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“Hey, Neil?” Robin stood in the doorway, hands shoved in the pockets of her black apron. She was chewing on her lip ring, a sure sign of her fraying control. “I gotta lady out here who would like to-“ her hands came out to make exaggerated air quotes- “‘speak to whoever runs this poor excuse of a store’.”
Dropping the pad he had been noting inventory with, Neil straightened, his back cracking as he went. “Andrew still out with Renee?”
“Mmm hmm,” Robin hummed, picking at her chipping polish.
Sighing, Neil ran a hand through his hair. “How do I look?”
Robins’s smile was a wicked thing. “Deplorable.”
“Perfect.”
Stepping out into the front of the coffee shop, Neil spotted the problem immediately. Entitlement dripped out of every one of her pores, from her pinched brows to her hand splayed over the counter. Her eyes narrowed in on Neil and Robin immediately, her chin jutting out in a false display of superiority.
Neil thought Allison could chew this woman up and spit her out without remorse.
“Are you the manager?” She asked, skepticism thick on her tongue and nail clicking against the concrete counter.
Neil didn’t bother to correct her, straightening a few displays as he made his way over. She scoffed, muttering under her breath about terrible service. There was only one other couple in the shop, a pair of regulars that Andrew had traded recipes with in the past. When the woman’s arms crossed over her chest, a frown pulling at her mouth, Neil finally dusted his hands off on his pants and stepped toward her.
“What’s the problem?”
“The problem,” she snarled, pointing a finger at Robin, “is that that girl is trying to rob me!”
“And how, exactly, is she doing that?”
“She’s refusing to give me my discount! I bought a coffee, so I get a free dessert!”
Rolling his eyes internally, Neil leaned back, resting against the counter. “That was a limited-time promotion. It ended yesterday.” He spied the packed slice of cake sitting by the till. “Besides, it was only for our cookies.”
She glared at him, clearly unhappy. “I was here yesterday and got a free cake. And no one told me it was for a limited time.”
Neil knew she didn’t get a free cake yesterday. They had run out of cake before noon after a group of college students had cleared them out. He ignored this though; he had inventory to finish and he had plans for tonight he didn’t want to delay. “It was posted on the sign.”
She waved him off. “Whatever. Just give me my free cookie then.”
“They’re two fifty before tax.”
“I’m not paying that!”
Neil shrugged, “Fine. Then you don’t get the cookie.”
“Is this how you treat your customers?” She all but yelled. “I have never seen someone so disrespectful!”
“I haven’t even started being disrespectful yet,” Neil said stepping forward to lean over the counter and into her space. “Not that I could even manage that with you. Hard to be disrespectful to someone who garners zero respect. What is it? You feel powerless in your life so you take it out on workers who dare tell you that you’re mistaken? Do you wake up every day to a family who barely tolerates you, suffers under your bullshit, knowing that every time you open your mouth you drive them a little further away? Do you feel so stifled in your own pathetic mundanity that you lash out, hoping to feel in control of your life again? Even when it’s a hollow lie?”
The woman stared at him, mouth agape. For a blessed moment, Neil thought she would storm out and that would be the end of it. Then her jaw clenched, her nose turned up, and Neil knew she was going to double down.
“I demanded an apology! I know the owner personally and will have you fired! People like you should know your place! The customer is always right!”
It was in the middle of her screaming, face turning red, that the little bell over the door chimed. Neil flicked his gaze over to meet hard hazel staring back.
“Give me the number to your corporate office right now! I want your employee number and your name!”
Pushing off the counter, Neil watched as Andrew stalked around to join him, all but slamming the gate closed. The woman jumped at the noise, her eyes narrowing at Andrew’s heavy footsteps.
“I can’t leave you alone for five minutes,” Andrew said, staring at Neil.
“Are you the manager?” The woman snapped.
They ignored her. “She says she knows the owner,” Neil said, slipping into Russian. “Very scary stuff. Promised she’d have me fired.”
“Maybe I should listen to her,” Andrew said. “I could finally get rid of you.”
Neil laughed. “I own fifty percent of this place. Good luck with that.”
“Excuse me,” the woman hissed, “it is incredibly offensive to speak another language when dealing with a customer! You are in America. Speak English.”
“I find your very presence incredibly offensive,” Andrew said. “Leave.”
“I have never been treated like this! You should be ashamed of yourselves! I am a customer!”
“You’re an irritant fly. Buzzing around until someone smacks you dead,” Andrew said.
“Oh no,” Neil drawled, cutting off the next round of bullshit about to fall from her mouth. “You’ve done it. Now she’ll demand you be fired too.”
“Who the fuck is going to fire me? Myself?” Andrew said.
She blinked rapidly, a flush spreading across her cheeks. Neil gasped, placing a hand over his heart. “But ma’am,” he said, “I thought you knew the owner personally! Surely you didn’t lie to me?”
“How immoral,” Andrew tsked.
“I- this is extremely unprofessional!” She said, eyes flicking between them.
“So is pulling a knife on you, and yet you seem eager for that to happen.”
“Did you just threaten me?” she asked, eyes wide.
“No. Neil, did you hear me threaten her?” Andrew said, fingers dancing along the back counter.
“No. Robin?”
“Didn’t hear a word, boss.”
“How odd,” Andrew said, fingering the handle of a slim knife they used to slice the pies. “You should go and get your hearing checked, otherwise why would you still be here? Buzzing. Waiting to be smacked dead.”
She swallowed, taking a step back. “I’m never coming here again! I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know to take their business elsewhere!”
“You forgot your cookie!” Neil called at her retreating figure, but she was already out the door.
Andrew let out a bone-deep sigh. “All of that over a two dollar cookie?”
“Two fifty before tax,” Neil corrected, earning a rag thrown at his face.