Returning Home.

Chapter 21

I hear Mae let out a shriek as I slam the back door that leads to the kitchen a little harder then I had realised. I was still fuming about how Xavier had pushed me out as if I was causing his club an issue.

"Sorry Mae" I apologise as I hang up my handbag and pull out my phone checking for messages.

Mae makes her way over to the kettle and flips the switch on. "So I'm taking it by that entrance, the lunch didn't go too well?" Mae asks as she reaches into the cupboard to pull out some mugs.

Grumbling, I pull out a chair from under the kitchen island bench and take a seat, tossing my phone on the table top so that I can put my head in my hands.

"Oh it went well, we chatted about his findings mainly and he started to ask me some questions about the club which was peaking my interests when Xavier turned up." I reply.

Mae chuckles as she could probably clearly hear the frustration in my voice and moved around the kitchen to take out the biscuit barrel from on-top of the fridge and places it in front of me.

"So I'm guessing by your tone, all went well until Xavier came swooping in?" She asks, placing the tin in front of me.

I pull it lid off and push the biscuits around until I find my favourite ones. Laughing I respond "Swooping, more like taking over the situation and then accusing me of interfering in his clubs business."

She finishes up making the coffees and moves with the mugs towards putting them island bench as she takes up a seat across from me. "Oh dear, well you know how passionate he can get sometimes?" She adds.

"Passionate, don't try and sugar coat him Mae, Xavier went too far this time. I knew it was stupid to think that he might had grown up a little and lost his mean streak." I respond as I dip my biscuit into my coffee and proceed to pull it apart.

"Anyhow, I've decided that I should probably avoid Xavier and the club for a little bit. I mean, I have a practice to think about and a reputation to uphold. I can't be seen mixing with The Wanderers while I'm the local on call coroner can I?" I know that I should not have made it sound like a question but I just have this feeling that I need to seek her approval of my thoughts with regards to how I want to move forward.

Mae just looks at me over her mug and says "If you think that is the best, then its up to you." She has a slight up turn to her lips that make me think that she dose not feel that I am going to stick to my guns on this one.

Letting out a sigh I reply "Let's just not talks about Xavier or the Club anymore, I just don't want to discuss it while I'm still so angry at him.

"Of course, lets change the subject." she replies and hops up to pick up some paperwork that is on the side bench and comes back over to pop them on the table top.

"These came from our suppliers, apparently they over charged us on..." I don't let her finish as i interrupt her. "Like who the heck does he think he is? You would think that after all this time he would realise that I'm not an idiot."

"Who are you talking about? Mae asks. "Xavier, I mean do I come across as someone who would meddle in other peoples business? I reply.

Mae looks up from the papers and says "I thought you said we weren't going to talk about Xavier?"

She got me there, "Yes, yes, I did say that. Anyhow, you were saying we've been over charged?" I put my hand out so that she can pass me the paperwork.

"Yes and here is the kicker, that delivery that we got this morning was missing a few items that as a whole we would not had really noticed but we had been so low on strips that when I opened the carton I found that there were 2 boxes missing. I then started opening a few other cartons and found the same thing, just one or two boxes missing from the full carton. I was about to ring the supplier when they rung to let me know that they had identified a discrepancy between our orders verse the packing slips." I can feel her watching me as I compare the orders to the signed delivery sheets.

"How far back dose this go?" I ask seeing that she has given me about 12 documents. "Only about 4 months from what they can tell. I had to scan the delivery documents over cause they wanted to see if there was anything different on those."

I spread out the paperwork and look over who delivered the stock but the names were all different drivers. I had to admit, I was not one to count what was in the carton, I would just count the cartons and then empty what I needed into the cupboards without taking notice of what should had been in there.

"Well lucky that it was picked up now and not a few months down the track. So what will we do now and how does missing stock link in with an overcharge?" I ask as I hand her back all the paperwork.

"Nothing at the moment, they are going to create a credit for the overcharge. Apparently there was a new surgery customer with a very similar name but get this, their address for delivery is the ferry terminal, so when whoever entered them into their system probably couldn't find the address but must had pulled up our account by accident and thought it was the same place." She responds. She takes the paperwork and puts it all in a folder to keep it together.

I am thinking out loud when I respond "The ferry terminal? What the heck is going on, there is defiantly no surgery there, let along space to build one? Do you think it has something to do with all the works on the islands at the moment?"

Mae goes to answer me as my phone begins to ring. I flick the face over so I can see who it is and low and behold, it's Xavier. I swipe to decline the call but it takes only a few seconds before it is ringing again and his name flashes up on the screen.

I swipe to decline the call again but I can see that he is not going to let up as he tries again so I figure I will just let it ring out this time in hopes that he gets the hint that I don't want to talk to him.

After two more tries I think he must had finally gotten the hint because finally my phone goes silent and I let out a breath that I didn't realise I was holding in.

Mae gets up and takes the mugs from the table top over to the sink "You know that that boy won't give up until you speak with him?" She says as she starts to rinse the mugs.

"Yeah but right now is not that time. I'm going to head up and have a shower before the boys get home." I say as I get up from the stool, scooping out two more biscuits and making my way up the stairs.

My phone rings again and I groan as I swipe it to decline "Not today Satan." I say as I head to my room.