Two-Faced, page 23
Just like last time, Laura and Stu were standing in the queue. But this time Darren was with them – looking just as buff as ever, and even more muscular, having dedicated a lot of time to his physique in the prison gym.
Glad that Steve wasn’t the kind of man to be made to queue, Mia tried to pretend that she hadn’t seen them as they walked up to the door. But, as if they were in some crazy time loop, Laura spotted her and yelled out her name.
‘Someone you know?’ Steve asked, immediately putting his arm around her waist and ushering her inside.
Shaking her head, not giving a toss this time if anyone thought she was being ignorant, Mia said, ‘No. Probably just someone who’s recognised me from the papers.’
They went inside only to be told that the VIP lounge had been temporarily closed because of a leak and Mia was dismayed when they were shown to a sectioned-off area in the main clubroom. Heading for a corner table, she jumped into the seat that was closest to the wall and hid herself in the shadows.
But it didn’t take Laura long to find her. Wandering around while Stu and Darren went to the bar, she spotted Mia and waved to her from the other side of the barrier.
Pretending not to have noticed, Mia sipped at her drink and gazed at the floor. But Steve nudged her, saying, ‘That girl definitely looks like she thinks she knows you. Are you sure you don’t know her?’
Forced to look, at which point Laura grinned and raised her hands in an at last! gesture, Mia said, ‘Oh, yeah. I went to school with her.’
‘Invite her over for a drink,’ Steve suggested. Immediately amending this when he spotted the men he was meeting as they walked through the door, he said, ‘Second thoughts . . . take this and buy her one.’ Pulling a couple of twenties out of his wallet, he pushed them into her hand.
Mia snatched up her bag and rose reluctantly to her feet. She didn’t usually mind being shunted off while Steve talked business, because they were usually at his club when it happened and she could wander about playing queen of the castle. But if she went and talked to Laura now, it was inevitable that Darren would find them. And, while she had no doubt that she could put him in his place without too much fuss, she dreaded the thought of Steve seeing them together and guessing that they had a past.
‘I thought you were never going to notice me,’ Laura exclaimed when Mia came over to the barrier. Reaching across, she gave her a hug. ‘Amazing, huh? Second time I’ve seen you in months, and both times it’s been here.’
‘Mmm, amazing,’ Mia agreed, her gaze darting nervously out over Laura’s shoulder. ‘You must come here a lot.’
‘Every weekend,’ Laura admitted, rolling her eyes. ‘Stu’s cousin is the DJ, so he won’t go anywhere else. Anyway, look at you looking even more gorgeous than last time,’ she went on, giving her a playful nudge as she added, ‘I could have killed you after those pictures came out. Stu wouldn’t stop gawping at them, and I was that jealous! But he’s been behaving since Darren got out. Doesn’t care if I object to him lusting after you, but God forbid Darren should catch him at it. Talking of who,’ she went on, grinning slyly. ‘He’s here, and he’s dying to see you. Why don’t you come and say hello. They’re around somewhere – probably checking out the talent, knowing them.’
‘Ah,’ Mia murmured, casting a quick look back at the table. ‘That might be a bit awkward. I’m with my fella.’
Glancing over, Laura’s eyebrows rose. ‘Wow, he’s gorgeous.’
‘The white one,’ Mia told her, guessing that she was lusting over Vern. Then, clarifying which white man, because the two men who’d just joined them were also white, she said, ‘The one who looks a bit Chinese.’
‘Not bad,’ Laura said, nodding her approval.
Blanching when she saw Stu and Darren heading their way, Mia said, ‘I, er, just need to go to the loo.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Laura offered annoyingly. Linking arms with her when she cocked her leg over the barrier, she said, ‘Just like old times, eh? Remember how we used to meet up in the loos at school for a fag and a gossip. Subject of . . . I saw Lisa Holgate the other day, and she’s fat, man. She’s got a kid now – and by the looks of her, another on the way. She swears she’s not pregnant again, though, so I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see. She was with Jenny. You know she’s at uni in Sheffield now, studying law? Always was the brainbox, though, wasn’t she? And you’ll never guess who she’s seeing? Only that lad who—’
‘Laura, please,’ Mia interrupted, a pained expression on her face as she pushed her way towards the toilets. ‘I’m so not interested.’
‘How could you not be interested in the old gang?’ Laura asked, giving her a disbelieving smile. ‘We’re the BFLC crew: best friends for life, not just Christmas – remember?’
Mia gave her a withering look. ‘We were fifteen, Laura. And now we’re not. At least, I’m not,’ she added scathingly.
Narrowing her eyes, Laura said, ‘You being funny?’
‘No,’ Mia drawled sarcastically.
‘You are,’ Laura replied coolly, giving her a look that was a mixture of confusion and hurt. ‘Stu said you were being funny last time, but I didn’t believe him. He reckons you think you’re too good for me, but I told him we’re too much like sisters for that. And, all right, so I haven’t seen you for a while, but I thought we were the kind of mates who can just pick up where we left off even if we haven’t seen each other for years.’
Realising that it was going to take bluntness to shake this girl of the belief that they were as close as they had once been, Mia had just opened her mouth to tell her to get a life when Darren and Stu turned up.
Darren was staring at her as if in awe, and he had a smile of what Mia could only describe as shyness on the lips that she still remembered kissing.
‘Told you,’ Stu said, grinning as he nudged him. ‘Looks well good, don’t she? Way sexier than all them piccies you’ve been fantasising over for so long, eh?’
Flashing him a Shut your stupid mouth! look, Darren said, ‘All right, Mia. Long time no see. How’s it going?’
He looked even better up close than in the glimpse she’d had of him in the queue outside, and he seemed to have matured, because he wasn’t giving it with the cocky I am that he used to be so full of. But Mia hadn’t forgotten the way he’d finished with her, talking to her like she was a piece of dirt in order to keep his bitch happy. And it didn’t matter that it had been Michelle who’d actually taken the shit, he’d intended it for her ears – and hadn’t made any effort to contact her afterwards to tell her that he hadn’t meant it. So he could stand here now, giving her goo-goo eyes because she was gorgeous and famous and he felt like they had something to talk about because he’d taken her virginity, but he so wasn’t getting a piece of her.
‘Don’t bother, Darren,’ Laura said sharply, folding her arms. ‘She’s made it quite clear she thinks she’s better than us.’
‘Laura, I never said that,’ Mia told her wearily, sensing that this would turn into a scene if she didn’t put a stop to it now. ‘I just said I wasn’t interested in what Lisa and Jenny were up to. You can’t seriously think I’d still want to be mates with them after the way they turned against me at school when . . .’ Trailing off because she’d been about to mention the time when Sandra Bishop had attacked her, she shrugged. ‘Well, you know what I’m talking about.’
‘If it’s only them you’ve got a problem with,’ Laura said quietly, ‘how come you never return my calls? I know it’s the right number, ’cos your mum gave it to me when she called that day asking if I’d seen you.’
Lips tightening, furious with her mum for giving out her number without asking permission, Mia said, ‘She must have given you my work number, but I hardly ever check that ’cos my agent deals with everything.’
Murmuring a disbelieving, ‘Mmm,’ Laura said, ‘So why haven’t you bothered trying to get in touch with me? You know where I am, and you knew I wanted to hook up with you. Or couldn’t you be bothered, ’cos I’m not one of your posh model mates?’
‘Laura, have you any idea how busy I’ve been?’ Mia protested. ‘I’m working all the time. Christ, I hardly get a minute to talk to my own mum.’
‘Quit interrogating her, man,’ Darren said, irritated with Laura for ruining his reunion. ‘She’s busy; you can’t expect her to drop everything to run round after you.’
‘I’m not,’ Laura shot back. ‘I just don’t see why she thinks she’s too good to even call me to say hello.’
‘Oh, believe what you want,’ Mia snapped, fed up with the schoolgirl farce this was descending into. ‘I’ve got better things to think about. Nice to see you again, Darren. Hope you and Sandra have managed to patch things up, ’cos she was always the one you really loved.’
Reaching out as Mia turned to go into the toilets, Darren grabbed her arm. ‘Wait, you’re wrong. Me and Sandra are history.’
Yanking her arm free, Mia said, ‘Oh, great!’ when her bag fell to the floor and the contents spilled out at their feet. Squatting down to help her pick them up, Darren gave her a questioning look when he picked up the small plastic bag of coke. Snatching it, she shoved it back into her bag.
Vern came around the corner at that exact moment. Seeing the way her and the boy’s eyes seemed to be locked, he grabbed the back of Darren’s jacket and hauled him to his feet, slamming him up against the wall.
‘What the fuck . . . ?’ Darren roared, trying to shove him off. ‘Who d’y’ think you’re messing with, dickhead?’
Holding him easily with one huge hand on his chest, Vern looked at Mia. ‘You know this clown?’
Face drained of colour, Mia instinctively shook her head, praying that Darren would have the sense not to contradict her. She’d always known that Vern must be hard, but this was the first time she’d ever actually seen him in physical action, and Darren was obviously no match for him. And Stu wasn’t helping; he was too busy whispering to Laura – probably telling her to go and round up some mates before he attempted to help out his friend.
Shaking now, she said, ‘It’s okay, Vern, you can let him go. I dropped my bag and he was helping me pick my stuff up, that’s all.’
Inclining his head towards Darren, Vern spoke to him so quietly that only Darren could hear what was being said before dropping him. Flashing him a glance of resentment, Darren straightened his shirt and jacket and jerked his head at Stu.
‘Steve’s ready to get off,’ Vern told Mia when they had gone, as calmly as if nothing had happened.
Nodding, she bit her lip, wondering if she ought to ask him not to mention what had just happened. Deciding against it, figuring that it would only make her look guilty, she said, ‘Won’t be a minute. I just need the loo.’
Scuttling into the ladies, she rushed into the empty cubicle at the far end of the block and locked the door. Hands shaking violently, she took out the coke and rooted for her small compact mirror. Realising that it must have skidded across the tiled floor when she’d dropped her stuff, she tore a wad of toilet roll off the dispenser and wiped the top of the cistern before sprinkling out a thick line. Hesitating when she heard the main door swing open, she held her breath. Seconds later, it opened again and some chattering girls entered. Relaxing, knowing that their noise would drown out hers as cubicle doors slammed shut and the sound of pissing and singing rang out, Mia quickly rolled up one of the twenty-pound notes Steve had given her and snorted the line. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head right back as the rush enveloped her – oblivious to the mobile phone filming her over the cubicle divider.
Steve’s face was stormy when Mia joined him by the club’s front door. Grabbing her roughly by the arm, he marched her down the road and around the corner into the side street where the car was parked.
‘Where’s Vern?’ she asked, trying to act as if she hadn’t realised that anything was wrong in order to defuse whatever was going on in his head.
‘Dealing with something,’ Steve snarled, using his own key-fob to unlock the car doors. Yanking the back door open, he shoved her in before jumping into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.
‘What’s going on, babe?’ Mia asked nervously, clinging to the sides of her seat as he pulled furiously away from the kerb. ‘Please don’t tell me this has got anything to do with that guy Vern gripped just now. ’Cos I’ve already told him what was happening. I dropped my bag, and he was helping me pick up my stuff, that’s all.’
Ignoring her, Steve drove around the block and screeched to a halt when he spotted Vern. Hopping in, Vern reached into the glove compartment and took out a wad of tissues as they set off again.
Mia felt sick when she noticed that he was wiping blood off his knuckles. She dug her nails into her palms and cast longing glances out of the window as they sped out of town, wishing she could leap out and roll to freedom on the grey pavements that were whizzing by.
Still furious when he parked up at the back of the club, Steve shoved Mia inside. Staying outside to have a hushed conversation with Vern, he came in a few minutes later and lashed her across the face with the back of his hand, sending her sprawling across the floor.
Crying out, she looked to Vern for help, but he just calmly locked the door and walked through to the club.
‘Who was he?’ Steve demanded, his face livid as he stood over her. ‘And before you open your mouth, just remember what I told you last time – lie, and I’ll kill you.’
Weeping now, Mia cowered back into the corner. There was no sense in lying; Vern had obviously got that blood on his hand from beating Darren up, so Darren would have had no option but to tell him exactly who he was. But he might at least have had the sense not to mention that Mia and he had slept together.
‘He’s – he’s just an old friend.’
‘Friend?’ Steve repeated caustically, swinging his foot back and slamming it into her thigh. ‘Try again, sweetheart!’
Mouth wide, barely able to speak for the pain, Mia clutched at her leg. ‘All right! I went out with him! But I was only fifteen . . . we were just kids.’
Squatting down beside her, Steve grabbed her by the throat and slammed her head back against the wall. Teeth gritted, he said, ‘So why did you lie to Vern and say you didn’t know him?’
‘Because I knew you’d be like this if you found out,’ Mia sobbed, truly terrified now.
‘And that girl you pretended not to notice,’ Steve went on, putting two and two together. ‘She was with him, wasn’t she?’
‘Yes,’ Mia admitted, blinded by tears as she clutched at his wrist to prevent him from strangling her. ‘But I knew it would end up in trouble, that’s why I didn’t want to see her. But you made me go and talk to her. You made me!’
‘Stop making so much fucking noise,’ Steve hissed, banging her head off the wall again. ‘Did you arrange to meet up with them there? When I said that was where we were going, did you get straight on your phone and set it all up so you could see your old fucking boyfriend again?’
‘NO!’ Mia sobbed. ‘I didn’t even want to go, ’cos I saw her there last time and didn’t want to risk bumping into her again.’
‘Did you now,’ Steve growled, his eyes flashing dangerously. ‘So this is the second time you’ve seen him and thought you could get away with not telling me?’
‘No!’ Mia squawked. ‘He was in prison that time – I swear to God! She kept going on about how much he wanted to see me when he got out, but I told her I wasn’t interested. And tonight I told her I was with you and didn’t want to see him, but he caught up with us outside the loos. I was telling him to get lost when I dropped my bag, and that’s when Vern came round and gripped him up.’
Staring into her eyes for several long moments, Steve said, ‘You know how lucky you are that your ex-dick told Vern the same story? If there had been one thing that had been remotely different, it wouldn’t just be him on his way to hospital right now – you understand me?’
Biting her lip, Mia squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.
Reaching for her handbag now, Steve said, ‘Let’s just check your phone, eh? Make sure you haven’t been taking numbers behind my back.’
Tipping the bag up, he was about to reach for her phone when he noticed the edge of a photograph sticking out of her purse. Pulling it out, he stared at it intently. Then, a light of recognition sparking in his eyes, he glared at her. ‘What the fuck are you doing with a picture of that dickhead footballer?’
Guessing that he’d mistaken Liam’s dark hair and green eyes for those of Jay King, Mia shook her head and blurted out the first thing that came into her head. ‘It’s not him, babe . . . I swear it’s not. It’s m-my dad and my grandma. It’s the only picture my mum had of him, and I took it ’cos she was going to throw it away. I’ve been carrying it round for years.’
‘He ain’t blond,’ Steve pointed out, looking from the picture to her.
‘No, but my mum is,’ Mia reminded him. ‘Please, Steve, it’s my dad. You can ask her. She hates his guts, but she’ll tell you.’
Still holding her gaze to see her reaction, Steve slowly tore the photograph down the middle. Seeing genuine pain in her eyes, he decided that maybe she had been telling the truth. He knew for a fact that she’d had no contact with the footballer, so it wouldn’t hurt her if that had been his picture. Anyway, she’d have been more likely to be carrying one of the pro shots of the dickhead in his footballing prime than one of him as a snotty kid.
Letting go of her throat now, Steve stood up and dusted himself down. Then, reaching for her hand, he pulled her to her feet and took her in his arms.
‘You know you’re my girl, don’t you,’ he murmured, stroking her hair. ‘And I don’t like hurting you, but I just can’t stand being lied to. Steal my money, smash up my car, call my mother a whore – anything but lie. ’Cos if I can’t trust you, then there’s no point to any of this, is there?’
Mia shook her head and buried her face in his chest, glad that he was holding her up because her legs were shaking so badly that she’d probably have collapsed otherwise. She wanted to get away from Steve, but they always spent the night together and if she tried to change the routine now he’d get even more paranoid. But there was no way she was staying with him after this. This was the second time he’d hit her, and it had been way worse than the first. At least then she’d been kind of anaesthetised by that really strong new coke he’d given her which had knocked her out. But this time he’d really gone for her, and she dreaded to think what he might have done if she hadn’t told him the same thing that Darren had told Vern.
