Chương 2
“Yes. Of course.”
She reached for the wheelchair handles.
Adrian’s right hand came up.
Not sharply.
Just enough.
“I’ve got it.”
Evelyn stopped.
“Right. I’m sorry.”
He rolled himself toward the door.
The wheels passed through the shallow stream of water Madison had poured over him.
Inside Luxe Hair Studio, the air smelled of shampoo, citrus cleaner, expensive perfume, and heat.
Conversation had died.
Every stylist had found something to look at that was not Adrian, which only made their attention more obvious.
A woman with foil in her hair sat beneath a heating lamp holding a magazine upside down.
Adrian noticed.
Under other circumstances, he might have smiled.
Evelyn led him past reception.
“Use my office.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re soaked.”
“I was soaked before she helped.”
Brooke made a choking sound behind them and pretended to cough.
Adrian glanced back.
Brooke stared at her coffee.
Ashley looked as though she might be sick.
Madison entered last.
The moment the door closed, she placed the empty cup on the reception counter as carefully as if returning borrowed china.
“Evelyn,” she said, “can we talk privately?”
“No.”
Madison’s eyebrows rose.
“I think we should.”
“I don’t.”
“Then we’re doing this in front of everyone?”
Evelyn turned.
There was no anger on her face.
That made the room more uncomfortable.
“You poured water over a man sitting in a wheelchair in front of my business.”
“I didn’t know who he was.”
Adrian stopped rolling.
No one spoke.
Madison’s eyes moved toward him.
She heard it too late.
Evelyn closed her eyes briefly.
Brooke whispered, “Oh my God.”
Madison straightened.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
Adrian studied the rainwater darkening the knees of his jeans.
“Yes,” he said. “I do.”
He resumed moving.
Evelyn’s office was small, narrow, and much less glamorous than the public part of Luxe. A steel filing cabinet stood beside a desk piled with appointment reports. There was a dying orchid on the windowsill and a plastic grocery bag tucked behind a printer. A handwritten note on the wall read CALL LINDA ABOUT TOWELS.
Adrian liked the room immediately.
It looked occupied by a person instead of designed for one.
Evelyn brought him two black salon towels.
He wiped his face.
Water continued to drip from his hair onto his shoulders.
“Do you need a shirt?”
“No.”
“I can send someone.”
“I have one in the car.”
“Where is your car?”
“Garage on Mercer.”
“In this rain?”
“I didn’t melt.”
She almost smiled.
It vanished quickly.
“I am so sorry.”
Adrian looked down at the towel in his hands.
“Did you pour the water?”
“No.”
“Then don’t apologize for pouring it.”
“She is my client.”
“That’s different.”
Evelyn sat.
For the first time since coming outside, she looked her age.
Maybe older.
“She’s not just a client.”
Adrian waited.
Evelyn glanced through the office doorway. She lowered her voice.
“Madison brings us a lot of business. Events. Weddings. Charity boards. People who come in because she tells them where to go. Brooke too, to a lesser extent. Ashley has a fashion company and sends photo shoots here.”
“And?”
“And nothing. That doesn’t excuse it.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Evelyn pressed her thumb against the edge of her desk.
“I’m telling you why this is going to get ugly.”
Adrian folded the wet towel once.
“Ugly already happened.”
“Yes.”
“No one died.”
“No.”
“Then we have room to make decisions.”
She watched him.
“You’re not terminating the lease?”
“I’ve been in the building six minutes.”
“I thought that was why you came.”
“It wasn’t.”
Something in her face shifted.
That interested him.
“What did you think I came for?”
Evelyn looked toward the doorway again.
The salon remained quiet beyond it.
“You said you wanted to see how your tenants treated people.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Adrian folded the towel again although it did not need folding.
“Three complaints in five weeks.”
Her face went still.
“What complaints?”
“People being pushed off the sidewalk. Security being called on someone waiting for a bus. A delivery driver told to use the alley even though the delivery was for the salon.”
Evelyn frowned.
“The bus stop thing wasn’t us.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“The delivery driver—”
She stopped.
Adrian looked at her.
Evelyn exhaled.
“That was us.”
“Why?”
“One of my front desk assistants thought he was coming through the main entrance with a cart.”
“Was he?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And she told him deliveries went through the alley.”
“Do they?”
“Usually.”
“Was that in his delivery instructions?”
“No.”
“So he carried six boxes around a building in the rain because it looked better.”
Evelyn looked down at her hands.
“I corrected it.”
“After he complained?”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone apologize?”
“I did.”
“To him?”
A pause.
“No. To the company.”
Adrian nodded.
Evelyn looked at him sharply.
“You don’t need to make that face.”
“I’m not making one.”
“That’s worse.”
He almost smiled.
She saw it.
“You always did that.”
“What?”
“Make people hear themselves.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
“It is.”
A stylist appeared at the door holding a gray sweatshirt.
“Ms. Hart?”
Evelyn looked up.
“Jenna.”
“I found this in the lost-and-found drawer. It’s clean.”
The young woman looked at Adrian.
“Probably.”
Adrian took it.
“Strong sales pitch.”
Jenna’s mouth twitched.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
She remained there.
Evelyn waited.
Jenna looked at Adrian again.
“I got the video.”
Evelyn stiffened.
“How much?”
“From when Ms. Reed was already holding the cup. Maybe ten seconds before.”
“Did you post it?”
“No.”
“You didn’t send it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Jenna’s face changed.
Adrian noticed.
“Why good?” he asked.
Evelyn answered first.
“Because we need to handle this before people start putting it online.”
Jenna stared at her.
Adrian set the sweatshirt across his knees.
“What were you going to do with it?”
Jenna hesitated.
“Nothing.”
He waited.
She rubbed her thumb against the side of her phone.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s allowed.”
May you like
“I thought maybe… if she said it didn’t happen.”
“Did you think she might?”
