"What did you tell him?"
"That you had a reservation."
"That was sensible."
Peter hesitated.
"He made a remark."
"What kind?"
"Nothing I would repeat."
Eleanor looked toward Richard.
He was laughing now.
His laughter carried across the table with the confidence of someone who had never needed to lower his voice to be heard.
"Was it unkind?" she asked.
Peter did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Eleanor folded her hands.
"Peter, I want you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"Don't treat me differently because of what you think I might own."
He looked confused.
"I don't understand."
"Just treat me as you would treat any other guest. If I make a mistake, tell me. If I ask for something unreasonable, say no. And if someone behaves badly toward me, don't protect me because you think I have influence."
Peter sat very still.
Then he nodded.
"Yes, Mrs. Grant."
"Thank you."
He stood.
"Would you like me to bring the menu?"
"Yes, please."
He placed it before her.
As he walked away, Eleanor opened it and began reading.
She did not need to look at the prices.
She knew them.
She had helped set some of them thirty-eight years earlier, when the restaurant had been a modest dining room with twelve employees and a kitchen that barely had enough space for two cooks to pass each other.
Now it employed more than one hundred people in the building alone.
And if Richard Halston had his way, many of them would soon be gone.
At Table Four, Richard was becoming impatient.
Leonard had refused to discuss the final staffing plan. Martin had begun asking questions about the debt structure, and the conversation had moved away from the schedule Richard had prepared.
He disliked uncertainty.
He disliked it even more when uncertainty came from people who had no obvious reason to resist him.
"Let's be practical," Richard said. "The market has changed. The group needs a different structure."
Leonard set down his glass.
"You keep using the word structure as though it explains everything."
"It explains a great deal."
"It explains the chart on your presentation. It doesn't explain what happens to the people who have worked here for thirty years."
Richard leaned back.
"Those people will receive whatever severance is required by law."
"That isn't the same as treating them fairly."
"Fairness is not a financial model."
"No. But a financial model should not require us to abandon fairness."
Martin cleared his throat.
"Perhaps we should review the employee transition costs before finalizing anything."
Richard turned to him.
"We've already reviewed them."
"We reviewed the preliminary figures."
"Which are accurate."
"Not entirely."
Richard's expression hardened.
"What do you mean?"
Martin glanced at Leonard.
Then he opened his tablet.
"There are several contracts listed as service agreements that appear to include staffing costs. If those are transferred to the new operating company, the projected savings may be overstated."
Richard stared at him.
"How much?"
"Possibly six percent of the projected annual savings."
"Possibly?"
"I need the original agreements."
"You have the summaries."
"Yes. But not the originals."
Richard placed his napkin beside his plate.
"Then obtain them."
"I've requested them twice."
"From whom?"
"Corporate administration."
Richard looked toward Leonard.
"Your administration is becoming an obstacle."
Leonard's expression did not change.
"Perhaps it is trying to protect the company."
Richard gave a humorless smile.
"From what? A better balance sheet?"
"From a bad decision."
The words settled over the table.
For a moment, the three men said nothing.
Then Richard laughed softly.
"Leonard, I have spent fourteen months putting this deal together. I've brought financing, restructuring expertise, and a path to expansion. I am not going to let a few missing documents derail it."
Leonard looked at him.
"Then you should be willing to wait until the documents arrive."
Richard's jaw tightened.
Across the room, a waiter approached Table Twelve with a menu.
Richard noticed that Eleanor had not ordered anything yet.
He looked at her again.
She was speaking to the waiter with a slight smile.
She seemed perfectly comfortable.
He found the sight irritating.
Not because she had done anything wrong.
Because she was present in a room where everyone else appeared to understand the invisible rules.
She did not dress like the other guests.
She did not behave like the other guests.
And yet the staff treated her with a particular attentiveness.
Richard leaned toward Leonard.
"Who exactly is she?"
Leonard followed his gaze.
"I told you. Mrs. Grant."
"That isn't an answer."
"It is the only one I have for you."
Richard studied Leonard.
"You're hiding something."
Leonard's eyes hardened.
"I'm not the one who needs to hide anything."
Richard's phone vibrated.
He looked down.
A message from his chief operating officer appeared.
We need confirmation on the revised transition list tonight. The board packet goes out at 8 a.m.
Richard typed a response.
Proceed with the current version. We can correct minor discrepancies later.