Free Winner Takes It All by Karen Mason

eye.
    ‘ Mid price -
three or four stars. The sort of place that people stay in for a
weekend or travelling salesmen come to when they’re in
town.’
    ‘ Okay. Well my
father didn’t stipulate it had to be a five star hotel, so we could
go for the mid-price range.’
    Jack laughed and shook
his head, sipping his drink.
    ‘ It’s another
world,’ he said. ‘My auld fella drives a number twenty three
bus.’
    ‘ Don’t be rude
la,’ Mel scolded. ‘Alex is up here to help you.’
    ‘ I know. I’m
sorry Alex.’
    He pouted playfully,
wanting her forgiveness and she couldn’t help but laugh. He may
have been devastatingly sexy but Alex wasn’t even sure if she liked
Jack. She got the feeling he had a chip on his shoulder about being
born poor and he seemed to hold her in contempt because she’d led a
privileged life. It wasn’t an attractive trait.
    ‘ Okay, so
where are we going today then?’ she asked.
    ‘ It’s a
building on Church Street. Years ago it used to be a department
store called Walters. It closed down in the eighties and has stood
derelict ever since. We’re meeting the agent there at two
o’clock.’
    ‘ How much is
it selling for?’ Alex asked.
    ‘ Two hundred
thousand for the lot. From what I can tell it’s in pretty dire
condition and it’ll need a lot of work done on it
though.’
    ‘ Anywhere
else?’
    ‘ Yeah. The
Staples Hotel on Dale Street. It’s a standard B&B and Paddy the
auld fella who owns it wants to get rid of it.’
    ‘ Right, well
that’s two to be getting on with. Shall we go?’
    Jack took them in his
Shogun the short journey to Church Street - a long road running
along the back of Liverpool City Centre. Most of the buildings
seemed rather abandoned or neglected and there was something quite
sad about it. The style of the office blocks and empty banks were
almost continental and reminded Alex of Paris. She guessed that a
hundred years ago this had been a thriving thoroughfare in
Liverpool, occupied by bankers and sea merchants. It seemed a shame
that it was now forgotten about and she wondered if the arrival of
a hotel right in the centre of it would help revitalise the
area.
    Just like the others, the
building that had once housed Walters the department store was
falling to bits. The boarded up windows were covered in posters
advertising club nights and the ripped up awning over the door was
smothered in pigeon droppings.An attractive yellow piss stain
covered one of the walls next to a graffiti tag. Alex felt
aggrieved – here stood a piece of history, the sort of place her
grandmother – had she ever visited Liverpool – would come for
afternoon tea and to buy presents for her children. It seemed
disrespectful to cover it in graffiti.
    The agent hadn’t arrived yet and
the three of them stood around, waiting. Jack placed his hands on
his slim hips, looking up at the building.
    ‘ I can
remember me mam talking about this place,’ he said. ‘Apparently me
granddad nicked a fur coat for me nanna.’
    ‘ Jack you
shouldn’t be telling Alex things like that,’ Mel tutted. ‘It makes
us look like right scallies.’
    ‘ Don’t worry
about it,’ Alex said. ‘My grandmother was born in the East End. She
used to tell me stories about what she got up to as a child and the
scams they had to pull to get by.’
    Jack looked at her,
furrowing that brooding brow.
    ‘ So the money
don’t go far back then?’ he asked.
    ‘ God no. Well
it does on my grandfather’s side. But not gran. She was common as
muck till she married him. People tell me I’m a lot like her, so I
guess that makes me common too.’
    He gave a lopsided grin
and Alex’s knees buckled just a little.
    ‘ Nah, not you
girl. You’re pure class.’
    Alex’s blushes were
spared when another car pulled up and from it emerged a very small,
immaculately dressed man who appeared to be very
flustered.
    ‘ I’m so sorry
for being late,’ he twittered. ‘So so sorry.’
    He rushed over to