Page 48 of Shar: A Woman Alone

“You can keep the table and chairs. I’m done here.” Natalieis behaving as though she has been so harshly treated and yet she is the onethat brought this on herself. I’m flabbergasted at the nerve of the woman, Ireally am.

“Your table and chairs will be in the rear parking lot ifyou change your mind. I don’t want them, just as I don’t want you or yourshitty attitude. Is that clear? Now get the hell out of my building before Iget the other shareholders down here and have them remove you.”

Zara hasn’t raised her voice once, but I can see her handsbegin to shake and if Natalie isn’t out of here soon, I don’t think the MC willbe needed to remove her.

CHAPTER 24

Sharp

Sitting back in my office chair, enjoying the peace andquiet with my first coffee of the day, I smile once again as I recall the videoof Shar on the pole. You can clearly hear the ‘thunk’ as she hits the stage,and unless she has hidden it with make-up, I can’t believe she didn’t get ablack eye from that. When one of the brothers showed it to me, I immediatelysent everyone in the MC a text to delete any and all copies, and if they hadsent it outside the club, they had better make sure they have been deleted aswell.

I’m confident that Shar would take it on the chin, but Ialso think she would pack her bags and run for the hills as well. It would bejust the type of thing that would embarrass her enough to move on to pasturesnew.

Waiting for everyone to get their breakfast and then attendchurch, I mentally run over all the things we have to cover today. It’s been abusy week for everyone and I have to chuckle when I think back on how many ofmy tasks I have delegated out. No one has complained directly to my face, butI’ve heard plenty of mumblings and grumblings about how much they’ve had to dofor me.

Finishing my coffee, I decide to get some breakfast myself.Having Lira onboard has made mealtimes become a regular ‘must do’ for all ofus. Something else I’ve noticed is that there are fewer arguments or angrywords around the clubhouse lately. I think everyone sitting around and sharingtheir days good and bad points seems to have reinforced everybody's commitmentto each other.

Walking into the rec room, I see Gunner sitting with Zaraand Shar. They are smiling at something Zara is telling them when Gunnersuddenly bursts out laughing and has everyone looking his way. Another bigchange there. He is nothing like the brother he was just a couple of years ago.On more than one occasion in the past, I thought I’d be cutting him loose fromthe MC, but now, I wouldn’t dream of it.

Filling a plate with bacon, sausages, hash browns, scrambledeggs, and toast, I take a seat at the table where Crack and Trip are eating.Trip is talking a mile a minute between mouthfuls and as I get up to speed onthe conversation, I hear ‘Shar, Autumn, tattoo.’

“Shar has a tattoo?” I ask Trip.

“No, not yet, but I think she should have.” Giving me thestory of their visit to the tattoo shop and the way the new receptionist,Autumn, came up with an idea for a tattoo on Shar. I see Trip is very keen onthe idea. This surprises me to some degree because Trip doesn’t like tattoos.He was damn near dragged to the shop for his club tattoo, so being so keen forsomeone else to have one done seems more than a little hypocritical, I feel.

When he describes the tattoo that was suggested for Shar, Ihave to admit that the thought of seeing her with such a tat is more than aturn-on for me. We may have kissed like friends, but that doesn’t mean I haveto see her as such.

Wolfing down my food, I catch Shar looking our way, and bythe look she is giving Trip, she knows full well what he is talking about.Winking at her first, I shout to her, “Hey, Shar! What’s this about you andTrip having matching tats, eh?”

Catching on straight away, she responds, “Oh, he’s told you,has he? Yeah. Before I leave, I think we should have them done. It’s going tobe damn painful though, because of how big they are going to be, as well aswhere they are on the muscle. We’ll be having them done at the same time sothat neither of us can back out.”

The whole rec room has gone silent to listen and I can seethe color drain from Trip’s face. He obviously still doesn’t like tattoos.

“Tell you what Shar. If you both get the MC name or logoincluded, I’ll make sure the club picks up the tab. You can go as big and boldas you like then. How’s that?” I give her a thumbs up and that must send Tripover the edge.

“Oh no. No way. You said you weren’t having a tattoo underno circumstances, so I’m holding you to it,” Trip shouts at Shar.

“Hey, a girl has a right to change her mind. It’s a woman'sprerogative, after all. I think we’d be like a couple of bookends when it’sdone. What do you say, Trip? Is it a deal?” Shar pretends to spit on her handand then holds it out to Trip.

Trip jumps up, almost upending the table in his haste. “Noway. No fuckin’ way. You said no and no means no. Not happening. Not until hellfreezes over, missy.” Trip stomps out of the room, still muttering.

The room is silent for all of two seconds and then erupts inlaughter.

“You can all just fuck off, too,” comes drifting back fromthe hallway leading to my office.

Finishing my food, grinning, I slip my plate to Crack and herolls his eyes. Calling everyone to church, I begin to make my way to theoffice. There is a mad rush by everyone to get their plates rinsed, and in thedishwasher so they can get a chair at church. It always makes me chuckle aseveryone goes to their own spot anyway, and wouldn’t dream of stealinganother's space. That’s when Snore shouts out for everyone to leave theirdishes and he’ll sort them. That’s a good man, right there, I think to myself.

Once everybody is present, seated, quiet and finishedsmirking at Trip, I call church to order.

“I’m not messing with finances today. We’re currently layingout more than we’re taking, but that should change quickly enough. First orderof business. In case none of you have noticed, since Lira has taken over ourdietary requirements, we are all attending far more meals than we ever have.That presents Lira with many new challenges, not least of which is peopleturning up at the last minute and expecting to be fed a full meal. From now on,breakfast is available six am to ten am, lunch is twelve to two-thirty andsupper is six pm to seven-thirty pm. Between these hours you can expect asandwich. If you have a damn good reason for running late, call through and itmay be possible to get something left in the oven. MAYBE, not guaranteed. Anyquestions? No? Excellent.”

I don’t give anyone time to ask a question because I agreewith Lira’s idea on mealtimes. She’s doing a first-rate job and I’ll supporther with whatever she needs.

“Next. Zara has made the first executive decision on behalfof us, the shareholders, for the salon business. Before we’ve even reachedopening day, she has let the new manager go.” The room echoes to cheers,whoops, table slaps and foot stomping.

“The way Zara tells it, the woman quit. The way Shar tellsit, she tried to wear bigger boots than she was destined for and Zara took noprisoners. Shocked the fuck out of the woman and then escorted her right outthe door, no messing. One phone call later and she had a replacement organizedfrom within the staff and went on to fill a stylist vacancy, too.”

Gunner looks as proud as can be, basking in his daughter'sglory.

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