New Life
Part 5
The day was Saturday, and he was sitting in the diner with the rest of the `gang'. After going to the gym he was hungry. And Debbie was bitching about something.
"Can you fucking believe it?" she yelled as they sat down.
"What is it, Ma?" Michael asked, always the one to pay the most attention to Debbie.
"They sold it!"
"Deb, honey, what did they sell?" Emmet asked.
"The diner. That's what! Can you believe it? After years of service here they sell it and tell me just last night. Apparently they had been wanting to sell this place for years and just got an offer that they couldn't refuse."
As Debbie said that, a woman walked in. She looked around before opening up her cell phone and calling a number. She talked into it for a few minutes before looking around again. Her eyes landed on Brian, who had been watching her the whole time because of how unusual she appeared in her casual business suit and her tote bag that was over one shoulder. She kept eye contact with Brian as she finished up her phone call and hung up. Slowly she walked towards the `gang'.
"Debbie Novetny, right?" the woman asked as she held out her hand to Debbie.
"Yes. Who the fuck are you?" she asked as she shook the woman's hand. The `gang' was silent as they waited to see what was going on.
"My name is Jasmine Gruidae. I am one of the senior staff at Stef&Jt, in fact I helped them get their business off the ground. Right now they've given me a new project. They bought this diner as well as some other businesses and want me to make them as profitable as possible. My team and I will be checking these businesses out for the next few weeks. Which means that we will be having inspectors come in here and making sure that everything is safe and up to date. I'd like you to tell the other employees here that we expect them to work with the inspectors and not against them. Can I count on you to do that or will we have to shut down the diner?" Jasmine asked with
her eyebrows raised, as if expecting a protest.
"As long as we can conduct business as usual, then it should be fine," Debbie responded.
"Wonderful," Jasmine said as she reached into her tote for something. "Brian Kinney, I have something for you."
"What is it?" he asked her.
She held up a finger as she stuck her head inside her tote. She pulled her head up as her hand came out of the tote. In her grasp was a thick white envelope, she handed it over to Brian.
"I was supposed to give this to you and tell you that it is from a Secret Admirer. Debbie, I'll see you on Monday."
And with that she turned towards the door. They watched as she went outside and got into the backseat of a black 4-door BMW. The car drove off.
"What did you get from your Secret Admirer?" Emmet asked as he clapped his hands.
Brian opened the envelope and reached his hand inside. He pulled out a card. On the outside of the card was a rose drawn in silver. He opened up the card.
"Oh my god" Emmet said in a quiet, taken aback voice.