Page 44 of Just a Beta (Betas in Waiting)
Meritha grinned.“Goody.I am going to make her look like scum.It is the same hostess, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hooray.”
They glided up to the hostess stand, and Meritha said calmly, “I would like a table for five.”
The hostess blinked and looked at her.“Do you have a reservation?”
“No, but she did.Four weeks ago, a lunch reservation for one, and you refused to honour it.We are correcting it today.”
Emhara heard a strange reverberation that ran through her bones as Meritha spoke.It was similar to Echel’s effect.
The hostess looked them up and down.“I...others came in, and they were given precedence.”
A dark elf in chef’s whites came in.“Amber, what is going on?”
“This woman is demanding a walk-in table for five people, but we don’t have it.”
Meritha looked at him.“It is compensation for the dismissal this hostess gave my friend on her birthday, after she had scrimped and saved to escape her abusive family for one afternoon, where she could just forget her situation.Two of your numbnuts dark elves swanned in, and she dumped Emhara a moment later.No birthday meal, no distraction from pain, nothing.”
Emhara spoke, “It’s okay, I saw a hot dog cart down the street.That will do just as well.”
“I suppose it will have to.This place seems to have ceased serving plain old betas.”She fluttered her fingers, and glitter floated down again.
Denith’s eyes widened.“You are...”
“Just a beta.Just like this woman that your little hostess insulted.You would think that a place with such a reputation would have better sense.I mean, changing that reputation will be easy enough.”The dark chuckle that Meritha treated them to made Emhara shiver.“That is my focus, after all.”
Denith said, “Amber, put their party at my table.Now.I will tell Myrtle and the others to show up a little later.”
Meritha smiled cruelly.“Yes, Amber, do settle us at the chef’s table.Skip the insipid little influencers that you seated that first time, without a reservation.This will be fascinating.I have never made a chef uncomfortable at close range before.”
The others had caught up with them, and Duran smiled.“Well, Denith, it seems you have met the mage of communication and our eventual mate, the mage of art.”
Emhara waved.“Hi.”
Denith looked a little shocked.“Hi.Wow.I am actually hoping that they bring Myrtle early.She’s a light elf, but she’s a writer and the fusion of both of your focuses.”
Amber said, “Why didn’t you say you were with the elves?”
“Because if we show up without them and with a reservation, we will be seated, or you will lose the ability to speak or appreciate beauty,” Meritha smirked.“And then I will fuck up your bank accounts.”
Denith led them to the table himself and said, “I am sorry about that.”
“I would say not your problem, but it totally is.You need better hiring criteria.They need to understand that this place caters to folks who want an experience, not just a meal.”
Duran cleared his throat as he held Meritha’s chair for her.“Denith, I would also like to introduce, not only our mate, Emhara, but the head of the Van Housen Bank, Meritha Van Housen.”
Meritha wiggled her fingers in greeting.“Hello.”
Denith stared, and his dark form paled to Emhara’s vision.She laughed.“I didn’t know your skin could do that.”
He stared.“You can see me?”
“Yup.I would recommend either retraining Amber or replacing her.In this city, finding an attractive hostess who actually adheres to legit reservations is easy.Try not to pick one that likes to watch people crumple with their power flexes.It isn’t good for business.”
Denith wrinkled his nose.“This isn’t the first time.One of my servers didn’t care for Myrtle either.That didn’t end well.”
