Page 38 of Captive Hearts
‘So Tina? This was all you?’ Rick asked the third member of the party.
Tina swallowed nervously. ‘I, err, I’ve been quite busy… and this place, it was around the corner…’
‘Sounds like you put a lot of thought into it,’ Rick said with a chuckle.
‘It does, doesn’t it?’ Leanne said bitterly, folding her arms.
‘What did you expect?’ Polly muttered. ‘Lunch at the Ritz Carlton?’
‘I suppose I justthoughtthat two people who had been my best work friends for years might have given slightly more of a shit and taken me somewhere nicer,’ Leanne snarked.
Polly made a small bitter grunt. ‘Right.’
‘What do you mean,right?’ Leanne said, spinning to Polly.
‘I mean… Nothing,’ Polly said, swapping a quick look with Tina.
Leanne caught the look. ‘What was that?’ she demanded of the pair.
They didn’t speak.
‘Answer her,’ Rick said mildly. But as with everything he said, it held a sinister threat with that gun omnipresent in his hand. ‘Let her have it – I meanreallygive it to her – or I’m not letting you go.’
Polly was horrified. ‘But, that’s… Why?’
Rick shrugged. ‘Bored.’
Ashley glanced at Gina, who looked like Ashley felt—disgusted. This was a new side to Rick. Before, he’d just seemed like a chaotic loser without a sense of responsibility. But now they were getting down to his core. He was cruel. Playing with people for nothing more than fun. The janitor from yesterday popped into Ashley’s head, and she wondered… was this how people sawher?
‘Fine,’ Polly said, throwing her hands up. ‘You’ve become a real bitch lately. Especially since you got that promotion.’
Leanne looked at Polly without surprise. ‘I fucking knew it! Iknewyou were jealous!’
Polly was shocked. ‘I didn’twantit. Neither of us did. We were happy for you when you got it,’ Polly said. ‘Weren’t we?’ she encouraged Tina.
Tina shook her head. ‘I don’t want to be involved in this.’
Polly turned away from Tina with slight disgust. She locked onto Leanne, the rest of the room, even Rick and his gun, forgotten. ‘We all used to be mates. Now you’re a level above us, and even though you’re not our boss, you’ve started acting like it, telling us what to do all the time. And you keep rubbing our noses in your pay rise.’
Leanne pursed her lips. ‘Look, the pair of you can never make a decision about anything. I’vealwayshad to do that. Or we end up in places likethis. It’s only different now because I make a bit more money and I want to do things that cost a bit more.’
Polly drew a deep breath. ‘Leanne. We didn’t end up in a place like this because we don’t have much money. We ended up here because we knew you’d expect us to take you out. But we didn’t care enough to plan anything proper, because… because we’re bothsickof you. Especially Tina. You bully her constantly.’
Leanne’s mouth fell open. She turned to Tina. ‘Is that true?’
Tina cringed. ‘Oh, well, I don’t… I mean… I don’t know aboutthat. Maybe sometimes you can be a bit… No, no, I wouldn’t say bully.’
Leanne glared at her. The phone rang. Tina looked thrilled at the distraction.
‘That’ll be for us,’ Rick said to Ashley, slapping his hands together. ‘OK, everyone. Get back in the front.’
Leanne put her tiramisu down, untouched. Everyone began to amble out of the kitchen. Leanne, Tina, and Polly were the last to shuffle out, none of them meeting each other’s eyes.
Ashley was repulsed by what she’d just watched. But her mind was turning quickly to the task at hand—the next phone call.
