“Excellent.” He walked over to his drinks cabinet and took out a second glass as well as the bottle of Balvenie. “Let’s drink to a successful evening,” he said, pouring them both a drink before passing the second glass to Sean. Sean raised his glass as if to toast before tossing the whiskey back.
Barbarian.
“Was there something special I should have stocked?” Sean asked.
You mean other than all of the top shelf alcohol I paid for?
“Not unless they filed a special request that I’m unaware of. I did want to let you know that we will be taking on extra bar staff. Ollie is collecting applications for me to review tomorrow and we will be advertising positions as well. I wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Oh, right.” Sean cleared his throat and glanced around, finally electing to place the empty tumbler onto the surface of the cabinet. “That whiskey sure packed a punch.”
“It is a very fine whiskey.”
“It looked it,” Sean said weakly.
You know fine well it cost more than you could make in a year. Was that why you helped yourself to what was not yours?
“Right, well, thank you for touching base with me. I’m just off to dinner now.” He ushered Sean out the door, nodding at one of his security men who glanced from Sean to Ishmael. Ishmael gave a barely perceptible nod.
“Oh, hey, I might know some qualified bar staff who would love to work here. Would you like me to reach out?” Sean turned to ask him before stepping out into the hall.
“Most definitely,” Ishmael said, waiting for him to leave. He turned to face Ollie. “Is my car ready?”
“It will be here in fifteen.”
Ishmael pursed his lips. “I’m going up to change my suit. Let him know I’ll be down shortly if he arrives before I make it down.”
“Absolutely. I hope you enjoy your dinner.”
“So do I. You go ahead and close up the office once I’m gone.”
Ollie smiled. “I’ll see you in the morning, then, sir.”
Ishmael gave him a small, tight smile. Ollie really was a treasure and one who knew who he belonged to. He turned and took the lift up to the penthouse. As the doors slid shut behind him he almost felt sorry for Sean. Almost. Ishmael sighed.
He’d shown such promise, too.
