Page 12 of The Fiancée Farce
Katherine plucked her glasses off the desk, sliding them up thebridge of her nose. “Do you really thinknowis the right time to be bringing someone on?”
If not now, when? “I really do. It’s October, and if we hire someone now, we can get them settled before the holidays.” She laced her fingers together atop the desk and forced herself to meet Katherine’s eyes. “Katherine, we need help.Ineed help. It’s only Kat, Tahereh, Danny, and me. At the very least, we need a dedicated events director and another bookseller.”
Because right now, Tansy was drowning. She was the office manager, dealing with inventory, online orders, B2B bulk orders, packing, labeling, and shipping. If that wasn’t enough, she was also the adult buyer and the adult book club coordinator. It was too much for two people to juggle, and Tansy was doing it all while also occasionally pitching in on the sales floor.
And it wasn’t only Tansy who was exhausted. Kat, the floor manager, begged Tansy on a weekly basis for another set of hands, at least part-time. Tahereh, the children’s book buyer and young reader book club coordinator, had permanent bags beneath her eyes, and Danny, the marketing and communications manager, mainlined coffee like it was water.
Everyoneat Belltown Books was on the verge of burnout.
“What about... what’s her name?” Katherine snapped her fingers. “Thandie! That’s it. What about her? She didn’t quit, did she?”
“No, Thandie is on maternity leave.”
“Still?” Katherine frowned. “Didn’t she have her baby weeks ago?”
“Four weeks, yes. She’s on parental leave for twelve.”
“Not paid, right?”
Tansy stared at her, hoping she was kidding, knowing deepdown inside she wasn’t. “Yes, paid. In fact, that’s something else I want to talk about. Did you know that parents are entitled to up to sixteen weeks of paid parental leave under European Union law?”
“We’re not part of the EU, Tansy, so I hardly see how that’s relevant,” Katherine said, brushing her off with a wave of her hand. “Fine, so Thandie is on maternity leave until the new year. Are yousureyou can’t just hold the fort down until then?”
“I guess—”
“Great. I’m so glad we have that settled.”
Nothing was settled. “IguessI can manage for a few weeks, but I hardly see why we can’t hire someone when business is booming.”
Katherine frowned. “Boomingis subjective. We might be doing well now, sure, but hiring someone is going to cut into our profits.”
Tansy pressed her fingers into the space between her brows. She could feel the beginnings of a headache creeping up on her, a subtle yet incessant throb that likely had less to do with last night’s champagne and more to do with—well, she could take her pick, honestly. What in her life wasn’t headache-inducing?
“We need to consider profitability versus sustainability, Katherine.” Not to mention employee retention. Who the hell wanted to work themselves to the bone with increased duties and stagnant pay? “So we cut into profits a little bit. We can afford to do that, especially if you consider how amazing our team is at what they do. We should be looking at them as an investment, nurturing those relationships and making sure they know they’re valued. Because this store can’t survive without them. It’s about the bigger picture, the future of Belltown Books.”
“The future,” Katherine repeated, touching the chain hanging around her neck. “Hmm.”
“Thereisalways another option.” Tansy drummed the end of her pen against the desk. “If you’re opposed to cutting into profits, you could always put in a few hours.”
Katherine’s hand fell to her lap. “A few hours doing what?”
“You know... working here.”
In the store she owned, the store she reaped the majority of the profits from, the store she seldom ever visited.
Katherine laughed. “Oh, Tansy. For a second, I thought you were serious.”
Tansy stared.
Katherine’s laughter tapered off into a quiet scoff. “I’m too busy. And it’s of little consequence, given what I believe we need to discuss.” She rubbed the front of her throat. “Heavens, this is difficult for me to say. Probably just as difficult as it will be for you to hear.”
A dozen worst-case scenarios flitted through Tansy’s head, each increasingly awful. “Is everything okay? You’re not sick, are you?”
“Of course not. Don’t you think I would have led with that?” Katherine batted at the air. “No, I have been approached with an offer.”
Tansy’s heart made a slow descent, sinking to her stomach. “An offer to what?”
“Do I really have to spell it out?” Katherine groaned. “Selling, Tansy. A representative from Scylla Inc. reached out with a generous offer, and I am considering accepting.”
