Page 38 of Blackout

‘Babe?’

‘You have no idea what this necklace means to me,’ This necklace meant the world to me as it proved that my hard work had paid off.

‘Tell me?’

‘I bought it with my first pay-check, and I never took it off. My necklace was my reminder that if I worked hard, I could achieve anything. I never thought I would lose it and when I did, I lost a little piece of me.’

‘You are the most incredible woman I know. After all you’ve been through, I’m glad to be able to give you back your hope.’

Zach’s kiss was chaste before he leaned over the bed to grab my jacket and scarf, then he took my hand and pulled me out of his front door. Wherever we were headed this evening, it was on foot. Zach didn’t reach for his truck keys or lead me in the direction of the basement to his truck. He just held my jacket out for me to slip my arms inside, then he wrapped my scarf around my neck and pulled me close to his side as we started to walk at a brisk pace.

I wanted to ask where we were headed when Zach said, ‘You know Little Beats has the best karaoke?’

I knew that because I had been there, but maybe Zach didn’t know that.

‘I say that because I own it, that’s why I have an apartment here in Melbourne.’

I was a little shocked at Zach’s revelation, of the amount of information he’d offered up about himself. I had never seen Zach there any of the times I had been inside of Little Beats.

He must have heard the wheels as they turned in my head. ‘I’m never here when the business is open, and I’ve never seen you in here. The reason I know it’s the best karaoke is because the figures show it,’ Zach said, and I relaxed into his side under his shoulder.

‘I have to admit that because we are the best, Little Beats records everyone who sings karaoke. The good ones get passed on; the not so good ones get trashed. I think that’s how Connor got a copy of your video. It was passed on to him. It’s probably why he approached you. If you sang at The Groove, there’s no doubt Connor wanted you to sing at his club and use you for his event-planning business. I must admit, my brother has a way of finding raw talent.’ Zach inhaled deeply. On his exhale, he said. ‘I know my brother also owns range of businesses and is ruthless with every deal he makes. One day it’s going to get him into a world of trouble that’s bigger than the beef he has with me. If Connor’s not careful, he’s going to find himself in a place neither my father nor I can bail him out of.’

‘That’s not good.’ I was glad that Zach had shared something personal with me, the same as I had. I’d hoped that Zach would let down his guard to let someone like me in. After all, we were close once.

Incredibly, since the last time I’d seen Zach ten years ago, there had been a synchronistic pull back towards each other that had led us to today, with us being together again. I turned to face Zach and kissed him. ‘I don’t ever want to lose you again,’ I whispered.

‘That’s not possible. I have your number now.’

It felt good to know that Zach and I would never be too far away from each other. A chaste kiss landed on my lips before he grabbed my hand, but not so we could go inside Little Beats. We started to walk and once again I had no idea what Zach had planned.

However, I knew as we moved down the street and when Zach stopped us on the footpath that The Groove was on the other side of the street. I had only been inside once, but tonight, just like the night I’d sung karaoke, it gave off bad vibes. But with Zach’s hand in mine, I knew we wouldn’t go any further than the footpath.

‘You need to know,’ Zach informed me, ‘that Connor and I co-own The Groove. But we are nothing alike. Little Beats is clean, and I run a tight ship at both of my bars. Dirty deals aren’t done inside either of my businesses, and my employees and patrons alike know I have a no-tolerance policy. Neither of my businesses have ever been raided or searched by police.’

What was I supposed to say to that? Zach was letting me in and showing me the kind of man he was, and that he was nothing like his smug brother Connor, in person or in the way he did business.

‘Harley?’ The way Zach said my name commanded my attention, so I looked up into his brown eyes. ‘What started out as a joint venture with my brother ended up with me as a silent partner because I don’t like the way he does business. Not at The Groove and especially not when he took on Jam. Connor has a way of attracting attention from the wrong kind of people. Attention that has landed him being arrested and being bailed out by not only me, but our father as well. And Harley, you know my father is a detective.’ I vaguely remembered Zach’s dad had joined the police force the year we moved in next door, but I didn’t know he’d been promoted to detective.

‘Did you know videos of me singing karaoke were out there? Did Little Beats hand over my video to Connor?’ Did I really want to know the answer? Did Zach know about my video? That it had been handed around? Did Zach know Connor would approach me?

‘Harley, I didn’t know about your video or that it had been passed on to Connor.’

I could see it in Zach’s eyes he told the truth.

‘The videos are handled by the manager at Little Beats. He has connections that he uses when he passes on the videos, and my brother must be one of those connections.’

So Zach didn’t know about me singing at Little Beats or that his brother had a copy of the video. If he had known, then maybe we would have run into each other sooner.

‘Babe, when I looked into Connor, I was informed that he used The Groove and other karaoke bars around Melbourne as a way to drum up interest in his event-planning business. I asked around and found out that Connor hires out his talented employees and depending on how successful each event is, Connor promises his employees time in his recording studio. When I approached one of his employees about the time they had spent in the recording studio, they told me they hadn’t spent any time in any recording studio.’

Would that have happened to me if I had agreed to the deal Connor had wanted to make with me? Would I have been like the rest of Connor’s employees, still waiting to log recording time?

‘Connor has a lot of businesses to his name. I know some of them are dodgy, others are dingy, but few are legitimate. That night at Jam was the first time I had ever been inside since the business opened. I saw for myself the things Connor let happen at Jam. I saw the deals done under the table, the drugs, the underage kids, so that’s why the place was so dark. I knew I had to distance myself from my brother and from The Groove. I don’t run my businesses like that, so I became a silent partner. Connor knows how to land himself in trouble, I know that now.’

There was a moment of silence between us. He leaned in, pressed his lips to mine, then said, ‘I feel like all this time, if I were here, if I had watched Connor more closely, I would have found you sooner.’

‘You wouldn’t have found me, Zach. After that night at Jam, I didn’t go out again for long time. I buckled down and worked my arse off.’ I admitted what my life had been like for the last five years. ‘Even when I did manage to work up the nerve to venture out to sing karaoke, I sang, had one drink, then I went home. I didn’t spend the night out drinking or listening to the other singers. Connor is the only person who ever approached me to hand over an envelope.’