Borrow My Seat novel · Chapter 4 of 24

Chapter 4: Eighty Guests

The Lakeshore Yacht Club had white tablecloths, a string quartet, and a twelve-foot screen playing a slideshow of Lane and Chantal as children.

I stood at the coat check in a green dress with the torn invitation in my purse.

Greta stood beside me in the only dress she owned, with her arms folded, scanning the room.

"Eighty people," she said. "Eighty. He's invited eighty people to watch you grovel."

"Then they'll have a good view."

"Ingrid."

A voice came from behind the coat rack.

"Ms. Eklund?"

I turned.

A young woman in a pink dress stood there, white-faced, holding her phone in both hands.

I knew her.

She had been the one filming in my lobby.

"I'm not here to fight," she said fast. "I just, I need to show you something."

Greta stepped forward, and I put a hand on her arm.

"Show me."

The girl opened a group chat called Mistress Patrol.

It had seven members.

I scrolled up through weeks of messages, through emoji and laughing faces, until I reached a thread from September.

Chantal: new job starts monday. she'll be alone in the lobby at 8:50

Chantal: wade says he'll make sure she isn't fired by us this time, he wants her to LEAVE

Lane: Big banner. Everyone in white. Make her cry. The cops are a bonus if she's dumb enough to call them.

Lane: I'll bring the certificate. Let her find out on camera.

My eyes stopped on the last line.

"I thought it was just a prank," the girl whispered. "Like the other two."

"Other two?"

She pointed to the chat's first page.

The packaging firm had a date.

The ad agency had a date.

Both had been planned in that group, with a lunch break chosen for the best crowd.

My hands had gone cold.

"Send it to me," I said. "All of it."

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