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The man who opened the door wore coveralls and had the tanned face of someone who worked outdoors.
“Mr. Hoare?” I asked.
Chapter 35
Amy
Samantha had finishedher preparations ahead of me. And her presentation was simpler and more elegant than mine.
I’d worked until the last minute, making changes, and had gotten my marketing forecast into notgood, but acceptable form.
We arrived at Holmby’s a little ahead of the appointed hour. I carried my presentation in a simple manila folder, Samantha had found a pretty maroon one for hers——the kitchen geek showing up the supposed marketing whiz.
My blouse was sticking to my back, and the cool air as we passed through the doors of the restaurant was a welcome change from the mugginess of the street. The interior immediately brought back memories of my first dinner with Liam——a long dinner, an enchanting dinner. I swatted the memories away as Celeste waved to us.
I carefully avoided looking in the direction of the table Liam and I had occupied that night, for fear he’d be sitting there staring back at me.
Celeste and Joanna were huddled near the back with another lady, most likely our interviewer. They hadn't given us a single clue as to how things were going to operate this evening.
We approached and greeted them, and Celeste introduced us to “Katherine with a K,” before escorting us down a hallway to a set of private dining rooms.
“We'll be doing the interviews separately this evening,” Katherine informed us. “Samantha, you and I will take the Greylock Room.” She indicated the door on the right. The rooms had the names of local mountains etched on brass nameplates. “And Amy, you can wait in the Sugarloaf Room. My partner will be along in a moment, I'm sure.” She pointed me to the door across the hall.
We nodded and said our goodbyes to Celeste and Joanna.
“I'll give you a call tomorrow,” Celeste told us as she and Joanna left.
Samantha nodded to me with a smile and followed Katherine into the small dining room.
“I promise I don't bite,” I heard Katherine tell Samantha as she closed the door.
I did as I was told and entered the Sugarloaf Room. I was surprised to find only a small dining table set up off to the side, with the majority of the space left open. The table was elegantly set for dinner with a white tablecloth, gleaming silverware, and wine glasses. There was no obvious place to set out my presentation, and only two chairs. Unsure what to do, I took a seat.
A knock came at the door, and a waiter entered, placing a plate of garlic shrimp on the table. His nametag readMarvin. He asked what I'd like to drink.
I chose iced tea.
He withdrew, and once again I was alone.
I salivated at the aroma of the garlic shrimp, which dared me to eat one before my interviewer——interrogator——arrived.
A few minutes later, the waiter returned with my iced tea.
I took a sip, and the waiter opened the door to leave, only to be stopped by a man standing in his way.
“Marvin, could you please get us a bottle of prosecco to start?” It was Liam.
Marvin nodded, and Liam closed the door, blocking my path to it.
My chair squeaked on the wooden floor as I jerked to my feet. “What are you doing here?”
“Take a seat, Ms. Hudson.” His commanding tone had returned.
I took the chair and sat back down, realizing anything else would result in a shouting match I couldn’t afford with the World Foods person still on the way.
I folded my hands in front of me. “I need you to leave.”
Instead, he took the chair opposite me. “You look lovely tonight.”
