Page 76 of Heartbreaker

Chapter 30

Jackson

My heart cramps in pain as I get the last text from Ashley, I’m losing her I can feel it. Fear grips me, and I feel like I can’t breathe, my chest hurts. Fuck am I having a heart attack? I stand and pace my living room trying to catch my breath.

I need air, pulling open the back door I step onto my patio area and take deep breaths as I concentrate on the night sky and the stars there. Within a few minutes the vice around my chest eases.

Slumping into the garden chair, I listen to the sounds of the night. Even in the dead of night London doesn’t sleep. I find it comforting to know that life is happening around me. It makes the lonely feeling subside.

I wonder if Tinkerbell is still at the club? Jake sent a text to say he had seen her, I struggled not to ask him if she was with anyone. I didn’t deserve to know after what I had done. Thank God my brother had then sent a text to say she was with Taylor and her guy.

It’s been a week since I saw her, and I miss her more than I could ever imagine. Her smile that lights up a room, her goofy sense of humour. Her beautiful body, soft lips, her luscious curves. Fuck, I even miss her beautiful tattoos.

She is everything I didn’t know I wanted, I crave her like a drug and I don’t want to let her go.

I go to bed, tired after days of not sleeping properly and despite my inner turmoil just that little contact with her tonight has calmed me enough to think. I don’t want to give up Heartbreaker, it is a good service, but I know she won’t accept it, I need a new idea.

The shock of Eddie’s visit the other day had knocked me off my feet and even now I was regretting taking the job. To dump my first girlfriend for her current boyfriend brings me full circle. She is the reason I started Heartbreaker and now she will be the last person I dump. I won’t close the business, I have decided that, but I won’t be doing it anymore. I have recruited two new people to handle that side of things. A man named Nikolay and a woman called Jenna. They are both gorgeous and both come highly recommended with references out the wazoo. More importantly they got past Lindy.

I have promoted Lindy to Office Manager and she is hiring someone to handle enquiries and reception. I feel positive I can make changes in my life that I need. I can’t resist the desire to text Ashley one more time.

Jackson: Goodnight my Love

I wait expectantly and soon the dots are jumping.

Tinkerbell: Gloria Estefan xx

I smile at her reply, it’s not over yet. I fall asleep feeling happier than I have for a while.

I wake up at five the next morning. Sitting bolt upright as it comes to me, I know what I need to do. Jumping out of bed I rush through a shower and dress for work. I need to speak to people get the wheels in motion.

I get to the office by six and after fixing myself a coffee I head to my computer and start my research. I need to do some projections and speak to contacts, but this can work.

The next time I look up is when Lindy walks into the office.

“You sleep here?” she asks with a raised brow.

I jump up and round the desk. “I know what I have to do,” I announce, and a smile curls her mouth. I tell her all about it as I make her coffee. She is as animated as I am, her enthusiasm fuels mine. At eleven I get a call from my contact, we talk for an hour and agree to meet tomorrow to set things in motion. I put down the phone and lean back, a happy smile on my face.

Lindy walks in and hands me a sandwich. “Here eat this, you have that meeting in an hour and if you’re going to see the praying mantis you should eat first. I really don’t agree with you doing this, but if you have to, do you want me to come along? You know guard you,” she asks and the mouth full of food nearly erupts from my mouth.

“Lindy, you’re a hundred pounds soaking wet.”

I watch her straighten to her full height and glare at me. “I could kick your ass,” she says and walks away.

I finish my sandwich and think about my upcoming meeting. It is something I believe I need to do, to confront Jade about her behaviour and then dump her like she did me. It is payback with the ultimate satisfaction. She had been so keen to meet when I called her, and I had felt pity for her boyfriend. He was a weak prick, but he didn’t deserve that.

I decide to walk to meet Jade, we are meeting at the Milton Hotel bar. The air is still warm, but the light is starting to change, summer is waning, and autumn is showing its pretty head. The leaves are still green, but you can feel that it is the last few weeks before the weather cools.

I love this time of year, I take it all in as I walk. My phone rings and I look at it and see Lindy’s name. I dismiss the call, I know she only wants to lecture me. I’ll get my revenge and then move on hopefully with Tinkerbell.

Thinking of her I stop short. She wouldn’t understand me having to do this, she hasn’t got a vindictive bone in her sweet body. I shake the image of her from my head and stride into the hotel.

I go to the bar, looking around as I do. There was a time when being in here would have given me a thrill, only the elite of the elite stayed at the Milton. Now I just felt bored, men in suits drink scotch and discuss business, while bored wives eyed up the barmen. Posh women with no facial movement from too much Botox sit around pretending to eat while pushing food around their plates and discussing the latest fashion. They try to outdo each other with how much money their husbands earn, while secretly fucking their gym instructor.

It was hollow and empty, and I had wanted nothing but to be part of this set and now I realise that I couldn’t think of a worse fate. They were all so fucking miserable, not one of them was happy not truly happy and for a second, I felt sorry for them.

They would never have what I had with Tinkerbell. I was about to leave when I felt a tap on my shoulder.