Love and Food (18 page)

“I’m glad you’re optimistic Ethan, but I sure as hell am not.  I think it’s game over for the restaurant.  I tried and I failed.  I think it’s as simple as that.  I’m going to start making plans to close the restaurant for good.”

* * * * *

Haillee sits on her sofa and watches another movie.  There is no point in going into the restaurant, so she’s just been sitting on her sofa, drowning her sorrow with wine and watching sappy movies for the past few days.  She’s been avoiding all phone calls and she’s refused to open her computer in fear of reading another bad article or review of the restaurant. 

Her pity party is interrupted by the sounds of the buzzer.  She expects to find Monica on the other end of the intercom when she answers it.  “Monica, I’m fine.  I just need a little time by myself.  Come back later, okay?”

“Ms.  Simpson.  It’s Detective Bryant and Detective Taylor.  We need to have a word with you.  Can we please come up?”

“Sure.  Come up,” she says and lets the two men into the building.  She knows they’re here about the restaurant and she’s scared.  She’s not sure what they’re going to say once they’re inside.  Are they going to arrest her for what happened?

When the Detectives knock on her door, she quickly lets them in.  They

introduce themselves again and shake her hand. 
Do police officers usually shake the hands of people they are about to arrest? 
She offers them a seat and pulls out a chair from the kitchen to sit on.  She wishes that she could vanish from the room.  She is not looking forward to what they have to say to her. 

“You’re here about the restaurant, right?” she asks both detectives.

“We are,” Detective Bryant says, answering her question.

“Am I in trouble?”

“You are not in trouble at the moment.  We just need some information about what happened the other night at the restaurant.  Can you tell us what you remember happening the other night?”

“Well, all I know is that the food made people sick.”

“Detective Taylor and I have had several complaints about the incident at the restaurant.  The complaints were so numerous that we couldn’t just ignore them, so we had to open an investigation.”

“I understand,” she says, nodding.

“In the process of investigating this matter, we’ve consulted some experts in the field of medicine and what we found out is that what happened at the restaurant isn’t how food poisoning manifests itself.  Not botulism or any other poisoning caused by bacteria and the like, anyway.  Symptoms of food poisoning usually take awhile to present.  The symptoms are not instantaneous.  We think that the people in the restaurant would have gotten sick after leaving, not during their visit.  We think that what happened at the restaurant was something else entirely.  We think that someone deliberately put something in the food at the restaurant to make those people sick.  You wouldn’t have any reason to do that, would you Ms. Simpson?”

“Are you crazy!” she exclaims.  “The reopening was the biggest night of my life.  Why the hell would I want to ruin it?  With all due respect, it doesn’t make sense, Detective.”

“We have to ask, Ms. Simpson.  Until we rule you out, everyone is a suspect.  It is hard to believe that someone would ruin a night like you were having, but you wouldn’t believe the things that some people will do.  It’s a sick world out there,” Detective Bryant says, writing something down in his notebook. 

“Well, it wasn’t me.  I wouldn’t do something like that, but I think I know someone that would,” she says, glad they believe that she isn’t the person who made her customers sick.

“And who would that be?” Detective says with a raised eyebrow.

“His name is Marcos Perilli and he owns the restaurant across the street.  He is the only one I can think of that would have any reason to do something like what happened at the restaurant.

“And why is that?”

“Before the grand reopening, he came into the restaurant with my landlord. He made it very clear that he wants the space that my restaurant is in and he would do anything to get it.”

“So, he wanted to rent the space?”

“Yes, but that’s not it.  He was at the reopening of the restaurant and he didn’t touch a single morsel of the dish that he ordered.  He was in the restaurant for about an hour and he never ate a thing.  I find that very strange.”

“That is a bit strange.  Has anything else happened that you thought was strange concerning this Marcos person?”

“The night of the reopening, he had this smirk on his face the entire night.  It gave me the creeps and it’s the reason that I checked his plate in the first place after he had left.  It’s just intuition, because I don’t have any hard evidence, but I think that he is the one behind everything.”

“We will look into this Marcos person.  Is there anyone else that might have wanted to do this to you?  Any jilted lovers or ex-boyfriends that might hold a grudge against you?  Or ex-employees?”

“I did just break up with my boyfriend and he’s not happy about it.  I caught him having an affair with one of my waitresses.  When I found out, I fired her.  When she found out that she was fired, she made a scene in the restaurant and broke some dishes.”

“And what are their names?”

“Their names are Kyle Pearl and Stella Montgomery, but I really don’t think they have anything to do with it.”

“You never know, Ms. Simpson.  We will have to check them out and clear them.  We can’t just go on your thoughts, unfortunately.”

“I understand.”

“Is there anyone or anything else you would like to tell us?”

“That’s all I can think of off the top of my head,” she says, watching both detectives finish writing in their notebooks and put them away. 

“Well, thank you for your time, Ms. Simpson.”

“No problem,” she says, following them to the door.

“If you find out any information, please don’t hesitate to call me,” Detective Bryant says and gives her his business card.

“I won’t.” she says, taking the business card from him.

“Ms. Simpson, we intend to get to the bottom of what happened at the restaurant and put whoever is responsible in a prison cell.  What happened is a criminal offense and we intend to have the person or person’s involved prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

“I hope so.  I would like to see the person responsible be brought to justice.  What they did is truly evil.  Someone could have lost their life.”

“Exactly.  We think what happened is no laughing matter.  We are going to try our best to make the person that hurt those people pay for what they have done.  We will be in touch,” Detective Bryant says, shaking her hand. 

She shakes Detective Taylor’s hand and they leave her apartment.  When they are gone, she lets out a huge sigh of relief.  Their visit wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be.  She thought that their visit was going to result in her being ushered out of her building in handcuffs and be placed in their squad car.  She is glad that they are going to investigate the matter and look into whoever poisoned the food at her restaurant.  She is relieved that the law is on her side.

In her gut, she believes that Marco is the one behind the poisoning, but her mind keeps going back to Kyle.  He has just as much of a motive to poison the food as Marcos.  Stella, as well.  Kyle always despised the restaurant with a passion and Stella didn’t hold back the disdain she felt for her the day that she was fired.  Kyle and Stella could be in on it together. 

She wonders if they are together now, laughing at the demise of the restaurant and the destruction of her career.  Even if they aren’t responsible, she imagines they’re quite content about what happened to her and the restaurant.  In their minds, she probably has gotten what she deserves.  The thought that she is the topic of their conversation and that they’re making jokes and light over what has happened to her makes her feel sick to her stomach. 

What has happened to her is so unfair.  She still can’t fully believe the nightmare that the reopening turned out to be.  It defies all reasoning.  She can’t believe that someone could hate her so much that they would poison her customers.  She feels bad for everyone that was affected by the monster that thought poisoning her food was the only viable option to hurt her.

The police said they would look into the matter, but she just can’t sit back and do nothing. She needs to feel like she is doing something to put what happened right.  She is going to see Marcos Perilli.  She is going to accuse him to his face.  She needs to see his reaction.  She is sure that she will be able to tell if he is lying to her.  She is sure that she will be able to tell by his facial expression and his body language if he is the one behind the poisonings. 

* * * * *

She is gathering some things from her office, when she is startled by Bill, her landlord.  She groans inside her mind.  He is the last person that she wants to see, but she knew that he would be showing up sooner or later.

“Bill, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Probably not.  I’m just going to make this brief.  As you know, I was very hopeful that you were going to be able to turn things around.  When I found out that you were redoing the space and reopening your restaurant, I was thrilled for you and I decided not to make any decisions about the building until after that night,” he says, pausing and clearing his throat.

“And?” she asks, just wanting to get on with it.

“Well, after the disaster that was your opening night and the lack of business now, I have made the decision that it’s the end of the road for us.  I’ve decided to sell the building altogether.  As you can see, I’m an old man and it’s time for me to retire.  I have more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of the life that I have left, so I’ve decided to get rid of some things and move on.  This building is one of the things that I’m letting go.  I think that I will have an easier time selling the place if you’re not here.  Plus, you can’t afford to stay anyhow.”

“What if I was able to come up with enough money to buy the building?”

“Haillee, you could barely pay the rent.  How are you going to be able to afford a building like this?”

“Leave that to me.  Tell me, if I were to come up with enough money to buy this place, would you sell it to me?”

“Well, if you’re able to come up with enough money, I don’t see why not.”

“How much time can you give me?”

“I can give you a month, tops,” he says, reluctantly.  “After that, I’m putting the building up for sale and I want you and your stuff out of here.”

“Okay.  Thank you so much, Bill.  I really appreciate the opportunity,” she says and hugs him.

“Like I’ve said many times, I like you Haillee.  I have always wanted you to succeed.  Not just for my benefit, but for yours as well.  I never had any ill will towards you.  I feel sorry and bad about what has happened to you.  I hate to see you in such a desperate position. ”

“I appreciate your kind words, but don’t pity me.  Whatever happens, I’m going to be okay.  I’m going to work on getting the money together and I will let you know what I come up with.”

“Alright.  I’ll wait for news.”

“Thanks, Bill.”

              “One month, Haillee.  That’s it.”

              “I know.”

              “Okay.  I’ll see you in a month.”

              “You will.”

              She watches Bill leave.  She has no idea where she is going to come up with the money.  She’s not really sure if it’s even worth trying to put the money together.  Maybe she is just clinging onto something that she should just let go.  Maybe she should just take what’s left of her dignity and make a speedy exit.  Maybe she should just pack up her things and leave the city.  Her reputation and her good name have been completely smeared.  Will she ever be able to have a successful restaurant in this city again?  Will she ever be able to work in this city again?

Chapter 14

              This is Haillee’s only shot.  She stands outside of Marcos’ restaurant and takes a deep breath.  She is going to accuse him and hope that he will confess what he did to her.  She needs to hear him say the words.  She needs him to tell her what he did to her in detail. 

              She pushes open the door to the restaurant and steps inside.  She’s only seen the restaurant from the outside.  She’s never stepped inside her competitor’s domain before.  It’s a nice restaurant.  The décor isn’t something she would have chosen for herself, but customers seem to enjoy it.  She’s seen how the people flood the place, mostly in the evenings.

              She is met at the door by man holding a menu.  When he sees her, she can tell that he recognizes her.  She watches his smile turn into a frown and the menu he’s holding fall to his side.