You’ll no doubt have heard by now, given your relationship with Mr. Cohen, that I have scheduled an emergency board meeting for this Friday. I’ve taken the liberty of getting this on everybody’s calendar and I trust that you’ll ensure Jace is present. The meeting will take place in New York at nine a.m.
I do hope you aren’t too shaken up by the situation.
Best,
Martin
What a fucking prick.I forwarded the email to Jace and Sutton and huffed out a breath before picking up my phone to call Kayden. I’d make travel arrangements for Jace whenhetold me to, not because this asshole requested it.
“Hey, beautiful,” Kayden answered cheerily.
“Are you free for coffee?” I asked, heart pounding, hoping he was done with his meeting.
“Yeah, I can make it work. The AA coffee sucked. Is Jace coming? I thought he was meeting with Sutton,” he said.
“He is,” I said, biting my bottom lip. “Kayden, I think Martin is trying to sabotage him. Jace and Sutton are talking about it now, but I can’t just sit out here and wonder if he’s going to lose everything.”
“Okay, I’ll pick you up and get you out of there. When we get back, I’m sure Jace will explain everything. He knows how to handle himself.”
I swallowed my uncertainty. “I’ll meet you downstairs in twenty minutes.”
Kayden agreed and I sent Jace a quick message as I grabbed my stuff and bolted for the elevator.
Me: I’m getting coffee with Kayden. I’m too nervous to wait out here alone. Just call us when you’re done, please.
Me:I love you.
The elevator doors closed in front of me and I sank against the bar on the back wall, wondering how much being together was going to cost each of us and how we were going to build up a resilience to that. I stared at my phone, waiting for Jace to reply like he always did. By the time Kayden pulled up to the curb, I still hadn’t heard anything. I tucked thephone in my purse and climbed into Kayden’s car, letting his hug remind me that we were worth fighting for.
Kayden held the doorof Ackerson’s open for me and I waved at Kelly, the manager, who stood on the other side of the bar. “Hey, Olivia,” she said. “How are you?”
“I’m good,” I said, approaching the bar. Kayden slipped his arm around my waist.
She looked at him curiously before slipping into customer-service mode. “What can I get you two?”
“How early do you start serving the wine and alcohol?” I asked.
Kayden snorted and shook his head.
“Law says I can serve you after eight a.m.,” Kelly said, setting two napkins in front of us as Kayden and I sat down at the bar.
“Perfect. This is my boyfriend, Kayden, and he’ll have something sweet and non-alcoholic. I’ll take an espresso martini.”
Kelly tucked her blonde hair behind her ears. “How’s that new job going? Going to guess not well if you’re in here drinking before lunch.”
I groaned. “The job is fine.” I watched with interest as she made my drink. No one ever ordered drinks like this at Harrison’s.
She slid the dark brown martini across the bar, complete with three coffee beans on top of a light foam. It was adorable. I wanted to make drinks like this. “Well, I’m glad you’re happy there, but it’s too bad. I just gave my notice to Adrian yesterday morning and when I did, he said, ‘You really don’t want to stay until Liv’s ready to come back?’”
I laughed and shook my head. “He did not.”
“Yes, he absolutely did.” She chuckled and looked at Kayden. “Something more specific than her generic order for you?”
“Peppermint mocha latte, please. Oat milk.” He put a hand on my knee and squeezed. “And I believe you. All I’ve heard from Jace’s moms are how much Adrian and Jackson miss having Liv around.”
Six months before I left Harrison’s, Adrian had started company-wide monthly meetings where the staff from all three restaurants got together at Harrison’s and shared information and sometimes recipes—usually Jackson’s for the Cohen Club—and the waitstaff and bartenders got to know each other. Sometimes we taught each other new drinks. He’d planned to have some staff cross-trained between the restaurants to enhance scheduling flexibility for them and us, so we all knew each other well. I had no reason to think Kelly would lie to me, but the fact that Adrian was waiting for me seemed far-fetched.
“Oh, you know Jace too?” Kelly asked as she got to work on his latte. I noted all the equipment she used, wondering how long it would take me to learn the ins and outs of making coffee.
