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“What did who want?”
“Jackson Hayes. I just passed him in the alley. What did he want?”
“How do you know his name?” I was suddenly filled with dread. Lexy was practically psychic when it came to me, but she couldn’t usually pluck people’s names out of thin air. I didn’t even know his last name.
“Everyone knows his name,” she said. “He’s the richest man in the city.”
Chapter 13: Revelations and Anger
Alissa
The world went fuzzy. The richest man in the city? She had to have the wrong man. That just couldn’t be right.
“He’s what?” I asked, backing into the counter and holding on for support.
“Geez, ‘Lissa, do you live under a rock? He’s the CEO of Hayes Industries. He’s been on the cover of at least two business magazines, and there have been dozens of articles written about him. He apparently tries to keep a pretty low profile. His brother does most of the public stuff, but he’s so easily recognizable with that wild dark hair and blue eyes combo. Really hot isn’t he? How could you not know that?”
Lexy was never wrong about things like this. She paid very close attention to the who’s who of the world. Her whole life involved keeping up with the fashion trends of the rich and famous. She wouldn’t tell me this if she wasn’t sure.
I stared at her, completely speechless.
Oh God. He must think I’m such an idiot.
“What did he want anyway?” Lexy continued. “Oh my Gosh! Did he ask you to cater a party?! Can I do the decorating? You have to let me dress you. This is such a big deal. This could take your career to a whole new level!”
No. No. No. This can’t be happening. Why wouldn’t he say something? He probably thought I should know. What kind of a small business owner doesn’t look at the cover of Business Week now and then?
I was such a moron. I just told the wealthiest man in the city that I thought he was a homeless superhero. There is no greater mortification. Someone please shoot me now.
“Answer me Alissa! When is the party? How much time do I have?” She paused for a second and looked at me. “And why was he wearing that shirt? Was he trying to be incognito or something?”
I couldn’t help it. I slid down the counter to the floor with my head in my hands. No. No.
No. I knew he was too good to be true. I knew that no one as amazing as he was could ever be on my level. I made such an ass out of myself. Of course, he didn’t want to sleep on my couch. He probably had a fifty thousand dollar sofa.
I thought I could impress him with a couple of pieces of French toast? I was so stupid.
“‘Lissa?” Lexy was on the floor with me now, holding me as the tears came down my face. “Alissa, honey, what is it? What did he say to you? If he did something to make you sad, I’ll kill him. I don’t care who he is.”
I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t even breathe.
At some point I noticed that my employees had arrived. They were standing awkwardly in my kitchen watching me sob all over Lexy. I couldn’t bring myself to care. I just kept picturing that beautiful crooked grin and hearing his laugh in my head.
What was he doing with me? Did he just show up here two days in a row to humiliate me? Did he think it would be funny to go flirt with some stupid girl who can’t even manage a crate of live crabs? Was he after my restaurant? I hadn’t been open that long, but we’d gotten pretty good reviews. Maybe he wanted to buy me out. Why the hell would he tell me he was a bartender? The whole fucking thing made no sense.
Everything that I thought I knew about him, which admittedly wasn’t much, was a lie. I had spent two fabulous mornings falling for a guy that I could never in a million years have. I hadn’t known until this very moment how deeply I felt for him. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, I guess. Not, that I ever really had him anyway. I could never have been worthy of him, and if I was honest with myself, I had always known that.
He said I was observant. He must have been cracking up inside on that one. Nothing was further from the truth. I was so clueless. I knew his jeans were expensive. I saw how he carried himself. Why couldn’t I put two and two together?
I felt Lexy tugging me up to a standing position. I couldn’t do it on my own, but she was pretty tough despite her size. She was giving directions to my employees. Part of my brain registered that Tyler was taking charge of the kitchen. Lunch would still be served on time.
Lexy dragged me upstairs to my apartment, trying to spare me any further embarrassment. I don’t know why she even bothered. My mortification was already complete.
Jackson
I settled into the room and looked around. It was by far the ugliest hotel that I had ever set foot in. I had cheated and used my iPhone for a quick visit to Expedia. I rationalized it away, thinking that I could have done the same thing at the library; it just would have taken longer.
The hotels were cheaper in the less desirable parts of town. I couldn’t bring myself to stay at the hotels that rented by the hour, so I settled instead for a Days Inn that looked mostly respectable.
The hotel cost $70 a night, and I had to pay an extra $10 to be able to check in at 10 am, instead of 3 pm. I thought it was worth it for the extra hours of sleep. I was working again tonight, so I thought it would be okay.
Between my late dinner, the hotel, the new subway pass, and the flower for Alissa, I had spent just over $100. I had $48 remaining in my wallet. I needed some clothes, a toothbrush, and a razor pretty badly, but I thought they could wait until after I got some sleep. I was exhausted.
I text messaged the hotel information to Jason, set the hotel alarm clock, and fell asleep on top of the blanket. When I woke, I was disoriented. It was 12:30. Jason would be here soon. I got up and went to use the hotel shower. The soap left my skin feeling dry and itchy, but I did feel cleaner. I didn’t really want to put my dirty clothes back on, but for now I didn’t see much of a choice. As soon as Jason left, I would go out for some supplies.
A knock came to my door a few minutes later. Jason came in carrying a takeout bag. I wasn’t particularly hungry after the huge breakfast that Alissa had fed me, but it smelled good nonetheless. I insisted on paying Jason for my portion of the lunch, and then we settled in to make our phone call.
Jason called and after being put on a hold for a few minutes was finally transferred to Nicholas Carver. I kept quiet as Jason explained to Nick that he’d listened to the tapes and was very upset with me. I could hear the excitement in Nick’s voice as he became more and more convinced that Jason and I were on the outs. Finally, Jason dropped the bomb.
“So the only thing I don’t understand, Mr. Carver, is why you did not accept my brother’s offer,” Jason said. “He offered you more money, and any reasonable man would have accepted it.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. His answer would determine our next steps. I needed to know what he was after.
“I want to sell my company to Hayes Industries,” he said. “Because I want a seat on your board, Mr. Hayes. I believe that you and I could take this business to a whole new level together if we were not limited by the restrictions posed by your bother. I think you’ll find that the other members of your board agree as well. It is time for a new CEO.” Ah, so he was after my job. Well that made sense. If he managed to split Jason and me up with this ploy, then he could move right in during the disputes and take over a significant chunk of my business. That wasn’t going to happen. I signaled for Jason to end the call, which he did diplomatically, without giving Nick any more information.
A comfortable silence filled the room after the line went dead. “I guess we know what he wants,” said Jason. “I’m sorry I doubted you man. I had no idea he was that power hungry. What do we do now?”
“I guess we call a board meeting and cancel the negotiations. I don’t want to have anything to do with him. Unfortunately, I don’t think the rest of the board will feel the same way, which has me worried. I wonder what he meant when he said our board would agree with him.
Do you think we have a rat inside the company?”
“I dunno man,” Jason said. “I’ve always trusted the guys that we work with, but maybe it’s time to buy some people out and move on. We can’t let this kind of stuff happen. I’ll call Ben today and see if he has any updates for us. What’s your plan?”
“Well,” I said, thinking it over in my mind, “I guess there is no major hurry. The board still thinks I am away in Hawaii, and we should probably keep it that way for now. Let’s see what Ben turns up, and then we’ll make a decision. If we bring this out in the open too early, I’m afraid we won’t be able to sniff out the rats. There could be lasting implications from this that extend beyond the Carver deal.”
Jason agreed with me, so we decided to wait until we had more information before proceeding. I needed to get some supplies, and I wanted to take another nap before my shift at the bar tonight, so I showed Jason out and agreed to meet with him again for lunch the next day.
