$30 for Michelin?

My phone kept buzzing on the prep counter. I had just finished prepping a two-pound Valmere blue lobster. After drying my hands, I picked up my phone and tapped the screen. The high school group chat was blowing up. A: [No. 12. Count me in. Ms. Linden is so generous! Thirty dollars a head at a private dining restaurant? You'd be crazy to pass that up!] B: [No. 15. Can I bring my husband and my mother-in-law? That's ninety total!] C: [No. 28. I heard portions at private dining places are tiny. Rowan, make sure there's enough food tomorrow. Don't let us leave hungry.] In less than ten minutes, the sign-up list had hit fifty-two. Sterling Eaton spammed the group chat with a dozen thumbs-up emojis. Sterling Eaton: [Everyone, go ahead and sign up. Rowan and I go way back. She won't say no to me.] Sterling Eaton: [Tomorrow night at seven. Starling House, downtown. Don't be late.] Starling House was my restaurant. It had taken me three years to build it from nothing. Just last month, Starling House had earned its Black Pearl Three-Diamond plaque. Our prices started at eight thousand dollars per person. That was before service. And they wanted to pay thirty dollars each? That would not even cover the black truffle shavings on a single plate. I quickly typed three words. Rowan Linden: [I never agreed.] For ten seconds, the group chat went silent. Then Sterling immediately shot back. Sterling Eaton: [Rowan, that's not very nice.] Sterling Eaton: [We're your classmates. You run a little diner, and we're coming to support your business. That's us showing you respect.] Sterling Eaton: [Do you actually think you're some kind of big shot now?] I stared at the words "little diner" and let out a cold laugh. Rowan Linden: [I already said the restaurant is fully booked tomorrow night. We don't have room for you.] Sterling refused to let it go. Sterling Eaton: [Fully booked? Can't you just turn those people away?] Sterling Eaton: [Do those outsiders matter more than your old classmates?] Sterling Eaton: [We're going out of our way to bring you business. Don't be ungrateful.] The others in the group chat quickly joined in. A: [Yeah, Rowan. Back in school, your family was so broke you didn't even own a decent backpack. We looked out for you all the time back then.] B: [Now that you've made a little money, you've forgotten all about us? You're really making a fuss over thirty dollars?] C: [Fine, we'll pay fifty each. There. Happy now? Don't be so greedy.] I read those self-righteous messages and almost laughed at the sheer absurdity of it all. Yes, my family had been poor back then. But their idea of helping me had been dumping the dirtiest and hardest chores on me. It had been breaking my school supplies and saying, "It's not like they were worth anything." It had been Sterling asking me out, getting rejected, and then leading the whole class in freezing me out. After that, he spread rumors that I was a thief. And now they wanted to lecture me about classmate loyalty. What a lovely phrase for them to use. Sterling's wife, Genevra Huxley, popped up in the chat too. She had been the prettiest girl in the class next door, and she still spoke in that same tone, three parts flirtation and seven parts condescension. Genevra Huxley: [Rowan, honey, Sterling means well.] Genevra Huxley: [With more than fifty of us going to your restaurant tomorrow, one post from each of us on social media would bring you so much exposure.] Genevra Huxley: [That's the kind of free advertising you couldn't pay for.] Genevra Huxley: [Your new restaurant must be pretty empty anyway. Just think of it as doing a good deed.] I did not reply. I muted the group chat. A moment later, my restaurant manager, Sophie Lewis, walked over with tomorrow's ingredient order. "Boss, Mr. Granger had booked out the entire restaurant for tomorrow night, but he had to leave the country on short notice. He canceled." She hesitated. "The ingredients have already been flown in, though, and they won't keep for long. What should we do?" I took the list and scanned it. The order included premium bluefin otoro, Mareval oysters, Ivory Vale white truffles, and top-grade Imperial Moon caviar. Every item on it was a luxury ingredient. The ingredients alone had already cost us well into the high six figures. I set my phone on the counter and tapped my fingers lightly against the marble. "Then we don't waste them." I looked up. "Tomorrow night, we have more than fifty distinguished guests coming." Sophie blinked. "More than fifty? Then we'll need three private dining rooms." "No private rooms." I stood and looked up at the crystal chandelier above the main dining hall. "Clear out the main hall. Set up one long banquet table. Use all the top-tier ingredients tomorrow. Don't hold anything back." Sophie looked surprised. "Boss, those ingredients cost a fortune. Who exactly are these guests?" "My high school classmates," I said with a smile. "They said they wanted to support my business. Since they're so eager to support me, I'll give them the full VIP treatment." Sophie had worked with me for three years. She understood immediately. "Got it. I'll arrange everything right away." Then she asked, "Should I have the security company send more guards?" "Yes." I looked out at the darkening sky beyond the window. "Send ten more. Someone might try to dine and dash tomorrow."