Ava:You’ve got to stop showing me that you know me so well. It’s disconcerting.
I didn’t hear from him for a while, and more customers showed up, keeping me busy. But then Desmond showedup, and I gulped when I saw him walking over. He could see that I was working the café by myself, and when he reached the head of the line, he spoke in a low tone, ordering a sandwich and chips.
He smiled at me and didn’t speak while he paid for it, but when the transaction was complete, he said, “Ava, just go with the next thing I say.”
I frowned, but he turned around before I could question him. There was a line of people behind him, and he waved his hand to get their attention.
“I’m sorry, everyone, but we’ve just noticed that the refrigeration units aren’t working.”
There was silence from the employees, a stark one, since I guessed no one wanted to grumble in front of the CEO.
“Which means the food in the refrigeration display case as well as the milk in the fridge aren’t safe for consumption anymore. Ms. Hale here is going to call someone to fix it, but until then, this café will remain closed.”
My ears felt red hot when I realized what he was doing.
He turned around, and with a wink, he said, “Eat your food.”
His gaze went to the counter, where he’d left the food he’d just purchased, before he walked away, empty-handed.
I stared at the now-vacant lobby after everyone had stepped out to grab a sandwich from a nearby deli. Putting up the Closed sign on the café counter and feeling a wave of relief, I picked up the sandwich and chips and headed to the back room for a bite.
Desmond might have been planning to leave me all along back in high school, but this tiny act had shown me he wasn’t completely heartless.
For the next two days,I worked nonstop. I had plenty to keep me busy. I learned to predict customers’ orders while they were waiting in line. I learned Carolyn was taking care of her younger stepbrother, who had anxiety and could hardly keep a job down. I learned how to get coffee, sandwiches, and cookies up to seven different meeting rooms on various floors on time when all the meetings were scheduled at the same time.
I accompanied Carolyn to her yoga class—a first for me—and had to agree that Hank was intriguing. He even invited us to drinks after, and when the evening ended, we exchanged numbers. Carolyn was ecstatic, but I was lukewarm.
Hank invited me to a club later that week, where his friend’s band was playing. A date, with just the two of us, and I accepted with some trepidation. It would mean skipping my weekly shift at the soup kitchen. But it would also mean that I knew Desmond and I were never going to be anything more than acquaintances, and I sorely needed that reminder.
I forced Desmond out of my mind until I got an email from a contractor hired for our restaurant’s remodeling about a permit delay.
“What do you think it means?” I asked Gabi on the phone while I paced the restroom.
“Whatever it is, it isn’t good,” she said, sounding worried. “The new reopening date is five months beyond what Desmond originally promised us. That’s the second time this week that he’s delayed any work on the restaurant.”
Shoot.
Thanking her, I hung up and went back to work, worried and confused.
Two hours and much debating later, I finally decided toput an end to my fears and simply ask Desmond about the delay. I was due for my lunch break at one p.m. When I clocked out, I skipped getting lunch, but headed to the elevator.
I got out on the nineteenth floor and let out a relieved breath as I looked around the atrium.
The carpet was black, and the ten-foot-high ceiling was painted a sedate, austere gray. This floor, unlike the bright and cheery colors of the lobby, radiated a serious and intimidating aura.
An unoccupied executive assistant’s desk stood in front of the CEO’s office. I looked at the heavy wooden doors to Desmond’s office, considering the implications of what I’d just planned to do.
A meeting with Desmond in his office.
I must be out of my mind. But if Desmond had another plan up his sleeve about my mom’s restaurant, I needed to know about it.
I walked up to Desmond McKinley’s office and knocked just as I heard the elevator doors open behind me, followed by steady, even footsteps marching out.
16
AVA
Ellie Hunt was walking toward me, her attention on the phone she was speaking into.
