Chapter 3: The Name on the Investment Proposal
For several seconds, nobody at the table moved.
Mark held the proposal with both hands, as though the pages might somehow rearrange themselves into something less disastrous.
Brittany stared at the signature beneath the Carter Hospitality Group logo.
Daniel Carter.
My name.
My company.
My decision.
“No,” she whispered.
Mark looked up at me.
“Mr. Carter?””
I took off my stained apron and handed it to Maya.
“Good evening, Mark. We haven't officially met, but I believe your company requested a meeting with my investment team.””
He stood so quickly that his chair scraped against the floor.
“Yes. Yes, absolutely.”” He extended his hand.
“I'm Mark Collins. I've been trying to reach your office for six weeks.””
I shook his hand.
“I know. My team reviewed your proposal last Thursday.””
Brittany's mouth opened, but no words came out.
Mark glanced between us.
“You're the founder of Carter Hospitality Group?””
“That's right.””
“The Carter Hospitality Group that owns the Cumberland House, the Franklin Grand, and the restaurants downtown?””
“Among other properties.””
He looked at the stained apron in Maya's hands, then at the private dining room behind me.
“But why were you—”
“Working the floor?”” I supplied.
He nodded.
“Sometimes I like to see how the business operates when the people who make decisions aren't standing around watching.””
Mark slowly exhaled.
“I see.””
Brittany finally found her voice.
“This is ridiculous.””
Nobody responded.
She stood up and forced a laugh.
“Daniel, why didn't you just say something? You let me stand here embarrassing myself when you could have told me who you were.””
I studied her face.
“Would that have changed anything?””
“Of course it would!””
“Why?””
She hesitated.
“Because we know each other.””
“Do we?””
Her eyes flashed.
“We went to school together for four years.””
“That means we attended the same school. It doesn't mean you know me.””
Mark looked down at the proposal.
“Brittany, please. Not now.””
She ignored him and stepped closer.
“Listen, Daniel. I was joking around. You know how I am. We were kids together.””
“Fifteen years ago.””
“Exactly! Ancient history.”” She gestured toward the table.
“Everyone was having a good time. Nobody meant anything by it.””
I glanced at the wine staining the tablecloth.
“You poured a glass of wine over my uniform.””
“It was an accident.””
“You looked me in the eye before you tipped it.””
Her jaw tightened.
“I didn't realize it would be such a big deal.””
Maya, still standing beside the service station, spoke before she could stop herself.
“You also demanded he be fired.””
Brittany turned toward her.
“Can you please stay out of this?””
“No,” I said.
The single word stopped her.
I looked at Maya.
“Thank you for telling the truth. Please make sure Robert records what happened. You're not in trouble.””
Her shoulders relaxed slightly.
Then I faced Brittany again.
“You asked for a manager. You threatened my staff. You demanded that an employee lose his job because he wouldn't give you a discount.””
I paused.
“And now that you know I own the restaurant, you want to pretend it was a joke.””
She crossed her arms, but the gesture looked less confident than before.
“You're making this personal.””
“You made it personal when you decided someone's occupation gave you permission to humiliate him.””
Mark lowered himself back into his chair.
“Mr. Carter, I want to apologize for what happened tonight. Brittany shouldn't have behaved that way.””
She spun toward him.
“Mark!””
He raised a hand.
“I'm serious. We came here to discuss the future of our company. I will not pretend this was acceptable.””
For the first time, I saw something other than embarrassment in his expression.
Fear.
Not fear of me personally, but fear of losing the last opportunity to rescue a business he had spent years building.
I knew that look.
I'd seen it in my own father's face when the construction company he worked for missed payroll and the bills began stacking up on our kitchen counter.
“Mark,” I said, “your investment proposal is a separate matter. I won't make a business decision based on a dinner-table argument.””
He nodded, though his hands remained tense.
“I appreciate that.””
“But I also won't pretend this evening didn't happen.””
Brittany sank into her chair.
For once, she had nothing cruel to say.
Robert appeared at my side with a clean black jacket.
“Your office is ready, Daniel.””
“Thank you. Please have the Collins group join me in the private dining room when they're ready.””
Robert nodded.
Then I turned to Maya.
“Could you bring Mr. and Mrs. Collins fresh water?
No charge for the wine incident, of course. And please have the kitchen replace anything affected by the spill.””
Maya nodded.
“Absolutely.””
Brittany looked up sharply.
“You're still going to serve us?””
“Of course. You're guests in my restaurant.””
Something shifted in her expression. Perhaps she had expected me to retaliate, to throw her out in front of everyone, to humiliate her as thoroughly as she had tried to humiliate me.
I had no intention of doing that.
My father had taught me that a person's character was most visible when they finally had the power to strike back.
I wanted to see what Brittany would do with hers now.
Mark gathered the papers and slipped them back into his briefcase.
“Daniel, I can't tell you how important this meeting is to us. We have nearly two hundred employees depending on the company.””
“I understand.””
“If the financing doesn't come through, we may have to sell two properties and lay off staff.””
I studied him carefully.
“Then we'd better discuss the numbers honestly.””
He nodded.
“We will.””
Brittany remained seated, twisting her diamond ring around her finger.
When I turned to leave, she spoke so quietly that only I could hear her.
“Daniel, please. Don't let this ruin everything.””
I stopped.
“Everything?””
She looked toward her husband, then at the proposal on the table.
“Our company. Our future. Everything we've worked for.””
I remembered her laughing at my uniform. Her comments about my father, my education, my ambitions. The wine soaking through my shirt.
I could have reminded her that she had never once asked how I got here.
Instead, I said, “Then perhaps you should have treated people better before you needed something from them.””
Her eyes filled with tears, though I couldn't tell whether they came from shame or fear.
I walked toward the private dining room.
Behind me, Mark gathered the proposal one last time.
And then he said something that made me stop at the doorway.
“Daniel, before we discuss the investment, there's something you need to know about the company.””
I turned.
He looked at Brittany.
She went completely still.
Mark opened his briefcase and removed a second folder, thinner than the first.
“It's about the person who has been making the decisions behind our financial problems.””
He placed the folder on the table.
May you like
Then he looked straight at me.
“And her name is Brittany Collins.””
