Page 34 of The Holy Grail

Throw down at Three Amigos

The meeting with Evan, Everett, and Evelyn took place at Three Amigos on Sunday afternoon, a few hours before the doors opened for business.

When Jules arrived, she found the siblings quietly drinking coffee at one of the high-top tables, and began heading toward them, briefcase in hand.

She’d dressed in a casual work outfit—low heels and red slacks paired with a tailored, cream-colored, short-sleeved blouse that gave off an effortless, professional vibe.

Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and she’d applied minimal make-up, except for her signature Black Honey lipstick by Clinique, which was one of the staples Jules would take with her in an apocalypse.

She used it like Chapstick, even though it wasn’t cheap.

As she approached the table, Evan got to his feet. “Good morning—er, afternoon.”

“Good afternoon,” she returned, setting her briefcase down on the table. Ever since the night when Evan had asked her about Malcom and the conversation turned contentious, her relationship with Evan had been somewhat stilted.

Evan motioned toward his siblings, and Jules immediately took note of the strong resemblance between the three of them. They all had wavy, reddish-brown hair and dark brown eyes, with Everett looking like the older version of Evan, and Evelyn looking like the female version.

“Jules,” Evan said, “this is my brother, Everett, and my sister, Evelyn. Everett, Evelyn, this is Jules Shaw, the accountant I hired. ”

After looking Jules over for several seconds, Evelyn’s tone was pleasant enough when she said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Jules said.

Everett’s tone, on the other hand, held more than a trace of skepticism after looking Jules over. “You’re the accountant?” he asked, before giving Evan a side-eye that clearly said Am I supposed to believe that?

“Yes, I’m the managerial accountant,” Jules told Everett. “It’s nice to meet you.”

When it became clear Everett wasn’t going to return the sentiment, Jules couldn’t help the small smile that curved her lips; she was really going to enjoy the next sixty minutes.

Frowning at his brother’s rudeness, Evan got to his feet. “Would you like a cup of coffee?” he asked Jules.

“Yes, but I can get it,” she told him. “I know where everything is.”

At that, Evelyn and Everett exchanged a curious glance, which Jules ignored as she left the table and made her way behind the bar to pour herself a cup of coffee. She took her time adding sugar and creamer, so she could totally eavesdrop on the low conversation now taking place in her absence.

“Seriously? That’s your accountant?” Everett demanded.

“Yes,” Evan replied.

“Are you banging her?”

“What? No, I’m not banging her. But even if I was, it would be none of your fucking business.”

Finished with her coffee, Jules carried her cup to the table and took a drink before setting it down.

She knew Evan had given his brother and sister the barest amount of information—that he’d hired an accountant to help them with the business, and that was it.

Jules also knew they weren’t happy about it, especially Everett.

With three pairs of eyes watching her, Jules began. “First, I’d like to thank you for coming—”

“We didn’t really have a choice,” Everett cut in.

“Jesus,” Evan muttered. “Quit being a prick and listen.”

“Yes, Everett, quit being a prick and listen,” Jules repeated, locking gazes with him.

“I know you don’t want to be here, but I promise I’m not wasting your time.

I am a managerial accountant, with a real degree and everything, and I’m really good at what I do.

So, hopefully you’ll start taking me seriously and not demean me by thinking of me as someone your brother might be banging. ”

Jules let that hang in the air for a few seconds before continuing. “Now then, Evan hired me three and a half months ago—”

“Three and a half months ago?” Evelyn asked, shocked.

“Yes, to go through the company books—”

“You’ve been through the books?” Everett looked both dumbfounded and aggravated at that. “When? How?”

“Mostly on weekends, late at night, when Evan was working. He gave me full access to the files and the computer.”

Everett glared at Evan. “I can’t believe you did that, without asking me first.”

Evan glared back. “I own one third of this place, or have you forgotten? I don’t need your permission.”

Jules took a drink of her coffee and waited until she had everyone’s attention again.

“So, full disclosure … I casually met Evan two years ago—in this very bar, actually—and we then became friends after our mutual friends, Paige and David, got together again and remarried. On the night Evan hired me, I was here having a drink and noticed some things, which I questioned him about.”

“Like what?” Evelyn wanted to know.

Sensing a bit of an ally in the other woman, Jules turned her attention that way. “Like the fact Evan works insane hours and yet admitted he’s barely getting by. And by barely getting by, I mean he sometimes relies on tips for income.”

Evelyn glanced at Evan, looking like she wanted to say something to him, but turned back to Jules, instead, and waited. Everett, however, didn’t stay silent.

“You’re making $36,000 a year,” he said. “Why are you barely getting by?”

“Because after taxes, his salary barely covers his living expenses,” Jules answered, aggravated with Everett for being under the impression that $36,000 was making bank.

Reaching into her briefcase, she pulled out three sheets of paper and placed one in front of everyone.

“That will change, though, as soon as this new pay schedule goes into effect in two weeks.”

The three of them looked it over, with wildly different reactions. Evan looked stunned, Evelyn looked mostly neutral, and Everett looked like he was going to flip a chair.

“What is this?” he demanded.

“Like I said, it’s the new pay schedule for the three of you. Evan’s salary is going to be raised to $65,000, Evelyn’s will remain the same at $55,000, and yours will be lowered—”

“To $49,000? ”

“Yes, but only temporarily, until everything gets equalized—”

“Are you out of your mind? Where are you getting these numbers?”

“I’m so glad you asked,” Jules said, pulling several more sheets of paper out of her briefcase and passing them out.

“This shows the initial investments made by each of you for the renovations when you inherited the bar. Now, while I agree that since you—” she looked at Everett, “—provided the most capital up front, you should have received a higher return reflected in your paychecks. However, that higher return shouldn’t have been quite as high as it was, and should have diminished over time, as your investment was repaid. ”

“You asshole.” Evan gave his brother a look full of disgust, disbelief, and betrayal. “I know I didn’t contribute as much to the renovations, but you’ve been paying yourself twice as much as you’ve been paying me? For seven years?”

“Yes, he has,” Jules confirmed. “And after you had all earned your initial investment back, everyone’s income should have been equalized and adjusted, based on number of hours put into the business, but they weren’t.

The only one here making a wage commensurate with their hours is Evelyn, who averages forty hours a week, while Everett averages thirty-three and continues to be grossly overpaid.

Evan, who averages sixty hours a week, is grossly under paid, barely making minimum wage—”

“Sixty hours?” Everett stared at Evan. “According to your time cards, you’re only working forty hours a week.”

“Because I didn’t see the point in writing down anything over forty, since I’m a salaried employee and was never going to get paid for it.”

“I didn’t know you were putting in all those extra hours. I would have done something had I known.” Everett sighed heavily. “You should have told me.”

“I thought we were all putting in extra hours, which is why I didn’t say anything.

But apparently I was the only one—and making half the money, too, so now I’m really fucking pissed, especially since I do practically all the clean-up myself every night I work.

” Evan got up and stalked over to the bar, where he grabbed a bottle and a shot glass and poured himself a drink.

After throwing it back, he poured another one and dispatched it as well.

“Bring that over here, along with a couple more glasses,” Evelyn called out to him. “I think we’re going to need it.”

When Evan returned with the extra shot glasses and the bottle, which turned out to be a $600 bottle of Crown Royal, Everett asked him, “What do you mean you’ve been doing all the clean-up by yourself every night you work? ”

Because Evan was busy pouring three drinks, Jules answered for him. “He was sending his staff home right after closing and cleaning up by himself to save money for the bar.”

“Oh, Evan,” Evelyn murmured, before grabbing a shot glass and draining it. “You really should have said something.”

“This from the person who totally ignored me when I said something about our stupid shirts,” he scoffed. “You knew I fucking hated them, but you didn’t pay any attention to that.”

“I didn’t know you hated them—”

“You didn’t? Was I, in any way unclear when I stated ‘I fucking hate them’ when you showed them to me?”

Evelyn poured another drink. “I thought you were just … exaggerating.”

“Well, I wasn’t. And you basically told me to wear one, like it, and shut the fuck up.”

Everett tried to intervene. “The shirts aren’t that bad—”

“To you, maybe, because you’re not the one in the headlock, getting a fucking noogie .”