When he saw the broken glass, the wine-stained shirt, and the angry woman in the emerald dress, he immediately assumed he was dealing with a difficult customer.
Then he noticed Marcus.
For a moment, Richard stopped walking.
The color drained from his face.
“Mr. Reed?”
Marcus gave him a small nod.
“Richard.”
Richard looked from Marcus to Vanessa and then toward Talia.
“What happened here?”
Vanessa immediately stepped forward.
“Finally. Someone responsible.”
Richard did not look at her.
“Mr. Reed, are you all right?”
Marcus glanced at his shirt.
“I'll survive.”
Richard swallowed.
“I'm terribly sorry. We should never have allowed this to happen.”
Vanessa frowned.
“Excuse me. I was the one who called for a manager.”
Richard turned toward her at last.
“Ms. Cole, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I need to understand what happened before I make any decisions.”
“Inconvenience?” she repeated. “Your employee was disrespectful to me, and this man refused to cooperate when I asked him to move.”
Richard looked at Marcus.
“Is that what happened?”
“No,” Talia answered before Marcus could speak.
Vanessa spun toward her.
“Would you stop interrupting?”
Richard raised one hand.
“Ms. Cole, please allow her to finish.”
Talia described the incident clearly. She explained that Marcus had reserved the table, that Vanessa had demanded he move, and that the wineglass had fallen during the confrontation.
She did not exaggerate.
She did not add insults.
She simply described what she had witnessed.
Richard listened carefully.
When she finished, he turned toward Vanessa.
“Is there anything you'd like to clarify?”
Vanessa looked offended.
“Are you seriously questioning me based on the word of a waitress?”
Richard's expression tightened.
“I'm asking for your account of what happened.”
“I already gave you my account.”
“And I need to compare it with the other accounts.”
Vanessa stared at him.
Then she looked at Marcus again.
Something about the way Richard addressed him was beginning to make her uncomfortable.
“Why are you treating him like he's some kind of celebrity?”
Richard hesitated.
Marcus answered before he could.
“Because Richard is trying to be professional.”
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
“That's not an answer.”
“No,” Marcus replied. “It isn't.”
A new voice came from the entrance to the dining room.
“Mr. Reed?”
Daniel Hayes had arrived.
He was in his early fifties, wearing a dark business suit and carrying a leather folder. Behind him stood the company's regional operations director, who had clearly been pulled away from another meeting.
Daniel walked directly toward Marcus.
“I'm sorry this happened.”
Marcus shook his hand.
“Thank you for coming.”
Daniel looked at the wine stain and then at Richard.
“Please tell me someone has already secured the incident report.”
Richard nodded quickly.
“We're documenting everything.”
“Good.”
Vanessa stood motionless.
She recognized Daniel immediately.
She had met him twice during negotiations with Cole Strategic Development. On both occasions, he had spoken carefully about the importance of final approval from the company's ownership group.
She had never met that owner.
Her father had assured her that the person was difficult to reach and preferred to remain behind the scenes.
Now Daniel was standing beside the man Vanessa had just insulted.
She attempted a laugh.
“Daniel, what a coincidence. I didn't realize you knew this gentleman.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Of course I know him.”
“Right, naturally. We were just having a misunderstanding.”
Daniel's expression remained serious.
“Mr. Reed is the founder and owner of Reed Hospitality Group.”
The words seemed to remove all the air from the room.
Vanessa blinked.
Once.
Twice.
She looked at Marcus, then at Daniel, waiting for someone to laugh and explain that this was a joke.