Misty Gray
Pessimisty
Mercury Nightclub and Cocktail Bar
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Spencer King and Damian Nicolosi
~ Bethnal Green, London ~
Spencer King and Damian Nicolosi
With Shona due to give birth in the coming few weeks, Spencer was finding himself facing the additional responsibility for making sure his wife was healthy and comfortable. This meant that time was becoming very precious to him as the big day approached. Business and his family's complications were continuing to get much busier, so sacrifices had needed to be made. The big one being that he hadn't been spending time socialising with his friends in the pub, instead spending that time at home with Shona. Not that he begrudged that at all when it meant he could watch the football on the television with his wife and a few beers. Soon he would have a baby to make the setup complete - a child he fully intended to introduce to the wonderful world of football.
It was because time was so valuable to him that Spencer had been in a bad mood earlier that day. He'd arranged a meeting with Jocelyn that morning, to take place in The Royal Taphouse pub, but she hadn't turned up. They'd planned to discuss increasing the alcohol supply to his businesses. With the popularity and profits of the Kings' clubs and pubs growing, that also meant demand had increased. Spencer needed to arrange for larger deliveries and it needed to be done as soon as possible. It wasn't just the thought of running low on stock that had stressed the man, but he was also irritated that Jocelyn hadn't turned up for their meeting and left him sat around in his pub when his time could have been used more productively. However, even with his lack of patience, he did remind himself that this was the first time the woman had let him down. As she was usually reliable and would call if she was running late, he reserved some judgement and asked his guys to track her down for him. Besides, he considered his requirement needing urgent attention, so he needed Jocelyn to check in with him immediately.
The day had gone by without hearing from Jocelyn, but Spencer needed to put the matter aside for the time-being so he could attend the meeting Erik had arranged for them and Damian. Having only had little time between business at the pharmaceutical company in the afternoon and his evening meeting, he'd only been able to stop by at home briefly, just long enough to wolf down a sandwich and give Shona far less attention than she deserved.
*****
Spencer parked his car in his secure, reserved spot behind the Mercury Nightclub and Cocktail Bar. Although he could have entered the building from the private, rear entrance, he instead rounded the building to enter through the main doors. He liked to walk through the club to see how busy the place was and make sure his employees weren't slacking. Since he had yet to replace Kerry, he felt his staff had no excuse to be messing about.
Just as Spencer entered the building, Damian caught up to him and gave him a firm handshake. The Italian-American had met the Englishman on a number of occasions during his time in London so far. With Spencer's help, he'd been gaining familiarity with the city and the Kings' influence over it. In return, he'd been assisting Tatiana with leading the Moretti muscle, as well as assisting Erik in looking out to identify other areas the Kings could capitalise on. Areas including ways in which they could assert more dominance over London and its potential contenders. Despite having a general disdain towards the human race, Damian was a loyal and charismatic man. During his time in the orphanage, he'd perfected his ability to switch on the charm and tolerate others for the sake of succeeding in his pursuits. His unwavering loyalty to Gabriel Moretti meant he also treated the man's closest associates with respect and an open-mind. He worked with such an array of personality types that he'd become something of a faux social chameleon. Not one for sentiments, he tended not to admit, but there were people Damian managed to genuinely like and they were of completely differing personalities. He could communicate perfectly with a strict and closed-minded man like Gabriel, but also get along so well with the erratic and humorous comedian, Ricky.
Today's meeting called for a more professional attitude. Damian had learned over a few interactions that Spencer was a serious man. Not closed-minded like Gabriel, but in some ways just as uptight. Despite the Englishman's apparent hot-temper, Damian felt at ease with the man and had picked up on the appropriate social cues he gave off. "If Bruce doesn't give you a few weeks away from work for paternity leave, then I will go to the high-ups and demand it on your behalf. You already look like a man who has been denied a few nights of sleep at the hands of a crying baby," Damian lightly commented.
"Steady on there, else I'll go to our higher-ups to request they put you on babysitting duty. I can just imagine you looking after baby," Spencer gruffly joked in return.
"Oh, believe me, you cannot and should not imagine that. Adult humans are about all I'm willing to tolerate," Damian firmly assured him. He'd never had any intention of being in a romantic relationship and even less interest in having any offspring. Damian was certain his bloodline needed to end with himself. Plus, he was all about ending lives rather than creating new ones.
The two men made their way into the private office at the back of the club. When they entered, they saw Erik was already present. Spencer gave the man a firm handshake and Damian also shook the man's hand. "How are you doing, Erik?" Spencer asked as he took his seat on the couch across from the man and alongside Damian. He was aware Erik and Billy had been falling out, but he assumed the two men had got over whatever it was already. It was't too long ago that Spencer had needed to come to the aid of both Erik and Billy when the former had killed a man in the back of a car. It was good to now be in a professional setting with Erik, with the Moretti-affiliated man leading the meeting. "So, where are we at, Erik?" Spencer asked, referring to the alliance between the Morettis and the Kings. "I trust my family's end of the bargain is still proving satisfactory to Gabriel?" he enquired. Spencer knew it was only a matter of time before things kicked off with the Sullivans again, especially as he felt it Callum was now due to come to London again. If Conor was to remain stubborn on the matter, Spencer wanted to be assured that the Morettis would provide the backup they'd agreed to give.
Melanin-Gxdess (Erik)
Mention: BasDorcha (Jocelyn)