Page 40 of The Summer Request
A door opened, and Val slipped inside. To her annoyance, Lisa and Michelle didn’t follow without prompting.
Once inside, Val pushed on. They walked through a large prep kitchen, everyone too busy to care who they were, and through a set of double doors.
“He’s got to be here somewhere,” Val said, turning and pushing on a swinging door labeled STAFF.
The door wouldn’t budge. She resented its defiance and gave it a small kick.
It continued to defy her. She gave it a bigger kick, forcing it open with a loud thud and a groan.
Whoops.
Val rushed to the other side. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was there and – ”
She froze. It wasn’t just anyone she’d nailed with the door. It was Keith, surrounded by four stern-faced men.
“What is the matter with you?” Keith barked, looking up at her and holding his head in his hand.
Lisa peeked over Val’s shoulder and whispered, “I found the golden toilet.”
Fourteen
“We were just looking for the bathroom,” Michelle said, backing up. Lisa followed her lead, but Val stayed put.
One of the security guards knelt down to offer Keith a hand. He swatted it away as he stumbled to his feet.
Michelle’s muscles tensed. Keith didn’t seem like a humble, down-on-his-luck assistant. He seemed like a mini-Lou, a younger version of the tyrant.
He jerked his head toward his security team. “Get them out of here.”
Michelle didn’t have to be asked twice. She spun around, already through the second door, when she heard Keith speak again.
“Hang on. Aren’t you Valerie Villano?”
Crap. Michelle turned to see Valerie smiling her most dazzling Hollywood smile. “I am. Are you a fan?”
He smirked. “Sure. What’re you doing here?”
“We were looking for the toilet,” Lisa sputtered.
Michelle shut her eyes. This was going downhill. She grabbed Val by the wrist, but she snapped her hand away.
“You’re just the man I was looking for, actually. I had some questions for you.”
He checked his hair in the reflection of his phone before responding. “Oh yeah? Because I’ve got some questions for you too.” He motioned at the security guards. “Get them in a room for me. Don’t forget to confiscate their phones.”
The biggest of the men nodded and made a move for Valerie. She yelped and struggled, but was unable to keep hold of her purse. Lisa suffered the same fate.
A wave of panic flooded Michelle’s senses. She had the absurd urge to fight them off, but after taking a step toward the security guys, she changed her mind. One of them locked eyes with her and her reaction was instantaneous.
She ran.
Michelle sprinted through the doorway and darted into the kitchen. She immediately ran into a tray of cheesecakes and knocked it to the floor, but she didn’t let it slow her down.
Someone yelled out to her, yelling for her to stop. It could’ve been security, it could’ve been catering staff. She didn’t know or care. She was only feet from the door, inches from freedom, and when she lunged forward, she hit a wet patch and slammed into the cold tile with athwack.
That hurt. She laid there and let out a groan before slowly reaching a hand to check the shoulder she’d landed on.
A second later, a security guard heaved her up and away. Michelle tried screaming. “Help! Help me!”
