Chapter 12 – Bang Bang, That Awful Sound

It was D-day. The day she had been dreading all week. She wanted it to be over already. Her eyes flicked up from the papers on the desk to see Stu walking through the door. A pair of dark jeans covered his legs and a grey t-shirt covered his wide chest.

"Do you want to go out for dinner tonight?" Stu asked a smile playing on his lips, he didn't need small talk. He knew she was smitten with him.

"Erm, tonight?" Mandi nervously tapped her pen against the edge of her desk.

"Is that a problem?"

"I, err, I already have plans with Fran, sorry." She didn't want to lie, but she had no other option.

"I see." He stood straight, the rejection hitting him like a ton of bricks, "Maybe another time then?"

"Yeah that sounds great." She placed her hand on top of his, wanting nothing more than to spend a night with him again. Unfortunately she had other things to deal with.

"Enjoy the rest of your day." He turned and walked out of the shop, not without giving her a smile over his shoulder. She sighed and dropped the pen to the desk. She didn't have the money. She had some money but was short. She would have to see if they would work out a deal; if not, well she didn't want to think about that just yet. The afternoon dragged; she couldn't eat, couldn't think and a headache had settled in just for good measure.

Once home she sat on the couch in silence, her nerves unable to be settled. She was supposed to be a strong confident business woman; now she was a nervous wreck, a shell of the woman she once was. Her thoughts continued to drift back to Stu; the few times they had been together it felt right. Everything about him felt right. His dominant ways didn't deter her; she wanted to impress him, show him how independent she was. One of the reasons why she didn't turn to him for help; along with the fact she hadn't known him all too long. He would assume she was a fame and money hungry fan. She changed from her work clothes into a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt, her flip flops echoed through the house as she walked back to the kitchen. She glanced at the clock, it was almost 7pm. Her heart jumped as there was a knock on the front door; she sucked in a breath, slowly walking over to it. She opened it seeing a smiley Fran on the other side; Mandi let out a sigh of relief.

"What are you doing here?" Mandi moved over letting Fran step inside.

"Is that anyway to greet your friends who bring you alcohol?" Fran held up a bottle of wine, grinning as she did so, "You need to relax, you've been so stressed lately." Mandi let her in, actually thankful for the drink. The minutes ticked by, Mandi continued to steer the conversation away from her. Letting Fran talk about her newest obsession for things to photograph.

"I'm so tired; I think I'm going to call it a night." Mandi smiled, interrupting the brunette and standing up from the couch in an attempt to get her friend to leave.

"You're kidding right? It's like not even past eight yet."

"Fran, you have to go!" She could see the clock on the oven; 8.06pm. She had lost track of time.

"What is up with you?" Fran asked, standing up with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing."

"Then tell me what is going on with you! You haven't been yourself this past week."

"I may have done something stupid."

"May have?" Mandi squeezed her eyes shut and let out a frustrated groan and opening them again.

"Okay, I've definitely done something stupid and I'm going to pay the price. And if you don't leave now, you will too." She hoped her threat would be enough to get her to leave.

"Mandi, I'm your best friend. Just tell me what you've done."

Mandi sucked up all her courage, looking Fran dead in the eye, "I've borrowed money."

"From who?"

"This guy called Luke he-" she began but couldn't finish her sentence as Fran interrupted.

"Mandi how could you be so stupid!" Fran knew exactly what Mandi had done. It didn't take a genius to figure out if you borrowed money from somewhere other than a bank it wasn't strictly legal.

"I know! I thought I could handle it and make the money!"

"So what now?"

"They want the money by 8." Mandi glanced at the clock again, "Or they're coming here to get it."

"Do you have all of the money?" She shook her head no, nervously biting her nails, "How much did you borrow?"

"Ten thousand."

"And how much of that do you actually have to give them now?"

"Seven thousand." Mandi felt more sick than ever, the wine now seeming like a terrible idea.

"I don't have any money I can give you Mands."

"I don't want your money, I just want you to leave. I can handle this."

"Obviously you can't-" Fran was interrupted again, this time by three harsh bangs on the front door.

"Fuck. You just stay here, and I'll deal with this." She crept over to the door, mustering up all the courage she could find before pulling the door open. Before she could speak Luke appeared before her, walking into the house making her take a few steps backwards so not to fall over. Another man stood behind him, taller and bigger built than Luke. His hair shaved close to his head; she swore he was a Vin Diesel look-a-like.

"I knew you wouldn't turn up. Do you have my money?" Mandi nodded heading over to her handbag, Fran tried to follow her but the larger man grabbed onto her arm causing her to yelp. Mandi hurried, passing the wad of cash to Luke.

"There's only seven here, where's the rest?" His words were demanding once he had finished counting the money.

"I don't have it right now." Mandi swallowed hard, he smirked at her. A menacing smirk that made her nervous.

"Well, well; what are we going to do now then?" He stepped closer to her, the other man keeping a tight hold on Fran's arm.

"I can get you the money right now; I just need to get it from someone. They've been out of town." He took her wrist into his hand and dragged her to the living room, slamming the door behind him. He pushed her against the wall, "I was angry that I had to come down here. Then I find out you don't have all of my money. I'm not a nice guy when I'm angry." Mandi had to bite her tongue to stop her from telling him he wasn't a nice guy when he wasn't angry either. His hand moved to her neck gripping tightly, pushing her harder against the wall, his fingers digging into her skin, "If you come back here with the feds or you don't come back, your friend gets it." He whispered harshly into her ear.

She nodded her head, his eyes burning into her. He let his grip loosen before taking hold of her wrist again and dragging her back out. Fran stared at her, eyes wide without a clue as to what to do.

"Mandi-" Fran's efforts to speak were cut short as the man gripped his hand around her mouth, her words now muffled in the silence of the room.

"Go." Luke stood with his arms crossed over his chest, a quick nod given to the door. She gave one last glance at Fran before rushing out to her car. She climbed in and quickly sped off, knowing exactly where she was going.

She looked at the big house before her before jumping out of the car. She ran up the path, her vision blurred by the streams of tears and mascara now running down her face. She felt like she was about to throw up, the nauseas feeling that she couldn't shake continued to creep up on her. Her shaky hand reached to the door, knocking repeatedly waiting for him to open the door. She jumped as the door swung open, Stu stood on the other side, concern lining his features once he caught sight of her distressed state.

"Whoa, Mandi, what's wrong?" He reached out for her pulling her inside. As soon as she stared into his beautiful green orbs fresh tears stared flowing. He pulled her into his body, his large arms embracing her shaking form, "Mandi, tell me what's happened."

"Fran." Mandi couldn't blurt out much more, not being able to form words between sobs.

"What about Fran?" Stu cupped her face, trying to get her to focus.

"Shark." Stu frowned shaking his head, he had no idea what she was on about.

"You're not making any sense."

"Loan." She sucked in a breath as Stu's face turned serious.

"Mandi. Tell me you're joking." She shook her head as his hands dropped from her face, her hand clasped over her mouth trying to stifle the sobs, "Fuck. What the hell have you done?"

"I needed the money." She felt embarrassed and ashamed, she had never sounded so desperate, "It was a mistake Stu!"

"You only learn from mistakes if they don't fucking kill you!" His tone was harsh, scolding her stupidity, "How much do you owe?"

"They have seven grand, I need three more." Stu ran a hand over his face.

"You should have come to me, Mandi. I could have lent you the money."

"But I didn't-"

"You didn't what?" He raised his voice, clearly unamused with her actions, "You didn't want to borrow money from someone who wouldn't threaten you and put you in danger? I thought you were smarter."

Mandi ran both hands through her hair, her actions immediately being stopped by Stu; "He's already put his hands on you?" She flinched as Stu moved her hair away from her neck, his gaze settling on the faint purple marks.

"He came to work, and then my house. I had two weeks to give the money, and then denied his advances so he changed it to one week." She hadn't seen Stu this angry before, not even when Fran had made her watch Smackdown. Fran; her best friend. She had put her in danger because of her mistake. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to her, "Please help me Stu."

Stu took the shaking woman into his arms again, she was terrified and he couldn't blame her. He had dealt with guys like this before; but he always came out on top, and tonight would be no exception, "Don't worry, I'll sort this. But they're not getting a penny of my money." She followed him as his large strides took him upstairs into his bedroom.

"Then what are you doing?" She watched him hurry around, walking out of his bedroom and across the hall to his office.

"Giving them what they deserve. Take this," he placed an envelope in her hand, "If you go back in there with no money I'm pretty sure they'll kill you. Do what I tell you to, Mandi."

"Stu, these people are bad."

He stopped his steps and turned to face her, "Maybe you're forgetting I'm bad too." He moved away from her again, she began following him around his big house once. He walked into the living room, picking up his phone and keys from the coffee table. Her eyes widened as her eyes settled on Stephen sat in the huge living room, he turned as he heard footsteps, the huge smile dropping from his face as he saw Mandi.

"Something going on?" He stood up, eyeing Stu who let his eyes land on Mandi.

"You need to come with me, before Fran ends up hurt, or even worse; dead."

"Fran? What's happened to Fran?" Stephen looked in a state of panic.

"Mandi has fucked up. Fran's at her place with a bunch of thugs."

"Fucked up? What did you do?" Stephen asked Mandi, before she could answer Stu stopped her.

"She's borrowed money from a loan shark." Stu grabbed her wrist and started walking to the front door, "Let's go." Stephen quickly put his shoes on before following the pair out of the house to Stu's car. Stephen got in the passenger side whilst Stu stopped Mandi, his big hands resting on her shoulders as she wiped under her eyes with a tissue, "Don't worry, sweetheart."

"Stu I'm scared." He brought his lips down to hers, a passionate kiss that didn't help her see any more rationally.

"Do you trust me?" She nodded biting her lip, more tears threatening to fall, "Then get in that car and do what I've told you to, I won't let anything happen to you, or Fran."

To be continued...

A/N – Thank you celticfighter, wades wife, nefertina-shanf, poisenousprincess, xFindTheEnigmaWithinx and DefinitelyProbablyMaybe for the awesome reviews! I know you all hate me now LOL, but I will update soon ;D! Lou x