Boss (14 page)

“You’ve got this, bro,” Levi massaged Joshua’s shoulders as they stood outside
Silverton Tower,
“Just a couple of weeks here and you’ll catch him out.”

Joshua shrugged off Levi and puffed on the last of the cigarette. He tossed it into the road, narrowly missing a man on a bike.

“Sorry!” Joshua waved after him but he was greeted with the middle finger, “Levi, I’m so nervous.”

“Nervous? You own this place,” Levi slapped the huge logo attached to the glass wall, “Well, not yet, but you will. This dude, Ezrat, or whatever he’s called, you’ll catch him out. He can’t keep up that act forever. With a face like that he could charm anybody, so it’s probably a good thing you don’t have a pussy.”

Levi laughed and heartily slapped Joshua on the back. He tried to laugh back but he felt like he could throw up at any moment. He had spent the entire morning pacing Violet’s living room trying to talk himself out of going. Violet and Levi had both tried their best to convince him for different reasons but Violet hadn’t been able to walk him to the tower, so he had been left with Levi’s version of things.

Levi was convinced Joshua was going to walk in and demand things back but Joshua didn’t really know why he was there. As he uncomfortably tugged at the suit he had borrowed from Violet’s fiancé’s closet, he wished he had a clear plan of what he was doing. The truth was, he was going to go in and see how things went. He was going to keep his guard up but he wasn’t sure if he had one anymore. Ezra had the ability to strip that away.
He also has the ability to strip your clothes away.

It felt like the start of a new chapter in his life but he only knew how the first paragraph turned out. He had Levi, Violet, Ezra and his father all pulling him in different directions and he wasn’t sure who was shouting the loudest to get his attention.

“Get to work,” Levi winked, “I’m going to spend the day with your cousin.”

Levi chuckled in the way a child would when they got to play with their favourite toy. Violet was sampling food for the wedding menu and she had somehow accepted Levi’s offer of help. The engagement ring on her finger meant nothing to Levi but he knew Violet’s wrist was strong enough to bat his unwanted advances away.

After a quick hug of support, Joshua tucked his unusually tame hair behind his ears and stepped into the revolving door entrance. The second he stepped from the carpet to the over-polished tiles, the nerves jumped from his stomach to his throat.

How am I here? Why am I doing this?

“Joshua?” Constance caught his eye across the entrance, “Is that you? Are you wearing a suit? Oh no, who died?”

She propped her mob against a potted plant and ran towards him. After a quick kiss on his cheek, she held him at arm’s length, admiring him from top to bottom.

“Nobody has died, this time. I think I’m working here now.”

Those words felt like they were coming from somebody else’s lips.
This is fucked up
.

“You’re working here?” she pointed at the floor, “You’re staying in London?”

“Just for a couple of weeks,” he tugged at his collar, “I’m going to see what’s going on around here.”

Joshua had been cursing Ezra for asking him the question when he had. He could have declined or gone back on his word later but it didn’t feel right. He was starting to wonder if Ezra really was the bad guy he had imagined or if he had just got him wrong.

“You look so good in a suit,” she brushed across his shoulder, “your dad -,”

They locked eyes and she stopped herself as her pupils enlarged.

“What?”

“He’d be proud of you,” she shrugged meekly, “it’s not my place to say that but -,”

Joshua held his hand up to let Constance know she hadn’t over stepped the line. It made him feel warm to hear her say that because if anybody knew his father, it was Constance. She may have been ‘
staff
’ when he was growing up but she had stepped into his mother’s shoes in so many ways that she became part of their fractured and dysfunctional family.

“I should get going,” he nodded to the lifts, “I’m already three hours late.”

With a promise to catch up soon, she scuttled back to her work. Tugging at the buttons on his jacket, Joshua headed towards the reception desk.

“Can I help you?” it was the same receptionist who had denied him help last time he was there.

“Joshua Silverton,” he smirked, “I’m new here.”

He revelled in the look of realisation as she recognised him. Cheeks burning, she dropped her face into her hair and typed quickly on the keyboard.

“Mr. Silverton,” she coughed, “Welcome to
Silverton Industries
. Here’s your key-card. It’s Level 1, so that will grant you access to the whole building.”

“Level 1?” he turned the plastic card over in his hands noticing a picture from his teen years in the ID profile.
Where the hell did they get that picture?

“Here’s the key for the lift,” she handed him another plastic card, “that will get you up to the top floors.”

As Joshua walked towards the lifts, the access card felt heavy in his hands. He had accepted a key to the top floor and it felt like he was finally accepting the offer his father had given him all those years ago. As a last ditch attempt to stop him leaving, he had offered Joshua a position in the company even though he had dropped out of university. Of course, Joshua had thrown it back in his face but he suddenly wasn’t too sure why.

With a shaking finger, he called for the lift and as it descended towards the ground his nerves doubled and then tripled. When the doors finally opened, a flustered middle-aged man barged right into Joshua with such a force that Joshua went stumbling backwards. As his backside collided with the tiles, the wind knocked straight out of his lungs and it took him a second to regain his breath.

“You stupid boy! You should watch where you’re going,” the red faced man barked down at him.

It was his first day in the company but Joshua wasn’t about to let some big shot talk down to him like that, especially seeing as it was his father who had put a roof over all of their heads.

“You banged into me,” Joshua jumped up to his feet, dusting off his trousers, “maybe you should watch where you’re going.”

The shock at being spoken back to was clear in the man’s eyes. His already red face was starting to deepen and it looked as if smoke would billow out of his ears at any moment.

“You little shit,” the man barked, “what’s your name? I’ll have your job for this.”

Joshua wanted to laugh in the man’s face. Not only was his name above the door but he was also connected to the man on the top floor, whether he liked it or not.

“Piss off,” Joshua brushed past the man and into the lift, “I’m late.”

He slid the keycard into the slot for the Top Floor and jabbed the button quickly, wanting to get out of the man’s way before he said or did something he would regret.

“How dare -,” his voice trailed off and his features softened, “I know you.”

“What?” Joshua laughed.

Why won’t these damn doors close?
Before he had the chance to press the button again, the man joined him in the lift.

“I know you,” he repeated again, “you’re older, but it’s you, isn’t it? Joshua? Joshua Silverton.”

He stared at the man but he didn’t recognise him.

“Yeah,” Joshua shrugged him, “so?”

Joshua knew it would be a possibility that people would recognise him. If they had worked there seven years ago, they would have seen Joshua being kicked out of the tower on a regular basis. After trimming his beard back against his face that morning, he was even more recognisable as the kid on the ID card.

The lift doors closed and they slowly started to travel upwards, trapped in the lift together.

“It’s Graham,” he pointed to himself, “you used to be friends with my son, Carol.”

Staring at Graham he suddenly remembered who he was. Not just because his son had a ridiculous name but also because they had never actually been friends. Back when his family was still intact, they used to throw barbeques and his mum had always tried to force Carol on him and his friends because nobody wanted to talk to him.

“Oh, Graham,” Joshua smiled awkwardly, “how’s it going? How’s Carol?”

“Prison,” he shrugged, “but we’re trying to get him out.”

Joshua didn’t even need to ask what he had done because it sounded about right.

“What are you doing here?” Graham shook his head, “I don’t understand.”

Joshua explained that he had just arrived back in London to find out his father was dead and he had left the company to Ezra. Graham offered his deepest sympathies but they felt like empty words to Joshua, who was still a year behind everybody else when it came to grieving.

“You could say I’m here on a trial,” Joshua shrugged, “to see how it goes.”

“Trial?” Graham slapped his hand firmly on Joshua’s shoulder, “You should be running this place. You’re Bill’s son.”

“Yeah, well, Bill didn’t think so.”

“Bill wasn’t himself towards the end,” Graham dismissed his suggestion, “I’m on the board of directors and they will be very pleased to hear that you’re back on the scene. What position are you working?”

Joshua opened his mouth but he had no idea. The very idea that he was there to do anything felt ludicrous so he hadn’t started to think about what he’d actually be doing.

They reached the top floor and the doors opened onto the familiar scene. His eyes honed straight in on Ezra’s open office door.
I hope I’m not going to walk in on anything this time.

“I better go, Graham,” Joshua didn’t take his eyes away from the door, “Tell Carol I said hi.”

“He’s not allowed visitors,” he lowered his voice, “keeps biting people.”

“Still?” Joshua suddenly remembered that’s why none of his friends had wanted to speak to him.

“Listen,” Graham caught up with him as he started to walk towards Ezra’s door, “when I said the board of directors would be happy to know you’re here, I meant it. There’s a lot of uneasy feeling in the company at the moment and not a lot of faith in our lord and master. Can we meet properly to discuss some stuff?”

“Yeah, sure,” Joshua shrugged, “whatever.”

“Here, take my card,” he quickly slotted a tiny business card into the lapel pocket of Joshua’s jacket, “call me.”

“Call you,” Joshua nodded, “gotcha.”

Speeding up, he left Graham behind so he could head straight for Ezra’s door. When he stepped over the threshold, he suddenly felt a lot safer. Was it because it was familiar or because Ezra was sitting behind the desk and fully clothed?

“Joshua?” Ezra jumped up, a grin on his face, “I-I-,”

“Sorry I’m late,” Joshua closed the door, “you know what London traffic is like.”

“Three hours late?” Ezra glanced at his watch, “Even by my standards, that’s a new record.”

Joshua smiled and Ezra returned it straight away. It was obvious Ezra was pleased to see him and Joshua had to admit that he was pleased to see Ezra too. He’d been tormenting himself about what had happened in Violet’s kitchen, somehow convincing his mind that it was completely wrong. Being in Ezra’s presence again made it feel not so wrong.

“There was some guy out there,” Joshua pointed over his shoulder, “Graham. Proper creep.”

“What did he want?” Ezra narrowed his eyes, “What did he say to you?”

The business card burned through his jacket but he couldn’t bring himself to tell Ezra. He still didn’t know why he was there so he didn’t want to reveal his hand straight away.

“Not a lot,” he lied, “he recognised me. I used to know his son.”

“Carol?” Ezra rolled his eyes, “You know he’s in prison? He bit somebody’s nose off.”

“Seriously?”

“Proper weirdo,” Ezra nodded, “he gave me the creeps. I’m glad I only fucked him once.”

“You didn’t?”

Ezra winked, a devious smile spreading across his cheeks, “I’m kidding, Joshua. Come on, I’ll show you to your new office.”

“I get an office?” he didn’t know why he was so surprised by this.