Chapter 7

EZRA

I didn’t wanna admit that Lacey was on my mind but she was. It didn’t help that there wasn’t much else in Ivory to distract me from thinking about her. But there was more to her than that. I might’ve found some dame in the city who was as good-looking as her but Lacey looked like she wasn’t about to put up with any bullshit. Even though I’d already slept with her, she still had her guard up. And for good reason. Some stranger walks into a diner and tells you he wants to hire you… If I was her, I’d tell that guy to fuck right off.

She was giving me a chance though. There was no telling where it would go.

My thoughts started to wander as I looked out the window of the place. Some small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Ivory. Every place was a hole-in-the-wall. I distracted myself with the scenery when a sudden voice interrupted me.

“You order yet?”

“I ordered,” I replied.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“You’re late. You said you’d be here 30 minutes ago.”

“Yeah, well, I got a little lost. It’s tough getting around in this place.”

“What’s wrong? Too much traffic?”

“Not enough. You head one direction and start to think something is wrong because there’s nobody around.”

I slowly turned toward the man who sat across from me.

Navy blue suit. Tie straight like it always was. Silver-hair slicked back over his head. Skin tan. Face wrinkled and blemished like every other middle-aged man you’d ever come across but a smile with the youthful exuberance of someone a decade younger. A seriousness in his eyes that he couldn’t hide very well, even with a big grin on his lips.

I made assumptions about the bastard when I first met him and spending more time around him only proved them right.

“You feeling all right, Grant?”

“What are you talking about?” I replied.

“You look… You look a little different.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “It just means what the fuck I said.”

I sighed a deep breath and looked back out the window.

“How are things going?” he asked.

“They’re going just fine. I only got here a couple days ago. You can’t expect me to do everything at once.”

“Ivory’s not a big place. You should’ve at least been able to start looking.”

“I’ve been looking. I think I’ve found a good spot.”

“You have? You sure about that?”

“I’m sure. It’s perfect. It could use a little renovation but that’s not something I’m unfamiliar with. I can handle it.”

“Good… And have you decided on what you’re going to do with this spot?”

He raised his eyebrows at me. He always had a condescending way of talking to me. I never thought too much of it. It was just another price of doing business with a man like him.

“I’m opening a restaurant—”

“There you go again…”

He reeled back in his seat and sighed. He stared at me, shaking his head like a disapproving teacher. I did my best not to roll my eyes at him.

“You know what the deal with restaurants is,” he said. “They’re a tough business—”

“It’ll work.”

“Just because some new fancy place pops up every week in the city doesn’t mean it’s gonna be a success in a town like Ivory.”

“It’ll work,” I repeated. “I’ll do everything I can to make it work.”

“…All right,” he sighed. “I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with a restaurant.”

“And what would you do?”

“A bar. A nightclub. There are plenty of better ideas than opening a restaurant.”

“Shitty ideas,” I muttered. “I’m opening the fuckin’ restaurant. What difference does it make to you, anyway?”

That familiar smirk came back to his face. I wasn’t in the mood for having a cordial conversation with him even though I knew this was important business.

“Fine, fine,” he said. “Restaurant. Bar. Strip club. Whatever. Find your spot and get it open as soon as you can.”

“It shouldn’t be much trouble. I’ve already filed all the paperwork with the county clerk. All I need are the licenses and I can buy the property outright. I’ll start renovating and the place’ll be open in a few months.”

“It sounds like you’ve got everything under control.”

Hearing him say it gave me a bit of relief. Everything was going according to plan. But there was still part of me that was unsure about everything going down.

The waitress arrived and greeted my guest with a cheery smile.

“What do you recommend?” he asked.

“Everything’s good,” the waitress responded.

“Is that right? Grant… What’d you get?”

I stared back at him but didn’t give him a response. He smiled back at me then turned toward the waitress.

“You know what?” he said. “I’m not too hungry. Why don’t you just get me a cup of coffee?”

“Sure thing…”

The waitress left and disappeared into the back. There weren’t many other people in the restaurant, so there was enough space for us to talk without drawing too much attention to ourselves.

“Not hungry all of a sudden?” I asked.

“This place doesn’t look very appetizing,” he said. “Just a small restaurant making ends meet. Nothing special. That’s something you gotta understand, Grant. But it doesn’t matter. You and I are gonna make a lot of money once things get settled in.”

He rubbed his hands together and grinned at me. His teeth shined like he was salivating. I wasn’t as happy as he was and I was trying to figure out why that was.

“What’s wrong?” he said as he stopped rubbing his hands.

“What are you talking about? Stop asking me that.”

“I’ll stop asking you that when you tell me what the fuck is going on. Something on your mind?”

“I was just thinking,” I sighed.

“About what?”

I leaned forward across the table and hesitated for a second. I knew the motherfucker wasn’t gonna listen to me but I had to say it anyway.

“With the restaurant I’m opening, I was thinking… I was thinking that it’s gonna be a real success.”

“It’ll be a success. Once you get it up and running—”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the restaurant itself. I think I can do legitimate business here in Ivory.”

He gave me a blank stare, his mouth half-open. The dumb look on his face only started to make me angry.

“What?” I said.

“You’re serious,” he said. “You really think you can operate a legit business.”

“I’ve been here a few days. People in Ivory are not like in the city. Everybody knows each other. Everybody’s honest. They’re supportive and loyal. They’re always looking out for each other.”

“Pfft! Ha!”

He reeled back in his seat again and rocked his head back as he cackled. He was loud enough that some of the other people in the restaurant started to look in our direction.

“You’re dreaming,” he said.

“I can do this,” I said. “I did it with the real estate. Everybody said I couldn’t make any money flipping property but I did it. What’s the difference between that and opening a restaurant?”

“The difference? You really want me to explain the difference to you?”

He rubbed his fingers together.

“The money, Grant. That’s the difference. There isn’t a restaurant in the city that makes as much money as we can make on this deal. There’s no business period that makes that kind of money. Even when you were flipping houses, you weren’t making the kind of cash we can make now.”

I looked away from and stared out into the street.

“Hey, don’t do anything to fuck this up,” he said.

I ignored him and kept staring out the window.

“Hey!”

He banged his palm on the table to get my attention. I turned toward him, my eyes narrowed as he stared back at me. I hadn’t seen him angry very often and he still wasn’t now. But I knew he was only just hiding it.

“Don’t fuck this up, Grant,” he said. “Don’t forget where you came from. I made you. I won’t hesitate to—”

“Are you threatening me?” I responded.

I clenched my jaw and kept my eyes locked on his. I did my best to maintain my composure the best I could.

He was breathing hard through his nose. He raised his index finger and pointed it at me.

“Don’t forget where you came from,” he repeated.

He got up from his seat and looked down at me.

“I’ll contact you in a few days to make sure that things are going smooth on your end,” he said as he straightened his tie. “I’m in the middle of negotiations right now. I don’t imagine that they’ll last for much longer. The man in charge is looking to expand his portfolio and I’m the right man for the job.”

I didn’t look at him but I could feel his eyes still on me.

“Don’t screw this up, Grant. It’ll be the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your life.”

I didn’t respond to him. I just kept staring out the window while he walked away.

I didn’t have much time alone with my thoughts when I felt someone else standing next to me.

“Where’d your friend go?” the waitress asked as she put a cup of coffee down on the table.

“He… had some business to take care of,” I said with a smile.

“I’ll bet. Fancy suit like that. We don’t get too many men like him in here these days. What’s his deal?”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to pry. I was just curious—”

“His name is Jamie Silver,” I said. “He’s… a businessman doing business in Ivory.”

She smiled politely at me and bowed her head.

“Businessman,” she said. “You’d think he’d at least have the decency to pay for what he ordered.”

She reached out to pick the coffee back up but I stopped her.

“It’s all right,” I said as I put my hand up. “I was in the mood for a cup of coffee.”

“…Your food will be out shortly,” she said.

She excused herself to the back and left me alone with my thoughts. I sighed as I looked back out through the window.

Everything was proceeding just as we’d planned it. Even though Jamie was the last man I wanted to do business with, I couldn’t deny what kind of an opportunity it was.

I didn’t want to think about any of that shit at the moment. Sitting alone in my booth, my thoughts shifted back to Lacey. I was embarrassed that I was still thinking about her. Whatever she was up to, I couldn’t wait to see her again tonight. I’d worry about the business I had to deal with in Ivory later. For now, the only thing I was concerned with was figuring out if there was more to Lacey.