“This is getting ridiculous,” he said.
“A private employee matter is being turned into some kind of spectacle.”
Nathan looked around the diner.
“Your employee matter became a spectacle when you chose to discipline her in front of a room full of customers.”
Rick’s face reddened.
Nathan held up the warning.
“And this says she discounted meals.
She says she didn’t.
Your employee has a recording of the confrontation.
So perhaps we should establish what actually happened.”
Dany unlocked her phone.
She walked toward Nathan, but before handing it over, she stopped beside me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I didn’t answer.
Not yet.
Yesterday, she’d been amused enough to record my humiliation.
Today, regret had found her because the balance of power had changed.
Nathan watched the video without expression.
I didn’t need to hear it clearly.
I remembered every word.
Rick’s voice barking across the breakfast rush.
You know she can’t pay.
Do you want your wages docked?
No more freebies.
If she eats, it comes out of your check.
Then my own quiet answer.
She’s just a child, Rick.
When the video ended, Nathan handed the phone back to Dany.
Rick immediately started talking.
“That doesn’t show the full context.
She had been repeatedly violating instructions.
I have a responsibility to protect the business.
If employees start feeding whoever walks in without enough money—”
“She paid,” Nathan said.
Rick blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“You keep calling it free food.
She just told you she paid the difference herself.”
“That’s not the point.”
“It seems very much like the point.”
Rick’s eyes shifted toward me.
There was anger in them now.
Not fear of Nathan.
Anger at me for still standing there.
“You should be careful,” he said.
“She’s making herself sound like some kind of saint.
Ask her how many times she’s ignored procedure.
Ask her how often I’ve had to accommodate her school schedule.”
The old pressure hit me immediately.
Rent.
Tuition.
Morning shifts.
Rick knew exactly where to press because he’d watched me build my life around the hours he gave me.
Nathan saw my expression.
“Night school?” he asked.
I nodded.
