Neal awoke the following morning feeling a little the worse for wear! (Understatement) The room was spinning and so was his stomach it was a long time since he had been that drunk!
Turning his head just a fraction .....any more and he thought he would get motion sickness he looks to see if Sarah is there... she's not!
Groaning he forces himself into a sitting position just as his mobile bursts into life on the bedside table "Oh, god!" he groans and reaches for the phone taking a deep breath and trying to focus his eyes he flips open the phone "Hello?"
"Neal, darling you sound dreadful, are you OK? Sarah's not left you again has she?" Kyori asks with a mix of concern and hopefulness.
"No!... Well, not that I know of anyway! I just had a night out with the guys that's all!" Neal mumbles lying back on the pillow and willing the room to stop spinning.
"Oh, well never mind... I have good news! I've found Colette and Jett! Colette had no idea what I was talking about but Jett... well, she sounded very cagey I think it might help if you had a chat to her! So I said you would meet her for lunch... about 1 o'clock?"
Neal groans "OK! But what if I had been busy today? You should have checked with me first about this .... meeting!"
"Well! There's gratitude for you! For your information Mr high and Mighty I tried to check with you earlier this morning and Sarah said it would be fine!" Kyori sounds most indignant but this is lost on the woozy Neal.
"Sarah? When did you speak to Sarah?" Neal's head is suddenly starting to clear.
"This morning! I did say it was this morning!" Kyori looks at her phone and shakes her head "Poor baby you are soooo loosing it!"
Endearments from Kyori makes Neal feel very uncomfortable! His wife chatting on the phone to his ex lover also fills him with a mix of horror and discomfort.
Just then the bedroom door opens and Sarah walls in "Kyori phoned ... said you needed to talk to one of you concubines!"
Neal holds up his phone "I know!" then putting the phone to his ear again "Thanks Kyori... what time was it again and where?"
"1 o'clock at Whites in Crib Street ... do you know it?" Kyori asks him.
"Thanks! Yes, I know it. I'll tell you how it goes later! Bye!" Neal closes the phone without waiting for Kyori's reply.
Sarah pulls the covers back on the bed "Come on you need a shower and to get ready! It's 11 o'clock now you know!"
Neal groans but does as he's told and has a cold shower and gets dressed.
Going down stairs he finds Kandy and Rumi drinking coffee with Sarah. "Morning girls is there any coffee for me?"
Sarah points at a cup of lukewarm coffee sitting on the side " coffee's there and you need to get going if your meeting is at 1 o'clock!"
Neal picks up the cup and drinks it down pulling a bit of a face. He looks at Kandy and Rumi chatting with Sarah and realizes that she can't have told her sisters about his latest ...misdemeanour's? He's a little puzzled by this as the sisters normally tell each other everything but he has no time to dwell on it now as he needs to get going.
"OK, well ladies I'll see you all soon!" Turning he heads for the door Sarah follows him and they can hear Kandy and Rumi making kissing sounds as they head for the front door.
Neal is still a little wary of Sarah's up and down emotions and hesitates before kissing her. This hesitation is not missed by Sarah and she signs inwardly... their marriage still needs a LOT of work!
She kisses him back " I hope this.... Jett can help? .....And NO shagging her!" she can't help herself.
Neal just grins " No shagging, I promise...well not until I get home to you anyway!" he looks at her hopefully.
"Well see! Now get going!" Sarah winks at him and closes the door.
...............................
Neal spots Jett as soon as he enter the restaurant. Although it's quite evident she has changed in the last nine months or so since he last saw her.
"Jett? what's happened to you? If you don't mind me saying your not looking your....ammm.... best?" he asks as the waiter takes his jacket and seats him.
"Dania Zarr! She's a world class bitch!" Jett looks down at her hands.
Neal follows her look and can see the once perfectly manicured hands are now grimy looking, her nails bitten to the quick. He takes in her malnourished look and the shakes.
"How long?" he asks
"Since my last fix or I started?" Jett mumbles.
"Either... both? and WHY?" Neal signals the waiter and asks for a glass of water turning to Jett "What would you like to drink?"
" Beer, Vodka, Gin.... anything with alcohol in it!" Jett gives Neal a defiant look as she sees him shake his head.
The waiter gives Neal a look and Neal shrugs... he's got enough going on without getting mixed up in this! "Give the lady a Vodka... with orange? Heavy on the orange, please"
The waiter leaves and Neal turns back to Jett "So! you was saying?"
Jett gives a heavy sigh "OK, started about a year ago... had last fix yesterday! Kyori said you would give me money... or hook me up!"
Neal can feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickle " Not going to happen! Sorry!!!"
" Bastard! You want information... your gonna have to pay! ...Or I'm outta here!" Jett hisses.
Just then the waiter returns with their drinks. Jett snatches up her drink and downs it in one. Then she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. The waiter tries not to look concerned, the restaurant prides itself on it's famous clientèle due to the secluded tables and the restaurants 'discretion'. But this ....critter?
"Thank you, the lady will have another and then we will be ready to order!" Neal can see the waiters discomfort and he so does not need a scene.
Turning back to Jett "Look I know what drugs can do I can't support that... but why not stay... free meal and drink.... we could just...chat?"
Jett does feel a little hungry "OK!" she nods her head "But if you want information from me I want something in return!"
"What do you want?" Neal looks at Jett warily.
"Giselle.... your sister she was hooked right?" Jett give him a steady look.
Just the the waiter returns again with Jett's second drink.
"Thank you, I'll have the chicken with salad no dressing please... and Jett?"
"Whatever.... ammm What's the most expensive thing on this menu?" Jett looks at the menu "No?...I'll have the King Prawns with new potatoes and onions..."
The waiter looks from Jett to Neal, Neal nods his head and the waiter leaves them.
"What does Giselle have to do with this?" Neal asks
"The gossip goes you got her clean? I wanna be clean?.... I think?" Jett informs him.
"Are you sure? You just said you wanted a fix? I'll help you..BUT only if you really want to get clean or it's not going to work!" Neal looks at Jett in earnest.
After some thought Jett replies " Yeah! I do!"
Neal knows this could all backfire on him and he vows to tell Sarah as soon as he gets home.... he just has to help Jett he can't let Dania destroy another life! BUT where does all this help him with this baby mess?
"So, how much do you know about my problem? What did Kyori tell you?" Neal asks her quietly
"She said you had a kid...but you didn't know who the mother was.... that's way strange?????" Jett takes a large swig of her drink
Neal nods "That about sums it up!" He fishes in his pocket for some Paracetamol his head ache was starting to feel a little better but now he can feel it coming back!
"Headache?" Jett asks as she watches him pop two pills in his mouth and drink some water. Neal nods. "So do you know who the mother is?" Neal tries to get to the point of this lunch.
Jett starts to tell him what she knows and it's not pretty! Then their food arrives and Jett tucks in telling Neal he will have to watch his back as it looks like things could get very nasty.
Neal is so confused by what Jett is telling him he can only manage a couple of mouthfuls of food!
But Jett... she clears her plate and Neal's then she asks for desert. Neal just orders a coffee and then excuses himself as he makes some phone calls.
About ten minutes later a black car with blacked out windows pulls up outside. The waiter approaches Neal and they talk quietly with Jett straining to hear what they are saying.
"What? What's going on?" Jett looks at Neal confused.
"It's OK! Your cars here! Come on I walk with you!" Neal gets up and takes Jett by the elbow steering her towards the back entrance.
"Neal? What's going on?" Jett tries to pull away in confusion.
"You said you wanted help getting off the drugs? Well this way you don't have a chance to change your mind!"
By now they have reached the blacked out car and a chauffeur is standing holding open the rear passenger door. A man is sitting inside and Neal gives Jett a slight push into the car. "Bye Jett it's up to you now!"and the car door closes.
As Neal turns away he thinks about what Jett had told him....this is bad...really bad!....................
