The Green Ticket (17 page)

“Awesome. It will be a great trip. I know it.” Henry grinned at me. “I’m glad you girls came to the party.”

“I’m glad we did too, Henry. I’m glad we did too.”

Chapter 11

“I’ll have the avocado salad, hold the dressing. And just a water, please.” Dani dug around her oversized purse, triumphantly pulling out her wallet.

“Is that all, miss?”

“And whatever she would like too.” Dani gestured to me.

“Um, I’ll just have what she is having. Thanks. And thank you for lunch,” I said, turning my attention away from the complicated menu board to face Dani.

“My pleasure. I should be thanking you for coming out to lunch with me. I need a break from the girls every once in a while or I’m afraid I would constantly talk in baby language!”

It was a Wednesday, and Dani had asked me out to lunch before I started my shift at Blissful. Lunches were becoming a common occurrence between us. We even had a few dinners together, and trips to the mall. I had been to Dani and Kevin’s house twice and was starting to feel more comfortable around my bosses. Kevin still gave me the creeps sometimes, but nothing further had been said from Mandy, so I was assuming everything was okay with that situation. And Dani really was becoming a true friend. Well, a friend in the way that a boss can become a friend. I still got nervous around her and tried to always say the right things, but I could tell I was slowly becoming more at ease with her.

“So I haven’t really talked to you in a few days. How’s everything going? Classes all right?” We settled into a booth in the corner, Dani shoving her briefcase in first and then sitting down. I also shoved my briefcase, smaller than Dani’s but still professional looking, into the corner and took a seat across from her.

“Classes are good. My friends are good, and I think everything else at Blissful is going really well. And–– ” I was bursting to tell her about my date–– “I had a date on Saturday night!”

“You did? I didn’t know you had a date lined up. With who? Where did you go?” Dani leaned her elbows on the table, pushing her body forward. I made sure to avert my eyes from the cleavage that was spilling out of her lavender blouse.

“It was kind of last minute. His name is Henry Landon, and his friend Peter is kind of seeing my friend Hannah. We met at a Halloween party.” I paused as our food was brought out. The salad looked...interesting. A little sad with no croutons or dressing, but it was healthy and Dani swore by them. I tucked in with only somewhat abashed enthusiasm.

“Henry thought he was going home for the weekend, then he didn’t, so he decided to take a chance and see if I was free. He wanted to get reservations at Bellini’s but they were full, so we actually just ended up at an Applebee’s.”

Dani’s perfectly plucked eyebrows rose. “Applebee’s? On your first date?”

“To be fair, he let me choose the restaurant. And I love Applebee’s and it’s simple and wouldn’t put as much pressure on me as Bellini’s.” I hurried to defend Henry. I loved our first date. I thought it was perfect. “But he did say for the second date he will make sure to get that reservation at Bellini’s.”

“Wow, so you already have a second date planned?”

“Yep. It’s going to be this Saturday. And I’ll have the whole day to get ready since I have the weekend off!”

“If things go well, maybe the four of us could go out together sometime. Kevin and myself, you and Henry. I would love to meet him.”

I nearly dropped my fork. “Yes! That would be excellent. I’ve already talked so much about you and Blissful. I would love that!” It was almost going to be like a meet the parent’s scenario, which made me nervous. Maybe after the third date–– if there was a third date–– would I mention it to Henry.

“Tell me more about Henry! What does he look like? Where is he from?”

Dani and I had an enjoyable lunch, where I spilled all the details on Henry and how excited I was over a boy–– the first time in a long time. Dani gave a few stories on her daughters and the hassle they gave her over the weekend, and mentioned a few sales reports that she wanted to go over with me back at the salon.

When we left the deli, I imagined what we looked like to others as we bounced out the door–– Dani, petite yet full of confidence, dark hair tucked under a stylish wool cap and a dark red peacock coat protecting her from the cold. Me with a lighter coat on because I still hadn’t dug up my proper winter coat from the storage box, a white stocking cap covering my red hair. We ran towards Dani’s vehicle to get away from the cold, laughing and out of breath by the time we reached the doors. I imagined that people thought we were sisters, or maybe just best friends. Perhaps business professionals out for a casual lunch before heading back to the office. Being around Dani gave me newfound confidence. I had the power to make decisions, to run a full-scale salon and spa, and be in charge of employees. Dani made me feel level with her. We were a team, and our main goal was to make Blissful as successful as it could be. I was falling in love with my new life.

$$$

“Alex, can I talk to you? Are you busy?” Kevin opened the door to the office and took a seat.

I swiveled my chair around so I was facing him. “Yeah, sure. I was just looking at the sales reports for the goals I assigned everyone.”

“Yeah, yeah, the goals. That was a great idea if I haven’t mentioned it. Great idea.” Kevin was his usual self–– all over the place and seeming to be in a rush. “Buy, hey, listen–– did you leave here early on Saturday?”

That wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought back to Saturday. Date night with Henry. The chat with Mandy regarding the man standing before me. “Um, yes. I left about forty-five minutes early. Then I came in an hour early on Sunday to make up for it and to work on schedules.” I gestured to the schedule board, where my hard work was pinned to the corkscrew.

“That’s really not acceptable. We need a manager on duty at all times, and you need to stay to do the cash drawer.”

I felt as though I had been slapped. “But Allie was here...?” I trailed off meekly. Allie had been here, right? And she told me it would be okay to leave, I was sure of it.

“While Allie helped us for a while, she is not the manager of the store. Either you, Dani, or myself need to be here to close. Every. Night.”

I stood still for a moment, wondering if I was going to cry. The tone of voice Kevin was using made me feel like he was belittling me. And every night I had to close? That meant I could never cut a night short during the week or weekend–– ever? “Okay,” I said slowly. “I see what you mean, and I apologize. I wasn’t aware that Allie wasn’t capable of closing. I do have one question though.”

Kevin had already turned his back to me and was powering up his laptop in the far corner of the office. “Yeah?” he said, distracted and already uninterested in me.

“What about the days I come in early? Or do work away from the salon before my scheduled time?”

“You’re a manager. You’re going to work more than forty hours a week. That’s why we pay you salary and give you those nice bonuses when the salon does well. Didn’t they teach you anything about managing at Kaufman?”

My face went crimson. How dare he undermine me! A question is a question. And no one said anything about working more than forty hours a week when I signed on. I swiftly turned back to the computer, the sales reports going fuzzy as tears filled my eyes.
Do not cry in front of this dick. Do not cry,
I repeated to myself. How I so badly wanted to snap, to tell him his disgusting behavior towards Mandy helped me reach my decision to leave early on Saturday. See what excuse he could come up with then.

But I didn’t. I calmed myself down, focused back on my reports, and Kevin and I worked in silence for about ten minutes until his phone started ringing. First, it sounded like a business call. I could only hear Kevin’s side of the conversation, but it didn’t sound like a good one. “Did you get him to sign the paperwork? I told you–– the paperwork has to be signed! What are you not understanding? Get the fucking paperwork signed and to me no later than five o’clock tomorrow!”

Sheesh. And I thought he talked down to me. Another phone call right after that. “This Kevin.” Kevin and Dani both answered their phones that way, like they were too busy to include the “is.” “Well, hey, stranger! I just spoke to Chris and it sounds like everything will work out fine. The paperwork should be to me by tomorrow, no problem. She’ll be ready to be on set by next week, and the photographer and shoot location are good to go. Yeah, it was nothing. Come on, you didn’t think I would let this opportunity slip, did you? She could be a potential Playmate, and I want her to have her first real shoot to come from Gropers. Yeah, buddy, we’ll get it!” A hearty laugh that sounded more evil than anything to my ears. “Yep. Yep. Friday night again? I’ll be there. Make sure she is too.” His cell phone flipped closed, and Kevin started whistling a tune. I kept working, shifting my focus to preparing the next payroll batch, trying to ignore the slime that dripped from my boss’s words.

“Hey, you doing anything for dinner?” Kevin asked, and I turned my head slightly to see if he was on the phone again. He wasn’t.

“Me?” I asked.

“Well, yeah! I think I’m going to stick around for a while and keep an eye on things. I could go grab us something if you didn’t bring anything.”

“Um, sure. I mean, no, I didn’t bring anything. So sure, that would be great.” I was confused. Was he not just berating me for leaving the store? Now he wanted to buy me dinner? And he wanted to stay at the salon all night? That was really going to cramp style. I felt like I was under a microscope now with my leaving-early mistake. I would have to put on a top manager performance that night.

Kevin left shortly after to pick up some Chinese, and I went out into the main area. Wednesdays were a hit or miss busy night, but that Wednesday the schedule had seemed full so I scheduled more staff than usual. Perhaps people wanting to get in before the Thanksgiving holiday made the schedule busier. Tiffany was at the front (Windexing the counter when I checked on her) and Allie, Morgan, Jewel, Katie, Sophia, Alyssa, and Vicki were on the books. From the schedule it looked to be a steady night, and that was not including walk-ins. I was thankful that Mandy wasn’t scheduled. Even though there hadn’t seemed to be any more problems, I didn’t want her and Kevin together all night long in case it made her uncomfortable.

“Hey, Tiffany. How is everything going up here?” I asked when I reached the front. Tiffany flicked her brown bangs off her forehead and threw some paper towels in the garbage.

“Not too bad. A little busy.”

“Well, I’m going to eat dinner soon, and Kevin will be here the rest of the night, but if you need help up here, don’t be afraid to get me. I’ll be up in a jiff.”

“Kevin’s going to be here? All night?” A flicker of panic crossed Tiffany’s heavily made-up brown eyes.

Shit.
Please, oh please, do not be another Mandy situation, I thought to myself. “Yes. We have some work to do in the office.” Total lie, I was pretty sure Kevin just wanted to keep an eye out on me, but I certainly didn’t want to tell one of my employees that. “Is everything okay?” I dared to ask.

“What? Oh, sure. Sure, yeah.” Tiffany grabbed out a bottle of Pledge from beneath the counter and ripped off another handful of paper towels. “Just was wondering. Want to be on the best behavior if the big man is around!” She tittered, a cross between a laugh, a screech, and a choke.

Fuck. Clearly something was rattling Tiffany. And I would bet money that it involved Kevin being inappropriate in some way towards her. Did he follow her to a club too? Try to pay off her in some way?

I stood for an extra beat at the front, watching Tiffany furiously scrub down the wooden panels of the desk. I didn’t want to push her or make her more uncomfortable than she clearly already was. I just needed to remind her that I was here. “Okay, well, I’m going to alert the others that he’ll be around tonight so we keep everything extra clean. But, Tiffany, if you ever need anything, work or personal-wise, my door is open. Okay?”

Tiffany looked up at me then and seemed ready to say something when the ringing of the office phone cut through the tension. She just nodded at me and picked up the phone with a brisk, “Thank you for calling Blissful Salon and Spa. This is Tiffany, how may I help you?”

I walked into the salon, wondering how to get Tiffany to tell me what was up. Wait? I didn’t make Mandy come to me, but then again, I hadn’t known any of this before Mandy told her story. Now that I knew, I was afraid every time an employee acted rattled around Kevin I was going to assume he was harassing them in some way. Maybe he was just firm with Tiffany once, like he was with me earlier. Maybe she made a mistake with an appointment, or forgot to clock-in, or left cleaning supplies out. Just because she was jumpy didn’t automatically mean Kevin tried to hit on her. I was jumping to conclusions.

After satisfying myself with that pep talk, I walked around and alerted the rest of the staff that Kevin and I would be having a business dinner in the office while going over stats (another lie, but I didn’t want to make it sound like we were having a cozy dinner together) and that we would both be around the rest of the night if they needed anything from us. That seemed to go over well enough for everyone, so I retreated back into the office to wait for Kevin to return with my Kung Pao Chicken and egg rolls.

$$$

Friday. I arrived at Blissful two hours before opening time. Kevin stayed at Blissful the entire night on Wednesday, even staying to count the drawer and organize receipts with me. Then Dani stayed all Thursday night with me. I felt terrible. I felt that they didn’t trust me with their business, all because I left early one night. One night! And it wasn’t like I skipped an entire shift at work; it was a measly forty-five minutes. The eggshells I was walking on were delicate, and I felt sure I was going to lose my job any day now. I needed to work extra hard to prove that I was a capable manager for Blissful Salon and Spa.