“Holy crap,” she breathes, frowning at her screen.
“What is it?” Shang asks, though he doesn’t sound entirely interested.
There must be a hundred different texts waiting for her, spread out over the time she went away, all increasing in frequency and alarm. They’re mostly from Peter, though there are a handful from Rina and Freddie, too.
Peter: SOS
Peter: HECTOR IS RUINING EVERYTHING PLEASE CALL ME
Peter: I SWEAR TO GOD HE’S WORSE THAN ALEXANDER
Peter: EDEN!? EDEEEEENNNNNNN!!!!
Peter: I’M GOING TO QUIT. I’M GOING TO QUIT I CAN’T STAND THIS ASSHOLE.
Peter: OH MY FUCKING GOD PLEASE EDEN SAVE US WHY DID YOU LEEAAAAAAAVEEEEE
Peter: HAVE YOU BEEN KIDNAPPED OR SOMETHING? DO I HAVE TO CALL 911?!
Freddie: Hey, love! Can you please give us a call or a text or something so we know that you’re alright?
Rina: Yeah, the whole kitchen staff is pretty much ready to leave en masse. Can you give us a call? We’re worried about you. I tried calling Alexander. He says you're not feeling well?
Peter: It has come to my attention that writing in all caps is considered yelling. I wasn’t aware of this.
Peter: BUT NOW THAT I AM, KNOW THAT I AM DESPERATELY YELLING FOR YOUR HELP PLEASE AND THANK YOU
Eden turns to Shang. “I think something’s going down at La Rouge.”
He shrugs. “Not my problem anymore.”
“The restaurant might not be, but don’t you care about our friends?”
Shang turns, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Yes. But I don’t know what we’d be able to do for them.”
“Maybe we should meet up with them. They seem kind of worried. It’d be nice to see them, don’t you think?”
He nods slowly. “Yeah. It would.”
“Great. I’ll give them a call.”
* * *
Peter flings himself across the sticky bar table and sobs.
“Hector is a demon. I swear to God he was born in the fiery pits of hell and clawed his way up to the mortal realm to wreak havoc upon us. That’s why his hair is red, you know. It’s imbued with the flames of the underworld and full of tortured souls!”
Shang pats Peter on the shoulder twice; straight faced, though Eden can tell the gesture is full of genuine sympathy. “That’s rough, buddy.”
They’re back at their usual bar, at their usual spot. Trivia night was postponed because the host came down with an unfortunate case of the stomach bug. Eden doesn’t mind, though. She knows her friends really need this opportunity to catch up and vent.
Eden stares in a mixture of admiration and horror as Rina downs her pint of beer in five large gulps. Eden figures her friend must have been an absolute delight at college parties.
“He actually yells at the customers,” Rina says with a grimace. “Yells. Even you didn’t do that. He got right up in one of the guest’s faces and screamed bloody murder.‘You’re an imbecile’this and‘You wouldn’t know good food if you shat it out on a plate’that. It was a nightmare to watch.”
Shang shrugs. “I made sure never to send out dishes I thought were unsatisfactory. Never got a complaint that I know of. From the guest’s side, at least.”
Freddie scoffs, tossing back his fourth shot of tequila. “And that’s just how he treats our patrons. He’s an absolute monster to all of us. I don’t think Kay’s gone home once after a shift without crying. Laurie told me she’s got her two-weeks’ notice written up and ready to print. She’s just waiting to hear back from another restaurant so that she isn’t without a job.”
