Living in the Fray

Chapter Five

Erik, the tall and stupidly handsome bodyguard of Byron Conner followed Krieger and Ronson back to their suite. He quickly stepped in after them then proceeded to wander around the place, hovering his holowatch around certain areas. He was obviously checking for bugs.

'It's safe to talk in here.' He sighed after doing a quick scan of the main room. 'Conner's paranoid as hell right now he's monitoring what's left of his staff.'

'That's nice, we're going out on the balcony anyway.' Krieger stated and wandered out, taking a seat at the table whilst kicking her boots off and resting her feet on the table top. She pulled out her cigarettes and began to light one. The bodyguard did his sweep again round the balcony area just to be sure, eventually taking a seat opposite Krieger. Ronson soon sat beside Krieger after bringing through a six pack of beer and a tray full of coffee paraphernalia; handing one of the cups to Erik and shoving down a few cups on his side of the table. The suite was that high up that they could barely hear any noise coming from the street but there was a lovely amount of sun beaming down on the balcony. It was nice to be outside in the fresh air for a change instead of being cooped up inside.

'So you seem eager to talk to us Erik.' Ronson announced as he handed a beer to Krieger and cracked one open for himself. He gestured for Erik to help himself to whatever he wanted. He graciously accepted and poured himself a cup of coffee.

'I am eager. We need to discuss the details of tonight's event.'

'Is that all?' Krieger asked, she wasn't convinced that was all he wanted to talk about.

Erik leaned back in to his seat and let out a half arsed sigh as he ran a hand through his golden blonde hair.

'I was planning on resigning after this party tonight. I can't handle working for this chump any longer. I already have a new job lined up.'

Krieger and Ronson glanced at each other knowing there was more to it.

'I mean this guy is unreal. He's ruthless, paranoid and way too demanding.' Erik continued.

'How long you worked for Connor can I ask? Ronson said.

'A little over five years. It wasn't so bad when I first started working for him but he just got worse. Plus his daughter is...'

'A spoilt bitch.' Krieger cut him off.

'I was going to be a bit more polite and say a little madam, but yeah. She is a spoilt bitch.' Erik smiled.

'What is she up to then? It can't all be down to Conner alone.'

Erik drank more of his coffee as he prepared what he was going to say to the pair. He sighed again just before he spoke.

'She's trying to blackmail me. Sort of. I don't really think she knows what she's doing. She's tried bribing me to sleep with her, tried getting something on me to sleep with her or just... stupid shit really. I'm getting sick of it.'

'You've not told anyone else about this? Or even told Conner?' Krieger quizzed.

'Margie knows, she's not a massive fan of Tammy. And Conner? God no he'd ruin me for the rest of my life, his little girl can't do no wrong. I've been trying to stay out of the way when I can and Margie has been stepping in when it comes to the kid.'

'Does Margie know you want to leave?'

'She does. She even helped me find another job.'

'And how does she feel about it, you leaving I mean?' Ronson asked. It all seemed a little bit farfetched as to why he wanted to leave and the reasons why.