Abandon Read online

  Contents

  Ebook

  Copyright

  PART ONE

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  PART TWO

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Have you read?

  Ebook

  ABANDON

  Gisele St. Claire

  COPYRIGHT

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Copyright © 2017 By: Gisele St.Claire

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Gisele St.Claire holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

  PART ONE

  RESTRAINT

  A measure or condition that keeps someone or something under control or within limits

  Chapter One

  Ashley

  Working for Aidan Hall kept me on the toes of my Jimmy Choos. You never quite knew what he was going to ask you to do next. As the owner of Abandon, a private members sex club, he’d inherited me as his main assistant the moment he bought the club from Henry Carter two years ago. I’d known Aidan a while before he took over and he was a great guy, though known to be impulsive at times. I loved my job although it was busy and challenging. I was a shit hot assistant and Aidan knew it.

  He’d been pre-occupied the last few days as he had finally begun a romance with a woman called Lori who he’d been giving puppy dog eyes to for ages. This morning he had called a meeting with me and said it was very important. I hoped he wasn’t going to give me much more work to do as my schedule was brimming over.

  I knocked on the door of his office and walked in when I heard his voice instruct me to do so. My dark haired, dark eyed boss had stubble on his chin, a sign he’d been too busy with Lori to shave. It made me smile.

  “Hey, Ashley. Take a seat.”

  Well, he looked in an amazingly great mood anyhow. Relaxed and with a smile that took up almost his whole face. Getting regular sex did that to you I suppose, though I found it hard to recall. The only relationship I had was with my job and that’s how I liked it.

  I sat in the chair opposite him, my iPad in my hand ready to take notes.

  “You won’t be needing that.” Aidan smiled. “This isn’t a PA thing.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him before sliding the iPad onto the edge of his sleek black desk, then I sat back crossing one leg over the other. Now I was intrigued.

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Ashley, I want to start by apologizing.”

  I looked up at him with a query in my gaze. I could feel my eyebrows pulling tautly together. What did he need to apologize for? What had he done and how did it involve me?

  He cleared his throat. “I think Abandon and it’s previous incarnation Club S, plus me and the previous owner, Henry, have largely taken you for granted. You do an amazing job around here, above and beyond what an Assistant should do.”

  “I love my work.” I said slowly and cautiously.

  “It shows.” He nodded his head.

  I ran my tongue around my now dry mouth wishing he’d get to the point.

  “Now, I’m planning on being out of the office more. It shouldn’t come as any surprise to you that I’m looking to expand the business, given its success. So I plan to be out scoping locations for a new sister club to Abandon. I’ve also decided to extend this place…”

  Fuck. I was getting more work. Did he think I could do without eating and breathing?

  “To that end. I’m changing things around. Ashley, I want to invite you to take on the position of Manager for Abandon, second only to myself. Abandon is extending to the floor above and I want you to oversee that development. There will be a VIP area for the elite there. Somewhere they can hold private parties rather than mix with everyone like they currently do on this floor. You’ll negotiate with Party Planners and PR in order to make Abandon XL the place for the rich and famous to party.”

  I tilted my head, “XL?”

  Another smile came my way. “Abandon with gold dust - extra large, or extra lust? Whichever. Just make sure it’s dynamite. If you take the job that is.” He scrawled some numbers on a piece of paper and turned it around to me.

  “That would be your salary. Starting tomorrow.” He searched my gaze.

  My gaze that was wide eyed. The number I was looking at was ten times my present salary.

  Looking directly in my eyes, he ran a hand through his hair. “If you don’t accept I’ll be doubling your present salary anyway. I’ll also be backdating this to when I took over, so that’s a two year backdate coming your way.”

  My jaw dropped. I was having trouble keeping up with this conversation. Aidan was so very enthusiastic about everything, that he talked at one hundred miles an hour and went from one thought to another. After two years I was used to him but today, his general happiness was making him even more tricky to keep up with.

  I was getting a two year backdate. Twenty-four times my salary going into my account, and THEN double salary from now on, or even more if I accepted this new role.

  I folded my arms across my chest. “I want to say yes, Aidan, I really do. But I don’t see how I’m going to be able to take on all this extra work. I’m already here morning, noon and night.” Although I was his General Assistant, our office building was on the floor above - the one he was talking about converting into Abandon XL. That made a question pop into my mind.

  “Hey, what’s happening to the other offices?” I asked, “If Abandon XL is going to be upstairs.”

  He shot me a grin. “Relocating. I’ve bought new premises near GoDown Productions. It’s ready to move into. I want Abandon XL up and running in the next few months. Money’s no object. I’m employing a Project Manager and they’re waiting for my Manager’s call. In answer to your other question of how you would cope - if you accept the job, I’m getting you a Deputy Manager. You’ll train them to manage Abandon and you can have Jessica to take over your PR duties. She’d be your assistant.”

  “Okay, yes, I’ll do it.” The words burst from my mouth before the sensible part of myself could take over. All I could think of was handling an exciting new project, being the boss and having enough money to tell my present landlord to go suck a dick.

  Aidan rolled out some plans across the table and invited me to stand closer to look. I rose from my seat, smoothing down my skirt and stood at his side.

  He gestured at the drawings. “If you can see, what I’m proposing is that these two thirds of the building to the right of the main lobby will be Abandon XL. At the left side, behind the elevators will be two separate staff apartments: one for the Manager, one for the deputy. Obviously the Manager’s will have extra square footage.” He laughed. “I will need one of you to be on site at all times. It would be up to you whether you used it full-time or just when you were on duty.”

  I gave a slow, disbelieving shake of my head. “There’s an apartment too? That salary and an apartment?” I pressed a hand against my chest, fingers splayed out. “Aidan could you slap me because I’m sure I’m dreaming.”

  He laughed again.

  “Hey, you’re not manic are you?” I frowned at him. “Do I need to call psych?”

  A glea
m in his eye, he winked at me. “What we are, Ashley, is on the up. Abandon is doing amazing. The elite are crying out for their own floor. You know how many times they make inquiries to get the place to themselves.”

  I nodded. There was always some VIP thinking they were important enough that we’d close the club for their sole use.

  “Now we’ll be able to offer them that as an option without it impacting on the other members.”

  “It’s going to be incredible.” I grinned.

  Aidan looked up from his plans. “So, I’ll need you to run any major ideas past me, but what I’d like you to do this week is meet with the guy who’s going to be your deputy. I’ve shown him around Abandon but he’ll need showing the ropes of running the place. His name is Lucas and I’ve asked him to meet with us tomorrow morning.”

  “So you knew I’d take the job?” I smiled.

  Aidan’s eyes fixed on me. “No, Ashley, I got on my knees and prayed you’d take the job. I want you to work on ideas for what XL is going to look like and what we’re going to offer. Come back to me with a mood board, presentation or similar as soon as you can.”

  I tapped my lip. “I could open a dialog with the VIPs who use the place already?”

  “Love it. Do that, schmooze a few. Take them somewhere fancy on account. Find out what’s hip and what’s about to trend and get that in our club. Now Jess is going to be working for me, you and Lucas so I’ve also increased her salary and she’s ready to become a workaholic just like you.” He reached over to grab his laptop bag.

  “I’m outta here. You have my schedule. I suggest today you take some time to process the morning and maybe take Jess to lunch? Chat about the future of Hall Enterprises and it’s meteoric rise to the top.”

  He winked again and with that, he left the office. Picking up the piece of paper and the plans, I walked through to my own and sat back in my chair. I felt like I’d been whipped by a tornado. I stared at the piece of paper with my new salary written on it. Were those numbers real? I stuck my legs out, whipped them up and down, and let out an excited shriek. Oh my God, in the space of a few minutes my career had shot off into the stratosphere. The Manager of Abandon! I loved this place. I’d been here from it’s inception right back when Henry Carter had bought it and first employed me as his assistant. I’d watched it morph into its current incarnation and now I was to be instrumental in its development to it’s next. I was excited to get started, but for now I called Jess, because us two girls needed to celebrate over lunch.

  “I couldn’t believe it when he asked me if I’d take on the position of PA to him, the new manager, and the deputy.” Jess grinned at me then took a pull on her soda. “I asked him if you’d got one of the positions and he told me if you said no, he was in the shit cos he’d just given your job away.”

  “Aidan Hall is one ballsy dude.” I told her.

  “Yeah, or he knows you so well, he knew you’d bite his right arm off to get a promotion.”

  My eyes widened. “I can’t believe it, Jess. I’m going to be the Manager of Abandon. Hey, it’s not going to be weird between us is it?” My brow furrowed.

  “Ash, you’ve been the Senior Assistant to me for years and to be honest this promotion for you has been a long time coming. I’m ecstatic for you. I’m getting a promotion myself, so no, I don’t think it’s going to change our dynamic too much. Anyway if you get too cocky, can I have permission to tell you to check yourself before you wreck yourself?” She started to laugh.

  “Please do. Seriously, Jess. I can’t believe it. Do you know I get an apartment with my job?”

  Her jaw dropped open. “An apartment? I want to be the Manager.”

  “It’s going to be on the same floor as Abandon XL. Aidan said I had the choice whether to use it when I was working because myself and this Lucas guy will have to take turns to be around for twenty-four-seven cover, or to live there. Well, seeing as I basically live there anyway and I swear my current rental has bed bugs, its a no-brainer.”

  “Well, I’m happy for myself today, but I’m not only happy for you, I’m jealous to all hell.”

  “Hey. I haven’t met this Lucas guy yet. This could be the worst business decision I’ve ever made.”

  “See this glass?” Jess shook her soda glass at me. “It’s half full, not half empty. That’s how you need to see things. Fresh starts and all that.”

  Jess knew that I came from a family of deadbeats that I had no contact with, and an ex that did the cheating-with-my-best- friend thing. The way I saw it, my work was social. I met hundreds of people a week. My life was busy and I had a job I loved. What had happened today was some kind of miracle and I felt like I needed to keep pinching myself.

  “We’re going to be meeting all kinds of celebrities and getting to know all their kinks.” Jess winked. “It’s going to be like Abandon Enquirer in our office.”

  “Ah, we’ll too busy to worry about that nonsense.” I told her.

  “What? You mean if we got Tom Hardy in there naked you wouldn’t wanna look? Seriously girl, you need to get back in the game and get laid. You have a whole sex club at your disposal. Go play.”

  I put my head forward a little and placed a hand over my forehead. “You just shouted that I had a whole sex club at my disposal. People are staring.”

  Jess snorted. “Sorry, got a bit overexcited there at the thought of naked rock stars.”

  “Look. We have to keep professional. There’ll be no fraternizing with any members, or staff.”

  “Whaaat? That’s not a rule seeing as our own boss bedded the bartender! Plus he used to take part in threesomes before he took over ownership. Aidan has a mighty fine ass you know?”

  I shook my head. “Well, it’s my rule anyhow. To keep work separate from my personal life.”

  “What personal life?” Jess quipped. “You oughta give all the new toys in Abandon XL a try and loosen up a little.”

  “Have you used the club?” Though I’d known Jess a long time, I didn’t really know that much about her, other than she lived with a roommate called Sheridan who’d been her best friend since high school.

  “Yes!” She said. “A couple of times on the masquerade nights. I don’t think I could have gone in there with the possibility of anyone recognizing me, but with a mask on, it was different. Like no one knew it was Jess from Hall Enterprises.”

  “Really?” I was intrigued now. “Did it add to the excitement, people not knowing it was you?”

  “Hell, yeah. Plus, well, some of the guys there just had the best bodies: really ripped, gym-honed, bounce quarters off them bodies.” Her face took on a dreamy look. “I think I might have to do it again this week.” Her eyes widened. “Hey, why don’t you join in on the next one? It’s on Friday isn’t it?”

  “No way.” I put a hand up. “For me Abandon is strictly business. That’s how it’s always been and that’s how it will stay.”

  Jess shrugged her shoulders. “You’re missing out.”

  “I may well be, but I need my focus to be on my job, especially now that I have the promotion. I need to make sure this club is the best it can be.”

  “Which you’d know if you tested it.” Jess winked.

  Chapter Two

  Ashley

  I’d found it hard to sleep that night. For one thing I kept looking around my squalid apartment thinking that I didn’t need to stay here anymore. With all that money going into my account the following day I could just forgo the rest of my lease in this shit hole and move to a hotel while I looked for somewhere else to rent before my new apartment was ready. We were looking at a few months before the club and apartments were done so I needed a short term tenancy. In the meantime, I’d start packing up my stuff, and tomorrow evening, I’d book into The Global, a luxury hotel near to work. I’d treat myself to a suite for a week and live the high life. What the hell. I worked hard, had been saving and hadn’t been on vacation. It was time to celebrate my promotion and have a little splurge. My stomach fi
zzed with excitement and that was one of the reasons I couldn’t sleep.

  The other was the fact I had to meet this guy the next morning, Lucas. What if I didn’t like him? Aidan hadn’t told me anything about his past experience, so I didn’t know if he had a background in clubs, knew about property, nothing. I didn’t even know his last name! We would have to work very closely together so I hoped he was a friendly guy who didn’t mind the fact that he’d have a female boss. He was taking over management of the main floor but needed training up first and so he’d need to be able to listen and follow orders. Once my own floor was up and running, I’d take more of a back seat with Abandon and concentrate on XL, but I’d still be in charge overall. New people brought new ideas and while I was more than willing to listen to them, Abandon was a tightly run ship and I didn’t want that rocking.

  I reached over to my bedside table and flicked on the light. Propping myself up against the headboard I reached into my bedside drawer for a notepad and pen and began writing down ideas as they came to me. Thoughts about decor, little extras we could offer like a personal shopping service while the VIPs were in the club maybe? Perhaps a massage room etc. Top DJs playing sets in the main bar?

  Finally at around 3:30am my eyelids began to droop and I threw the notebook and pen to the floor, flicked off the light and slipped down under the comforter. My alarm was set for 6:00 am and sure enough in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, it was beeping and I needed to get on with the day.

  I wanted to make a good impression. The meeting was with Aidan, Lucas, Jess and myself so we could talk about the future direction of the business. I flung open my closet door and stared at the boring black suits and white blouses inside. PA corporate wear had been appropriate before, but now I was the boss. Well, the Manager of Abandon. I didn’t need to remind myself that Aidan was the boss overall. He had a commanding but pleasant demeanor, but I knew he needed to start delegating to other people. Not only were all his businesses majorly successful and expanding but his girlfriend, Lori, was training to be a photographer in New Jersey and he wanted to spend time with her now he’d found the ‘love of his life’. It was strange to see the change that had come over Aidan in the last couple years. From a playboy who enjoyed the fruits of the club, to the owner, and now to a businessman who wanted to cut loose a little and enjoy life. Yet another reason I didn’t want to date. My own career was now taking off and I didn’t need any distractions. I needed to make sure that Aidan wouldn’t regret his decision to give me this responsibility and that if possible I could get him a return on his investment in the least possible time.