Chapter Thirty-eight Estera Roberts’ POV (Ten Years Before)

If he thought he could embarrass me further he would be grossly disappointed. I balanced the silver tray on my hip, collected the ball pen from him, and read the question aloud, “A man is five times as old as his daughter. Five years ago his age was nine times half his daughter's current age. How old are the man and his daughter?” I paused and met his gaze, “Do you want me to work it out for you, or do you just want an answer? Cos the daughter is 10 years old while the man is 50 years old.”
“And I am to just take your word for it?” he replied without a gleam of emotion in his icy cold eyes.
“Are you saying I am wrong?”
He carelessly shrugged and replied, “I am saying I know the answer, but I want you to work it out — step by step.”
“This should be good,” Brian laughed.
“She couldn’t even figure out the right room temperature for the wine and you expect her to work an equation? She probably guessed that answer or saw it somewhere before — I mean she works here... Come on, Evan, let the dumb girl go,” Joyce interjected, making me a tad angry. ‘I will show you dumb. You fuck face bitch!’ I thought to myself.
“Did you hear what she said?” Evan said, looking me straight in the eye. It was as if he was baiting and challenging me at the same time. Evan Sterling was evil! I wasn’t even sure anymore if he was trying to embarrass me or the girl. But then he didn't even know me well enough to gauge my ability to solve the math equation albeit a simple one at that.
“Alright… here we go…” I cleared a spot on the table to place a writing pad and started to work on the solution. “The solution to the question would be to relate his current age and his age five years ago, but to avoid entering an algebraic loop you'd rather relate his current age to his age five years ago in terms of his daughter’s age.” I scribbled on the pad as I wrote, giving him step-by-step workings so he knew I knew what I was talking about.
“Currently, Man’s age = 5x, and Daughter’s age = x. Five years ago, Man’s age = 5x - 5 Also = 9 (x / 2). Daughter’s age = x - 5. Then, Man’s age now = Man’s age five years ago ( in respect to his daughter’s age) + Five years. 5x = 9(x / 2) + 5. By solving for x, I land at the conclusion that x = 10 years. Therefore the Daughter is 10 years old. And since her father is five times her age her father is 50 years old.”
I placed the pen on the pad and pushed it to him, straightening my spine. Evan shrugged, seemingly not overly impressed..
“Nice!” Brian Interjected.
“It was an easy equation,” Evan said in a bored tone. I felt the urge to slug him.
“Easy for her but… Joyce, you were saying?” Brian said, needling the other girl. She hissed at him and then glared openly at me.
“Don’t you like… have dishes to wash?” Joyce snapped.
“Excuse me,” I said, trying to hide a triumphant smile, and turned away.
“Who does this girl think she is anyway?” I heard Joyce say as I walked away.
“Hey, leave her alone. I asked her to solve the equation. She was just being tolerant,” Evan replied.
“You sound angry, Evan, are you mad at me, babe?” Joyce cooed, and then I heard a kissing sound and was glad I was close to the kitchen door. The last thing I needed was to see Evan kissing a girl.
“What took you so long?” the chef asked with concern. I saw that he had changed as well and was eating in a corner of the kitchen.
“Attending to our important customers,” I replied, trying to hide my exasperation and the fact that I now hated Joyce for the simple fact that she had the right to kiss Evan Sterling.
“Come, serve yourself some Matsusaka beef with the brioche bun and whatever fillings you want. You have earned it,” he said, chuckling.
“Thank you! What is this Matsusaka beef anyway?”
“The meat is obtained from Japanese black cattle reared under strict conditions in the Matsusaka region of Mie in Japan. It has a high fat-to-meat ratio. We normally use Wagyu beef to prepare the dish but Mr. Sterling prefers Matsusaka because they taste better.”
“And you changed a dish just for him?” I thought that was simply ridiculous. ‘Rich people are weird,’ I thought to myself.
“He can afford it,” he replied, laughing. “You will understand when you taste it,” he invited. I sighed.
“Alrighty,” I said and picked the freshly made buns. It was still warm and it melted the mayonnaise as I spread it on it. The lovely aroma filled my nostrils and my stomach rumbled. I grimaced. Thankfully the chef didn't tease me about it.
I picked one of the sliced leftovers of beef to place on the bun, added lettuce leaves, sliced cheese, tomato, and a slice of cucumber then placed a cutlet. When I bit into it, the juicy fat of the beef mixed with the cheese melted in my mouth and I moaned with pleasure.
“I told you so!” he said.
“Oh! My God! This tastes divine!” I gushed and took quick bites, making the older man laugh out loud.
“You can make extra to take home,” he added, still chuckling.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course,” he said dismissively. I grinned at him and he laughed. “Say hi to your Aunt for me, okay?”
“You betcha!”
A few minutes later, I went back to pack the used dishes and avoided looking at Joyce and Evan. Brian and Evan were talking about a baseball game and again Evan was working on some calculations to prove a point. What is this guy? Some math freak? His girlfriend on the other hand was obsessed with taking pictures of herself snuggling to his side and pecking him on the cheek. ‘Airhead,’ I thought and quickly picked the dishes and walked away.
“Hey, hold up,” Brian called and I stopped to turn around to face him. “I didn’t catch your name?”
“I didn’t throw it,” I replied automatically. He laughed.
“You know what? You seem like someone I would like to know better. I’m Brian Andrews. I manage some of Evan Sterling's legal portfolio.”
“You are a lawyer?”
“Yes, ma’am. If you ever need a business lawyer. I’m your man,” he said. I smiled.
“Brian?” Evan called, he sounded a tad pissed.
“Coming!” Brian called over his shoulder and quickly added, “Could I please have your number?”
“Okay…” I said and wrote it down on a piece of paper.
“Thanks!” he said, grinning widely. I chuckled.
“Brian?!” Evan called again and this time his anger was unmistakable. Brian grimaced and turned away. I caught Evan’s dark gaze from across the room and quickly hurried into the kitchen.
The chef asked me to leave the dishes and hurry out. He figured Evan would naturally wait to take me home, but I wasn’t expecting that, but didn't correct the older man either. Besides, the last thing I needed was to witness Joyce smooching Evan nonstop.
I picked up my stuff with the packed burger and left the building.
The night was calm and the road was mostly deserted. I wore my leather jacket over my dress and plugged my earpiece into my ears before backing my backpack as I started walking down the left lane to the restaurant. The crime rate in Charlestown was zero to none. Cops patrol the streets almost every five minutes. And the knowledge of that gave me the assurance of safety but then it didn’t mean I was overly confident that I can not be attacked. I hated leaving late like this. But there are days like this that can not be avoided. There are always folks who believe rules don't apply to them. Folks like Evan Sterling, obviously.
I hurried my steps and was about half a kilometer away from the restaurant when a gray sports car blasting loud music suddenly sped past me. I jerked away from the side of the road and paused, glaring at the car. Then it stopped with the brake making a loud screeching sound and then reversed with the same dangerous speed. ‘Who is this pothead?!’ I thought to myself. I was still glaring when the car got to my side and the loud music suddenly went off, making the silence deafening, and then the door on the driver’s side was pushed open, Evan’s tall frame emerged from the car and I glared at him.
“You scared me half to death!” I yelled. He ignored me, walked around the car to open the passenger’s side, and leveled a cold gaze at me.
“Get in!” he snapped.