Delivery

23. Consignment

It hadn't occurred to Madelyn, that at the age of 34, possessing an advanced degree, married, divorced, successfully employed in the professional career of her choosing, that she would ever again be a participant in the walk of shame. Still, here she was, clad in an oversized t-shirt belonging to Harry, last night's jeans (sans underwear), her hair damp from their shower. At least Harry was with her, holding hands, creeping through the stillness of Etta's, hoping no one else was around to witness.

The deep rumble of a clearing throat and a soft chuckle told them they were not, in fact, alone. Murphy and Becca were seated at one of the long, center tables with takeaway pastries and paper coffee cups. Spread before them were open files, documents strewn about.

"Morning, you two!" bellowed Murphy.

"Yes, it seems to be a very good morning," added Becca.

Madelyn stifled a shriek of surprise.

"Shit! You scared us to death! It's so quiet in here, I thought the place was empty."

Becca smirked, blue eyes twinkling, "Well, it's all quiet now. Not so much earlier."

"I really need to look into some soundproofing for that apartment," Murphy raised his brows at Harry.

Madelyn blanched, closing her eyes momentarily and burying her face slightly behind Harry's arm. "Oh my God," she whispered. "This is not happening."

"Come on, come sit down for a few minutes." Murphy was using his hand to motion them over. "We'll play nice."

Harry laughed, "You okay?" he nuzzled into her hair, slipping his fingers from hers and placing his hand at the back of her waist. Madelyn nodded, though a blush was evident across her cheeks.

Becca and Murphy slid their neighboring chairs out simultaneously and soon the men were facing the women over the table. Harry recognized the jumble of paperwork in front of him as the business plan that he, Murphy and Becca had worked on when it was decided that he would be joining them as a partner in Etta's and the upcoming expansion.

"Alright, both of you, all kidding aside, what's going on?" Harry asked.

Murphy wasted no time in explaining that the owner of a property they had expressed an interest in, had contacted him early that morning. The man wanted to give them first crack at his newly reduced price. He chose to make the offer to them first as he appreciated the way they operated; he had explained that of all the interested parties, he thought they would be the most likely to enhance the neighborhood. Etta's downtown location pulled in a healthy number of college students and staff, but this piece of real estate was directly across the street from campus. The foot traffic alone would be astronomical. Etta's would be good for the location; the location would be good for Etta's.

"Harry," Murphy spoke directly to him, his shoulders hunched, bearing the weight of his upper body on his forearms, "if we go through with your plan to bring in locally brewed beer on tap, we could turn a profit in the first year in that location. We would have to be diligent in our responsibility to serve only patrons that were of age. I don't want to be that place that lets minors slide; there's a responsibility to keep the kids safe. But there is no place else near campus or the surrounding residential area that is providing table service with alcohol on the menu."

Mimicking Murphy's body language, Harry looked to Madelyn over the table, then drew a solid breath. "If we kept it clean, ran a tight ship, say only trained servers handled the booze, it could be done safely. Maybe keep the same hours we have here, you know, so we're staying in line with being a restaurant, not a bar."

Murphy and Becca nodded in unison and a knowing look passed between them.

Becca cleared her throat before speaking. "Based on the conversations we had last night, I'm assuming it is acceptable to discuss your partnership with us in present company, yes?"