, you know finger food type things and nibbles. Some of the parties they bring their own stuff and each room has a small kitchen type area if needed.

As we are so engrossed in work we don’t realise that we have worked right the way through dinner.  We worked well today, got caught up on everything.  Once we locked up the club, we head to the bank to cash in the takings from the weekend. We do this at least twice a week. I hate having huge quantities of money in the club, there is a safe in the office and it’s a really good one at that, but you just don’t know what scum bag is going to try their luck.

“Want to head for dinner once this is done” Jeff asks as he holds up the bag of money.

“Yeah, I really fancy Italian” I say as we head into the bank, luckily it is still open. It’s just down the street from the club so we didn’t have far to go.  Jeff nods his head in agreement.

We get into Antonio’s across the road from the club and get seated pretty quick. The place is quieter than normal.  There are a few couples dotted around and a group of businessmen in the back corner, you can tell by the suits they are wearing.

Antonio himself seats us at our table, we are regulars here and he always likes to serve his favourite customer, meaning me.  Antonio has been trying to set me up with his son for the few months. He always says we would make cute babies.  I have to laugh at him because he has no clue that his son is actually gay and in a relationship with a guy and has been for the last two years, it is not my place to tell him, so I keep my mouth shut.

“Jayne my lovely, you need to come for family dinner soon.” Antonio tells me as he pulls my seat out for me.

“Never going to happen Toni, you know me. I like my single life. I’m sure Junior will find a lovely partner soon”  It’s the same statement and same response he gets every time I’m here.  He leaves us with our menus and walks away shaking his head.

As we wait for our food to arrive, I nip to the bathrooms to freshen up.  The toilets just so happen to be at the back corner next to the table of business men. I’m not fazed by it at all, I hold my head up high and walk past them, not looking in their direction what so ever.

I quickly do my business and check my appearance in the mirror, I’m not being big headed, but I know I look good. I have what some say as a perfect figure. You know the hour glass shape, a bit busty and curves in the right places.  My hair is light brown with blonde and copper highlights, coming down to between the small of my back and my shoulder blades.  My face is heart shaped and I have flawless skin, I hardly wear any makeup just my trusty waterproof mascara and my tinted lip gloss.

I get back to my seat just as Toni is bringing out our food, he stands and chats a little as we start eating. Soon he leaves as more customers come in, Jeff is smirking away as he eats.

“What has got into you?” I ask as I sip my juice. That’s another thing, I don’t drink very much either. I know, crazy right. I own a nightclub, but I don’t really drink. It’s not that I don’t like drinking just I like to drive my car most nights. Sensible me.

“That group of guys in the back corner have been watching your every move since we walked in here.” He tells me.

“Nice. Well they can watch all they want” I say shrugging my shoulders. Now don’t get me wrong I am not once of those women who think that all guys are monsters, after I went through what I did. Not at all. I just have no interest in guys, I’m still sort of healing and need my me time and obviously my club is my priority as well.

We soon finish our food, as Jeff waits for the waiter to bring our bill, I nip back to the bathroom. I have a very weak bladder, since you know I was hurt pretty bad in that area, I have hardly any control on it anymore. Anyways. As I walk past the businessmen, they all seem pretty young about five of them at the table now. There was more, but some have left.

They are all decent looking, with bright smiles and chiselled jawlines. You could possibly mistake them for models. Oh and there is Aaron, Mia’s husband I give him a little nod of the head. The others are pretty tasty. I spot one of the guys, checking me out and not doing it very discreetly either. He gives me what he probably thinks is a sexy smirk, don’t get me wrong it is a sexy smirk, but it just doesn’t have that effect on me like they would have done in the past.

I shake my head lightly as I head into the bathrooms, ignoring the laughing and jokes being made from his mates, clearly they saw that I wasn’t going weak at the knees for this attention.  I head back out and they are no longer there. Doesn’t bother me, I head to Jeff and he is in hysterics at the table.

“What?” I say as I pick up my bag from the seat and get ready to leave

“The guy that was eyeing you up was getting it tight from his pals. He clearly was wanting to get into you and you just shook your head at him and walked past him.  They were all having a dig at him”  Jeff at this point is struggling to breathe because he was laughing so much.  I shake my head at him, smack him across the back of his head and he quickly stops.

“Crazy b***h. Jayne, you need to quit hitting me like that. I have very little brain cells left because of you” he says in a serious tone. I can’t hold it in anymore, I burst out laughing just as we cross over the road to the club.

“You never had any brain cells to start off with Jeff”  I tell him, still laughing at my own joke.  We stand and chat a little longer at our cars.  As I see the group of guys from the restaurant walk around the corner. I have a quick look over my shoulder and see there is a few cars parked on the other side of Jeffs car.  They are all laughing and joking about. When it suddenly all stops, silence from them. Jeff and me, are still talking away, he is telling me more about the girls he had last night, who have asked him for a repeat tonight, so he is heading to one of their places.

“It’s those guys from the restaurant” Jeff tries to whisper.  I again shrug my shoulders and start to walk back into my car.  I check my bag and realise I have left my phone in the office. I know I didn’t have it out of my bag in the restaurant.

“Jeff, wait five minutes, I’ve left my phone” I ask him, pleading slightly.  I know I am a confident woman, but I hate hanging about the back of the club myself, especially when it is dark. Some scumbags are always looking for trouble.

“I’ll get it, you wait in the car” Jeff says as he heads into the club for me. See he is a good guy, sometimes.

“Hi” a voice comes from behind me as I open my car door.  I turn to see the guy that was smirking at me earlier.  I nod my head at him politely, I may not be looking for anything with anyone, but I am still always polite when I need to be.   I see his mates hanging about the car beside Jeff's, watching our interaction.

“Can I help you?” I ask, checking to see if Jeff is anywhere near.

“Yeah, do you know they owner of this place, is that the guy that just went in the back door there?” he asks as he points a retreating Jeff.  He thinks Jeff is the owner, poor guy must be new to town.

“The guy Jeff, is the manager. The owner of JJ’s is a female, seemingly a bit of a b***h. Why do you ask?” I say to him, let’s see how far I can wind this guy up.

“It’s just I’m new in town and I have a function booked in here on Friday, was just wanting to check if everything was organised as I was in the area.”  He says as he clearly stands and checks me out. Again he is not very discreet.  I nod my head just as Jeff comes out with my phone and locks up again.

“Here you are.” Jeff says as he hands me my phone.  I quickly thank him, give him a hug and leave him standing in the carpark chatting to the smirker.  I don’t know his name so that is what I will call him. The smirker.

I was just turning into my apartment parking lot when I get a call from Jeff.  The call didn’t last that long as his female companions were waiting. He basically said that Ryder, aka smirker, was talking about the function. Which I knew anyway as he had said. Jeff couldn’t understand why I didn’t talk to him about it seeing as I am the owner. When I told Jeff that Ryder thought he was owner he knew I was just wanting to pull the guys leg.  He burst out laughing but that is Jeff, crazy.