Everything to Nothing (62 page)

‘Damaged
goods?! That’s a laugh!’

‘What do you
mean?’

‘Believe me, I
know many men, me included, who would love to get to know you
better.’

‘Well thank you
for saying that, but I don’t believe you. How about you? Are you
seeing anyone?’

‘Funny you
should say that. My girlfriend of five years left me about eight
months ago.’ Peter could still lie effortlessly.

‘Oh, right. So
are you over her?’

‘I mean, I was
pretty shook up at the time, but now if she walked in here now I
wouldn’t give her a second glance.’

‘Did you like
my children?’

‘They seemed
very nice, very bright. The girl looks like a tiny version of you,
very beautiful.’

‘That’s a very
nice thing to say.’

‘I wouldn’t
mind getting to know them better and you of course.’ Peter lied
again. One night was all he wanted with his head buried in those
breasts and buttocks, one night that was all.

For a moment or
two Sally contemplated the man across the table from her. He was
good looking, easy to talk to, charming and rich. Thinking about
her life now and what she used to have, she knew that she did not
want or need the riches she had, but some stability in her life, in
her children’s lives, was what she craved for. A man that went out
to work, made an honest living and cared for her and the children
was all she wanted. It was then as these thoughts flew through her
head that she made her decision. ‘Would you like to go to dinner
with me?’

The question
came as a shock to him. He would have thought he would have had to
do a lot more work before dinner dates were offered and accepted,
but he was not shocked for long. ‘Sure. Why not? What have we got
to lose?’

‘Exactly. Shall
we say tomorrow night, at eight? We can meet at whichever
restaurant you choose?’

‘Sounds
perfect. Will you be able to get a babysitter at such short
notice?’

‘Yeah, I have a
friend, another single mum. I’ve looked after her kid a few times
when she’s gone out. She owes me a favour or two.’

‘It sounds like
we have a plan. Let’s meet at Giordano’s, the Italian over on King
Street in the city. Do you know it?’

‘Yes, I do. It
looks like a nice place.’

‘It is. Hey,
it’s gone three. Didn’t you say you had to be somewhere at
three?’

‘Yeah, the
school gates!’

‘Oh right, of
course. Come, I’ll give you a lift.’

‘No, it’s okay.
Honestly, it’s not far.’

‘Okay, no
problem. Well I see you tomorrow at eight. Let me know if you have
any problems.’

‘I will do.
Thanks for a lovely afternoon.’

‘And thank
you,’ replied Peter, after which he hesitantly leaned forward and
gave her a light kiss on her cheek. ‘See you tomorrow.’

‘Definitely.’

Peter left the
shop and Sally spent a couple of moments to gather her thoughts.
With a sigh as she contemplated what she was planning to do, she
also left the shop and walked to the school where she spoke to her
friend who agreed to look after Sophia and Jacob all night and
bring them to school the next day.

*

The morning
after meeting Peter at the coffee shop Sally grabbed her children’s
savings books and without saying a word to David she walked back
into town. Asking for her children’s forgiveness, but also stating
to herself that her actions would hopefully eventually lead to a
better life for them, she withdrew fifty pounds from each of them
and then spent the rest of the morning strolling through the shops
trying to find a perfect dress for the night, a dress that said
sexy yet was quite reserved too. Eventually she found a perfect red
dress within her budget that was sexy yet classy too. It was just
short of knee length and it showed some cleavage but not too
much.

After buying
the dress she walked home and sneaked into the bedroom hiding the
new dress in the depths of her wardrobe. She spent the rest of the
day getting ready. She shaved and plucked all the hair from her
legs and armpits, ensuring that they were all smooth and silky to
the touch. With the use of a mirror she carefully tidied up her
pubic region, a region that had not been touched by another person
for many years.

When she would
have usually left the apartment to pick up the children she did
not, but she was not surprised that David did not notice. By that
time in the afternoon he would be drunk beyond thinking so she was
able to continue to get ready without him knowing. She washed and
lightly curled her long, black hair, leaving it to fall naturally
over her shoulders and down her back. Carefully she applied makeup,
using more than she had when she went for a coffee, and by the time
she had finished Sally could have walked straight onto a photo
shoot for any of the leading fashion houses.

Quietly
returning to the bedroom she took the red dress out of its bag and
slid it onto her body over the black lingerie she was wearing.
Finally, she slipped on black sandals and studied herself in the
mirror. She decided that with a bit more money she could have made
herself look even better, but after contemplating her image she
gave a satisfied nod and left the bedroom this time sneaking out of
the apartment.

*

Nervously Sally
entered the restaurant and glanced over to the bar area hoping to
see Peter already sat there, but she was disappointed. In fact,
Peter was going to be late as there had been an accident in one of
his meth warehouses. Usually he did not go near the places, but
tonight he had to.

Over the years
Peter had taken more and more responsibility for Reg’s business,
until Reg was nothing more than a figure head with Peter making all
the key decisions. By keeping himself clear of the police he was
now slowly legitimizing his businesses with the plan to make all
his activities perfectly legal. But this was still some time away,
and for now the drugs were still the core of his income.

Recently one of
his warehouses had employed a few new men to prepare the meth and
unfortunately tonight one of them had used slightly too much of a
volatile chemical causing the whole caustic substance to explode.
The worker who was closest was killed instantly and the rest of the
men were covered in burns. One of them had somehow managed to
ingest some of the substance and he had melted from the inside out,
his digestive organs burning causing him to die in agonising
pain.

By the time
Peter arrived it was total chaos with men lying on the ground,
rolling around in agony as their skin was burned from their bones.
Making a quick decision Peter told his uninjured workers to help
the people who could be saved into the vans and shouted, ‘Get them
the hell out of here! You two, with me!’

He waited until
the men were clear of the building, and then ordered the two men to
open up the barrels of acid that they used in the production of the
drug. ‘Right, get them two and dump them in the barrels!’

‘But, but one
of them is still alive?’

‘He won’t be
for long. Do it!’ Peter pulled out a gun that had been tucked in
his waistband and pointed it at the men. ‘Now!’

Quickly they
walked across and lifted each of the men between them and dumped
them into the barrels both of them jumping back as displacement
occurred and the acid overflowed from their containers.

‘Right, you,
dump the remains of that stupid fucking idiot,’ Peter indicated the
melted remains of the worker who had blown himself up, ‘into
another barrel and you, pour some from another barrel over where
the worst of his blood and guts are. Wash it all away! Do it
quick!’

Peter’s idea
was to leave no trace of what had occurred here so he spent some
time pouring petrol over the walls of the warehouse, throwing some
up onto the ceiling too. His thoughts were by the time the fire
department put the fire out and were able to investigate the cause;
the men in the barrels would be unrecognisable therefore
eliminating the trouble of getting rid of their bodies.

When they were
ready Peter told the two men to leave and he screamed into the
empty warehouse in frustration and anger. ‘For fuck’s sake! Useless
mother fucking bastards! Follow the simple fucking
instructions!’

With a rage he
pulled out his gun again and started firing to the far side of the
warehouse, causing sparks to fly. After a few shots one of the
sparks ignited some of the petrol and Peter watched as flames
whooshed up and took hold, burning the structure of the warehouse.
For a few minutes he watched as the building burned, and when he
could feel the heat of the flames on his face he turned and left.
The two men had taken their car so with another curse Peter got
into one of his other cars, a Porsche, and drove quickly home to
get changed for his date.

*

Swearing Peter
turned his Ferrari into the car park of the restaurant and quickly
parked it. As he ran towards the entrance he sniffed himself making
doubly sure that he no longer smelled like he had spent the last
day swimming in a pool full of petrol. Satisfied he burst through
the doors and saw Sally sat on her own at the bar nursing a small
glass of wine. He muttered a swear word and walked quickly over to
her. ‘Sally! I’m so, so sorry! I tried to call but all I got was
your answer phone?’

‘It’s okay. I’m
just glad you came. You’re only a bit late anyway.’

‘Fifteen
minutes isn’t a bit late, it’s rude late.’

‘No, honestly,
it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. What was the problem?’

‘Oh, a
nightmare at work. Some junior made a mistake, a big one. I had to
sort it out. Imbecile, but I suppose we all have to start
somewhere.’

‘Yeah, we do.
Would you like a drink?’

‘Usually when I
drive I don’t at all, but I really want a beer now so I’ll have a
bottle of,’ he paused while he looked in the refrigerators behind
the bar, ‘Corona.’ As Sally reached into her handbag to get some
money Peter touched her arm lightly and said, ‘No, tonight is on
me.’

‘I can pay my
own way.’

‘No, I insist
and it is not negotiable! Barman, a Corona and some more wine
please, make it a bottle actually.’

After their
drinks were brought and he had topped up Sally’s wine he asked
whether she was ready to go through to the table. She replied with
a nod and a waiter led Sally to their table. As he walked Peter
could not help admire Sally, her toned muscular back that led down
to her tight bottom and her long, slender legs. Peter was surprised
at the rudeness of the waiter and tutted as the waiter brushed past
him. ‘Here, allow me.’ He quickly walked round to her side of the
table and pulled the chair out for her. With a smile at him she sat
down and so did he in his seat. ‘Terrible service, good food
though. Sorry about that.’

‘It’s okay.
Can’t remember the last time I was in a restaurant to be
honest.’

‘I don’t
understand why a woman like you would have not been in a restaurant
for a long time.’

‘What do you
mean a woman like me?

‘Well just in
case you haven’t looked in the mirror recently, you’re beyond
gorgeous.’

He watched as
Sally flushed. ‘I can’t remember the last time I received such a
lovely compliment either.’

‘Well, you are.
So why have you not been on a date for so long?’

‘I don’t get
out much. I have children to look after so I don’t get to meet many
men, and any men I do meet usually run a mile when they find out I
have children.’

‘Those men
should be locked in an asylum because they are clearly nuts!’

‘Thank you,
again.’

‘No worries,
but it is only the truth. Here,’ and he passed her a menu, ‘I
highly recommend the Cannelloni but order whatever you like. And
don’t you dare go for the cheapest thing on the menu!’

Sally nodded
and they both spent some time consulting the menu, Sally picking
out a starter and a not too cheap, not too expensive main course.
While she was looking, Peter’s mobile rang.

‘Shit, sorry. I
forgot to turn it off.’ He looked at the screen. ‘Ah, bugger. It’s
my boss. I need to answer. Sorry.’

‘It’s fine. Go
for it.’

‘Thank you.’
Peter touched her hand lightly as he walked away from the table and
stepped out of the restaurant. Hesitantly he answered the
phone.

‘And what the
hell happened tonight?!’

‘I don’t
exactly know yet Reg. There was an explosion. One of the new guys
got the ingredients mixed up.’

‘I didn’t think
it was that difficult to make?’

‘You know it’s
not. Bar that spillage a few years ago this is the first accident
we’ve ever had which, when you consider the chemicals we’re dealing
with, is pretty good going in my eyes.’

‘I suppose. You
destroyed the place?’

‘Should be
burned to a cinder by now.’

‘Good. Come by
my house tomorrow. I want more information about it.’

‘I will.’

‘Where are you
now?’

‘On a
date.’

‘On a date?! A
few of our men have just been melted and you’re on a date? Fuck me
Peter, that’s what I like about you; you just don’t give a shit do
you?! See you tomorrow.’ As Reg rang off Peter shrugged his
shoulders and went back into the restaurant.

‘Sorry about
that. He wanted more info about what had happened. It’s off now.
Very rude of me again.’

‘That’s fine,
don’t worry about it.’

‘You okay.
You’re not saying much?’

‘Just a little
nervous. Can’t remember the last time I was on a date with someone
new.’

‘Ah well, have
some more wine, relax and I’m sure we can get through the night
together. First dates are always a bit awkward. So are you working
at the moment?