Page 16 of Say You Hate Me
“You know nothing about me,” he answers, his voice casual as the waiter walks over. “One black coffee, an egg white omelet with no cheese, and a side of fruit.”
She nods and looks at me. “More biscuits and eggs, ma’am?”
I shake my head. “I’m okay, thanks.”
Handing the menu back to her, I find Anderson watching me intently.
“What?” I ask, scoffing.
“You’re very judgmental, do you know that?”
My face heats. “That’s rich, coming from you.Do you need professional help?” I mock.
His lips twitch. “Point taken.” He looks up at the waitress and, just as he’s about to raise his hand, nods his head, asking for a glass of water. When she leaves, he turns to me. “I was a bartender for six years. Seems we both have prejudices.”
I smirk as I break off another piece of biscuit. “Seems so.”
“What’s your favorite yoga pose?” he asks, crossing his arms.
The strange black bracelet slips out from under his jacket sleeve, but I ignore the way it piques my interest.
“Warrior pose.”
My heart thrums against the hollow spot of my neck, and I pray to whatever gods are out there that my answer makes sense. Warrior pose? I don’t know what that is, orifit exists.
His head cocks to the side just barely, but he doesn’t smile or relent.
“Interesting choice.”
What doesthatmean?
As I’m about to excuse myself—better to save myself from further embarrassment—my brother walks up.
“Oh good, it seems like my two favorite people might finally get along.” He rolls his eyes as he sinks down into his seat. “I need a flat white, pronto.”
As if summoned from thin air, the waiter appears and takes Luca’s order. After Luca hands the menu back to him, he places his palms on the white tablecloth and gives us both a fixed stare.
“We need to regroup. Natalia, thank you for wearing that fabulous suit.” He turns to Anderson. “I hopeyou’rewell-rested and less grumpy today.”
Anderson’s lip twitches, but he doesn’t falter. If only Luca knew.
“I’m rested enough.”
I bite the inside of my lip and look away.
Come with me.
“Today we have another couple of meetings, and between those meetings, I thought we could check out some of the local farms, warehouses, and manufacturers, see where we’d like to buy some land to grow the food. I am adamant that we limit the things we have to import, and since Hawaii has such strict rules about that, I figured we’d take a look around to see what’s possible. And I rescheduled another meeting with the investors from yesterday’s lunch, by the way. They are willing to talk to us again before we leave, thank god.”
Gather is 100% American-made—something Luca is really proud of. I find myself smiling whenever he starts talking about ethical sustainability, because it shows me that though he’s essentially a millionaire now, he never lost his integrity. Every single item Gather uses is grown, processed, manufactured, and stored locally. In Los Angeles, it’s easy to do with the good weather and access to a ton of locally owned farms. In Hawaii, because it’s land-locked, self-sufficiency is harder. Hawaii will be the ultimate test—utilizing such a small location, growing locally, while also opening a restaurant…
I make a note to draft a post about Hawaii and how Gather is getting ready to launch the restaurant in a few months. Since Luca hired me and brought me on this trip to highlight the local cuisine on social media, I also pull up the list of local hot spots to check out before we go, making sure we hit each and every one of them while we’re here.
“And what about time for the beach?” I joke, chuckling as I type notes into my phone.
“This isn’t a vacation,” Anderson interjects, looking at Luca with an annoyed expression.
“I know,” I sneer.
