“I can’t believe this. You know, you would have gotten your wish if you had waited. Even though I know that one day I would run the company, I wanted to do other things first. Make my mark outside of my father’s shadow. I would have been happy to hand over the reins if the company had been thriving,” I say to him.
“As if. Your old man made it clear to me that there could be no one else. His will said as much. No, all my hard work counted for nothing with your father. I was just taking what I was owed.”
I shake my head wearily and punch a button.
“Mrs. Stiller, can you send in the detective?”
Kevin’s mouth drops open.
“You didn’t honestly think that I would just let you get away with this did you?” I growl. “You were going to put hundreds of people out of a job. You stole from the company. Congratulations Kevin. You’re going to get what you deserve, but I don’t think it’s what you want. Oh, and you’re terminated effective immediately,” I add. “I’ll have someone clear out your office.”
The detective walks in and I hand over the recorder.
“You can’t do this,” Kevin says, his face turning almost purple. “You can’t record me without my permission.”
“Sure I can,” I say as I watch him get handcuffed. “I’m your boss.”
I’m able to keep it cool until the doors close, but then I’m seething. Even though it felt good to see Kevin get taken away, I’m still furious. Not only at him for his betrayal, but for my father too, who couldn’t seem to see the truth, who was so desperate to hold onto power and do things his way that he jeopardized everything. I slam my fist on the table. We are so lucky Sean was able to find the cause of this. Now we just need Mikayla’s revamped menu to start bringing in the customer again and maybe we’ll be able to pull though.
The thought of Mikayla loosens up my shoulders. She’s exactly what I want right now. But I don’t want to make her cook for me. She’s done more than enough of that already. Maybe we could eat out, someplace where I can hold her hand without worrying that someone will catch us. I stand up and walk out of my office.
“I’m going out Mrs. Stiller,” I say to my secretary. “Please hold my calls. The only person I want to hear from is the detective if he needs me.”
“Sir,” she says, standing up. “I wanted to say that you’re doing a wonderful job. Your father would have been very proud of you. This is all he’s ever wanted.”
Her words stir up troubling emotions, but I accept them anyways.
“Thank you,” I say. “But I know that I couldn’t do half as well without you and everyone else working here.”
She turns back to her desk and I head downstairs on the elevators. Mikayla’s in the kitchen, and for a moment I just look at her through the window in the door. I’d be stupid to let her go, to not try and make this work. Because I did want to. For the first time in a long time, I want someone to care and protect, someone to nurture and love, who would want to do the same for me too. The strength of that emotion sucker punches me in the gut, and I have to take a steadying breath before I open the door and walk in.
Mikayla
Even though I have a lot on my plate, my mind draws a blank as I stare into the pantry. What on earth should I make? I have no clue. Instead my mind wanders to the meeting Logan is supposed to have today. Who could it be with? I know that it has something to do with what’s happening with Red Canyon Steakhouse and why it’s in such a terrible state right now, but that’s it. I hope everything is working out. I hope that whatever is wrong, Logan’s found a way to fix it, and I hope, rather selfishly, that it means my job is safe. Not only will I miss being able to create and cook every day, but I’ll miss seeing Logan himself too.
Seeing him a second time has me hopeful that what happened between us wasn’t just a one night stand for him too. I’ve already spent enough time trying to analyze it all, and the more I think about it, the more confused I am about what’s going on and what I want from it. Logan’s never tried to lead me on, never promised me anything more than the night. So why do my thoughts get so jumbled every time I think of him?
“I need to get a grip,” I mutter. “Let’s tackle appetizers.”
Red Canyon Steakhouse’s menu used to be a huge, bloated thing. There were some 200 odd items on it. I’ve systematically slashed it down for the rebranding, but I know that if we’re to keep the customers, the next step would be to completely overhaul the menu, update it to the season. There’ll always be a core set of items on the menu that hopefully be a hit with the customers and that is what I decide to tackle today. I’ve narrowed it down to about five items when the door opens and Logan steps through. I look up and smile but it quickly disappears.