Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Anthony clears his voice before he speaks. “I got a call from a Los Angeles Times reporter about two hours ago. He was calling as a courtesy. Last night, a drunk driver plowed into a crowd near the Nokia Center. When the person was arrested, they had an under twenty-one stamp on their hand from Ahz. Unfortunately, their blood alcohol level was at .21. We have pulled all the security footage and have a team looking through it with a fine-toothed comb. I promised the reporter an exclusive look into Ahz if he would hold on to the story until tomorrow. He’ll call you, Emma, to set up a time to come and meet you.”
I am shocked by this information. There is no way anyone under twenty-one got a drink at one of our bars. We have a nearly foolproof policy in place. “The first thing we need to do is prepare a statement.” I look around the table at everyone. “My suggestion would be just to say we’re investigating the allegations,” I offer. “Will we lose our liquor license in the interim?”
Damon runs his hands through his hair and exhales. “No, the only way we will lose our license is if they can prove we served an underage drinker. This is an awful situation to be in, and I can’t say how important it is that we don’t give out too much information until we know the facts.”
“Damon’s right; the security footage will tell the story. The report will be ready for us tonight. The fact that Damon and I are owners will increase the media attention. Not to sound arrogant, but we are worth a ton of money, and there are many people who’d be happy to see us fail.”
“Are you sure you want me to handle this for you? I’m new at this job, and I don’t want to mess it up.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. I can feel the stress that this is going to weigh on all of us. If Ahz goes under, then Kat, me, and hundreds of other employees will be looking for a job, not to mention the financial and emotional impact it will have on Damon and Anthony.
“I’ve known Emma for over a decade, and I think she is the perfect representative. She is quick on her feet and speaks with intelligence and eloquence.” Kat leans back in her chair but keeps her eyes on Damon.
“I agree with Damon. Let’s keep it to a brief statement if they ask us. Once the investigation finishes, we can figure out if we need to address it in a more in-depth manner,” Anthony says.
A cell phone rings, and we all check our phones instinctively. Anthony answers his and walks toward the door to talk privately. Within a few minutes, he’s off and returning to the conversation. “Sorry, that’s something else I’ve got going on. My plate seems to be pretty full right now. You all know I’ll be heading to Texas on Sunday. I should be back by Wednesday.”
“We got this. Go find out what’s happening in Texas, and we’ll hold down the fort here,” Kat says.
“All right, then. Let’s talk tomorrow at the festival. I don’t see anything else happening tonight.” Damon helps Kat up, and they walk hand in hand out of the door.
“Are you okay?” I ask Anthony. I walk over to him, take his hand in mine, and look into his eyes. I’m a staunch believer the eyes are the windows to the soul. The eyes will always tell you the entire story. His eyes look tired and almost beat today.
“Yeah, I’m just tired. Let’s go home. Let’s relax in front of the television.” He goes to retrieve my bags over by the wall.
“I can get those.” I reach to take the bags, but he pulls them out of my way.
“I’ll grab these,” he says as he places all the bags in one hand. “Do you mind grabbing something for us to eat on the way home? I have to make a few phone calls. I’ll meet you at home.” He leans over and kisses me. It’s not a passionate kiss, but one you give out of habit.
We walk to the garage together and enter our cars. As we exit, he turns right, and I turn left. This is the first time I’ve noticed Anthony and I going in different directions.
I pull into the garage and park next to Anthony’s Vanquish. My car smells of baked chicken, Cajun rice, garlic butter greens, biscuits, and the peach cobbler I brought for dessert. I balance all the containers and make it into the kitchen without dropping anything.
The house is quiet, and everything is closed up. Usually, Anthony walks into the house and throws the doors to the deck wide open. I walk over and open the doors myself, then go to work plating up our dinner.
Once the food is ready, I search for Anthony and find him in his office. His back is turned to me, but I can hear one side of the conversation he’s having with the person on the other end.
“Okay, so they forced her, is what you’re telling me. What else have you found out? Uh-huh. Okay. We can go over it in depth next week. Certainly. Goodbye.”
I make some noise, so he knows I’m entering his office. He swivels his chair around and looks in my direction. It’s nice to see he still has a smile for me.
“I have dinner ready. I went to the Cajun place and picked up chicken and rice. Do you want to join me on the deck?”
He reaches out and grabs me around the waist, pulling me to stand between his legs. He buries his face into my stomach and lets out a groan.
“What can I do to help? It sounds like you’ve had an awful day.”
“It’s been okay. I have a lot of things going on at once. I feel like my hair is on fire. How was your day?” He leans back and looks up into my eyes.
“Good. While I was playing hooky from work, your day was going to shit, but hey, I have a magnificent dress for tomorrow,” I tease. “But I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“Emma, you have nothing to be sorry for.”
“All right, but you don’t have to carry the weight of this on your own. Let’s eat and then watch a Lethal Weapon marathon.” I tug him up from his seat and push him into the kitchen. We take our plates and walk out onto the deck. The ocean has a way of calming his nerves. We sit in relative silence and eat our food. My thoughts are running amok, with most of my attention on the current Ahz crisis. I keep playing plausible scenarios in my head, but nowhere can I come up with one in which they served a minor alcohol.
“Do you think that having an ‘eighteen and over’ night is a good idea? I’m just wondering if you and Damon should reconsider your position on that.” I take a bite of chicken and wait for his reply.
“We might have to rethink that. We wanted to have an all-inclusive club. The eighteen to twenty crowds are our regulars for tomorrow. If we reel them in now, we won’t have to target them later.” He takes in a deep breath and looks out over the water. “It was a great marketing idea; however, who would’ve thought a drunk driver with a stamp from our club would plow through a crowd of bystanders? I just found out that they’ve upgraded the one person in critical condition to stable, which is fantastic news.”
“That’s excellent news. Was that who you were talking to when I came into your office?” I gather both of our plates and stack them in front of me.
“No, that was the investigator from Texas. He was getting back to me on his findings. Your mom was forced to marry your dad after getting caught in a compromising position. He has a lead on someone who was friends with your mom and plans to meet with them tomorrow or Monday.” He wipes his mouth with a napkin. “And I plan to meet with him while I’m in Dallas.” “I appreciate your dedication to uncovering my past. It’s turning out to be exactly as we thought. She was pregnant and had to marry him. I feel so sad for my parents. If they had to marry each other because of an unwanted pregnancy, I could understand why they wouldn’t have a loving marriage. That in no way justifies the violence, but I can understand the frustration. No one should have to marry because of that.”
“I’m so sorry, baby. I wish I could change it for you.”
I shrug. I wish I could change it too, but that’s a wish that will never come true. What’s done is done.
Finished with our dinner, we both enter the house. I take the dishes to the sink to rinse them and place them in the dishwasher. Anthony gets the TV ready for our Mel Gibson marathon. I curl up next to him, and we both relax. I must have fallen asleep because the last thing I remember was watching the scene where the house on stilts gets pulled off its foundation by Riggs.