Page 118 of Baby, Be Mine

Dammit, she might be the worst when it came to dealing with customers, but she was intuitive when she wanted to be. I avoided being in enclosed spaces with her as often as possible lately.

“Fine. Let’s go out to the patio.” I didn’t want to do this in public. She might have gone downhill as an employee, but she had been loyal to me for years.

Mostly anyway.

She put her hands on her hips. “What’s this about?”

“It’s about the MJ2.”

She lifted her chin. “I guess you heard about the Perrys?”

“I did.”

“It wasn’t my fault. She was a shrew and thought she was better than me—than us.”

I glanced around as conversations quieted. “Gillian. In my office.” My voice was steely and brooked no argument.

Unless you were Gillian, evidently.

“No, we’ll do this right here.”

I gritted my teeth. “There are customers.”

“I don’t fucking care.”

It was my turn to spark with anger. “You might not care about my business, but I do. We will not discuss this on the floor.” I turned to head to the kitchen door.

She grabbed my arm. Suddenly, her face was contrite, and tears shimmered along the heavy black lines around her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m just stressed. I’ve been working a lot of hours.”

Be strong.

“We’ll talk about it in my office.”

The tears cleared like magic. “What, so everyone won’t hear you berate me?” she asked just loud enough for the room to hear.

I stepped closer, my voice low. “I haven’t berated anyone in my life, even if you’ve deserved it for the last six months.”

She jerked as if I’d slapped her. “I’ve done everything for this place.” She tried to curl her long fingers around my wrist. “Foryou.”

“No that would be for you, Gillian. Everything you do is with yourself in mind. I was trying to do this kindly and quietly because you have been an employee here since we opened. But I think it’s time for us to part ways.”

“You’re firing me?” Her voice rose.

“Effective immediately. Get your things. I’ll deposit your last check and two weeks’ severance into your account tonight.” I turned away from her again.

This time, I reached as far as the kitchen door before her voice lashed at me from behind.

“You can’t fire me!” She literally stomped her heel into the hardwood floor. “You need me.”

I stopped with my hand on the door. “No, Gillian, I really don’t.” Then I walked through it.

The kitchen was deathly quiet. Everyone was staring at me, breaths held.

Henry started clapping with a sly smile.

“Don’t.” I pointed at him with a warning. “You’ll be the one helping me to fix all of this.”

Henry held up his hands, smug smile still in place. “You got it, Boss.”

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