by Ellie Danes
“That pretty much sums it up, yeah.”
“I have a question, JB, and I want you to answer honestly.” I said with my tone as even and calm as I could manage.
“Uh, all right. Ask away, Ev.”
“Were you drinking on the job last night, JB? Were you drunk or sober when this happened? And remember, if I think you're not being upfront with me, I can call the cops who were there last night and ask them what sort of state you were in.”
“I…I might have had a couple of drinks,” he murmured.
“A couple? Seriously, JB, was it just a couple?”
“Maybe closer to five or six. Or maybe a little more,” he admitted sheepishly.
“You have to be the worst damn manager on the face of this planet, JB,” I growled, truly furious. “I warned you, didn't I warn you? More of this sort of shit and you're gonna lose this job. I am at the end of my rope here. I can't give you any more chances. You keep screwing up, and this is on a monumental scale! I don’t want to have to do this, but that's it…This is it, JB. You're done. You're fired.”
“No, no, no no no no,” he pleaded. “Please, Ev, don't fire me. This job is all I have. You can't fire me, please—”
“You're not giving me a choice. We're in a world of trouble because of this.”
“C’mon, Ev, please. Without this job, I've got nothing. Seriously man, don't do this to me.”
“Look, I'm going to call my lawyer and arrange an emergency meeting to see what we can do about this situation. If he thinks we can get out of this somehow with our reputation and finances intact, then we can talk about another chance. If not, you've left me with no choice.”
“Ev, wait, come on you can't—”
I cut the call off, not giving him the opportunity to say anything else. I flung the phone across the room, bristling with anger. I balled my hands into tight fists at my sides. I needed a good, solid session on the boxing bag in the gym, that was for sure.
How could JB keep screwing up like this? Just a few weeks earlier, he had gotten drunk on the job and forgot to lock the bar up when he went home. Some crackheads had gotten in and stolen most of the expensive liquor and a dozen cases of beer. I should have fired JB then, but I do believe in second chances. Third and fourth chances, in JB’s case.
I stormed across my room and picked up the phone which, thankfully, still seemed to be in working order after I'd flung it against the wall. I dialed Alex Venables, my attorney.
His cell phone rang for quite a while. Eventually, he picked up.
“Uh, um hello?”
“Alex, it's Evan Powers.”
“Oh uh, hi Mr. Powers,” he said, still sounding groggy.
“I'm very sorry for the early call, but I have a situation on my hands. There was a serious fight in my bar in Wytheville last night, and one of the injured parties was the son of Gabriel Nash, who now wants to sue us.”
“Ah,” he said in a knowing tone. “I see why you called me. Nash is a real bulldog, and we're going to have to get serious fast if we want to tackle this issue and get him to drop the suit. You're aware there's likely going to be some sort of out-of-court settlement to shut him down?”
“I'm aware of that. I'll do whatever necessary to keep the reputation of my bar intact. Sorry again about waking you at this hour.”
“Can you meet me around midday? I have some urgent business this morning, but I'll be free around twelve.”
“That sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
“Of course.”
I put the phone down, still fuming, and still in a towel. Edgy, impatient, and worried, I grabbed some clothes, got dressed, and turned on my computer to check on some stock prices to distract myself from the stressors that were now bouncing around my mind.
I couldn't sit and waste time though; I needed to plan my day and shuffle a few things around if I was going to meet with Alex, which hopefully wouldn't take too long. I picked up my planner and checked what was going on for the day. A few meetings were set up throughout the day, one I was particularly excited about—going to Sala Valley Winery to sample their range of wines. I wanted a new range of local wines for my restaurants, and I'd heard good things about their selection. Hopefully the taste would live up to the reputation.
I made a few adjustments so I could fit everything in, then I did my best to push the incident with JB and the bar out of my head.
* * * * *
“So, the mill is still using some of its original 1893 machinery, huh?” I asked the mill owner, a grizzled, hirsute man in his fifties, dressed in dungarees and work boots.
“Yes sir,” he said, nodding slowly. “It's been in my family for five generations, and we've always maintained it meticulously. That's how we've been makin' our stone ground flour, same now as it was way back then. Best stone ground flour in all of California. Yes, we sell it at a more expensive price than our competitors, but I'll tell you what, you take this little bag of flour home, free of charge, and you make whatever you want with it. Then you get some of our competitors' flour and make the same things, and you serve 'em to your customers. Guaranteed they'll pick the food that was made with my flour, ten times outta ten. And they'll be coming back for more, guaranteed.”
I nodded, running my fingers through the flour. It was thick, coarse and had a sense of real substance and presence to it. I could almost taste the flavor through my fingertips. “That won't be necessary,” I said.
His shoulders drooped. “Are you sure? But you haven't even—”
“No, no,” I said with a smile. “I'm not turning you down—I'm saying that I won't need to compare your flour with that of your competitors. I can tell right away that it's the best in the county—heck, might even be the best in the whole state.”
A broad grin spread across his face.
“You know your flour, son, you know your flour.”
“I worked with the best when I was in Paris,” I said. “I learned a lot about the importance of quality flour there. I've struggled to find stuff that's as good as the French flour here in California, but your flour…it's what I've been trying to find for a long time now.”
“Well like I said, Mr. Powers, my family has been doing this for five generations, and we pride ourselves in the quality of our product.”
“As much as I like standing here and simply admiring the beauty of this vintage watermill, I have a lot to do today. Let's head over to your office, agree on supply and pricing terms, and seal this deal.”
“Of course, Mr. Powers. Let's do that.”
Just then, my phone started to ring. I took it out and saw that it was a number from Wytheville . I guessed immediately that this had something to do with JB.
“Excuse me, I just need to take this call, I won't be long,” I said to the mill owner.
“Sure thing, sir,” he said. “You know where the office is. I'll be there.”
As he shuffled off I turned around and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Uh hey, Ev, it's me.”
“JB.”
“Listen man, I just really, really want to apologize for what happened last night. I was being…well, I was an idiot. I shouldn't have been drinking on the job, and I shouldn't have been the one mixing the cocktails and being distracted by the women at the bar. I should have been keeping my eye on things. It's just that, I've been going through a rough patch. Things haven't been working out well for me for a while. I mean, a few months back my girl up and left me, and—”
“You mean the girlfriend you never even told me the name of? Doesn't sound like she was that important to you if you never even introduced her to the family, so I'm sorry, but that's not a great excuse I'm afraid.”
“Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm just saying things have been rough, but I'm gonna do my best to pick myself up, sort things out, and make sure this doesn't happen again.”
“I really hope you can do that, JB. I'm serious. You have one last chance—just one, and I mean that.
”
“So, I still have a job, Ev?”
I sighed. “Yes, JB, you still have a job. But if anything, and I mean anything at all like this ever happens again, that won’t be the case. Do you understand?”
“I'm sorry Ev, I—”
“I didn't ask you if you were sorry. I asked you if you understood what I just said. Do you?”
Part of me felt a little bad about speaking to him so harshly. He was obviously feeling guilty. That, however, was not a good enough reason to handle him with kid gloves. I'd already given him more than enough warnings, and he needed to know that this was absolutely and without a doubt his very last chance.
“Yeah, man,” he said meekly, the shame in his voice evident. “I understand. No more screw-ups.”
“None, JB. Not a single one.”
“I know. And I'm sorry. It won't happen again.”
“Good. I have to go now. We’ll talk later.”
We said our goodbyes and I was about to slip my phone back into my pocket when it rang again. This time it was Alex, my lawyer.
“Alex, hey.”
“Hello Evan. I've just spoken to Gabriel Nash about the lawsuit he intends to file. Look, you and I are going to need at least an hour, probably two or more, actually, to sort things out. Like I said, I'm available from twelve. This is pretty urgent, so I suggest you carve out some time.”
“I'll do that, Alex. See you at twelve.”
I looked in my appointment book and realized that I would have to reshuffle more than I already had now that I was going to lose three hours out of my day by having to go to this meeting. Sala Valley Winery was one of the most important appointments of the day, so I called them first.
“Ron, hi,” I said as the owner came on the line. “Evan Powers here. Listen, I know I was supposed to come over to meet you around lunch time, but something has come up and I can't make it by then. I'm sorry, I know this is late notice, but it's a bit of an emergency. Any chance I can come by in the afternoon?”
“Sorry to hear that, Mr. Powers. I hope everything works out. Unfortunately, I'm going to be flying to New York this afternoon, and we have a college group coming in for a tour, so it'll be impossible to meet then. But if you don’t mind coming later toward the evening, I can arrange for someone to be here to show you around and to let you sample the wines.”
“This evening is fine.”
“Perfect, this evening it is, Mr. Powers.”
“Great. Thank you, and sorry again for canceling at the last minute. Like I said, it's kind of an emergency.”
“No problem, Mr. Powers. I'm just disappointed I won't be here to meet you in person.”
“Another time. Enjoy your trip to New York.”
Well, at least that had been easily and successfully rearranged. Now, for the next item in my schedule.
Chapter 2
Lora
“Hey Lora,” said Janie with a smile as she stepped out of her apartment. “How's it going?”
“It’s going great.” I smiled back at her and locked my own apartment door behind me. “The new hairdo is looking fantastic, by the way.”
She grinned and ran her fingers through shoulder-length blond hair which just yesterday had been halfway down her back.
“I'm still getting used to it,” she said shyly. “The last time it was this short was, wow, I think back in middle school, maybe!”
We both laughed.
“That's quite some time ago,” I said.
“Only uh, fifteen years!” Janie replied with a laugh. “Gosh, when did we get so old?!”
“Speak for yourself, granny!” I retorted with a wink. “I'm still a spring chicken at the ripe young age of twenty-six. You on the other hand…twenty-seven, that's pushing it.”
She put on an expression of mock offense, but then we both broke out into giggles. Janie was always a great person to put you in a good mood; she was always so bubbly and cheerful, and loved joking around. I'd met her on my very first day in this apartment three months ago, and we'd become good friends right away. She’d insisted on helping me move in and had showed me around town. We still hung out all the time, and often bumped into each other in the hallway.
“So, what are you doing this evening, granny?” she asked with a cheeky grin.
I chuckled and shook my head. “Well, I was gonna put on a movie, pour a tall glass of wine, get a bar of chocolate, and wind down from what's been a pretty busy week.”
“Tsk tsk,” she said, shaking her head. “Really? Staying in alone on a Friday night? Come on, now you really are acting like an old woman. You should come out and have a drink with me and my friends.”
“Hmm, which friends are those?”
“You've met 'em. Anne and Belinda.”
I had met them, and I quite liked them. “Actually, yeah, that sounds a little more exciting than watching a movie alone.”
“Well duh! So, meet out here in the hallway around say, eight-thirty?” she said.
I nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Woohoo! Girls' night out! It's gonna be awesome.”
“Where are we gonna go?”
“Oh, there's this new cocktail bar that's just opened, it's on Fourth Street near the pizzeria. You know the spot I'm talking about?”
“Yeah, it's that place called Cube, right?”
She nodded, grinning with excitement. “That's right. I helped to do their interior, and I can tell you that the place looks awesome on the inside. It's gonna have a great vibe. And I bet there are gonna be a ton of hot guys there tonight.”
“Oh, is that what tonight's mission is?” I asked jokingly.
She smiled suggestively. “You got a problem with that, Lora? C'mon, you've been in Sala Valley for three months now. Don't you think it's time you find yourself a boyfriend? You're a gorgeous, fun, smart, successful woman. You'd be a catch for any guy in this town. And I guarantee you, there will be all sorts of hot guys hitting on you left, right and center at Cube.”
“Hmm,” I replied, “well I'll see how things go tonight.”
“Put your best game face on, girl,” she said. “No more excuses! We're finding you a man!”
“All right, all right,” I said, although I wasn't exactly in the mood to go out and meet a guy. And to be honest, I hadn't been in that kind of mood for a while.
Just then, from inside my apartment, I heard my Skype ringtone sounding.
“Ah, I think that's my friend Ellen,” I said. “She was gonna call me this morning.”
“You'd better go talk to her then,” said Janie. “And I gotta get to work, or I'm gonna be late. So, I'll see you out here for our girls' night out, right?”
I nodded and smiled. “Sure thing. See you then.”
She headed toward the elevator while I unlocked my door and hurried back into my apartment to try to answer the Skype call before Ellen hung up. I managed to get to my computer and put my headset on just in time.
“Hey girl!” exclaimed Ellen. “For a moment there I didn't think you were gonna pick up. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“I was just on my way out,” I said, “but don't worry about that, I've been looking forward to chatting with you.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I meant to call like half an hour ago, but, you know, when you've got a two-year-old, things often take way longer than they should.”
I chuckled. “Don't worry, I totally understand—even though I don't have one myself. How's little Simon Junior doing, anyway?”
“He's asleep at the moment,” she said, looking both relieved and exhausted. “Which is great. I need a few moments of me time, ya know? I'm telling you, when you've got a toddler, it starts to seem like moments of me time are separated by years instead of hours.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said. “I know it must be a challenge.”
“A huge challenge—but it's definitely the most rewarding thing I've ever done. No regrets. None at all! Anyway, how are you? It's been exactly three months since y
ou left Wytheville. Isn't that right? Three months today?”
I glanced up at the calendar on the wall and saw she was right. “Wow, I'm surprised that I didn't notice that myself,” I said. “Three whole months. The time really has flown by.”
“It sure has!” she exclaimed. “Feels like just last week we were having farewell drinks on my porch.”
“Yeah,” I said softly, feeling a twinge of sadness, even though I had seen Ellen just a month ago during a visit back home.
“So, three months in Sala Valley,” she said. “What's the verdict? Are you still happy you made the move?”
“I am,” I said, and I meant it. I missed Wytheville, and it would always be my hometown, and I knew that I would always miss my friends and family there—but moving here, to Sala Valley, had turned out to be great for me.
“I'm happy to hear that,” she said, and I could tell she meant it too. “So, how's the job going?”
“Oh, I'm loving it, I really am!”
“What's your job title again?” she asked. “My mom asked me the other day, and I forgot the exact thing, so I just told her you were selling wine, like before.”
“Sales Coordinator at Sala Valley Winery,” I said, “for next time your mom asks. Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. I get to meet all sorts of interesting clients who come in from all over California to sample our wines and set up deals.”
“I'm so glad to hear that you're doing well there,” said Ellen. “So, the job's going well, you have a nice apartment, you're enjoying the town itself… Now for the important stuff. Tell me you've met a dashing man who's swept you off your feet. C'mon, it's the last piece of the puzzle, the final little touch to really make your life there perfect!”
I sighed. “I haven't met anyone yet, and I'm not entirely sure that I'm ready to yet.”
“It's because of Jackson, huh?”
Just her saying that name sent an uncomfortable chill crawling across my skin.
“Yeah.”
“I know what he did to you was terrible, Lora,” said Ellen, “and I know that he left some bad scars on your heart. But you gotta realize that not all guys are like him. I mean, look at Simon. He's been nothing but good to me. He's a kind, gentle man who wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone raise even a finger against me.”
