“Yes he is,” interjected Steph. “Do you have any change for the coffee machine?”
“No, but I will see if I can find some.” Jon was already up on his feet, glad to be able to get away from Jason for a while.
“Your boyfriend is an arse,” said Jason as Jon headed downstairs via the lift.
“No, he’s not. He’s trying to help and he is very good at being in control and getting people to do what he wants, so I am rather glad he stayed. Now stop being a prat.”
“Whatever.” Jason pouted. “You love him, don’t you?”
Steph nodded, “Yes, but it’s complicated.”
“How? He is still an arse, but he is obviously crazy about you too, so what’s the problem?” he asked curiously.
She considered being completely honest, but really she knew that wasn’t an option, not with Jason, not now. He would flip and probably hit Jon when he returned and whilst she wasn’t concerned that Jon couldn’t defend himself, she didn’t want a fight.
“He’s my boss, Jay and it kind of complicates things.”
“Why did you leave your old job? Did he make you?” he asked accusingly.
“No,” laughed Steph and tried to explain about her change in work, although she stopped short of telling him exactly what had occurred with Baker and Simon. She opted for a simplified, ‘Baker got a bit weird and Simon was being a complete pain’ and finished with a truthful ‘Jon employed me as a temp and he has just offered me a big promotion and a permanent post’.
“What do you mean about Baker and Simon? Did Baker try it on with you?” Jay’s look of annoyance seemed to suggest he didn’t entirely buy her simplified account.
“Yeah, kind of, but I floored him so had to leave really.” She laughed and was relieved when Jason joined in with her laughter.
“What about Simon? He was never right for you and never, ever good enough, sis. You should have floored him years ago,” he said sincerely as he gazed into her eyes.
Steph nodded, believing, possibly for the first time that Simon really hadn’t been good enough for her, ever. The way he’d spoken to her, treated her, used her. Even when they’d first got together he’d been a little half-hearted about things even when they were at the point of discussing a joint future. Feeling her brother’s concerned eyes boring into her, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and moved conversation back to Simon.“He became a nuisance with calls and texts then he followed me to Lindsay’s and we ended up having a bit of a tussle,” she said trying to play the incident down.
“A tussle?” Jason looked upset and angry and Steph wasn’t sure which was the safest emotion for her brother to embrace.
“Yeah, a tussle, that’s all it was, but I banged my head and ended up going to A and E with Charlie,” she revealed cautiously.
“A and E with Charlie? Where was your super boyfriend?” He sounded angrier with Jon than Simon now.
“He was working, but for what it’s worth as soon as he found out he came to mine and looked after me and gave me a bollocking for being anywhere near Simon and was ready to lamp him. Then he got Eddie to get me a new car so that Simon wouldn’t be able to find me, same with the flat.” Perhaps it was the shock of their dad being hurt or maybe she needed to unload this information, but she was unsure why she was revealing so much to Jason when he was so volatile, especially where she was concerned.
“He’s loaded though, right?” he asked.
She nodded, “Yup, seriously.”
“He’s like one of the big bosses then?” Jason looked confused and his words sounded as though he was thinking aloud. “If he gave you a job?”
“The biggest boss. You know I work for Brookers now?”
Jason nodded.
“Well they are huge and they have loads of smaller companies in just about every field and Jon is Jonathan Brooker and he owns the whole thing,” she revealed and laughed at the expression on her brother’s face.
“Shit! Had I known that, I would have been much nicer to him,” he said and they both laughed as Jon returned.
“This place is bloody useless. There is nowhere to get any change, even the car park machine won’t take notes tonight, and the card reader’s broken, but I will go and find a petrol station or a twenty-four hour supermarket if you really want coffee, darling,” he said to Steph as he brushed the hair off her face gently.
“No it’s fine,” she reassured him as Jason stood up and stood almost toe to toe with him.
“Or just have some brought in from Columbia on your private jet.”
“What? Have I missed something?” Jon’s obvious confusion amused Jason.
