FREYA'S POV
I immediately stepped away from Thomas's table and positioned myself directly in the center of the aisle because I refused to let anyone insult Carl's restaurant while I was working my shift. The man standing near the entrance was incredibly tall, and he wore a tailored black suit that probably cost more money than I earned in an entire year of waitressing. His dark hair was combed perfectly away from his forehead, and his facial features were conventionally handsome, although his severe expression of superiority ruined his physical appearance completely.
"I am the waitress responsible for serving the food in this establishment, and our kitchen passes every single municipal health inspection with perfect scores," I stated loudly so my voice would carry across the empty room. "Furthermore, you cannot walk into a private business and start shouting at the customers, so I strongly suggest you lower your voice or leave the building immediately."
The man did not even look at my face when I spoke to him. He completely ignored my presence and walked directly past me until he reached the corner booth where Thomas was sitting. The second man in the grey suit followed closely behind him and stopped a few feet away with a completely blank expression on his face.
"I have been searching for you all morning, and Leon finally tracked the GPS signal on your mobile phone to this terrible location," the man in the dark suit said as he looked down at Thomas. "The board of directors is waiting for you in the primary conference room to discuss the upcoming merger, yet you are sitting in a grease-covered diner eating cheap dessert."
Thomas slowly placed his metal fork down on the ceramic plate and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin before he looked up at the younger man.
"You need to learn some basic manners, Mason, because your current behavior is completely unacceptable," Thomas scolded him gently while he pushed his empty coffee mug toward the center of the table. "I am enjoying a peaceful meal, and you are disrupting the quiet atmosphere of this restaurant with your unnecessary shouting."
I was entirely shocked to realize that this rude, aggressive billionaire was related to my favorite, humble customer, but my initial surprise quickly transformed into intense anger. I walked over to the booth and stood directly next to Thomas to defend him from his own son.
"You heard him tell you that he is eating his lunch, so you need to wait outside in your vehicle until he finishes his food," I told the man named Mason as I crossed my arms firmly over my chest. "We do not allow people to loiter in the dining area if they are not ordering food from the menu."
Mason finally turned his head and looked down at me with an expression of absolute disdain. He deliberately inspected my stained apron and my worn-out canvas sneakers before he focused his dark eyes on my face.
"I do not take orders from waitresses, and I certainly do not care about your opinions regarding my family affairs," Mason informed me in a cold, flat tone that lacked any human emotion. "Leon, please pay this woman for the dessert so we can escort my father out of this unsanitary building and return to the corporate office."
The man in the grey suit immediately stepped forward and reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a thick leather wallet. He extracted a crisp one-hundred-dollar bill and held it out toward me.
"I do not want your money, and I do not want your arrogant attitude inside my workplace," I snapped back angrily while I pushed Leon's hand away from the table. "Thomas is a paying customer who deserves to eat his pie in peace, and you have absolutely no right to drag him out of here against his will just because you are impatient about a business meeting."
Mason narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to me until he was actively invading my personal space. I could smell his expensive cologne, but I refused to step backward because I would never allow an entitled man to intimidate me.
"I know exactly what kind of game you are playing, and I assure you that your ridiculous strategy will not work," Mason said in a low, threatening voice while he stared directly into my eyes. "You obviously discovered that my father is a wealthy man, and you are pretending to care about him so you can extract money from his bank accounts. I deal with opportunistic women like you every single day, and I will not allow you to manipulate him any longer."
I gasped loudly because his accusation was incredibly insulting, and I clenched my hands into tight fists at my sides to stop myself from slapping his perfectly shaved jaw.
"I had no idea that Thomas had any money until you walked through that door wearing a designer suit and complaining about a board of directors," I argued fiercely as I leaned closer to him. "I treat him with respect because he is a kind human being, which is a concept you clearly do not understand. You might have billions of dollars in your bank account, but your personality is completely bankrupt, and I feel genuinely sorry for anyone who has to interact with you on a daily basis."
"You are incredibly insolent, and I could easily purchase this entire building just to fire you from your menial job," Mason threatened while his jaw muscles tightened visibly.
"You are welcome to try, but Carl owns this property outright, and he would never sell his business to a corporate tyrant like you," I countered without any hesitation. "Now, you need to step away from my table and let my customer finish his food, or I will call the police and have you removed from the premises for trespassing."
A tense silence filled the diner after I delivered my speech, and Mason stared at me with a mixture of shock and fury because nobody ever spoke to him in that disrespectful manner. He opened his mouth to reply to my insult, and I prepared myself for another verbal attack.
However, a sudden noise stopped him from speaking.
Thomas suddenly dropped his ceramic coffee mug onto the floor, and the thick glass shattered into several pieces while the dark liquid spilled across the worn linoleum tiles. Thomas clutched his left hand tightly over the center of his chest and gasped loudly for air while his face turned an unhealthy shade of pale grey. He leaned forward and knocked the plate of cherry pie onto the floor as his breathing became incredibly shallow and erratic.
"Dad!" Mason shouted in panic, and all of his previous arrogance vanished instantly as he rushed forward to grab the older man's shoulders.
Thomas slumped sideways against the vinyl booth, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he lost consciousness completely. His body went entirely limp against the padded seat, and his arms dropped uselessly to his sides.
"Do not just stand there looking at us!" Mason yelled at me with pure desperation in his voice while he frantically checked his father's neck for a pulse. "Call an ambulance right now because my father is dying!"