“I disagree. I’d say I’m quick to make changes when things…or people…just aren’t working out. The other night, for example.”
She leaned forward over the table. “How much money did my section bring in, Dean? Two? Three times the amount each bar usually cashes out?”
I’d checked the numbers the morning after I’d fired her; Zoe hadn’t exaggerated. Lily’s section had brought in four times the amount the other bars had and I had no doubt she could have cashed out with even more had I not fired her in the middle of her shift.
“Tell me, Lily. How many restaurants have you opened?” I asked with a sharp tone.
Her eyes shifted down to the white tablecloth and then back up to me—a simple tell that her confidence wasn’t impenetrable.
“That’s—”
“How many bars? Lounges?” I narrowed my eyes. “Have you ever managed more than a handful of stoned high schoolers at a Dairy Queen?”
Her cheeks flamed red beneath her tan and my conscience warned me to back down. Most of the time Lily acted as if she could spar with the best of them, but I knew her armor had weak points. She was a disobedient puppy, all bark and no bite.
I took a deep breath. “The point is, until you’ve attempted to run a restaurant in New York City, you won’t fully understand all the reasons why I had to let you go.”
Her eyes seared a line of fire across the table and I watched her chest rise and fall in quick successions. I’d pushed too far.
“Suddenly I’ve lost my appetite.” She scraped her chair back from the table and stood. Her napkin fell to the ground as she pulled her purse from the back of the chair and crossed it over her body.
“Actually, I think I’ll come with you,” Casey said, rising from her seat beside me.
What the fuck is going on?
“Uh, I…” Josephine stood and froze, unsure if she should leave with her friend or stick by Julian.
Lily didn’t bother waiting to find out. She turned and spun toward the front of the restaurant with Josephine and Casey on her heels. I felt like a royal ass watching them leave.
Lily brought out my worst qualities. I couldn’t remember ever having driven someone to leave a dinner, but she was gone and I was left at the table with that damn rickshaw staring back at me. Condensation gathered on the side of the glass, taunting me until I picked it up and downed it in one long sip.
Damn .
It was good. Better than my old fashioned.
“That was a disaster,” Julian said quietly, rubbing his fingers across his chin.
I shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad.”
He grunted. “You weren’t sitting in my seat. Watching you and Lily fight like that isn’t fun. I’ve never seen you like that.”
I flinched. “Are you kidding me? Don’t put this shit on me.”
He shook his head and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. I reached for Casey’s unfinished rickshaw, downing it too. I had three empty glasses in front of me, but I still wasn’t calm. Julian and I sat in silence for a few minutes, and when I finally spoke up, I steered the conversation into more neutral territory.
“We need to have our first meeting for the new restaurant soon. Y’know, start going over expectations and timelines.” A few weeks back, Julian had agreed to be a major investor in my next restaurant. I’d presented him with the numbers from my past projects and walked him through the basic steps of opening up a new restaurant. It’d only taken a few minutes to convince him to buy in.
He frowned. “You’re putting me in a tough position here, man. Look, I’m not in the restaurant industry. Opening up a new restaurant with you was supposed to be a fun side project. I wanted to work with you as a friend but I’m already catching shit from Jo about this Lily situation. It’s just not worth it to me if it’s going to cause problems between Jo and Lily.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, gripping the edge of the table.
He’d walk away and pull his funding because Lily and I didn’t get along? That’d delay the project. I was already putting up 50% of the capital. I’d have to scramble to find more investors if Julian walked.
Before I could plead my case, our waiter stepped up to the table and started clearing away the empty glasses. “Could I get you gentlemen anything else?”
“Just the check,” I replied, already reaching for my wallet in my back pocket.
His smile fell. “Uh, actually sir, your guest, the blonde woman? She covered the check on her way out.”
I frowned. “Excuse me?”
He swallowed and nodded. “She, er, she actually told me to tell you that it was paid with her severance .” He whispered the last word as if it was offensive. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but…”
I held up my hand to silence him. The night needed to end. I stood and pushed back from the table, thankful that I’d valeted my car around the corner. I wanted to get behind the wheel and press my foot down on the gas until I could feel control fill my veins once again.
“Julian, you can do whatever you want. I’d love to have you on board for this project, but I’m not going to beg. The numbers are there. You’ll make back everything you invest by the end of the year. After that? The sky’s the limit.”
He stood and shrugged on his leather jacket. “Yeah well, you’d make my decision a lot easier if you could just get along with Lily.”