realised it until just now.
As the second pizza came out and the vegetarians tucked in, it occurred to Ashley that people with good blood sugar are less likely to do something crazy. She was including the hostages in that assessment too. Anyone wanting to play hero was gonna get hurt. Thank god Gina had suggested the food.
After everyone had finished eating, Rick went to the fridge. ‘Oh, look. Tiramisu,’ he said. He turned to the woman with the birthday badge. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Leanne,’ the woman said.
‘Happy Birthday to you,’ Rick warbled, bringing the desert out. He shot a death stare at the room, and everyone joined in the next line, albeit with less enthusiasm. ‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Leanne, happy birthday to you!’
Leanne looked ready to slap everyone in the room, but she slid a thin smile onto her face. ‘Thanks.’
Rick smirked, plating up a piece for her. ‘Well, we couldn’t leave the big day unmarked, could we?’
Leanne kept the smile on her face with effort as he gave her the plate.
‘So, this was your birthday treat, was it? Coming here?’ he asked. Ashley wanted to tell him to shut up. It was one thing to hold everyone hostage. It was another to wind them up. But of course, Ashley couldn’t risk speaking up. Leanne, all of them, were going to have to put up with whatever Rick wanted.
‘Was your birthday lunch fun?’ he asked.
Leanne shrugged. ‘It was alright.’
‘Alright? That doesn’t sound like you were having a belter.’
‘It was a work thing, not my idea,’ Leanne admitted.
‘Whose was it?’
Leanne nodded at her two buddies. ‘Polly and Tina.’
Rick turned to Polly. ‘You’re the one going out soon, aren’t you? Didn’t you think of giving up your place for your friend? Seeing as it’s your fault she’s here?’
Polly threw a nervous glance to Leanne. ‘I didn’t really want to come either, to be honest.’
Leanne arched an eyebrow but said nothing.
‘So Tina? This was all you?’ Rick asked the third member of the party.
Tina swallowed nervously. ‘I, err, I’ve been quite busy… and this place, it was around the corner…’
‘Sounds like you put a lot of thought into it,’ Rick said with a chuckle.
‘It does, doesn’t it?’ Leanne said bitterly, folding her arms.
‘What did you expect?’ Polly muttered. ‘Lunch at the Ritz Carlton?’
‘I suppose I just thought that two people who had been my best work friends for years might have given slightly more of a shit and taken me somewhere nicer,’ Leanne snarked.
Polly made a small bitter grunt. ‘Right.’
‘What do you mean, right?’ Leanne said, spinning to Polly.
‘I mean… Nothing,’ Polly said, swapping a quick look with Tina.
Leanne caught the look. ‘What was that?’ she demanded of the pair.
They didn’t speak.
‘Answer her,’ Rick said mildly. But as with everything he said, it held a sinister threat with that gun omnipresent in his hand. ‘Let her have it – I mean really give it to her – or I’m not letting you go.’
Polly was horrified. ‘But, that’s… Why?’
Rick shrugged. ‘Bored.’
Ashley glanced at Gina, who looked like Ashley felt—disgusted. This was a new side to Rick. Before, he’d just seemed like a chaotic loser without a sense of responsibility. But now they were getting down to his core. He was cruel. Playing with people for nothing more than fun. The janitor from yesterday popped into Ashley’s head, and she wondered… was this how people saw her?
‘Fine,’ Polly said, throwing her hands up. ‘You’ve become a real bitch lately. Especially since you got that promotion.’
Leanne looked at Polly without surprise. ‘I fucking knew it! I knew you were jealous!’
Polly was shocked. ‘I didn’t want it. Neither of us did. We were happy for you when you got it,’ Polly said. ‘Weren’t we?’ she encouraged Tina.
Tina shook her head. ‘I don’t want to be involved in this.’
Polly turned away from Tina with slight disgust. She locked onto Leanne, the rest of the room, even Rick and his gun, forgotten. ‘We all used to be mates. Now you’re a level above us, and even though you’re not our boss, you’ve started acting like it, telling us what to do all the time. And you keep rubbing our noses in your pay rise.’
Leanne pursed her lips. ‘Look, the pair of you can never make a decision about anything. I’ve always had to do that. Or we end up in places like this. It’s only different now because I make a bit more money and I want to do things that cost