Night Realm (9 page)

“So much for building security,” Ryan
groaned and stood aside to let her enter. “Would you like a drink of something?” he asked her.

“A beer?” she said hopefully and smiled.

Ryan shook his head. “No way.”

“I’ll be eighteen on Friday.”

“Yeah, well it’s only Tuesday. How about orange juice instead?”

“Fine.”

Emma sat down on the lounge and waited for Ryan to join her. He poured her a glass of juice and took it into the living room, placing it down on the coffee table for her.

“Is Chelsea home? She wasn’t at school again today.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Ryan said and sighed. “And, no, she’s not home. She was gone when I got up this morning.” He tugged at his ear and stared out the balcony doors. “She’s probably working at Threads.” The fingers of his other hand started strumming on his thigh. “I need you to do me a favour, Emma. Chelsea won’t listen to me. She wants to drop out of school with only a month to go. Which is crazy.”

Emma picked up her juice and took a sip. “I know. She told me last night. I think she’s crazy, too.”
She stared at Ryan, her eyes vibrantly green in the bright light that streamed in through the windows. She sat back on the lounge and crossed her legs, her blue pleated skirt covering her lap. Emma held the glass in both hands, sipping on it occasionally.

“So, do you think you can talk her out of it?” Ryan asked. “Like I said, there’s no way she’ll listen to me at the moment.”

“She seemed kinda pissed off with you last night.”

“We’d just had an argument.”

“About school?”

“Yeah that, and other things that I won’t go into.”

“I tried to talk to her last night, saying how crazy it was for her to quit with only a few weeks left, but she wouldn’t listen. You know what she’s like.”

He nodded, knowing all too well what his sister was like and how stubborn she could be. Maybe
he
came across that way to others too? He wasn’t sure.

“She should listen to you,” Emma said, a slight, approving smile curling the corners of her
mouth. Today she had on no lipstick or nail polish. “You’re a nice guy. One of the good guys. I’m normally attracted to the bad boy, but nice guys are good too.”

“I’m not all nice and goodie-goodie,” he assured her. “I have my flaws.”

“Who doesn’t? Are you trying to tell me that you have some bad boy in you?”

“Maybe
?”

Ryan knew Emma smoked and he contemplated asking her if she had any cigarettes on her. However, he decided against that for a number of reasons. For one, he didn’t want to be a bad role model for his sister’s friend. Secondly, he was supposed to be making a concerted effort to quit the habit.
He really needed to stop thinking about it. What he needed was something to do, a case to work on, something to keep his mind occupied.

He felt Emma’s gaze upon him. When he looked at her she had a glint in her eyes. He’d seen that look before, and it worried him that he was receiving it from a seventeen year old school girl.

“Would you like to come to my birthday party on Friday night, Ryan?” she asked out of the blue. “It’ll be fun. I guarantee it.”

He managed a rather strained smile in response and shook his head.
“I don’t think so. I’m sure it will be fun, but I won’t go.”

She sat forward and offered him a pleading look. “Why not?” She then batted her eyelids at him rather amateurishly.

“For one, it’s for people your age.”

“No it’s not. My parents will be there.”

He ignored that. “Secondly, I’m assuming my sister will be there, and I’m one hundred percent positive that she wouldn’t want her big brother there keeping an eye on her. Especially the way things are with us at the moment.”

Emma looked genuinely disappointed, but didn’t push it further.
However, she continued to stare at him as if he was the best looking man to walk planet earth. Ryan felt uneasy under her gaze and shifted his weight in the chair.

Emma patted the couch. “You can sit here beside me if it’ll be more comfortable for you.”

“I don’t think so, Emma.”

“I won’t bite.”

“I think you might.” He stood up and paced the living room floor, walking over to the balcony, glancing down at the city of Surfers, then back to the chair again. “I’m really flattered, Emma, but I’m not gonna go there.”

“Don’t you find me attractive?” She tried the eyelid thing again without success.

“It’s not about whether I think you’re attractive or not. Of course you’re attractive. Many guys would think so; especially guys your own age.”

“I prefer older men,” she told him.

Ryan wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with that label at just twenty-five. He shook his head to get his thinking back on track.

“I’m too old for you,” he said.

“No, you’re not.”

“If you want someone older, find someone who’s twenty, or twenty-one.
Besides, there’s no way I’m going to date Chelsea’s best friend.”

“And if I wasn’t Chelsea’s friend? Would you go out with me then?”

“No,” he replied with all honesty.

Emma frowned and pouted like a girl half her age would do.
“So you’re telling me you’re just not interested in me no matter what?”

He nodded and made eye contact with her. “That’s what I’m telling you. Please don’t be offended by it. We all have our own types we go for.”

“And I’m not yours, obviously.”

She was still pouting as she stood up, preparing to leave. Ryan followed her to the door and opened it for her, wanting to make sure she left.

“Will you have another talk to Chelsea about school?” he asked, hoping like hell she’d still help him out after just being rejected by him.

To her credit she agreed, and then she was gone.

It was dark outside when Chelsea finally came home. Ryan was sitting in the living room, idly watching television
but not really focusing on it. He turned to face her as she entered and tried to think of something to say.

“Hi,” was all he could come up with.

Chelsea grunted a greeting without looking his way. She was dressed in jeans and a red sleeveless top. She went into the kitchen, grabbed a can of Coke from the fridge, then went straight to her bedroom and closed the door.

Well, at least she didn’t slam it, he thought.

His iPhone buzzed on the coffee table, the sound switched off. He leaned forward and picked it up, studying the caller’s mobile number that displayed on screen. It wasn’t one he recognized. He sat back in the chair and answered it.

“Hello?” he said, his voice sounding tired from boredom.

“Hello. Is that Ryan Fox?” a woman’s voice came through the speaker. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Ryan couldn’t pick it. He could hear music in the background.

“Yes, it is,” he said.

“Good evening, Ryan. It’s Selena Thorne here, the owner of Bliss Night Club. How are you?”

“I’m really good,” he said, which wasn’t entirely the truth. His heart had skipped a beat when she announced her name.
He’d been wanting to hear from her about some work, but another part of him had just wanted to hear from her regardless. “What can I do for you, Selena?”

“Well, you know how I said the other night that I may have some work for you.”

“Yes.”

“I have something I need you to do for me over the next few days. That is, if you are not too busy with other cases.”

Ryan almost laughed at that last line. “That sounds good. I have some free time at the moment.”

“Excellent,” she crooned in her silk
en voice. “Would it be possible for you to come into my club tonight sometime to discuss it? I’m here until five AM.”

Ryan checked his watch. Nearly seven-thirty.

“How about I meet you there at nine.”

“That’ll be great. You will find me at the end of the bar near the entrance. Although I doubt we will get particularly busy tonight, being a Tuesday and all.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

“Thanks, Ryan.”

Ryan ended the call and sat there for a moment, staring blankly at the TV. He felt a little excited, but quickly realized it wasn’t just about the prospect of some work. He felt quite keen to see Selena again. Apart from her obvious beauty and sophistication, there was something intangible about her that really appealed to him. He didn’t really know what it was.

Maybe it was just that mysterious thing called chemistry?

He could hear music coming from behind Chelsea’s closed bedroom door, but couldn’t make out what the song was. For a brief moment he considered knocking on her door and trying to have a talk to her about school. In the end he decided to see if Emma could have any sort of positive influence first. He’d give it a couple of days. There was still time.

Ryan went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of cheap wine from a cask in the fridge. It was called
Fruity Lexia
, or some sickly name like that. With his drink in hand he stepped out onto the balcony to take in the view.

A light breeze was blowing in from the ocean, billowing cooler air over the city. Thousands of lights burned in the
many buildings in his field of view. This place always looked alive and that’s what he liked about it. Things were always open, no matter what the time of day or night, and it always felt like something was happening.

He went into his bedroom, closed the door, placed his wine on the sink in the bathroom and stripped out of his clothes. After taking a couple of sips of wine, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. A day’s worth of stubble covered his cheeks, chin and under the jaw. Ryan thought about shaving it off, but
decided to leave it as is. He kind of liked the stubble look. It suited him.

He fired up the shower and stepped into it, letting the lukewarm water cascade over his head and run in rivers
down his naked body. Loving the invigorating feel of a shower, he soaped himself up, then danced around under the jet of water to rinse himself off. After toweling himself dry, he ran a brush through his hair, then sprayed on some Hugo Boss cologne. Back in the bedroom he slipped into some fresh underwear, then opened the doors to his wardrobe and perused the clothing that hung there.

Ryan considered wearing a suit, but decided that might be a little formal and overdressed for a quiet Tuesday night.
Besides, by the time he walked up town to
Bliss
in a suit, he’d probably be sweating. And he didn’t want that.

He opted for some slightly more casual black pants and black leather shoes, then rummaged through his array of shirts, looking for something light, cool and comfortable that still looked reasonably dressy. He pulled out a white one. No, would look like a waiter. He put it back and took out a black one. Possibly. In the end he decided to wear one that was a charcoal colour. It was basically a solid colour, but had subtle stripes crisscrossing through the material in a slightly darker shade of deep
grey. Ryan slipped into it, buttoned it up to the third top button and left it hanging out. It was a shirt designed to be either worn out, or tucked in. He preferred out on a warm night. His wallet was slipped into his back pocket and his keys tucked into a front pocket. A Seiko watch was then strapped to his left wrist.

Fully dressed, he went back into the kitchen and poured another glass of wine, which he once again took out onto the balcony. There he sat at the small outdoor plastic table and relaxed. There was still more than half an hour before his rendezvous with Selena. Maybe one more glass of wine after this one and he’d be on his way.

When he was halfway through the third glass he glanced at his watch. Twenty to nine. Time to get going. He downed the rest of the wine and left the empty glass unwashed beside the kitchen sink. He didn’t bother telling his sister he was going out.

The breeze grew a little stronger as he strode into town and drew nearer the beach.
There were plenty of shoppers about, many of them from overseas. Not too many people looked like they were dressed for a night of clubbing or hard drinking. Like most places, he figured, that was more prevalent on weekends.

Ryan slowed his pace as he walked through the mall, a light sheen of sweat starting to form on his face and the back of his neck. He went and stood by the beach for a few minutes to catch the full brunt of the sea breeze before climbing the stairs and entering
Bliss
without being asked to pay a cover charge. That was another thing that was usually reserved for weekends. On week nights clubs were just happy to get people through the door and spending money over the bar. As with Saturday night, a bouncer was standing just outside the entrance, but tonight there was no one attending the reception desk.

The music volume was set very low and t
here were only about fifty people inside the club, with at least six of those being staff. Selena Thorne was where she said she would be, standing at the end of the bar. Once again she was dressed all in black, only tonight she was wearing black pants the hugged the curves of her hips and buttocks to perfection. She had on a sleeveless black top that had a nice sheen to it. It looked to be made of silk or something similar. It was button up with frilly lapels running down the front of it. Her breasts looked impressive as they stretched the top’s sleek fabric. On her feet she wore glossy black shoes with a three inch heel, and once more she had those black silk gloves on her hands. The mandatory black eyeliner framed her dark eyes and her lips were again painted with red lip gloss. A simple fine gold chain with no pendant hung loosely around her slender neck.