Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO
Elliot

Frankie was hot on my heels, desperate to keep up with me to make sure he didn't miss a single thing I was doing, just in case I fucked up so he could tell our father. It was typical of him.
Trevor, the guy on the door, shook my hand as we passed him and pushed open the glass doors of the bar. The place smelled the same as it always did, like leather and liquor, soft music playing over the speakers as people talked intimately over candles in the centre of every single table in the place. I bee lined for the bar, my home away from home.
"This round on you then, big bro?"
"The rounds are always on me it seems Frankie." I shot back at him, cocking my left foot on the metal that ran along the wood panelling of the bar and pulling my credit card from my wallet in my suit pocket. Frankie just gave me this annoying smile that I'd known all my life, a smile he knew that I knew well, a smile that got him his own way every single time.
I turned to the anxiously waiting waitress in annoyance, "Two whiskeys on the rocks, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, if you have it." She gave me a submissive stare and frantically jumped in to action at my command.
"Do all women quake at the wrath of Elliot Truman?" My brother laughed at me. I tried to ignore him and study the leather coasters lined up neatly on the bar as a distraction. "Why'd you bring me here anyway?" He carried on.
He knew all too well why I had brought him there, he just wanted me to say it out loud, no doubt to boast like only Frankie knew how to. I ran my hands through my hair in annoyance and turned to my brother.
"You turn 21 next week, which means you get to be a part of Truman & Sons officially, which means you're just in time for the Golden Gifts Project Gala coming up."
I passed my card to the waitress who had racked up our drinks in double time, her hand slightly shaking as she punched something into her till keypad and waved my card over the contactless scanner, before passing it back to me with a trembling hand.
Frankie continued to prompt me, "And..." he coaxed me to carry on as he sat there grinning like the Cheshire fucking Cat.
"And...that means dad wants you on my team, which means you've actually got to do some work for once in your life!"
Frankie seemed to ponder the idea, rubbing his index finger over his light blonde stubble whilst pretending to study my words carefully.
"Hmm, let me think about it." He said calmly, picking up his glass and taking a swig.
"That's fine," I teased back, reaching for my phone in my pants pocket, "I'll just call dad now and tell him you're having doubts about joining the family business..."
He almost spat out his whiskey. "NO! God no Elliot. Yeah fine, I'll be on your stupid little team."
"I had a feeling you'd come around."
Picking up my own glass, I poured the amber liquid down my throat with ease, it's sweet and almost spicy relief making my muscles instantly loosen up, the way it always did after a long day of business meetings and client calls.
"But really Elliot," Frankie looked distractedly around the room whilst speaking, "couldn't you have told me this at home or something. Why are we out, why are we here?"
His eyes drifted on the two elegant women in tight cocktail dresses, sharing a conversation and a bottle of wine a few rows away from us. One had long thick black locks, the other sporting a golden halo of short boyish hair. My brother clocked eyes with the blonde girl, just his type, then gave her a charming smile as he leaned his body casually on the bar. Enthralled by the entire exchange, I turned myself to watch. You could tell halo girl had done this before, no doubt spending every Saturday night at a bar like the one we were in, waiting for the next piece of bate to wander in and buy them a drink. Dark haired girl caught me looking and pouted her deep red lips at me, like she had probably practiced a million times in the mirror before. I just smirked and turned back towards Frankie.
"The owner of one of the companies dad is trying the contract a merger with is out tonight and he wants us to try and link up with them, sweeten the deal so to speak."
I managed to tear Frankie away from eye fucking the blonde and back on to me.
"So it's not set in stone yet? You haven't sealed the deal?"
"This company in particular is having trouble committing to our terms and conditions, the owner is running their business with their emotions."
Frankie cackled at me and finished off his whiskey, "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you brother."
I followed suit and knocked back the rest of my drink until nothing but ice hit my lips. Frankie knew me better than I cared to give him credit for. "I don't do emotions, especially not when it comes to business deals."
"That sexy woman over there with the red lips who's eye fucking you right now doesn't seem to know that." He teased me, shooting the women a wink as I steered us away from the bar and back towards the door we'd just walked through.
I instinctively turned to them and give her a signature scowl, nothing turned me off more than obvious desperation. She seemed taken aback and popped her pouty lip right back in line, looking down at the table in a sudden burst of shyness. She finally got the point.
"So where is this emotional business associate tonight then?" Frankie questioned as we made our way out of the bar and onto the street. I shook door man Trevor's hand again and strode towards the curb of the road.
"Other side of town," I eventually muttered, trying to flag down a taxi before any of the other commuters around us got the chance. "Or so I've been informed." Pulling a face of disgust as an empty taxi pulled up beside us slowly.
Frankie scrunched up his face in mock horror, miming mine. "Oh no! Not the other side of town."
"Get in the fucking taxi, Frank."

When we pulled up outside the club, the only decent place on that side of the city, a line of people that seemed to move on forever ran across the side of the building like a line of soldiers. A few of them gawked at us as we walked towards the back entrance where a tall stocky man with a shaved head and a heavily tattooed arm guarded an open entrance to the club. He spotted us walk up and instantly held open the rope for us to enter, no questions asked. It was usually the sight of the expensive suits that did it, that and the designer watches on our writsts. Frankie gave the beast a salute as we walked through the cobbled smoking area, dotted with ashtrays and potted plants.
In the corner of my eye, I spotted a lone girl smoking in the corner, her bare feet flexing on the cool stone floor as she sat and stared out blankly into the night. Her curly red hair tumbled over her shoulders and concealed most of her face from me, the only thing I could see clearly was the burning ember of her lit cigarette and the smoke she exhaled forming a cloud around her. I wanted to be disgusted by the habit, as I usually was, but the way she brought the cigarette to her lips was intriguing.
Frankie spotted me staring. "No emotions, huh?"
The girl must have heard us and looked up, first to Frankie, then her gaze fell on me. She wasn't very petite, but her face was quite delicate, with a small nose, defined full lips, and large eyes. Something about the whole exchange felt like a deer in headlights situation, although I don't know which one of us was supposed to be the deer.
Frankie pushed me forward with his hand on my back, the girls dark eyed gaze didn't leave mine for a second as she took long drags of her cigarette. When she was satisfied she'd smoked it down to the filter, she flicked the butt into a nearby plant pot and grabbed at her black 6 inch heels laid out beside her on the floor. The girl managed to get halfway up before she no longer held her footing on the curb and started to stumble. She was all arms and legs as she fell.
Somehow, I managed to cover the rest of the length of the yard and get there just in time, placing one firm hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder to steady her. Being so close to her, I could smell the sweet booze and perfume mingle on her body, not letting go of her until she was steady on her feet. Her body was quite heavy to hold up with just one hand gripping her, but I managed to keep her upright as she remained perfectly still in my arms, her tight-fitting pink velvet dress caressing my palm.
"Uhh...um." She was flustered for a split second, before getting her balance back and pushing my hands away carefully. She was just over 5ft easy, my 6ft frame towering over her. "I'm okay now, thanks."
"Maybe you should lay off the drink for a bit, sweetheart." I ground out, failing to hide the usual annoyance in my voice.
She looked me dead on, with her bush baby brown eyes and a scowl that I was used to getting from people often. She didn't blink.
"Wow, I never thought of that." She replied sarcastically, a little v formed between her brows, her porcelain skin creased on her forehead as she frowned up at me.
"You were lucky someone strong enough to catch you was around. A bit of appreciation wouldn't go amiss."
She let out a sigh, her false smile not meeting her eyes . "What a gentlemanly thing to say."
"I'm not a gentlemen." I informed her.
"Well that's obvious."
Stepping back, I opened my mouth to give her some smart-ass reply, but Frankie intervened before I could get another word out.
"Please excuse my brother, he's a jackass."
Looking down, she laughed to herself, smoothing out her dress with her free hand before looking right back at me.
"Yeah," she breathed, "That's putting it politely."