Oh, whatever. Complete bull.
"Did you bring it up with the staff?" Beth asked.
"Of course I did," Katie said. "All they did was make excuses and act like I was being unreasonable. It got to the point where I had no choice but to raise my voice, and then they threw me out like some kind of common criminal,"
"Sounds like quite the night," Beth said dryly, clearly unimpressed by Katie's dramatic retelling.
"Indeed," I concurred, trying to keep a straight face.
Deva’s food always came out hot. And on the rare chance it didn’t, Deva would have comped her meal and apologized. She would always rather take the blame when a customer was upset because she doesn’t want to lose customers. It was one of the many reasons people loved her restaurant. For this woman to get thrown out, I would think she’d have to be hurling some serious abuse to Deva and her employees.
“So, you just told her what you thought of the place before she threw you out?” I said, making my voice as sympathetic as possible.
Katie puffed out her chest. “I used every word my mother ever told me not to say, reminding them all that they were beneath me. I told them that I don’t need a bunch of high school dropouts telling me that my food was warm before I took my phone call.” She scoffed. “I mean,Rosewas my server. I reminded that girl that she was worth less than my favorite pair of shoes, and then she’s crying like a moron, some other employee looks like he’s going to rip my head off, and Deva has the nerve to throwmeout instead of disciplining them. Can you believe it?”
Actually, I could. Katie is lucky that Michael didn’t rip her to pieces. Heck, I might have used a little of my powers on her that night if I were there. Getting thrown out was the minimum that she deserved.
Beth stretched out a white-gloved hand. “Nice.”
She glanced down at her muddy hands, then at the glove, and wrinkled her nose. Yeah, like the glove was going to ruin her gardening gloves.
"Katie," I said, my voice dripping with honeyed sweetness. "Sounds like you might've been a teensy bit out of line that night. Perhaps if you'd approached the situation more calmly, things would've turned out differently."
Her face twisted into shock and outrage, her eyes narrowing to slits. "Out of line?" she pointed a finger in my face, so close I could’ve bitten her finger. "I was fighting for my rights as a paying customer."
"Look," Beth said, raising her hands in a placating gesture. "We're not here to judge or take sides. We just want to get the facts for our article. From what you've told us, it seems like maybe you didn't handle the situation in the best possible way."
The scent of freshly turned soil filled my nostrils as Katie stomped her foot angrily, making the flowers in her garden quiver. "What would you know about handling anything? You're just a couple of nosy busybodies sticking your noses where they don't belong."
"Hey now," I shot back, my own anger rising, "there's no need for personal attacks. We're just trying to understand what happened."
"Understand this," Katie spat, jabbing a finger at both of us now. "I was treated unfairly and disrespected, and I had every right to stand up for myself."
"Of course you have the right to stand up for yourself." I struggled to keep my tone even. "But there's a difference between standing up for yourself and insulting people and causing a scene."
"Causing a scene?" Her voice rose to a shrill pitch, and tension rose in the air. It was like standing on the edge of a storm, the electricity crackling around us, waiting for the first crash of thunder.
"Listen," Beth cut in. Snapping her hand out, she tried to grab Katie’s hand, but she jerked it away from her, and Beth dropped her hand in defeat. "We didn't come here to argue with you. We just wanted your side of the story. We'll leave."
"Good." Katie huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Get off my property."
"Fine. We're going," I said. The bitter taste of anger lingered on my tongue as we turned to walk away.
"Wait a second," Beth said suddenly, stopping in her tracks. "Just one more question. Did Deva ever do anything to personally hurt you, or was it just the wine incident?"
"None of your business," Katie said, her face red with fury. "Now get out of here before I call the police!"
Lifting a hand, I started to call my magic to me when Beth grabbed my fingers, distracting me. My gaze met hers, and she shook her head. No karma? I felt like a kid being grounded but followed her guide.
I shot Katie a glare before turning back toward the street.
"Ugh," I groaned as we walked down the car, my ears still ringing from Katie's shrill voice. "I was so close to using my karma powers on her."
Beth's blue eyes flashed with irritation. "She'll get what's coming to her eventually."
"I know, I know." I sighed, my fingers twitching involuntarily at the thought of unleashing some much-deserved karmic retribution. "It's just... she really got under my skin."
"Trust me, I get it," Beth ran a hand through her blonde hair in frustration.
