Served (Breaking Free Book 3) Read online

  “Sure. Fine, let’s go with the hack-a-thon junior year of college.”

  “What about it?” Liam said, shrugging. He’d been up all night, could barely keep his eyes open. The last thing he’d wanted to do was stand up in front of a crowd and try to pitch their project.

  “You let me take the lead for our team and put together the pitch instead of taking the helm. You did most of the programming. Why wouldn’t you just step up and get it done?” Again, standing up in front of a crowd trying to wow them was not his idea of fun.

  “Maybe it’s because I just don’t enjoy that stuff. But you know what? I did this,” he said, gesturing to everything around him and staring out the windows of Luc’s office. “Because I wanted to delay adulthood a bit longer. Working on a tech start up is the best way to take some time after college without people thinking you’re a deadbeat. Against all the startup odds, it took off and here we are now. This is not my idea of something fun and chill anymore.”

  “And running The Bramble is fun and chill?” Luc said, trying to catch Liam’s eye.

  “Not exactly, but the stakes are nowhere near as high. I can handle issues that come up there. If things fall apart here, what the hell am I meant to do? Look at any one of our employees out there and let them go or have to talk to investors about why we lost money last quarter.” He shook his head. Everyone out there was working hard, but he was not the guy to keep pushing. There’s a limit and there’s only so much money you need and he’d reached his max on both. “It’s too much pressure. I’m not afraid of succeeding. I’m afraid if I don’t stop now it might never be enough.”

  “Is that why you broke up with Yvonne?”

  Liam had to drain the venom out of his stare before turning back to his brother. “She has nothing to do with this.”

  “I thought things were going well. You were ready to propose and everything. I was with you when you bought the ring.” Liam clenched and unclenched his fists.

  “She wasn’t the person I thought she was,” he said through gritted teeth. “Sometimes the people that gravitate toward people doing what we’re doing aren’t as caring and trustworthy as Anna. You really lucked out with that one. He let out a deep breath. Luc’s eyes lit up at the mention of his blushing bride.

  “See, just look at that dopey look you get on your face whenever anyone mentions her. I didn’t feel that way about Yvonne. I liked her, I liked her a lot and thought that it was something more, but it wasn’t. And she certainly didn’t feel the same way about me.”

  “Seriously? Whenever I saw you two together it always looked like you were great together.”

  “Looks can be deceiving.” His nostrils flared and his lips flattened into a tight line. Forget about her, he told himself, she’s long gone and isn’t going to be coming back, ever.

  “What happened?”

  “She’s gone and that’s all you need to know.” Luc opened his mouth, but Liam held up his hand. “I don’t have to tell you everything.”

  “I wish you would. You never used to keep things from me. We shared everything,” Luc said, his eyebrows drawn together.

  “Not everything. Remember the husky clothes mom would buy for me? You certainly weren’t sharing those with me.” Liam chuckled.

  “You forget, I did get those clothes, but about five years later when they were always three inches too short. Mom was never one to let anything go to waste,” Luc said, wistfully.

  “No, she wasn’t, still isn’t. You should have seen her in my place last visit. She kept trying to save the aluminum foil and put it back in the box. I had to reassure her it would be okay and I could afford more.”

  “Waste not, want not. That’s her motto.” Luc paused, checking out the staff through the windows and let out a sigh. “I didn’t know you were so unhappy here. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he said, glancing over at Liam.

  “I don’t think I realized it either until Mark’s offer came up. I didn’t think I was this unhappy, but there were so many things that happened one right after another and I needed to get out while I was still me. I’m not the 9 to 5 Executive Suite kind of guy, Luc. I like to get my hands dirty, I want to be out there with them, but it’s not possible here. There are too many expectations and I’m the boss. You should see how everyone changes the minute I walk into The Bramble, I’m the bumbling idiot who’s trying to replace Mark. Punching up is always where I’m at my best.”

  “I guess that’s true. Do you promise you’ll think about coming back after a couple of months? I can sell it to the investors.” Liam tried to interrupt, but Luc held up his hand. “I know you don’t care and you don’t want to sell, but think about what an acquisition would mean to everyone out there. They are all stockholders too. It wouldn’t just impact us, it would set some of them up for life,” he said, gesturing to everyone beyond the glass.

  “See, this is why you were always the business guy. You know how to tap into the things that make people tick and push them.” He took some time and thought it over. “I won’t be coming back full time if I do, but yes, I’ll think about taking on some kind of advisory role only in a few months. I want to see what I can do with The Bramble and help Mark get set up in New York.”

  “I’ll take it!” Luc said, smiling wide. They shook on it and Luc pulled him in for a big bear hug. “Have fun, little brother.” Luc gave him a noogie and he pushed him away.

  “Only by six minutes.”

  “Still counts,” Luc sing-songed. “And you know I’ll be stopping by for drinks. On the house, right? Family discount.”

  “Sure, if I don’t run the place into the ground first,” he mumbled under his breath.

  8

  Chapter

  It was madness, absolute fucking madness, and she didn’t know what to do about it, other than strangle their new boss. Liam had screwed up just about everything he could, from ordering kegs, to getting maintenance in to fix various problems. He didn’t want to admit that he was in over his head, but he was. She’d told him days before about the walk-in freezer that needed to be fixed. Had he gotten it done? No, and freezer burn had set in on about five hundred dollars’ worth of tuna and the handle inside was jammed, it was a hazard. She finally pulled the plug on the whole thing, so people would stop putting things in there.

  She’d taken it upon herself to go through the office and find the number for the emergency freezer truck they could park behind the bar. She’d tried to call the maintenance company herself, but they wouldn’t accept her requests without owner permission. Apparently, Mark had left that in place after he suspected his ex of running up bills by calling in unneeded service calls.

  “Hey, Rox,” said Caleb. He carried a few trays of steamed buns, filled with roasted pork belly. “I wanted to know if you had a chance to take a look at those recipes I left with you.” Grabbing one of the trays from him, she helped him get them to his station.

  “Shit, Caleb, I totally forgot.” His crestfallen expression broke her heart, she knew how hard it was to try to make a name for yourself in a kitchen. “I did look at them, but it was quick. Tell you what. Why don’t you make a couple of small plates when you have some down time and let me and a couple of the other people taste them. Then, I can let you know if we can give them a test run, maybe during happy hour or something.” She set the tray down on his station and Caleb practically jumped up and down with joy.

  “Thanks so much, Chef! I won’t let you down.”

  “I’m sure it will be delicious, Caleb. Don’t get ahead of yourself, okay? We still need to get through tonight. Make sure you keep up your great work through service tonight.”

  “Yes, Chef!” He hurried to prep his station and get things ready for the evening rush. She tripped over a box they’d had to move to make a path to the freezer truck, cursed, and stormed upstairs to the office. Flinging the door open, it was empty—again. For someone who wanted to run this place, Liam sure spent a lot of time not taking care of shit that needed to be done!
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  After writing Liam the ninth note telling him they needed to get the freezer fixed, she’d finally made the call to the portable freezer truck. The thousands of dollars’ worth of food in there didn’t seem to rate high on his list, since it seemed their new fearless captain had money to burn. Storming back downstairs, Liam popped up from behind the bar, mixing drinks with Charlie, their seasoned bartender. He was much more interested in playing bartender than actual bar owner.

  Rox was grouchy and she knew it. And sleeping in the office upstairs wasn’t helping things either. The cops had called her to let her know they still hadn’t found Jon. She was on edge about that, but there hadn’t been any more strange occurrences around the bar or, as far as she could tell, near her apartment although she hadn’t ventured inside. Her landlord let her know it would be a bit longer to get the door repaired. Landlords who accepted cash tenants weren’t exactly known for their speedy response to maintenance requests.

  She’d had a few close calls with Liam almost finding her up there, but for the most part, she’d been able to crash in the office completely undetected. She was sure to clean up after herself every night, she didn’t think anyone had noticed that she was in the bar a lot more than usual. Hell, she practically lived there anyway. And it didn’t seem Liam spent much time up in the manager’s office doing any managing. She also moved her bike every night and afternoon to make sure people didn’t realize it was always there. That was the great thing about a motorcycle, it was small and could be tucked away.

  Their evenings were getting more and more hectic as business was picking up. A few outlets had picked up on a tech titan taking over a new LA hotspot, which drew even more attention and patrons to the bar. It wasn’t a bad problem to have, but she was going to have to hire some more people or maybe they should pare down the menu, make it easier to get the food out there. The idea of cutting any one of her dishes was like asking her to choose a limb. She’d worked so hard on those, on impressing Mark and the customers. To think this was her first foray into real chef territory and not patty melt diner recreations. She dreaded trying to talk this through with Liam, since he hated her freaking food. Nothing like trying to bounce ideas off someone who thinks your stuff is abhorrent. Perhaps approaching him about new staff would be an easier way to go.

  As much as she hated to admit it, the stomach flutters she got whenever Liam walked into the room were still there. She shook her head. Talk about barking up the wrong tree. Then again, she wasn’t known for having good instincts when it came to men. At least he was a good guy, incompetent, but a good guy. She pushed back into the kitchen and saw things were in full swing.

  The team was a sweaty bundle of bodies moving efficiently, sometimes chaotically, and quickly through the kitchen. Everyone was getting so much better at getting their dishes out on time, waitresses were getting better at getting things to the customers. She was so used to doing everything on her own, sometimes she stood back and watched it all happen and couldn’t help but smile. She did this. And then the jitters were back. The drive to prove herself to Mark had been insurmountable. Everything had to be perfect. He took a huge chance on her, had given her this job when he didn’t have to, especially with her past, so she’d wanted to make sure he didn’t regret it.

  That was part of the reason she still did so much herself, when delegating it would have been the much easier way to go. Back in the good old days, she would sleep in the booths to make sure she could get everything done. It was a rough road and Mark finally made her hire some other people when she started to fall asleep in the evenings—in front of the range—but managing a team still felt new and scary at times.

  Wrapping up for the night, she went over what they would be serving the next day and let everyone know what station they would be at tomorrow and what they needed to get done. She never used to be this organized, but it felt good. And she needed to show them she had faith in them too.

  “Caleb,” she called as he was walking out the back door after everyone else.

  “Yes, Chef?”

  “You don’t have to ‘Yes, Chef’ me, Caleb, especially when service is over.” He dropped his eyes and a blush started to creep into his cheeks. “I was serious about wanting to taste your recipes, all right? Sometime this week, come in a little early and prep them. Shoot me a text, so I can come in early too and we’ll see how it goes. Okay?”

  He nodded his head eagerly, his floppy black hair shining as he nodded. He was a gangly kid—ha, kid—he was probably only a couple of years younger than she was, but she still felt years older.

  “Great, thanks, Chef! I mean Rox,” he said, blushing again.

  “Okay, get out of here, have a good night.” Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was almost 1 am. The comfy couch upstairs called to her. She gave the kitchen a once over and saw the boxes that kept getting in the way all night on the floor. The freezer would have to do for storage until they sorted this whole situation out. She pushed one of them toward the freezer with her foot and hefted the other up into her arms.

  Slinging another box of non-perishables into the freezer, she propped open the door. She’d let everyone go home early, letting them know she’d take care of it. It gave her another excuse to stay late and sneak up to the office. Clanking from outside the freezer let her know that someone was in the kitchen. Sure everyone was gone, she put down the box in her arms and moved to the door.

  Liam popped his head in.

  “Oh, it’s you,” she said, pushing the boxes on the shelves.

  “Yes, it’s me. Everyone’s gone. I saw the light on in here and wanted to see what was going on.”

  “I’m putting some non-perishables away in here since there’s some room.” She pushed another box onto the shelf and made sure they didn’t fall.

  “Great, let me help.”

  “No need, this is the last box,” she said, giving the boxes one more push.

  “What about this one?” The sound of the box scraping on the ground froze Rox, and she whipped around.

  “Don’t let the door close!” she shouted as he picked up the box that was propping open the door and took a step toward her. The door slammed behind him. No, this was not happening. This was not happening! What was wrong with him? She stared at him like an alien with three heads. Seriously?!

  “There’s a knob to open it, right?” he said, still like a statue, holding the box in his arms.

  “Dammit! No! I told you that we needed to get it fixed. I put the work order you needed to sign on your desk a week ago and left notes on the desk almost every day since. That’s why the box was there.”

  Rox went over to the freezer door and pounded on it. Maybe someone had forgotten something and would be back in. Maybe…

  “HELP! Is anyone still out there! HELP!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. Liam dropped the box he held and walked around the freezer with his phone out, trying to get a cell signal. She shook her head, of all the people to be locked in here with—Liam. Part of her rejoiced while the other part of her seethed. She wasn’t sure which part would win out during this adventure.

  “It doesn’t work in here. All the crap that runs through this thing stops your signal from getting out.”

  “Oh,” he said, looking sheepish.

  “Yeah, oh,” she said, through gritted teeth. Sighing and resting her head against the shelves. It was going to be a long while before she got some rest.

  “So, what do we do now?” he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

  “We wait. Thank God this thing isn’t working or we would be dead by morning. Maybe someone will come back for something and let us out, but if they don’t, we’re trapped here until someone shows up for prep.” The nice comfy couch upstairs, so close yet so far. She glanced around the freezer looking for something to make things more comfortable. It was going to be a long night. A long night, locked in this thing with Liam.

  “At least we don’t have to wait too long. Someone’s always here at 7 am a
nd it’s already 1 am.”

  “Earth to Liam. That person who is here at 7 am is me. No one will be here until 10 am tomorrow to get ready for lunch.” She’d better get comfortable. Sleeping on the floor and then making it through lunch and dinner service tomorrow was going to kill her, but it wasn’t like she’d have anywhere to go, if she didn’t work both shifts. She certainly wasn’t going back to her apartment. Double shift on almost no sleep, excellent. Her shoulders slumped as she leaned up against the shelves. Some empty cardboard boxes peeked out from underneath. Better than nothing.

  “Oh,” he said.

  “Yeah, oh.” Just when Rox didn’t think things could get any worse, the lights inside the freezer flickered before going out.

  “Just perfect.” She ground out. At least it would make getting some shut eye a little bit easier.

  “At least we have each other,” he joked. She wanted to kick him in the balls, so hard right now. Using their phones for light worked for the first hour, but then they decided to conserve their batteries and shut them off. His attempts at small talk were met with one word answers from her. She was so tired and pissed off right now. At least it wasn’t cold, that would have been the icing on the already crappy day. In the dark, she could hear him moving around, restless on the other side of the freezer. She was laying down flat on the floor using the cardboard boxes as cushions.

  “Why do you hate me, Rox?” His voice sounded so unsure, it snapped her back from her little doze.

  She propped her head up on her elbow. Being trapped in a freezer with Liam was one way to get to the bottom of their current issues.

  “I don’t hate you, Liam.” She sighed. She really, really wanted to hate him, but she didn’t. While he sucked at managing, everyone talked about how fun he was, how helpful he was and how happy they were the new boss hadn’t sucked. She wanted to join in on that, but their past held her back. But if everyone had so many good things to say about him being around every day, how bad could he really be?