Hot Potato

14. Why Now?

I managed to hold my composure, thanks to being at the head of the line and a stall door opening. Cloistered inside with my skinny jeans and panties pulled down, I sat trembling with rage. So tense, my pee refused to flow, just dribbles and spurts in tune with my shaking. Relax, Gigi. It might not be Garth.

Hah! Who else could it be? Another man hung like him. Behaves like him. With someone who looks like me. Begs like me. A gazillion to one. Or less. Actually, impossible.

The fucker hid a camera. Now my privates are public. Without my consent. Surely, that's libel. Or defamation. A Criminal Code offence.

Look it up, Gigi. He can't get away with this. I pulled my iPhone from my hoodie pouch, turned it on and went to Chrome. Toilets flushed, and doors opened and closed on both sides – several times – while I waited for Google to load. Connection's so weak in here.

"See you out there, Chef," Danielle said.

"Yeah. Be a minute or so."

I abandoned the search attempt, and as I wiped, I thought. If there's sound attached to the video, the world will hear me begging to be licked – and him ridiculing my lips. Three weeks since I booted him. Spreading across the web all that time. Nearly three months since he moved in. If he did this back then... Oh, dear, God! This is from before I gave up on begging.

The whole world has now seen me. Heard me. Well, those who look at porn. Those who found this – this, what did Danielle call it? Webcam?

While I washed my hands, I thought, why now? Now that I'm so busy. Just getting my life back on track. Need to ignore this for the time being. Pretend everything's okay. Get back to resurrecting Hot Potato.

Trays of sliced wraps and stacks of small plates were just being placed on the tables when I returned, and people began moving toward them. Does anyone else recognise me? How many here look at that stuff? How many of those would have found this? How many even see faces? Too busy looking at cocks, cunts and boobs. Yeah, that eliminates many. Likely few –

"You're off somewhere in your mind, Gianna," Duncan's voice interrupted my thoughts. "Take a break from planning menus and have something to eat."

"Umm. Yeah. Giving others a chance to grab some first."

"I like your style. Thinking of the team before yourself."

"Thanks."

"What do you see as the next step?"

"Cleaning. A thorough cleaning. Kevin kept the central area spotless, the part they were using, but beyond there, it's covered in a film of grease and dust. If the City Health Inspectors came now, we'd be warned at best, more likely not allowed to open until we meet their standards."

"Let's remedy that, then. Turn the chain's entire cleaning staff to that task." He tilted his head in question. "Who does the cleaning?"

"The prep and line cooks do their stations – the counters, stoves and what other equipment they've used. There should be a daily, weekly and monthly routine. The dishwashers keep the floors and the general area clean. It might be best now to have both them and the line and prep cooks take this on; they have little else now to contribute to the resurrection process."

"We'll do that, then." He chuckled. "Love your choice of words."

"Thanks. But it is that, isn't it? A resurrection from the dead – or near dead." I turned and pointed toward the kitchen. "Speaking of which, the office computer. It's as good as dead without the password."

"I have that and the one for Kevin's office. Also, the access code to the POS." He opened his portfolio, pulled a paperclipped bundle of cards from one of the pockets, sorted through them and handed me two.

"Great! And the keys to the desk and file cabinet?"

"We found no keys. Likely lost at the accident scene or with what followed."

I grimaced. "Yeah. Maybe a locksmith to open the desk drawer, and if the file cabinet key isn't there, pick that lock, as well."

"I'll have one come in." Duncan pointed to the trays on the table. "The rush is over. Shall we eat?"

While I examined the selection on the trays, Danielle approached and said, "Wraps are popular, Gigi, and the fillings are limited only by a lack of creativity. They're a good patio item and great for those wanting a quick lunch." She picked up a slice of a mock crab one. "From the ordinary like these to things such as alder-smoked salmon or pulled pork, and sauces can make most anything come alive."

I selected a small slice of a ham and cheese wrap, and after nibbling on a piece of the flatbread, I said, "The tortillas would be too labour-intensive for us, and the texture and taste of this one are more than acceptable. For our regular wraps, it would be better to buy the tortillas, but for the upscale ones, we could consider making our own. The staff time would be the only added cost."

Duncan nodded and headed away, leaving Danielle and me to talk food, and we carried on in this manner for a while. Then, when nobody was near, I asked, "I'm curious to see my doppelgänger; where would I find her?"

She giggled. "It's on PornTube."

"What's that?"

"Like YouTube but much raunchier. Search for user girth; he has a bunch on there, mostly solo, showing off his huge schlong – those are my favourites."

"Is that one of those places where it's easy to infect my computer?"

"No, this one is upscale, not a sleazy one. Just get a lot of spam from it, that's all." She chuckled. "Penis enlargement ones. Seems he's sold his soul to those scams."

"Thanks." I pointed toward the kitchen. "I need to go plan the cleanup." 

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Points to consider in this chapter:

My intention in the opening scene is to have Gigi tense with anger, her emotional detachment disorder preventing her from breaking into tears or causing a scene. Have I shown this shown well?

In the following scenes, I want to show a friendly familiarity with both Duncan and Daniel and progress toward cleaning and gaining access to the webcam stuff. Have I succeeded?

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