Mary checked her phone.
“Shit,” she mumbled.
Hannah still hadn’t replied to her message.
Mary reluctantly placed the device back on her desk and reached for the cup of coffee with a tired sigh. Mary had woken up at 4AM and hadn’t been able to go back to sleep. She had gone to work early instead.
Her eyes were burning and a dull ache in the back of her head was making it hard for her to focus. Her patience was wearing thin too. She was waiting for news about Lucile and she hadn’t heard any apart from what Lex had shared yesterday.
Not that Hannah had to keep her up to date, of course. She evidently had better things to do. Mary wasn’t even part of the family. But she was worried and she had hoped to get some good news by now.
Reading her emails as a distraction had not exactly helped. It had only made her more grumpy. The many messages from Lex had a lot to do with that.
The shitty part? Mary had promised to respond to every single email. That was the deal she had made with Lex after she had heard the news about Lucile yesterday.
Mary had been shocked to find out Lucile had had a stroke. It had been even more unsettling to hear that Lucile was still in intensive care with no guarantee of a good outcome.
Mary had felt the tears stinging as she thought of her old boss fighting for her life. Lex too had looked sullen and lost. They had sat in silence for a few minutes, staring down at their hands.
Once the first shock had worn off, Mary had decided there was only one thing she could do to make things a little better. She could make sure Hannah had absolutely nothing to worry about when it came to the store.
“You’re right. We cannot call Hannah. Can we find a way to get through this week?” she had asked Lex.
Lex pursed her lips, thinking. “Maybe we can compromise,“ she said.
Mary nodded eagerly. “I’d like that. Any suggestions?”
“What if I agree to follow the schedule you came up with?“ Lex said slowly.
Mary gestured for her to keep going, knowing Lex would want something in return.
Lex pointed at Mary’s laptop. “I’ll look into the numbers after work and you’ll answer my questions over email the next morning?“
It was a comprise she could live with, Mary thought.
“Okay, that works for me,” she had said.
After that, she had hardly seen Lex for the remainder of the day. Karen had shown Lex the personnel side of things. Once the store was closed, the assistant manager had sent Mary a text on her way home.
Lex had been a cooperative student all day, it said. Mary had been glad to hear it, but still had her doubts about Lex. And so she had spent a large part of the night staring at the ceiling and listing all the things she didn’t get.
For example, why hadn’t Lex told her about Lucile’s stroke as soon as she had walked into the store? Surely this was something she should share immediately rather than in the middle of a fight?
In the morning, Mary had hoped to see an update in one of Lex’s emails, but there was none. Lex had only sent questions about the store. Or rather: the bottom line of the store.
Mary now had to explain why several products got a prominent spot in the store. Or why they weren’t pushing the hot chocolate more. Lex had even sent suggestions to reduce the number of coffee specials and to cut staff.
Mary reread Lex’s last email with a deep sigh. “This can’t be what Hannah had in mind for the future,“ she thought.
Doubts had kept creeping up in her mind all night and morning. Maybe she had made a mistake? Perhaps she shouldn’t have accepted the promotion? Her biggest regret was leaving her team and customers behind in the uncaring hands of Lex.
Mary had worked so hard to give this place a unique atmosphere. Leroy Chocolates had so much to offer to people who wanted to discover new flavors. The whole team was focused on helping customers find the perfect treat.
Mary had tried to explain the basics of her approach to Lex yesterday, but Hannah’s cousin had seemed unimpressed and, worse, uninterested.
Hannah had said that convincing Lex would be her first challenge on the new job. But opening Lex’s eyes to a different approach seemed like an impossible task. Mary wasn’t even sure she wanted to try.
“Maybe Hannah overestimated me,“ Mary worried. She looked down at the notepad on which she had written all Lex’s questions. Mary traced the lines on the paper.
“Why is this woman getting under my skin so much? I have never been this insecure before,” she thought.
She pushed herself up and walked to the glowing review of the store on the wall. “Results of my approach in black and white,“ she thought. She had yet to see proof of Lex’s success, right?
Mary studied the picture in the newspaper clipping. It showed the café filled with customers chatting and sipping their drinks. Maybe dealing with customers first-hand will give Lex a new perspective?” she wondered.
Mary loved her customers, but she wouldn’t say helping them was easy. She decided then and there she would change the schedule. She would arrange for Lex to work behind the register today instead of at the café.
Lex could observe Chrissy in the morning and then work the register by herself in the afternoon. Mary smiled as she remembered her own disastrous first day behind the register. She doubted Lex would have a better experience.
Actually, she was sort of counting on Lex getting into some kind of trouble. It might be the best way to get her to realize she had no idea what she had gotten herself into.
Maybe it would force Lex to start listening to Mary now and then. Yes, Mary decided, Lex needed to stop being so damned sure of herself all the time.
*****
“Mary,“ Karen said, sticking her head around the door, “I think you better come over.”
Mary looked up from her laptop. “That bad?”
“Oh yeah,” Karen responded, her eyebrows almost touching her hairline.
“Took longer than I thought it would,“ Mary replied while walking around her desk.
Karen took a step back, letting Mary pass. “Only because she wouldn’t let us tell you.”
Mary glanced sideways as they walked together. “What do you mean?”
Karen’s lips curved up slightly. “She told Chrissy there would be serious consequences if she ran off to get you.”
“What?” Mary said, stopping in front of the door leading to the store. “That’s not okay.”
“I know,” Karen said, shrugging. “I think Chrissy might have taken her words a bit too seriously.”
Mary frowned. “I doubt it,” she sighed, grabbing the door handle.
She didn’t push it down yet, though. “How did Chrissy warn you?”
Karen laughed. “She secretly texted me.”
Mary sucked in her lips to stop herself from laughing. “Oh, dear.”
“Maybe you should pretend we didn’t tell you,” Karen said with a wink.
“No way,” Mary replied, “We’re not here to make her comfortable.”
She pulled open the door. There was a line in front of Chrissy’s register, she saw as soon as she walked into the store. Five people were waiting there, even though there was another register available.
A man stood in front of the other register by himself. The man, in his forties, was staring up at the ceiling. His cheeks were red, his jaw clenched. He was two seconds away from yelling at someone, Mary guessed.
Behind the counter, Lex was tapping the screen furiously. Two gift boxes stood next to her.
“Good afternoon,” Mary said, stepping next to Lex and addressing the customer. “I’m Mary, the shop manager.”
The man’s eyes snapped to meet hers and his shoulders dropped in relief. “Oh, maybe you can help,” he pleaded.
Mary looked to her side, giving Lex a bright smile. She didn’t get one back. She saw annoyance in Lex’s eyes, but there was something else too. Panic maybe?
“Let’s take care of this,” Mary said, pointing at the boxes. She leaned in and invaded Lex’s space. She thought it would make Lex take a step back. Lex didn’t.
Instead, she whispered in an angry tone. “Everything’s okay. The combo deal is just not working. The system just sucks. I’ll get it to work.”
Mary could smell chocolate on Lex’s breath. She glanced at the plate on the counter. There were none of the try-out chocolates left.
“I’ve been waiting for ten minutes, miss,” the customer sighed. “I really need to leave.“
Mary nodded at him. “We’ll get you on your way, sir. So sorry about this.”
She tried to take over the register again, but Lex still wouldn’t budge. The people in line at the other register had grown quiet, watching the exchange. Lex hit the screen hard, reset the order and grabbed one of the boxes.
Mary responded without thinking. She rested her hand on Lex’s bare arm. Lex froze. Mary noticed how soft the skin below her fingers was. She quickly pulled back her hand.
“Lex, let me take this one, okay?” she urged with a forced smile.
Lex’s eyes narrowed. She touched the spot where Mary had grabbed her arm.
After another long second of staring at each other, Lex finally stepped back. Mary gave the customer another bright smile and quickly scanned the gift boxes.
“Would you like a small box of our latest seasonal dark chocolate, sir?” she offered. “Our treat, of course. Because we kept you waiting.”
His eyes softened. “No, thank you,” he replied. “It wasn’t that bad, really.”
Mary pulled open a drawer under the register. “Then let me give you this.”
She selected a coupon and handed it to him. “It’s an invitation for our exclusive tasting party next month. You can bring a guest,” she explained.
The customer’s face lit up. “My wife would love that!”
Mary nodded enthusiastically. “Many of our regulars do. We have these once every three months. Last time, we did food pairing. Next month’s theme is still a surprise,” she teased. He eagerly accepted the coupon.
Mary straightened and focused back on her screen. “That’ll be sixty dollars for you today then, sir,” she said, her tone warm.
Waving his credit card, he joked, “Never been this happy to be allowed to pay.”
Mary chuckled. “I’m grateful you stuck around, sir.”
She could hear Lex blow out an annoyed breath behind her. Mary would have to talk to her as soon as this customer had left. Messing up was fine and part of the process. Being rude wasn’t.
The payment processed within seconds and by then Mary had put the pre-wrapped gift boxes in a linen Leroy shopping bag. They ordinarily charged extra for those, but she wanted to distract the customer from Lex’s continued sighing.
“Have a great day, sir!” Mary said and handed him the bag.
The man thanked her, waved and hurried away. Mary checked the other line. Chrissy had helped everyone and there were no more people waiting. She tapped the button to close the register and turned around.
Lex was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and her eyes burning indignantly like those of a pissed-off teenager. Mary was tempted to give her a scolding right there and then. That was not the type of leader she wanted to be, though.
“Can you follow me to my office, please?” she asked politely.
She made sure her eyes conveyed that it wasn’t really a question. It was an order.