The Caterer

Chapter 16

T ABBY SET HER PURSE on the kitchen counter and studied the pristine apartment. Not one dish was out of place, one pillow where it shouldn’t be. No dust anywhere. Alice must have called their cleaning company. Like her whimsical hair, Alice could not be bothered with the tiny details that, all put together, led to her life being chaotic and messy. Somehow, she pulled it together for her cooking, but disarray was the name of her sister’s life everywhere else.

Just to be sure, Tabby checked Alice’s room. There was the chaos she knew—clothes on the bed, a coffee cup on the bedside table, another on the dresser. She hoped her sister was still there. They all enjoyed having Alice close. The twins missed her. They had a host of stories to tell her, mementos to give her. Finally, Tabby told them to take pictures. Her sister didn’t need a trinket from each city they went to. She missed her sister too. Maybe they could do a mimosa lunch and catch up. After almost two months away, they were all ready to sleep in their beds and not be eating out .

Paul sorted through their luggage in their bedroom. She kissed his shoulder and took the pile of dirty clothes to the laundry bin in the closet. She started to undo her blouse. Paul pressed up behind her, his kiss on her neck.

“I can help.” His hand went to the button of her slacks.

“The kids are too close and wound up with energy.”

“Come on, Tabatha.”

She moaned. The trip had been like a second honeymoon for them. As much of a honeymoon as one can enjoy with two curious, over-energized ten-year-olds. It had been too long since they stayed up and talked at night, enjoyed a shower together, saw each other. She loved Paul. He kept her sane and brought her so much joy. With his career and her trying to launch her company and the kids—it all got lost so easily.

“Mom!” Mac’s voice rang through the apartment.

“Told you.” Tabby laughed, Paul taking a step back.

“I got it.” He went to see what Mac needed. Annie’s joyful scream filled the apartment. Alice must be home. She followed the sounds. The twins spoke rapidly, Alice on her butt against the main door. Taco barked around the scene, her tail frantic.

“Let the poor girl stand up,” Tabby said. Alice pushed herself up and hugged her sister, Tabby hit with a wave of sweat and cumin. “You smell disgusting!”

“But you missed me.” Alice pulled herself closer. Tabby told her to get off her. Alice hugged Paul hello before turning her attention back to the twins. “What was your favorite part?” Both kids started talking at once. Alice laughed and stood. “I can take them to dinner if you want to unpack and be alone.” Alice winked. Paul agreed before Tabby could respond. Alice sent the kids to get their shoes. “Welcome home.”

It felt good to be back .

TABBY TOOK A LONG DRINK of her coffee as she walked into her office a few days later. Paul went back to work; Alice took the kids to the pool for a bit. For the first time in seven weeks Tabby found herself alone for more than a moment. She reached for her phone to call Mo Mo for an update. Her finger hovered above the green button before she remembered.

She glanced at her closed laptop. There’d be no emails from coders or beta testers. It was all spam and messages of curiosity masked as sympathy. She didn’t know where things stood with Macon and their planned merger with that other tech company. The trip to Europe saved her sanity, but now the grief and questions hit her like a virus in the software. On her desk sat an oversized chip they gave everyone when TabiKat first started with the logo of a cat’s paw on the top side, ‘Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish’ by Steve Jobs on the other. It was her promise to those standing in the room she’d take TabiKat to the highest places it could go. She failed.

After two years of going nonstop, she found herself with nothing to do. Her days were back to being open blocks on her calendar. The silence of the apartment felt overwhelming. She could go for a walk. But at ten a.m. it was already ninety degrees and humid. The kids needed new clothes for the school year. Maybe her mother was in town, and they could get lunch. She could download the photos and work on an album. Maybe get a new photo for above the fireplace.

She turned on the business channel, two analysts discussing the latest market report and some company’s less-than-projected earnings. Tabby sat at her desk and opened her laptop. Under all the junk and PTA updates for the twin’s school, she did hate the PTA, waited a message from Mo Mo. Just an FYI. She clicked the email. “Thought you’d want to hear it from me. I hope you know I am sorry. Moe.” Below was a draft press release for TabiKat—now Array—going public .

“It’s expected to be the biggest release since Google,” the male voice on the TV said. Tabby looked up. “For Macon to be in control of two tech companies is a sign Delany Clare wants to make a move into the tech space.”

“Watch out Silicon Valley. Arlington, Virginia might become the new tech capital.” The woman on the show laughed. Stock images of Delany flashed on the screen while the pundits talked including an image of Moe at an office Tabby didn’t recognize. The screen changed to the timeline of events, the stock set to open at $123 a share.

“Array is set to release three projects, including two apps in the next year.” The female reporter came back on the screen. “Their second app would enable employers to create digital backups of their employees' cell phones.”

“That’s my idea!” Tabby stood. “I thought of that. How in the…” Mo Mo! All her ideas, her work, her intellectual property stayed with TabiKat—which meant it now belonged to Delany Clare. In all the emotion and chaos off her departure, Tabby forgot about the projects she started before she left.

“You okay?” Alice asked from the doorway, Annie’s laugh filling the apartment.

She turned the TV off and faced her little sister. “I hate Delany Clare and those lying jackals that kicked me out of my company.” She walked past Alice, determined to think about anything else. She made the kids lunch and tried to forget the news. Alice called goodbye as she left for work, the front door closing. Tabby told the kids to keep their shoes on. Maybe if she focused on them, she could ignore the fact she felt stabbed in the back all over again.

#

CARVER SAT TALKING to some clients when Alice got to his bakery. She lifted her hand and went to find something sweet to eat. On the wall in Carver’s office hung a calendar for the rest of the year, his bookings in blue, Hasty Pudding’s in green. They were almost booked solid, mostly by businesses Delany owned. So far, he hadn’t asked her to take any events tied to Array, a small consolation. In the chaos of things, Alice forgot about Tabby and how she might react. But her outburst brought back all the uncertainty Alice somehow managed to forget. How was she going to justify this to her sister?

Alice checked her email, the food truck was ready. The old girl got a facelift and new appliances. Carver thought they could use it for events, give them more of a home base and something else to drive their unique feel. She pulled up the images. The water blue paint and hibiscus were replaced with a pale-yellow base and the D.C. skyline mirrored on both sides with a hand-drawn serving of hasty pudding from above as the moon. A silhouette of Eleanor’s statue stood beside the order window. In homage to its roots, they kept a grayed hibiscus over the back doors. Alice still went to K Street when they didn’t have an event during lunch, taking a new trainee with her.

Carver came in, asking Alice about her night. She turned the monitor for him to see the redo on the truck. Carver whistled and sat on the edge of his desk.

“Looks good. Can you believe the last few weeks?”

“Doesn’t feel real. We might break even this year.” She crossed her arms and tilted her head. Carver laughed and set his hands beside him.

“We are going to do more than break even, Lil.”

She looked at the food truck again and nodded a few times.

“Two separate worlds.” He seemed to read her thoughts.

“How do I tell her?”

Carver sighed. “When the time comes, you’ll know how. ”

Alice opened the door to the apartment, the twin’s laughter filling the air. She found them in the living room playing video games. Taco saw her and barked, pulling their attention. Annie dropped her controller and ran to hug her. Mac paused the game and waited.

“Mom’s in a mood,” Annie whispered.

She had been avoiding her sister since they got back. If only Tabby would give her the chance to explain, to tell her why she took the deal. But with nothing else going on, Tabby was fixating, her anger growing. If Alice only mentioned the subsidiaries of Macon, Tabby might not connect that Delany owned most of her bookings. She hated lying, but needed to keep the peace until she could move home, her apartment booked until mid-September.

“Hey, Mac, want to make pizza for dinner?”

He left his controller and met her at the stove, wanting to recreate a pizza they had in France. Something about the crust, the simple flavors. Alice suspected a lot stemmed from the wood burning stove and local ingredients. While they worked, Mac asked how flavors blended, what gluten did, why she chose certain spices.

Paul came in as the pizza cooked in the oven, asking Alice about her day. It was the first time she’d seen him since the family got home. He was working some big case that when they left looked like it would settle, but now seemed headed for a trial. He couldn’t say much about it.

After dinner, Mac went to play his console, Paul retreating to his bedroom to watch TV. Who knew what her sister was doing? Alice got a book to read. Annie sat close to her on the couch, sliding her notebook under her leg.

“What’s going on?” Alice asked.

“I want to make a game.”

“What kind of game?”

“A computer game. I was watching Mac play Zeds earlier… ”

“You beat it already?” Alice smirked.

“Yeah, but don’t tell him. And I was wondering, why can’t there be a girl? Why is the princess just a person to come in later? Why couldn’t she have this adventure?”

“What are you thinking?” Alice loved her niece’s curiosity, her sense of what was possible.

Annie opened her notebook to a list of ideas, drawings for characters. “What do I do now?”

“Why not ask your mom? She’s the coder.”

Annie sighed. “She’s not easy to talk to right now. Dad’s working all the time.”

It must feel like all the adults in their lives were too busy. Alice skimmed over what was there.

“I think we need a storyboard.”

“A what?”

Alice took the notebook and drew a grid of six squares on the page. “In a film they do things shot by shot. Well, let’s do the same with your game. How do you want the story to go?” She waited while Annie thought about it. Annie reached for the notebook and started to draw. Alice’s cell phone rang. The 703 number wasn’t in her contacts, but she got calls from a lot of people she didn’t know. “Alice Gibson, Hasty Pudding.”

“Alice, it’s Bobbie Dunn. How are you?”

“How can I help you?” Alice scooted out from beside Annie and made her way to her bedroom, closing the door.

“I was hoping you were available for a party Friday night.”

“To cater it?” She crossed her other arm across her chest and looked at her socked feet. “Mr. Dunn, not to sound rude, but I’m not…”

“It’s my girl’s birthday, and she loves your cooking.”

Alice laughed. “Mr. Dunn, I am not…”

“Maybe you don’t get how this works.” The previous ease in his tone disappeared. “This isn’t a request. The dinner is Friday at 6 p.m. I’m sure you know what Carrie likes. Katy will email you directions. Plan on twenty-five people, full course. Also bring some dandelion wine, Carrie said your dad makes it.” He hung up. She sighed, not sure what he could want. Since starting she did her best to avoid interacting with him. The few events he attended for Macon, he seemed content to either look through her or dictate things. He hovered sometimes; his scowl set as if he sucked a lemon. Once he rebuked her at a board meeting for talking to a member of the board, but Alice knew the woman from a different Macon event. Delany encouraged Alice to be present, but to Bobbie she was to be unseen and not heard.

Alice was not a Macon employee and would not be at Mr. Dunn’s beck and call. She had no desire to see Carrie. And Carrie meant Harry and probably Moe. The chance of her working with Delany undetected would decrease once the three of them knew. Only Carrie knew, and if she knew, surely the guys did.

With Delany out of the country until Saturday, she thought about calling Katy and asking for her advice, but knew what good friends Bobbie and Delany were. Keep it simple, beg Carver to go, make herself scarce. Hopefully Bobbie Dunn did not think Alice was there to be his private chef.