It was a pain on Wednesday mornings. I always just had to wait around for the buzzer on my flat to go indicating Jared was there to open the bakery for me. It was a deal Jared's wife, Lily, and I had. I could live above the bakery rent free if every Wednesday when the bakery was closed I came down and cooked the specials, rose bud cupcakes, rose water and raisin swirls and any birthday cake orders.
Lily only owned the bakery as a pass time instead of a real job. Jared was a partner in some firm and made a load of money. You would think from the look of Lily she was a gold digger. She certainly looked and fitted the part. She had waist length brown hair, brown eyes, 5"7, she looked kind of stuck up and from a rich family who had become bankrupt. She had no problem spending Jared's money as well but the moment you looked at her and Jared when they were together you could tell she was madly in love with. Who could blame her? I thought. He was good looking with a shaved head, grey eyes, 6"2, muscular and he had a good heart.
She was lovely too, coming round often for tea and cakes with me to talk. She couldn't open the shop on a Wednesday for me though because that was the day she visits her charity and I refused to have a key for the bakery because I often loose things.
Finally I heard the buzzer ring. I jumped up and scurried down the stairs because I knew I had a lot to do. I walked into the bakery and Jared was sitting at a table with some work in front of him.
"Hi." I greeted him walking straight to the stereo putting in my favourite CD. I couldn't cook without music but my choice of music annoyed Jared because it was rock.
"Not that crap again Marie." He groaned.
I laughed. "You know I cook best when I am listening to them."
"You are such a little goth." He teased not looking up from his piles of work.
"I am not a goth!" I argued.
"Lily said that she needs an extra dessert made for her mother's tea party tomorrow." He called as I was already in the kitchen.
"Did she say what kind?"
"I think she said a pavlova."
I started to cook the cakes and desserts with my usual precision. I didn't hear a thing out of Jared as I cooked but I brought him a cake and a cup of coffee after my first cakes were in the oven.
The bakery was an amazing little French themed shop on the harbour. Customers could order delicate cakes and pastries to eat inside or out or to take away. I cooked the specials and birthday cakes and Lucy, Lily's niece, cooked the usual things. Lucy couldn't cook the specials because she refused to take the recipes that I had created and pass them off as her own.
As I started to make the pavlova I realised I didn't have the berries I needed so I decided to ask Jared to go and get them for me while I decorated the rose bud cupcakes. When I went out to see him I saw the most gorgeous man I had ever seen sat opposite him talking. He had jet black hair that fell just below his ears, with dazzling green eyes that were intently laid upon Jared with his eyebrows knitted in a small frown. His face was chiselled but handsome and he seemed to exude confidence, arrogance and sex. He was dressed in a black Armani suit which showed off his muscular body that was slightly less muscular than Jared's but he seemed more powerful.
His eyes moved to me when I walked in and he seemed to drink in my appearance. A smirk came to his lips and at that moment I realised no matter how handsome he was he was going to be a dickhead. I walked up and stood next to the table.
"Sorry to interrupt gentlemen but I need to speak to you Jared." I said politely and with a small smile.
"Well sorry but we are a bit busy here so if you don't mind..." the man drawled. He gave me a crooked smile of dismissal and I wanted to slap him. His voice was deep and made my legs quiver slightly.
I gave him the same smile back to him that he had given to me. "Yes I can see you're busy but so am I and I cannot continue my work until I speak with Jared so if you don't mind..."
He chuckled deeply. "I think our work is slightly more important than yours."
"What makes your work more important than mine? My job gives me a place to live, money to pay my bills and buy food just as yours does for you." I judiciously retorted.
"She has a point there." Jared cheerfully said.
"Yes but my job is more important to me than yours is." He gave a twisted smile. "I think that is a better way to say what I meant."
"Twat." I muttered under my breath, I thought so no one could hear me. Jared tried to stifle a chuckle but he sharply turned his head to me with the look of evil in his eyes.
"What did you just call me?" he growled standing up to face me. He stood a good 9 inches taller than me at 6"3 and I had to lift my head to look him in the eye.
"Nothing at all." I sarcastically replied. I moved my head to the side and muttered "twat" again this time knowing he would hear me. Jared tried to stifle his chuckles again but was unable to this time.
"Do you know who I am little girl?" he asked, venom in his eyes.
"No, nor do I care." I retorted angrily crossing my arms over my chest.
He smirked. "I am Nick Phoenix." Realisation dawned on me. He was the head of the Phoenix mob which mainly handled loans. If you couldn't pay him back what you owed you would end up beaten, tortured or dead. My sister who had died recently had taken a large loan from him to fuel her drug habit and had killed herself when she couldn't pay him back. I needed to stand my ground.
"As I said I do not care. I just need to speak to Jared."
"What's your name?" he growled obviously furious someone had stood up to him.
"I do not see why it matters."
"It matter's because it is common courtesy to know the name of the person you are having a dispute with."
I sighed. "Marie Stokes."
Nick grew an unpleasant smile on his face. "Please say you have, well should I say had a sister named Emily Stokes."
I took a step back and unfolded my arms. "Yes I did, I mean do. Why does that matter?"
He laughed a cruel, menacing laugh. "Do we really have to do this now Nick?" Jared asked firmly.
"What better time to do it than now?" Nick replied. My stomach flipped in fear. "You owe me £1.5 million by the end of the year."
I stood opened mouthed at the two of them. Jared had his head ducked in shame while Nick had a smug smile on his face.
"Why? Why do I have this debt?" I nervously asked.
"Well, your coked up sister took a loan from me of £800,000 but then when the interest grew over a number of years and the fact she took a number of smaller loans over those years the amount grew. When she killed herself, which I must say was a very selfish act on her part, the debt was transferred to a relative. That relative is you."
I could feel a mixture of anger and desperation well up inside me. There was no way I would be able to make the money by living the way I was. I earned no money from the bakery job but earned a reasonable salary working in a bar that covered food and bills but any other time was taken up with college, college assignments and the occasional party or concert. I was doing a photography course and I had classes three times a week. I would have to drop everything and get an extra job and maybe even quit college or just not attend classes but continue with assignments.
I turned my side on Nick and spoke to Jared. "Please tell me his making this up." I begged.
Jared shook his head and could not turn to meet my eyes. "I wish I could but it is true. I will get Lily to start paying you for work in the bakery."
I shook my head. "I can't do that. You let me live upstairs rent free. You can't start paying me as well."
Nick took a step forward and ducked his head so that his lips were level with my ear. "You're going to have to drop your pride at some point to pay me off." He whispered. "I'll call you later Jared. You can deal with her problem now." He gave me a cruel smile and left the shop.
I slumped down in the closet seat possible. "Shit." I mumbled unable to think of anything else to say.
"You know I could give you the money." Jared offered kindly.
"No, I am going to show him I am not going to crack." I stood up determined to power through. I could do this, I kept thinking to myself; show Nick that you can do this. I didn't know why I had only just met the man but I somehow had to prove to him I could cope with this weight on my shoulders and not crack. "What I needed was some berries for the pavlova and I was wondering if you could go get them for me." I asked Jared in my normal voice.
"Katie you are coping with this news too well. It's kind of scary."
"I'm not going to be scared of some debt, I'm not going to crack like Emily did and give the burden to someone else. Can you get me the berries please?" I smiled broadly trying to prove I was fine.
"What kind?" He asked kindly.
Nick
It had been a month since I had met Marie. When I first saw her I was surprised at her beauty. She had the most beautiful almond shaped eyes framed in long black lashes and black eyeliner. The colours of her eyes were icy blue and were breathtaking to look at. Her nose was small and dainty, the perfect size for the rest of her face, dusted with light freckles and her lips were red and pouty, almost cute. Her cheekbones were fairly pronounced and glowing red from the heat in the kitchen. Her hair was the colour of golden autumn leaves, fairly long in length with her fringe pushed off her face.
She was wearing a pair of tattered denim shorts that showed of her pale legs and shapely bum with black converse on her feet. She then had a three quarter sleeved top on that had a pattern of orangey stripes across of it. From the music in the background she was into rock. Her entire look was not something you expect to find in an upper clash bakery and it bought a smile to my face and was refreshing from other women I usually have to spend my time with.
The moment I found out she was that drug whore Emily Stokes sister, Marie seemed all the more intriguing to me. Emily had been off the handles when it came to drugs and alcohol but whenever she had to deal with me she was incredibly quiet and never stood up to me when I was being an asshole. She also blended in to the background if you were near her because of how she looked usually wearing jeans and a t-shirt, completely the opposite of Marie.
Jared walked into my office looking fairly angry. "You need to go and talk to Marie." He demanded.
"Why? She is no bother to me unless she does not give me my money." I responded.
Jared had been my closest friends for years as well as a worthy business partner. He was a complete hard ass when it came to business but this time Marie seemed to be under his skin and he had been sliding small comments indicating he wanted me to help here. He seemed to have finely cracked and was being brilliantly blunt and forceful about what he wanted.
"Look she has stopped attending college classes and is working long hours in this sleazy bar. Make some sort of deal with her to pay off her debt."
"Why is she different to others that we take money from Jared? I know you are not infatuated with her so why do you care so much?" I goaded.
"She didn't take this loan, this wasn't her choice. It is unfair to uphold her on the same standards as the people we give loans to. She did not get any gain from the loan, her sister did." He explained calmly. "Please, Lily wants me to sort this. She is worried about Marie."
I sighed. If Lily wanted something done Jared will be hell bent on getting it done. Damn that woman I thought. "Fine. I'll talk to her. Where is she now?" I asked thinking I could get it over with now.
I got the address of where she was working and drove over to see her. When I got to the bar I saw her waitressing tables in a sleazy outfit which consisted of tiny black shorts and a tight shirt that showed off her flat creamy stomach. I watched her work for a while and I noticed tattoos on her. She had "Memento vivere" tattooed on the base of her back in black with small black silhouettes of butterflies creeping over her hip in a spaced out collection.
