Valid reason to leave

Melinda watched Koty's phone die and wanted to cry.

It really was an accident. If he were to ask anyone else who worked at the restaurant, they would be able to tell him just how clumsy this waitress was.

She was close to getting fired already for several other incidents. But right now, she really couldn't afford to lose her job nor could she afford to replace the phone.

"Sor-," Before she could say a single word to apologize, Koty shushed her.

She was slightly stunned for a moment as she tried to recall the last time she had been shushed. "But I-" She tried to explain a second time and was swiftly cut off by an intimidating glare.

Koty didn't want to call any attention to himself, lest he be discovered by the suspicious guy. He needed her to walk away like everything was normal.

"It's just water. Go get something to clean it up." He retracted his glare and spoke in a low calming voice.

Melinda didn't want to go before she properly apologized so she tried one last time.

"But, your pho-"

"Just go, please." His voice was firmer this time and left no room for argument.

Having no desire to fully test the limit of her customer's patience, Melinda relented and went to get a towel.

Koty looked back towards the bar to find that the man was gone. He let out a near inaudible groan and silently cursed the waitress for her terrible timing.

As he was trying to decide what to do next, the man returned to his seat at the bar and ordered another drink.

'Maybe it is a coincidence after all.' Koty considered the possibility that maybe the man had made a wrong turn on his way to the restaurant. Maybe he really wasn't paying any attention to Chance and it was just paranoia.

Then the man ordered some kind of hard liquor. The kind of stuff that you might call liquid courage. He downed the glass in one go and ordered another.

After he downed the second glass, he struggled to stand up and then started to stumble towards Chance's table.

He stopped about ten feet away and fumbled with his jacket pocket, trying to pull something out.

Koty instantly left his seat and ran toward the drunken man.

...

Chance wanted to go home. It was already late, his leg was achy, Greta was still trying to seduce him, and the chairman was pretending not to notice how uncomfortable it made everyone at the table.

The only thing stopping him from walking out was he did not want to be rude to the Domingo couple.

From what he'd gathered in the conversation thus far, the two were co-authors of one of the company's most popular children's book series. Their goal in inviting Chance to dinner was to inquire about the possibility of the company stepping into digital media.

If he hadn't been dragged around by the chairman and forced to talk to so many people, he would have been more interested in talking now. Instead, he felt drained and was looking for a way out.

He glanced hopefully at Fait who could only shake her head. Chance had agreed to this himself so if he wanted to back out, he could do that himself too.

Chance held back a yawn and checked the time on his phone. 'This is taking too long.' He unlocked his phone and sneakily sent Koty a message,

[Call me in 15 minutes.]

He could answer his phone, pretend to be surprised, and then use it as an excuse to leave.

As he looked down to put his phone back into his pocket, there was a collective gasp and then the entire restaurant erupted into chaos.

Chance looked up just in time to see some guy get tackled and forced to lay face first on the ground.

The one doing the tackling was none other than Koty.

The staff and other restaurant patrons were mumbling to each other, passing questions and concerns back and forth.

"Should we call the police?"

"What just happened?"

"Is it a fight?"

"I thought we were in a nice neighborhood. No where is safe anymore."

"This place had such a nice reputation, what a shame."

'This can't be good.' Chance stood up and walked over to the men on the ground, attracting the stares of everyone in the room.

He watched as Koty pulled out a pair of heavy duty cables ties, pulled the man's hands behind his back, and fastened them together.

Koty then pulled the man up by the collar and sat him upright on the floor. The man was definitely intoxicated and seemed to be barely aware of what was happening.

"So, is there anything you would like to share?" Chance crossed his arms and waited for an explanation.

"Uh, not really. I'm just doing my job, neutralizing a threat." He thought for second before adding, "Can you call Lola for me? My phone is kind of broken."

"I see." He tossed Koty his phone and turned back towards his table. At least he had a valid reason to leave now.