"Gentlemen—every one of you is President Gilbert's client!"
"And President Gilbert can't even cover a meal at our restaurant!"
"So tell me, you still want to do business with this man?"
His words made every client at the table freeze.
One of the longtime clients just laughed. "If President Gilbert really can't cover the bill, we'll pay it ourselves."
"But this charge is obviously wrong."
We'd done business together for years. Half the people at that table knew exactly what I was worth.
A two-hundred-thousand-dollar tab was pocket change. Toby's little stunt was dead on arrival.
So naturally, they trusted me without question.
Toby looked at the clients, and a flicker of surprise crossed his face.
He hadn't expected them to ignore his provocation entirely, just sitting there, calm and unmoved.
That rattled him.
"Toby, if these are the only tricks you have, save yourself the embarrassment."
I looked at him, my voice flat and cold. "These are my clients, and they trust me."
"They're not going to believe a word you say."
"Also, your restaurant has surveillance cameras."
"I want to see the footage. I want proof that this person even knows me."
"You said he's been here with me multiple times. Then show me the evidence."
Something tightened behind Toby's eyes the instant I stopped talking—a flinch he couldn't quite hide.
That told me enough. This ran deeper than I'd thought, because the only person panicking in this room was Toby.
Then his face darkened, and he fixed his eyes on me. "Alex, you obviously already know our surveillance system's been down recently."
"That's why you're so confident."
"Besides, I trusted you. When your father-in-law came in, he said you'd come pay the bill."
"That's the only reason I let him run a tab."
"And now you're denying it?"
The second he finished, Toby spun toward my clients and raised his voice. "Gentlemen—this is the kind of man Alex Gilbert is. You really still want to work with him?"
The clients stayed silent.
Toby's face went ashen.
He'd counted on the pressure breaking me—that I'd pay rather than lose face in front of my clients. But none of them had flinched, and I hadn't so much as looked his way. He had nothing left.
"Alex, since you refuse to pay, we have no choice."
Toby turned to the security guards behind him and barked, "Hold them down!"
"I clocked it when they walked in—every single one of them is wearing a luxury watch."
"Strip the watches. That'll more than cover the bill."
My stomach dropped. Trust was one thing. But if my clients got manhandled at a dinner I'd invited them to, no amount of trust would undo that—I'd never be able to look any of them in the eye again.
"You wouldn't dare!"
I slammed the words out. "I spend over a million a year at this place. This is how you treat a customer like me?"
Fury tore through every syllable, and I raised my voice even higher. "Where's your boss? Get him out here!"
I knew Toby was just a manager. The owner of a restaurant this size was someone else entirely.
And anyone capable of running an operation like this wouldn't pull something this low.
Toby sneered.
"Alex, who the hell do you think you are? You think you can just snap your fingers and our boss comes running?"
