First Sight (The Ivory Series Book 1) Page 5

  5

  Monday morning I arrived at work early and loitered in the tiny kitchenette for a while, slowly making a cup of coffee and sat down to read a magazine. The piles of six month old magazines were fanned out on the table with the newspaper. The front page of the local paper caught my attention, “Local Footballers Missing” beneath was a photo of two men, their photos were slightly out of focus but I recognised them both at once. It was Matt and Brad.

  “Up and coming football stars Bradley McIntosh, 20 and Matthew Galloway, 19 were reported missing Sunday morning. The pair have not been seen since leaving a team dinner at The Thai Palace Restaurant, Main Street, Belles Cove on Saturday evening. Coach Michael Roach reported the pair missing after they failed to attend a game recovery session on Sunday afternoon. Calls to their families confirmed the pair had not returned home the previous evening. McIntosh and Galloway have attracted attention in the recent months with their on-field skills, both receiving offers to play in the English Super League next season. The disappearance is described as uncharacteristic of the pair and anyone with information is urged to contact Belles Cove Police.”

  The paper fell from my hands, half of the pages falling to the floor as I pushed my chair away. A sickening feeling washed over me as the room started to spin. My memory strained as I tried to recall what sketchy details I could fragment together. Adrian and Ivan hadn’t returned to the club straight away. Had they done something?

  Leaving the office in the afternoon I had the same unnerving feeling I was being watched. I could feel eyes on me. My legs started to feel like jelly and my stomach felt heavy. I turned my car key into the palm of my hand, the metal poking out between my fingers, ready to use as a weapon if needed as I walked nervously to my car. I fumbled with the lock and dropped my keys, I took a deep breath to steady myself, determined not to be afraid. On the count of three I assured myself. One, two, three and spun around. My eyes scanned the shadows of the car park, nothing, but the feeling of someone’s presence remained “Who’s there?” I called, trying not to sound scared. There was no response, slowly I turned and picked up my keys and opened the door, when I heard a footstep. Quickly I spun around, my heart hammering in my chest so loudly it threatened to punch its way through my ribs. Vaughan was standing on the edge of the driveway; I let out a sigh of relief and held my hand to my chest as I leaned back against my car. “Vaughan, you scared me.”

  “Sorry” he took a tentative step closer, his actions deliberate and cautious.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you.”

  My heart skipped a beat “Really?”

  He nodded “Would you like to get a coffee?”

  We walked a block towards a café I had never paid any attention to before. One of those places that have been around forever but you never really notice until it’s pointed out to you. We settled into a red upholstered lounge at the back of the empty café and ordered, the dim overhead lamps the only light source.

  “How did you know where I worked?” I asked after a few moments silence.

  “Cassie told me” Vaughan answered as he relaxed back into the lounge, laying one arm along the back of the sofa, his hand inches away from my shoulder. I couldn’t help but notice his perfect hands, with long slender fingers.

  I wanted to ask him about Matt and Brad, to know if he had something to do with their disappearance. At the same time I didn’t want to spoil the moment. Vaughan was sitting here next to me, just the two of us and my body felt light and giddy with excitement. His lips curled into an amused smile as he watched me. “What are you thinking about?” he asked.

  This question threw me off guard. “I was wondering why you came to see me.”

  “Ivan wanted to make sure you were ok, after the weekend.”

  The waitress arrived with our coffees. Vaughan didn’t pay her any attention as he looked at me for a long moment, taking in my reaction. My face had turned into a look of shock; my eyebrows raised and mouth gaping. Vaughan seemed to find this funny. This only made me mad, that he found my bemusement entertaining.

  “Ivan told you to stalk me?” I couldn’t hide my dissatisfaction “Did he also ask you to follow Bec at uni to make sure she was alright?”

  Vaughan took a drink of his coffee, his eyes not lowering from mine. They were dark and a little scary in this light. He sat back in his chair, silent for a few moments longer; this only made me more frustrated. His eyes were giving away a different message to the rest of him; they seemed to be mocking me. “Ok, you caught me. I offered to check on you” he put his hands up in surrender and smirked.

  “What happened to those two guys on Saturday night?”

  Vaughan’s eyes strayed around the room, avoiding mine when he answered “Ivan and Adrian had words with them and they left.”

  “They’re missing.”

  “Maybe they decided to go for a walk, think about what they had done and got lost” he shrugged.

  This made me angry, even when he was being patronising, he was still beautiful. I hated more than anything, not being in control and this conversation was not going as I hoped.

  “Did Ivan and Adrian do anything to them?” As soon as the words came out of my mouth I regretted it. More than anything I wanted to take them back and pretend they were never uttered.

  Vaughan leant toward me; his voice forcefully controlled “How can you still be concerned for them, after what they were going to do to you. How can you even think of them as, human? It’s something they do not deserve.”

  “I’m not defending them.” I could feel my hands trembling with fear but would not let Vaughan see me afraid.

  “Why do you care so much?” he hit his fist against the table. The sound of the cutlery clattering together made me flinch, but I was determined not to back down.

  “I don’t!”

  “Yet you ask about them. We had nothing to do with them disappearing. But I wish we had, people who do vile things deserve to go missing.”

  “And you feel that making people go missing is your job?” I didn’t want an answer to this question, but at the same time I wanted to know what I was getting into.

  He raised his eyebrows, studying my face for a long moment. I wanted him to say something, anything. “No, I don’t” was all I got. His face became calm again and he smirked arrogantly “I’ve upset you, I should go” he stood to leave.

  I reached out for his arm “No, don’t go” my voice sounded desperate as I clutched him.

  “Let’s talk about something else then” he said as he sat back down.

  “Ok. How do you know Ivan?”

  Vaughan laughed as he leaned back into the sofa, running his hands through his hair as he reminisced on some long forgotten memory. “I met Ivan a long time ago. We travelled together for a while, and then went our separate ways. We ran into each other in London a few years ago.”

  “You can’t have met Ivan that long ago. You don’t look much older than me.”

  Vaughan shifted in his chair “I’m 22, but it seems like a long time ago. A lot has happened in that time.”

  “So you were in London with Ivan when he met Cassie?”

  “Yes.” A sly smile curled his perfect lips and I felt there was more to the story.

  “Is he in love with her?” I knew my question was bold and bordering on rude, but I asked anyway.

  Vaughan laughed; he had that same reminiscent look on his face “Do you know why he called the bar Ivory?”

  I shook my head; it’s something that had never crossed my mind.

  “The first time we met Cassie, she had entered an amateur DJ contest as a joke. It was in some sleazy little dive of an underground bar. All the other entrants were there to try to break into the industry. They all looked the same, wearing black or dark coloured clothes, jeans and sneakers. Cassie was wearing an ivory dress and boots. It made her stand out from the crowd, everyone remembered who she was, Ivan especially. He couldn’t take his ey
es off her; she had him in a trance. Everyone who was there remembered her as the girl in the ivory dress.” Vaughan’s eyes wandered to the far wall when he spoke, he seemed to see the vision in his head.

  “That’s really sweet. Does Cassie know that’s why the bar’s called Ivory?”

  Vaughan laughed “No. Ivan won’t tell her how he feels about her.”

  “Why not? She feels the same way about him.”

  “He has his reasons.”

  “Why won’t he let staff be involved with customers?” My cheeks blushed and Vaughan’s attention was now back on me.

  “He has his own reasons for that too.”

  “Which are?” I prompted.

  Vaughan gave me a sly sideways glance, his mouth turned up in one corner “If staff were to get involved with patrons, trouble would eventuate. Take you for example; you seem to find trouble wherever you go.”

  I leant forward “I better stop coming to the bar then” and gave a cheeky grin.

  Vaughan leant in to, until we were face to face “I don’t want you to stop coming around.”

  “Me either” I whispered, leaning in closer, my heart beat wildly in my chest and I held my breath in anticipation.

  Vaughan’s face tightened “I better go Nicola, I’ll let Ivan know you’re alright” he stammered and stood up and left me sitting all alone in the café.

  A few minutes passed before I could stand and walk slowly out the door, still confused by what had just happened.

  “See you next time” the waitress called after me.