by Andrew Reise
As she left the cafe she heard a voice from behind her. “Thank you for your patronage. Please come again.”
She stumbled, but kept walking. How could he not realize that she had only come for the interview at this point? Why even bother advertising? She shook her head, baffled at the strange almost deliberately obtuse behavior of this man. If she could avoid it, she wouldn’t want to come back.
But even as she thought that, she pulled out her phone and looked at the image of the cappuccino that she had taken. She thought to herself, “Well, maybe I’ll come back the next time one of my coworkers wants to try a trendy place for coffee.”
Back in the cafe, Alan stood behind the counter feeling very satisfied. He had a smug smirk on his face. If Anaiya saw it she’d no doubt think he was celebrating stonewalling her in the interview. However, she’d be wrong.
Alan wasn’t thinking about his tricky answers, or dodging the trouble that Natasha had sent his way. He grinned and murmured to himself “I bet I’ll get a ton of new customers once my advertise-” He cut off, shaking his head and correcting himself, “I mean once my interview appears in the newspaper.”
Free publicity was still the best.
As he said this, the system sounded out. “Host appears to be in a delusional state. Host, should the system enter recovery mode?”
However, not even the system could spoil his good mood.
The day came to a close as Alan cleaned up the cafe and went upstairs to get ready for bed. However, as he drifted off to sleep he couldn’t help but think he was forgetting something.
Chapter 18
Anaiya shook her head as she left the cafe. “What a useless interview,” She thought. She didn’t get anything that could help her with interviewing Gerald. Not to mention the Cafe owner seemed to treat it like a chance for free advertising.
She shook her head. “Too naive, as if I’d put something like that in the article.”
Just like that Alan’s dream of free advertising went down the drain.
Anaiya returned to her office. She set down her things and sat down at her desk, contemplating her next move. She drummed her fingers on the desk as she thought. As she sat, an idea gradually formed.
“I didn’t get anything from that interview, but it’s not like Gerald Acadian knows that. If I just say what Natasha said, then say that I already spoke with the cafe owner and am just calling as a courtesy to get a comment, it might scare him into revealing some information.”
She thought this plan seemed like it would work. Resolving herself, she picked up the phone and called Gerald Acadian’s office.
A secretary picked up. “Gerald Acadian’s office.”
“This is Anaiya Williams with City A Daily News. I am calling for a comment on a story involving Mr. Acadian.”
The secretary instantly put his guard up. “May I ask what the story is about?”
Anaiya smirked, but her voice remained unchanged. “It involves Natasha Bianchi. I’ve already interviewed Ms. Bianchi as well as the owner of a certain cafe. I’m certain Mr. Acadian knows what I refer to. I’m just reaching out to see if Mr. Acadian has any comment he’d like to say before I print the story.”
“Please hold.” The secretary said.
“It looks like it worked.” Anaiya gloated to herself. She prepared to ask the questions she’d thought of as soon as she’d finished Natasha’s interview. A story like this would be good exposure for her. Even though it wasn’t as hard hitting as her past stories, it would certainly be more interesting to the public. Who knows, she might even be able to make a television appearance.
As she daydreamed, a voice came back on the line. However, it wasn’t Gerald. “Ms. Williams?” The secretary said, checking to see if she was still on the line.
“Yes? What is it? Is Mr. Acadian ‘in a meeting’?” Anaiya prepared herself, believing Gerald was going to try to dodge her.
“No.” The secretary replied. “Mr. Acadian told me to tell you that he has no comment. He also said to stop harassing him for an interview or else he’d speak with your supervisors.”
The line clicked and the dial tone rang.
Anaiya stared at the phone in her hand incredulously.
At Gerald’s office, the secretary went and knocked on a door to an office.
“Come in,” A voice rang out from inside.
The secretary turned the knob on the door and went inside.
“Sir, I did as you instructed. Is this really okay though?” The secretary asked nervously.
Gerald nodded and waved his hand. “It’s fine. She was just digging for information.”
Truth be told, Gerald was originally nervous about this reporter digging up more information somehow. If she had more than just Natasha’s statement, then he would be forced to admit what had happened. Truth be told he didn’t care about the ‘embarrassment’ of it all, he was just afraid more women would try to blackmail him into dates during business negotiations. If any other men knew his worries, they’d curse him out of his office.
However, as soon as he heard that the reporter was claiming she had gotten a statement from Alan, he relaxed. After knowing Alan for so long, how could Gerald not know his personality? “Any interview with that guy would be hilarious to watch.” He mused to himself. Truth be told, what he was imagining wasn’t far from the truth.
The secretary looked doubtful, but accepted the dismissal and left the office, closing the door behind him.
Back at the City A Daily News offices, Anaiya fumed to herself. She just kept getting dismissed and jerked around like a fool.
“It’s all that Alan’s fault,” She thought to herself angrily. “What sort of interview was that? He basically just tried to take advantage of me without giving anything in return. Not to mention he even lied! I know that they met at his cafe for a date.”
Like a person with road rage, she worked herself deeper and deeper into the depths of her anger until finally it exploded out. Pulling out her laptop she began typing furiously. As she did an evil grin spread across her face. “This will teach you two not to mess with a reporter.”
The light in her office was on late into the night.
The next day, Alan woke up and went about the tasks he had to do to open the cafe. As he flipped the sign on the door from closed to open, he didn’t have to wait more than a minute before his first customer came in.
As expected, it was Tom. This man was practically a clock, Alan could time his morning around his arrival.
“Good morning Tom,” Alan nodded as he went to make him a cup of coffee and a slice of coffee cake. Tom had come so often that Alan knew exactly what he wanted. To be fair, it wasn’t hard to remember as he only had two things that could be ordered in the morning.
However, before he could go back in the kitchen Tom stopped him. “Alan, have you seen the paper today?”
Alan shook his head. “I don’t have a subscription to it, so I haven’t.” However, now that Tom reminded him he suddenly remembered the matter from yesterday. “Could my advertise-” He shook his head, “I mean my interview have been published?”
As Alan thought this to himself, Tom handed him a copy of City A Daily News, his tone urgent as he said, “You need to read this.”
Alan looked at him curiously before taking the paper from him. Tom already had it open to the article. Alan scanned it and quickly found the article by Anaiya. He skimmed through it as Anaiya spent a majority of the article describing the date between Gerald and Natasha. However, as he read further into the article he noticed the topic switching from the date to the cafe.
As he read, his face grew darker. The article read:
“This reporter went to Lux Cafe to investigate Ms. Bianchi’s complaints. What I found was nothing short of horrific. Walking into the cafe, the entire atmosphere is one of new money. Cliché décor cluttered the place. Wood floors and fresh paint couldn’t hide the age of the building, nor the lack of care given to the place. Frankly, this reporter ha
lf expected there to be bugs in the food. The horror didn’t stop there; the menu quoted outrageous prices for a cup of coffee. Moreover, it listed the exact rules that Ms. Bianchi complained about. What sort of black hearted cafe doesn’t even offer refills? Moreover, even if you want to order a second cup the barista cum owner Alan will deny you one. For someone working in the service industry this is inexcusable.
It didn’t stop there. I tried to order a slice of coffee cake, the only food item on the menu, and the owner refused to serve me it with a ridiculous claim that he could only serve it in the morning. When the cappuccino I ordered was served, Alan deliberately created a portrayal of a woman who looked like a medusa in the foam art. Between all of that and his apparent disregard for women from his treatment of Ms. Bianchi, it is clear he is a chauvinist. However, this reporter bore with it to interview the owner.
When confronted with the claims made by Ms. Bianchi, he refused to give direct answers. This reporter has to wonder after interviewing him exactly what this cafe owner is hiding. If any friends in law enforcement are reading this, I strongly suggest investigating the cafe.
As for all of my other readers, I can only say this: unless you enjoy being treated poorly, paying exorbitant prices for average coffee, and basking in tasteless décor, I suggest you look elsewhere for your coffee.”
The article then continued to talk about Gerald and his refusal to comment before ending. Alan couldn’t believe what he had read. Where was his advertisement? Even if she didn’t print that, did she have to make such baseless claims against his cafe? Didn’t he clearly explain the origins of the coffee, the reasoning behind his prices and his rules about limiting his servings? It was as though she ignored all of the facts and just made something up.
In fact, it was exactly like Alan thought. Anaiya had been so angry when writing the article that she had directly ignored what she had learned from her interviews with Tom and Alan. She just wanted to take this chance to get some revenge for the way he had acted in the interview. Not to mention, she still thought if he hadn’t lied about the date she could have gotten something out of Gerald. Instead, she was only embarrassed by him.
Alan handed the newspaper back to Tom and went back to make him his coffee without another word.
Tom looked at him waiting for some sort of reaction. Seeing Alan just going about business as usual, he couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s with this article? What did you say to her? To make a professional reporter lose her cool like this and print such a hatchet job, did you actually insult her like she claimed?”
Alan snorted. “Do I look like I’m so stupid? I might not have cooperated with her interview, but I didn’t treat her poorly.”
As Alan said this, the bell on the door rang and Claire came inside. Alan nodded at her as she did. “Coffee?” He asked.
Claire nodded. “And cake today too.”
Alan grunted an affirmative answer and went back to preparing the coffee. However, he noticed Claire had a copy of the paper under her arm too. It seemed to be open to the page the article was printed on.
Tom continued talking to Alan. “Well, why else would she write an article like this? She interviewed me while I was here, and I directly told her about the quality of the coffee. But in this article, she doesn’t mention it anywhere. It’s weird.”
Alan shrugged helplessly. Just then the bell on the door rang again as Gerald walked in.
“Did you see this?” He asked while holding the paper aloft.
Tom nodded. “You’re too slow, I already showed it to him. Come to think of it, isn’t this all your fault? If you hadn’t had been in the picture how could this reporter have cared enough to write an article like this?”
Gerald didn’t show any reaction, but he still nodded to Alan. “Tom’s right. I’m sorry. I’ve troubled you this time.”
Alan shook his head. For Gerald to apologize meant that he truly did feel guilty. He wasn’t the sort to offer a half-hearted apology. However, that didn’t mean Alan would accept it. “You don’t me an apology. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m still grateful to you for choosing my cafe for your business meeting. If you really feel like you owe me something, just continue to be a patron of the cafe. That’ll be enough.”
Gerald shook his head. He wasn’t satisfied with this, but he couldn’t think of how to fix the situation. Even the government was helpless in the face of reporters. How could a businessman like himself do anything? The most he could do was refuse interviews from that newspaper in the future.
Alan finished brewing three cups of coffee. He handed two to Gerald and Tom. They left money on the counter. With these regulars he wasn’t worried about them not paying. He then cut a slice of coffee cake and placed it on a plate before bringing it and the last cup of coffee over to Claire.
“Here you go.” He said.
Claire nodded but then paused. “This,” she said, gesturing at the newspaper.
Alan sighed. “I seem to have offended a reporter. I hope it didn’t affect your opinion of the cafe.”
Claire shook her head. “It’s fine. I can use my own observations about this cafe to come to the conclusion that this article is false. But will it cause you much trouble?”
Alan shrugged. “Who can say? It certainly won’t help business. Something like this is different from that Twitter ‘scandal’ from before. People take what they read in the news more seriously than what they see on Twitter.”
Claire nodded but then fell into a thoughtful silence. Seeing she was lost in her own thoughts, Alan excused himself and went back to the counter where he collected the money.
Tom and Gerald were still arguing about what to do. Alan shook his head and interrupted them as he approached.
“There’s nothing to do. Freedom of speech is protected. It’s not like we can ask the government to shut them down or something just because we don’t like an article they wrote. It is what it is. We’ll just have to move on.”
As he spoke, however, a voice sounded from behind him. He turned, surprised to see Claire, who usually kept to herself, had followed him over to the counter.
“That’s not necessarily true.” Claire said, a glint in her eye.
“What do you mean?” Alan asked Claire.
“It’s true that our country protects our right to freedom of speech, but it doesn’t mean there are no limits. For example, you can’t shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater to cause a stampede. It’s a crime and you can be punished for it. Moreover, just because the government is very limited in restricting free speech, it doesn’t mean there aren’t remedies for people. Instead of a criminal case, where the government goes after the person, you can do a civil case and sue them personally. Defamation suits are nothing new.”
Alan listened attentively as Claire explained. “Does that mean I can sue her?”
Claire nodded, but then shook her head. “Yes, you can sue her. But why would you? She’s just a reporter she doesn’t have much money. On the other hand, the newspaper printed the article without doing proper fact checking. They’re just as responsible for the damage to your business as she is.”
Alan pondered carefully as he listened. It seemed...like this might work?
As a layman, he didn’t know much about the law aside from what he was taught in civics class. However, he didn’t think that Claire was just randomly spouting off nonsense. She had frequented his cafe for a while now, and he’d seen how diligently she worked. Most people, when they took a break or left the office, wouldn’t bring work with them. On the other hand, even when she was relaxing at the cafe, she always had documents with her and he’d heard her talking on the phone more than once using legal jargon that left his head spinning.
Tom and Gerald suddenly spoke.
“Honestly, it’s not a bad idea. An article like this is no joke to a business like yours and it would hurt your bottom line. Not to mention, the other side really is in the wrong.” Tom voiced his support for the idea.
Gera
ld meanwhile just offered his support. “If you want to do this, I’d support you. I’d pay for your legal costs.” He still felt guilty about bringing this calamity down on Alan’s head.
Alan shook his head. “Thank you, but if I do this, I’ll manage the legal costs on my own.”
Claire spoke up, eyeing them all weirdly. “Why are you guys talking so much nonsense? Since I brought the idea up, I naturally had my own plans. Lawyers are required to do a certain amount of pro bono work every year. Naturally, this would count. You’re not exactly well off, despite the appearance of the cafe. You’ve told me before about how you had to take out loans to pay for it all. With your debt and income, you probably qualify for pro bono.”
Alan looked at her in surprise. “Is that really okay? Won’t you get in trouble with your firm?”
Claire shook her head. “Not if I tell them it’s my pro bono work. Something like this helps the firm maintain a good reputation. Not to mention there are no shortage of wealthy people who want to sue the media. Successfully handling a case like this would actually help bring in clients.”
Alan thought about it and realized this approach didn’t cross his bottom line. He didn’t have to feel like he owed her anything as what she said made sense.
Alan finally nodded his head. “Alright we’ll go ahead with this.”
Claire’s demeanor instantly changed as she suddenly seemed very clinical in her demeanor. “In that case, Tom I’ll need to depose you as a witness to help prove the interview happened. Cases like this often turn into he said/she said cases, meaning it’s all about who has the more credible witnesses. Gerald, you’ll also need to be deposed to explain the nature of what happened. Are you okay with that?”
Gerald sighed with reluctance. He really hoped that the matter about him getting extorted into a date wouldn’t get around, but since things had come to this point, he couldn’t object anymore. He nodded his head saying, “I’ll do it. Just try to keep it focused on the cafe if you can.”
