Chapter 0040
The bartender laughed at my request. “Oh, you mean Peter Cheater and the Man Eater? How much time do you have?”
I smiled at Maria. Finally, Finally it seemed I would get something on him that would help me.
“Is it weird to say I love you so soon?” I asked the bartender.
He smiled at me. It wouldn’t be the fastest a patron has said that to me. Let me help this other couple, then I’ll tell you everything I know about them.”
He walked to the other end of the bar. I looked around for Peter and Elena. They had been seated in the back row of tables and were making out like teenagers, I tapped Maria on the shoulder and pointed.
She frowned when she spotted them. “Guess they made up.
I snapped a picture with my phone just in case I could use it at some point. I was dark, but if you zoomed in on the picture it was clear that it was Peter, and that he was not with his wife.
I watched them a moment longer, and I was surprised to find myself feeling kind of sad for Elena Peter was much older than her, and…well, gross. His shirts always had food stains, his hair was hardly ever in place, and I have caught him picking his nose and wiping it on the nearest surface on more than one occasion. I hated to admit it, but Elena was gorgeous. She could have any man she wanted. Why did she put herself through this with each of her supervisors? Whatever she was gaining from being with him could not be worth all of the things she let him do to her.
“Your moscato,” the bartender said.
1 turned back to him. “Thank you,” I said with a smile. I looked at his name tag. “Robert.”
He nodded. “Before I tell you what I know, I’m curious. Why do you want to know?”
I started to answer, but Maria stepped in. “Because he’s making her life hell and we need any dirt we can get so we can get his ass fired,” she said, adding a grin at the end
Robert shook his head. “Somehow that does not surprise me about him.”
“So he comes in a lot, I take it?” I said, eager to get this gossip ball rolling.
“Oh yeah. Twice a week at least. Every Monday with an older lady, who I am assuming is his wife. And then again every Thursday with this one.” He nodded towards Peter and Elena.
“My condolences,” Maria said.
Robert laughed. “Thank you. I don’t interact with them as much as the poor waitresses, thankfully, but I have certainly seen him enough to know what he’s like. He leaned on the bar, deep in thought. “Let’s see. He’s done some shitty things, but I’m not sure they are fireable offenses. He screams at the staff, he never tips, he stays an hour or more after closing time. One time, he got up and did a little strip tease dance on the table. We weren’t allowed to serve him straight vodka after that one.”
“Oh, god,” Maria feigned vomiting.
My heart sank. I had really hoped that coming here would help me, but these stories wouldn’t get Peter fired. They just further proved was a complete and total asshat this man was.
Chapter 0040
+25 BON
“That man has quite the drinking problem,” Robert continued. “If you get him drunk enough – which seems to be every time he’s here – he will tell you anything you ask him. Sometimes the waitresses mess with him when he’s here with the Man Eater, asking him about all his past relationships or his wife or how he really feels about her. Which sounds terrible, but she’s even worse than him.”
“You don’t have to tell us twice,” Maria said, her glass of wine at her lips.
My hope returned. “Robert, you son–of–a–bitch, I think you just handed us our secret weapon.”
“Do you really think this will work?” Maria asked as she placed forks and napkins at the large round table we had rolled into the conference room.
“God I hope so,” I said. The truth was, I wasn’t sure. I just didn’t know what else to do at this point. This was my last (and only) shot before Peter turned me in
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