Chapter 41
After Maria and I left Harlow’s the night before, I drove her to the nearest grocery store.
“What are we doing here?” She had asked me. I explained that we needed to get Peter drunk while he was at work, so I could ask him questions in front of Logan that would hopefully incriminate him and get him fired on the spot. What better way to do that than to throw the supervisors an impromptu brunch, complete with all the mimosas Peter could down?
It cost me a small fortune, and I had to hope and pray that the credit card I used wouldn’t be declined, but if it worked…totally worth it.
Early that morning I sent out an email to Logan and the supervisors inviting them to the brunch. In it, I explained that the workers wanted to show our appreciation for them. I made sure to emphasize the point that there would be plenty of mimosas to go around.
Not surprisingly, Peter was the first to show up.
“I hear there are mimosas?” Peter said as soon as he walked through the door.
“Coming right up!” Maria said and walked over to the table with the champagne and orange juice. I watched as she poured champagne until the glass was almost full, then added just a splash of juice. We exchanged small smiles as she handed him the glass. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
Peter took the glass without a word and took a sip. His eyes grew wide. “Mmm, these are great Marsha!”
“Actually it’s Mar…you know what, never mind. It doesn’t even matter,” Maria walked back to the drink
table.
Peter walked over to the food table, where I was finishing arranging the bowls of fruit. He leaned in close to me and whispered, “Don’t think this little meal will make me forget about what you owe me today.”
My heart jumped up into my throat. “I know. You’ll get
“Because I can see right through you. I know this is just a distraction. Appreciation brunch my ass,” he walked away, downing the mimosa as he headed to Maria. “Miss Marsha, keep ‘em coming!”
“You got it,” Maria winked at him and poured him another heavy–handed mimosa.
Peter sat at the table without getting any food. Other supervisors began to trickle in. At five til 10, Logan entered the room. He spotted me and pulled me aside, as far away from the supervisors as we could get without leaving the conference room.
“What is all this about?” He asked.
“We just wanted to show how much we appreciate all of you,” I said, repeating what I had Invitation email.
put
in the
Logan frowned and studied my face. I knew that he knew I was lying. But he clearly couldn’t figure out why. I just hoped he would trust me long enough to expose Peter, then I could explain everything to him.
Logan walked away without another word. He grabbed a few things from the buffet then joined the supervisors at the table. I walked over to Maria at the drink station.
“What was that about?” She asked me.
“He doesn’t buy the story for this brunch,” I said. “He asked what was going on. But he’ll find out soon enough. How many drinks is Peter up to?”
“Well, I lost count after his 8th trip up here. Eventually he just grabbed himself a bottle of the champagne. and has only been drinking from that ever since.” She said, struggling to keep her lips from forming a smile.
“Excellent,” I said.
At that point, Peter stood…well, attempted to stand, anyway. He had managed to push himself into the standing position, but then he immediately fell back into his seat. He picked up a butterknife and tried to hit his champagne glass, but he kept missing, so he just cleared his throat loudly instead to get everyone’s attention.
“I would like to propose a toast,” he said, slurring every word. “To me! And my impending promotion.”