Page 39 of Havoc
Remy placed his phone back on the table, making a mental note to text or call Lawrence that evening and tell him about his parents wanting to meet him. He figured the sooner he told him, the sooner he could give his mother an answer, and she wouldn’t ask him about it every time she called.
Lawrence walked into the restaurant fifteen minutes after noon and surveyed the area. He found Alijah, Erin, and Chayse sitting at a table off to the left. He went over and slid into the last open chair.
“Hello, ladies.”
“Hey, I was just about to call you and make sure everything was alright. You’re hardly ever late to something,” Alijah greeted.
“There was a wreck on Fifteenth, so I had to take an alternative route. I was going to call, but I figured I wouldn’t be too late. Did you order drinks already?”
“Yes. I ordered you a vodka and cranberry,” Erin responded.
“Thank you. How’s the shop preparations going?” Lawrence asked.
“They’re good. The sign was delivered and mounted, and it looks amazing,” Erin responded, picking her phone up. After a second, she handed it to him, and Lawrence looked at the picture.
He knew she’d drawn the design for her sign, and she was right; it looked incredible. He was excited for her and knew she was counting the days until her upcoming opening.
“It does look excellent,” Lawrence responded as he returned the phone.
The server came to the table with their drinks, and they asked for a few more minutes to look over their menus. Lawrence picked his up, perusing the selections before choosing what to order. When the server returned, they put their orders in, and Lawrence took a drink from his glass.
“Lawrence, how’s the new client?” Alijah asked.
“I have no idea yet. He needed to postpone our first meeting. I have heard that he can be difficult.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to show him all the benefits your company offers and win him over,” Chayse stated.
Lawrence hoped that she was right. He’d heard his potential client had a penchant for being a rude smartass, but he was confident in his ability to promote his company’s products. He was also a bit grateful for the need to reschedule because it gave him more time to work on a tailored sales pitch. He never liked using a generic one.
They made small talk while they waited for their food to arrive, and when it did, their conversation ceased for a few minutes.
“So, I found this beautiful island resort. I will text the link to all of you so you can see it, but I think it would be a great destination for the couple’s trip. If you like it, I thought we could stay a week since Kieran seems okay with him and Remy being gone at least that long. And if that works for you, Erin. I know you’re about to open.”
“A beach resort sounds nice. We could do Saturday to Saturday; that way, everyone has a day to recoup before they go back to work, and as long as I don’t schedule any appointments that week, it should be okay. But, I’d prefer not to have to do so until a couple of months after opening at least.”
“Of course,” Alijah responded. I know I initially said August, but we could go in October.”
“That gives us about four months to make sure we can all take time off, and if we go mid-October, you’ll have been open three months, Erin,” Chayse supplied.
“October works,” Lawrence stated after swallowing the bite of the salmon he’d taken. “I agree with Erin. A Saturday to Saturday would work well.”
Lawrence had plenty of vacation time. He’d negotiated four weeks when he’d gotten his promotion, and aside from using a couple of days here and there, he still had plenty left for the year.
They spent the rest of lunch chatting and having a second round of drinks. Alijah texted them the link to the resort before Lawrence picked up the check since it was his turn, and all three women placed some cash down for the tip.
After saying their goodbyes, Lawrence slipped into his vehicle and headed home. He thought about calling Remy, but he wasn’t sure if they were done with their games and decided to wait until later.
Once he was home, he emailed the link to himself and grabbed his laptop. Lawrence sat on the couch and clicked on the resort link when his email was open.
As he read through all the resort had to offer and scrolled through the photos, he had to agree with Alijah. It was beautiful. It was built on a private island, and the entire island had activities and amenities. They’d land at the main airport, and then one of the resort’s private planes would take them to the island. He texted Alijah, letting her know he liked it.
Lawrence decided to wait to see if Chayse and Erin agreed, though he didn’t see them not liking it. Then he would talk to Remy about it and show him.
16
“Andrew is trying to fight this takeover tooth and nail.”
Remy looked up from the legal document he reviewed at Kieran’s words. He wasn’t surprised that Andrew Monroe didn’t want to lose his company. No one ever did when it came as a surprise, but he hadn’t been doing things he was supposed to. His board had already given him expectations, and he had ignored them. So, they’d taken the next step to move him out of his position for the company’s benefit.
