Chapter 20 Ava
AVA
When Desmond had kissed me yesterday, I’d been vulnerable. I’d been reeling from hearing Kyle’s voice and relieved to see Desmond’s concern about me. I’d been more than ecstatic when he kissed me. But all of that had shattered when he ended it abruptly.
I wished I hadn’t confided in him about Kyle in the first place. If I hadn’t, Desmond wouldn’t have been worried for me. He wouldn’t have followed me out to the restroom. At the memory, I hung my head.
What were we even thinking?
He was worried about me. That’s why he wasn’t thinking when he followed me to the restroom.
I stared at the cash register in front of me and knew I had to stop thinking about this.
I regretted confiding in him about Mom. Desmond had done the right thing in putting an end to it even if I felt miserable about it.
If we were found out, he’d ruin his reputation as a CEO, and I’d never find a job anywhere else.
So, I took a deep breath and turned as one of Luxe Hotels’ employees approached me with their order.
“Two dark chocolate mochas and one espresso,” I called out as I rang up the drinks on the cash register and turned to check if Carolyn had heard me.
She gave me a thumbs-up and steamed the milk at the espresso machine, saying, “I can’t get over how noiseless this thing is now.”
The steamer wasn’t noiseless, but it was definitely a step up from the noisy mess it had been a week ago. I wasn’t covering my ears every time Carolyn approached the machine with a jug of cold milk.
Before I could respond, I heard an irritated womanly voice asking for attention. I turned to the customers and saw Ellie Hunt standing there at the head of the line with Thomas.
“Are you working today?” she asked pointedly while Thomas gave her a cautious look.
“Of course she is,” he responded for me. “I’m single-handedly responsible for reducing her espresso bean stash in half with the amount of coffee I’ve had today,” he said with a calming chuckle.
I rang up Thomas’s order, which was his fourth espresso for the day, with some concern. Ellie asked for a cup of water and wandered off to my left to scrutinize the pastries on display.
“Bad day?” I asked Thomas sympathetically as I ground the fresh espresso beans in preparation for his cup.
Thomas groaned. “Ellie’s set up a new campaign to revamp our PR image with the media. She’s having me interview with Manhattan Times later this afternoon. I’m terrible at interviews.”
I’d heard through the grapevine that Ellie was fantastic at her job, but everyone who worked for her seemed eager to get out of her way as soon as they praised her work ethic.
When Thomas gratefully accepted his cup of espresso and waved goodbye, Ellie turned to me.
She pulled up her phone in a brisk move. “Have you seen this?” she asked, her eyes fixed sternly on her phone as she tapped a few times before showing it to me.
I looked at the phone and saw a picture of her and Desmond arriving at the party together a few nights ago.
I felt my cheeks go flaming hot. “That’s a picture of you and Mr. McKinley in the papers.”
Ellie waved her hand dismissively. “It was a working dinner party,” she said. “We were trying to network with a design studio to create the first vegan-friendly suite in Luxe Hotels.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That’s interesting,” I said, wondering where she was going with this while Carolyn placed her cup of water on the counter.
Ellie stared at me. “The design studio declined to work with us because of a news article about Luxe Hotels that’s making the rounds today.”
At the end of that sentence, she glared at me and then brought her phone back up. She flicked her forefinger over it a couple of times before showing something else to me.
“A reporter discovered details about an embezzlement that involves your employee and your restaurant,” she said, visibly angry, but I didn’t focus on her tone. She’d said the words that I’d been dreading for a while now.
I glanced at her phone and caught sight of an email with the subject line that said, Questions about Luxe Hotels and their investment in The Galley.
The guilt must have been pretty apparent on my face because Ellie’s voice picked up steam. “You didn’t think it was worth it to bring this detail up before we invested in you? You’ve made Luxe look bad, and you haven’t even been here for three weeks.”
Shit.
She grabbed her cup of water and shot her parting words at me. “You need to fix this before it blows up in our face and causes trouble.” With that, she spun on her heel and walked away, her heels clicking loudly on the floor.
I leaned back against the wall behind me and let out a big breath. I’d predicted this happening. Heck, I’d lived in some fear of this happening, but now that it was out there, the answer was plenty obvious to me.
I couldn’t hide anymore.