Chapter 5 - The Announcement
Claire stood.
The scrape of her chair carried through the room.
The waiter stopped near the end of the table. A piece of bread had fallen onto the floor beside him, but he no longer looked interested in picking it up.
“Before dessert arrives,” Claire said, “I’d like to announce something.”
Eric’s smile returned.
He expected a toast.
Perhaps an apology.
Claire lifted her glass but did not drink.
“Please separate the checks.”
The waiter looked toward Eric.
Eric stared back at him.
Claire continued.
“Everything Noah and I ordered goes on my personal card. Every appetizer, bottle, steak, and dessert ordered by Eric goes to Eric.”
Eric pushed back from the table.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
Patricia shook her head.
“You cannot humiliate your brother like this.”
Claire looked at Noah.
“No one was concerned about humiliation five minutes ago.”
Dana spoke for the first time.
“We were told the account covered it.”
“It did.”
Claire reached into her purse and removed the card connected to the emergency fund.
“Until now.”
She handed it to the waiter.
“Please ask your manager to remove this card from every reservation, profile, and open authorization connected to tonight.”
The waiter nodded.
“Absolutely.”
Eric stood.
“You can’t do that in the middle of dinner.”
Claire looked at him.
May you like
“I just did.”
Then she sat beside her son and moved the hotdog away from him.
