Elaine looked between the lawyer and Maya. "Forgive me for asking, but are you planning to sue them?"
"I'm planning," Maya replied, "to make sure the next person who walks through that door is welcomed."
Before Elaine could ask what she meant, James's phone vibrated. He checked the screen and looked at Maya.
"Transition team is in position. The seller's representative has acknowledged notice."
Maya glanced at her watch. 8:10 p.m.
"Shall we?" James asked.
She straightened her blazer. Her hands were steadier now, but beneath the steadiness remained the memory of paper drifting toward the floor.
"Yes."
"Maya," he said before they moved, "you are under no obligation to return to a place that just treated you like that."
She held his eyes. "I'm not returning as a customer asking to be let in. I'm returning as someone responsible for what happens at the door."
James picked up the portfolio.
The two of them walked toward the glass entrance. Inside, Richard saw them coming. His smile dimmed, and he set down the glass he was holding.
Brittany glanced up, then whispered something to Derek. Derek looked toward the expensive briefcase. For the first time, he seemed to wonder whether he had failed to recognize someone important.
Maya pushed open the door.
The little brass bell above it rang, exactly as it had when she arrived twenty minutes earlier.
This time, every head turned before anyone spoke.
"I thought I made myself clear," Richard Whitmore said when Maya and James reached the hostess station. "You are no longer welcome in this establishment."
His voice rang across the dining room. The pianist stopped playing. Near the kitchen door, Adrian Bell appeared again, wiping his hands on a towel.
James stepped forward, but Maya lifted a hand.
"Mr. Whitmore, this is James Morrison, senior partner at Morrison and Associates. He's here on a business matter."
Richard studied the lawyer's suit and the embossed leather briefcase. His expression changed in subtle stages: contempt, suspicion, then annoyance at his own uncertainty.
"You can bring anyone you like," he said. "My answer won't change."
"I think it will," James replied. "The transaction involving Meridian Prime's operating company closed at eight oh five this evening."
Derek frowned. "What transaction?"
James laid the portfolio on the hostess counter and opened it to a page containing the seal of the selling entity, signatures from its authorized representatives, and the details of the purchased interests. The heading identified Meridian Prime's operating company and the purchasing entity, Maya Hospitality Group.
Richard stared.
"This restaurant is not for sale."
"It was," James said. "The owners have been discussing a sale for eighteen months. They accepted our client's offer after the due diligence process. You were informed through the transition channel designated by the sellers."
"They would have consulted me."
"The decision belonged to the owners."
Richard looked toward the office as though a ringing telephone there might still rescue him.
"This could be fabricated."
"You're welcome to contact the Hrix family's counsel directly. Their number is in the notice."