Fallen Down Under (Down Under #2) (13 page)

Max

I've been sat outside Jess house for an hour and her fucking phone is switched off. AGAIN. I've tried Stanton's and the place is closed for the day. What the fuck is going on. I'll give her another half an hour and then I'll head to Luke's if she doesn't show. I didn't think to call her to let her know I was flying out and I don't know if she's spoken to Liss. All I want to do is see her beautiful face and then curl up into her body as I sleep for a week. Fucking jet lag. How she's even up and about I'll never know. Maybe I should have called at Jens. Why didn't I think of calling there sooner? Of course that's where she'll be. Those two are inseparable. I stick my car into the drive and make my way down the street eager to see her. I'm still fucking pissed that she went when I told her not to but that's Jess, always ready to do the opposite of what I fucking ask of her.

I'm only parked up for about ten minutes when I see her bouncy honey waves coming towards the house. Fuck how I've missed her. She's fucking perfect. I decide against calling out to her to see if she notices me. Instead it's Jen that comes barrelling over towards the car.

"Hey muscles. I didn't expect to see you here, that’s for sure."

"Yeah? I'm full of surprises me." I say smiling at her.

"Max?" Jess chimes in. Shock registers all over her face followed by disbelief that I'm actually here. "What are you doing here?" She asks.

"I came to help out at Stanton's and to personally show you what happens when you fuck off without telling me angel." She leans in towards the car window.

"Oh, kinky. I like this one Jess. Do whatever you have to do to keep him because I'm telling you, if I get my hands on him I ain't ever giving him back."

"Piss off." She says jokingly but if push came to shove I can see it in her eyes that she'd be pissed as hell. "When did you get here? Why didn't you call?"

"A few hours back." I could say so much more seeing as she did the same but for now I leave it as I get out of the car. Without a moment’s notice I pull her into me and press my lips to hers.

"Don't you dare fucking leave me again lady."

"I didn't leave you. I was always coming back?" Part of me always hoped that would be the answer but it still feels fucking good to hear it come from those beautiful lips.

"I’d fly anywhere to be with you."

"Come on you two, you'll get arrested with that show of PDA."

I stay at Jen's for a while with Jess firmly positioned in between my legs on the sofa. She's been away from me for far too long and I don't plan on letting go of her anytime soon unless I have too.

"Where's Luke? I thought he'd be here. You two were pretty much inseparable last time I saw you both."

"Erm, yeah I've had a bit of man flu and wanted to protect the balls that he doesn't have. I'm kind like that you see. He'll probably be around later.” She shrugs. “Oh, you’re a sneaky one muscles. You haven't even told him you're here yet have you?"

Jess phone chimes beside us and she quickly reaches to grab it before it rings off. "Like I said, I'm full of surprises.”

"Hi. Yeah, no it's fine honestly. What? Really? At least it's a start." Jess says with a glum luck on her face. "Did they give you a name of the client that been affected? Okay... Yep, that's one of the biggies."

She turns to look at me as she ends the call, desperate to tell me something.

"I knew it was a hacking, I just bloody knew it. It's one of our biggest clients too, Limitless."

"Limitless isn't just the biggest client Jess, that's mine and Mal's company files with every aspect of personal information on there. It's the company that's been targeted, not a client."

"Are you sure? It can't be. Tim said that the client knew and they were threatening legal action. It just doesn't make sense."

"You've got that right angel. Listen I'm gonna head to Stanton's to see if I can get to the bottom of this but I'll see you back at yours later okay?"

"Hmm mm." She nods as I lean I'm for a kiss and hands me the keys. Something dodgy is going down and I'm going to find out exactly what it is.

The office is eerily quiet as I open the door. Why the fuck is Stanton's closed? Surely there's more staff than Jess as Tim?

"Hey, yeah it's Max." I say answering the phone.  "I need your help on something. One of my servers has been hacked and I need to know who's responsible. I'd like to think it's not an inside job but I need to be sure. Get me the dates, location and all that shit and call me back as soon as you have it. Make it fucking quick."

I won't stand for anyone trying to fuck up my family business. Mal's worked too hard to build this up to where it is today and I won't allow anyone to destroy it. I take a quick look over the accounts while I wait on Heath getting back to me. Everything else seems to be fine; it's just the limitless file. Not only does it have the business details on there and upcoming proposals that me and Mal have put together, but all staff details and pay role information. If this gets into the wrong hands we're in big shit.

Jess

"Why does he have to be so goddamn hot woman? I hope you realise how lucky you are."

"Oh yes, yes I do." I smile knowing that yes I really am. "You've got Luke, he's pretty hot too you know."

"Yeah, that's if he doesn't think I'm some super psycho bitch after the way I have been acting towards him."

"Come on Jen. This is you we're taking about. Of course he knows you're psycho. It's one of your many charms."

"Oh piss off you bitch. I had a bloody good reason for my actions and you know it." She laughs.

"Well to be fair, if you would have used something then you wouldn't have found yourself in that situation would you?" A cushion is suddenly hurled at me from her direction.

"Quit being a fucking bitch. I've learnt my lesson okay?"

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask earlier, have you seen or heard from Amelia since I've been away?" Her absence is still playing on my mind.

"Not that I can remember why?"

"It's just that she's been AWOL from work quite a lot and no one can get hold of her. She's basically just going about doing what she wants from what Tim's said."

"Maybe she just needs sometime out or something. She wasn't well just before you left was she?"

A knock sounds at the door and Jen turns to look at me with utter panic in her eyes. "Oh god, that's going to be Luke. Shit Jess, what do I say?"

"Just be yourself and you'll be fine."

"Shit, shit, shit. I can't do this."

"You can and you bloody well will. Just think of the conversation that you would have been having if there was a mini diva growing in you." She shudders at my words and I can't help but laugh. "My point exactly now quit being so soft."

When it becomes apparent that she's going nowhere fast and the knocks continue to get louder and louder, I pull myself up from the sofa on a dramatic sigh and look at her. "Grow yourself a fucking pair Davies." I mutter as I walk towards the front door.

I stand in shock at the person stood before me on the opposite side of the threshold. Anger, sadness and panic all set in and my hands start to shake.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Is that really all you have to say to me after all this time?"

"What do you expect me to say?" I ask and my words come out on a choke as I fight back the tears that threaten to fall.

"Jess, who is it?" Jens voice flows through from the living area.

"How did you know where I was?"

"Josh. Who do you think? I'm glad he finally saw sense before you darkened his soul too with your selfish ways." I can't believe I'm hearing the words that are coming out of her mouth. It's one thing to have to listen to them over the phone but dealing with them face to face is something else entirely. "I'm not surprised he finally left you. It's about time he made something of himself instead of you holding him back while you pretend to be something that you're not."

"I don't need to listen to your bullshit mother. Maybe once you've sobered up a little I might be prepared to talk to you civilly. Can't you see that you need help?"

"It's a pleasure as always Diana." Jen says with venom in her voice as she sneaks up behind me. She must have heard the commotion from the living area and came to investigate. "You've caused enough damage in the past and I won't stand here and let you tear chunks out of Jess again just so you can feel better about yourself. If you want to talk to Jess properly then you'll do it with a clear head. If you're not prepared to do that then you can turn back around and walk back to wherever it was that you've come from."

"I'm surprised to see that you’re still standing by Jess's side. Most people would have given up on her by now. Surely there are better people you can spend your time with Jennifer?"

The woman stood before me is pure evil. She is no mother, at least not when she's fuelled with alcohol. She needs help and I wish that she could see it. It pains me like hell to see her like this but I can't cope with the abuse she hurls at me. I swear to god, I'm going to kill Josh when I get my fucking hands on him for giving out Jens address.

"Alright, now you've had your say. Why don't you do what Jess says and come back once you've sobered up some?"

My mother changes instantly at Jens words. No longer is she the sour faced woman that I have come to know, instead, she now begins to slide down Jens doorframe with her head in her hands. As she pulls them away slightly to I see that she's actually crying.

"Why don't you love me Jess?" She shouts. "Why don't you care? Why don't you need me like you're supposed to?" I have no words, no words to say how I feel as I watch my mum, the one person who was supposed to protect me from harm and protect me no matter what crumble and breakdown before my own eyes. Instead all I can do is watch as Jen takes over. Bending down, she slowly removes my mother’s worn and battered hands away from her face.

"Diana, I need you to listen to me. You need to get some help. As much as you’re suffering and hurting you can't keep taking it out on Jess because in turn you're hurting her just as much, if not more. You lashing out at her every time you've had a drink isn't doing either of you any good."

"I've... Got... Nowhere... To... Go." She splutters between each breath. "I've lost everything Jess. The house, the car it's all gone." Everything around me feels as though it's collapsing and my lungs struggle to take in air as I take in her words.

"You can't leave her with nothing Jess." Jen looks at me pleadingly to say something. I'm tempted to turn around and go back inside. Maybe then she'll see how reckless she's been when she actually realises what she's done.

"Come on Di, how about we try and sober you up first? One line out of turn mind and you're out, understand?" Jen asks but by the time my mums head has hit the pillow she's out like a light.

"Bloody hell Jess. I knew she was bad but not
that
bad. She needs help.

"You're telling me." I say as I look over at my mum and can't help but notice how much she's aged since I saw her last. She's barely recognizable as she sleeps. "What am I going to do? I've got to sort all this shit out at Stanton's. Yesterday, I thought you were going to be pushing out a mini diva and now my mums bloody homeless. I never thought I'd say this Jen, but I'm beginning to regret coming back home already.” Dealing with the queen bitch is actually more bearable than this.

"Well she can stay here tonight. I know you're not comfortable with her staying at yours. You know I won't tolerate her bullshit either and I'll even feed her too for you. I'm good at looking after people."

"Don't be daft. She can't stay here, plus she's my responsibility so I'll just deal with the situation one way or another. I'll stick around until she wakes up. Thanks though."

After three long hours my mum finally resurfaces from her slumber.

"Nice of you to finally join us." I say, my tone still icy.

"I'll fix us a coffee." Jen chimes in and I smile at her in thanks. I look over to my mum and wonder where it all went wrong so fast.

"What's happened mum? How did you manage to lose the house?" She rubs her hands down her face. Whether it's from shame or her banging head I can't be sure. Either way it's bloody self-inflicted. One thing is certain; she isn't leaving here until I find out exactly what's happened and why.

"I lost my job."

"What do you mean you lost your job?" It's going from bad to worse every time she talks. My mum may be many things but work shy isn't one of them. She has always prided herself on working and she’s always loved a challenge and she loved her job. I think that's the only thing that she passed on to me. "When?" I demand.

"About six months ago everything got on top of me. Well more than usual anyway and I thought what's the point?
You
weren't around anymore and no one else bothered with me, I can't tell you how long I would go without someone picking up the phone to call me only for it to be those bloody telesales pestering about this and that. I've been alone for a long time Jess, especially here." She holds her hand to her chest and I can't stop mine from tightening in response. "I just couldn't handle it anymore. One day I called in sick and that's day rolled into a week, which then turned into a month and so on. Before I knew it everything around me was hazed with a big dark cloud and I couldn't face going out of the house for more than fifteen or so minutes at a time. If people didn't want to bother with me, why should I bother with them?"

"Why didn't you tell me this instead of hurling a shit load of abuse at me?" I ask.

"What do you care?" She snarls at me. "You had your own perfect fucking life to lead and god forbid your waste of a mother would come and tarnish it. Why am I even telling you this anyway?"

That right there instantly gets my back up and I have to bite back the retort that I want throw at her. "Of course I care. No matter what happens you're still my mum. It's unfortunate that things have turned out the way they have between us but I would never, never see you go without. Like anything we'll get you through it but first you need help mum.  The first step is admitting you have a problem and then maybe we might just be able to get your life back on track. One thing I will say mum is that if you continue being nasty to me or blame me for dad leaving from this point on then you’re doing this on your own and this time I will walk out of your life for good and I'm being deadly serious. It isn't fair how you treat or speak to people.”

"Here we are. Biscuits anyone?" Jen smiles and I raise my eyebrows at her. Only Jen could act like we're due to have royalty around while she's entertaining my pissed up mother.