“That’s right,” he says. “And you work for Delmar Events, correct?”
This is so absurd that I almost laugh. I sit up a little straighter instead. He scoots into the seat across from me. I must not be acting hostile enough.
“Actually, I don’t work for them anymore.”
His face doesn’t register any emotion other than a slightly arched eyebrow. I study his face, trying to figure out what the hell is going on in his mind. It occurs to me that I’ve never sat face-to-face with him like this before. He’s younger than I thought he was. His silver hair is misleading. Or maybe he gets Botox.
“Oh? Where do you work now?” he asks.
It’s really hard to keep my composure. I take a deep breath, then let it out slowly before I answer. “Are you really going to pretend that you don’t know what happened?”
He frowns. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
I roll my eyes and force out a laugh. “You mean to tell me that you recognize me, you know my name and where I work, but you don’t recall telling my boss that I need to be fired?”
He scoffs. “Why on earth would I have told anyone that you should be fired?”
I’m glad he asks, because I’ve been dying to know the answer to this. “That’s a very good question, Malcolm, because it doesn’t make any sense to me either. You specifically told them that whoever was in charge of booking the caterer for your charity dinner needed to be fired or you would never work with Delmar again. Can you guess who that was? Me.”
His brow wrinkles like it’s all coming back to him now.
“And you want to know what the funny part is?” I ask, even though I find none of it funny. “Youwere the one who insisted we use that caterer. I’ve never worked with them before and they didn’t even have good ratings. Why the hell would I have booked them for your stupid event?”
He puts his fist over his mouth and coughs, looking away from me. “I, uh?—”
“You what?” I snap.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“Gee, thanks. Sorry isn’t going to get me my job back.”
He meets my eyes again, still frowning. “I’m sorry that Delmar lied to you is what I mean.”
Now it’s my turn to look confused. “What do you mean, he lied to me?”
He clears his throat. “I never told him to fire you. I didn’t tell him to fire anyone. In fact, I told him thathewas fired and I would never be working with Delmar Events again.”
I don’t think I believe him. He’s just trying to make himself look good. I shake my head. “You chose the caterer. How can you hold anyone else responsible for what happened?”
“I only chose them because they came highly recommended by Delmar himself. I knew I should have trusted my instincts when I read the reviews, but Delmar’s nephew was the caterer and I guess I thought I was doing a good thing by giving him a chance.”
My mouth is open because I was prepared to continue arguing. Instead, I’m left speechless. I had no idea that the caterer was related to my ex-boss or that he was the one who recommended them to Malcolm. I replay everything that happened in my head, and I’m left feeling even angrier.
“You mean to tell me that Delmar fired you over that?” The look of shock on his face is pretty convincing. I think he might actually be telling the truth.
I nod. “I guess he needed someone to throw under the bus.” I slip my laptop into my bag and stand up. I’m angry. I just want to get out of here.
Malcolm stands up too. “I feel terrible about this. What are you—” He scratches the back of his neck, stammering. “Do you—do you need a job? I can probably put you in contact with someone who?—”
“No thanks,” I say, cutting him off. I realize that my tone is a little snippier than it needs to be. I try to backtrack. “That’s very nice of you, but I actually started my own business.”
“Oh, really? Doing what?” he asks.
“Event planning.” It annoys me that I would have to explain this to him, given he knows what I was doing before. The aisles in this coffee shop are narrow. He’s blocking my path to the door. I look over his shoulder, trying to drop a hint that I need to get around him.
“As luck would have it, I’m in need of a new event planner.” With a shrug and an eyeroll, he adds, “My last one didn’t work out for some reason. Do you have a business card?”
I haven’t even come up with a name for my company yet, let alone gotten around to ordering business cards. I guess I need to get on that. “Not with me. Sorry. I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone today.”
