Page 46 of Holly versus Mr. Ivy
Anthony glared at me, then Holly, then me again. “What is my number one rule about coworkers, Chef Holly?”
Holly’s clenched hands turned her knuckles white. “No dating.”
“No. Dating.” Uncle Anthony dropped his hands to my desk. “Enlighten me, dear nephew,” he growled, “why someone was let go today because she caught you kissing? Did you think by firing her that I wouldn’t find out?”
That’s what Darby had said? What a liar. “First and foremost, Chef Dewhurst and I were not kissing. We are not in a relationship outside of being coworkers and friends. Which, for the record, is not against the rules. Second, Darby was terminated because of her attitude. She’s belligerent, immature, and disrespectful. The way she undermined Chef Dewhurst caused others to believe they could behave the same way. Everything I have done so far has been in an effort to reach our goals.”
“I’d like to believe you, Rhett, but Darby was quite insistent she was wrongfully terminated and swore she’d caught you in a compromising position.” He raised his brows. Wrinkles, like waves, covered his forehead. “You are family, but that doesn’t mean you’re above my rules.”
“I can attest Darby was let go for valid reasons,” Holly said. “It was my idea to begin with, not Rhett’s. She also wasn’t the only one who was fired today, so the explanation she gave for why we terminated her is incorrect. You can view her employee file if you’d like. It notes dates and times of her infractions and that we requested she come in early today over a week ago.”
Uncle Anthony stewed on the information, drumming his fingers on top of my desk. Holly and I sat quietly, awaiting his response. Sweat covered my palms as each second ticked by as slowly as a three-toed sloth.
Finally, he spoke. “I’m only going to ask this one more time, and I want a truthful answer. You both are aware of what is at stake if I find out you lied. Were you kissing? Are you romantically involved in any way?”
Holly gulped but met my uncle’s gaze head-on. “We were not kissing, Mr. Ivy.”
But we would have if not for Darby’s interruption.
“And we are not involved as anything other than coworkers,” Holly said, leaving friends completely off the table.
I would take offense if we weren’t fighting for our jobs.
Uncle Anthony’s heavy stare turned to me. We hadn’t kissed, so we weren’t lying, but why did it feel like we were? “I promise you, we were not kissing. I have not kissed Chef Dewhurst and have no plans to in the near future.” That story would change once I opened my own business.
“Fine. I’ll chalk it up to a desperate ex-employee trying to seek revenge. Now, Rhett. These numbers you sent me are rubbish. Profits haven’t increased more than half a percent since you’ve been here. You two are going to make my goal, correct?”
I sure hoped so. “Yes. My projections show the holidays will increase business, and with all the other plans we’ve implemented, we’re on track.”
Uncle Anthony narrowed his eyes. “I want details of what these plans entail.”
Had I done enough? Projections didn’t always result in facts. What if we failed? “I’d be happy to show you.” I turned to face Holly. “Chef Dewhurst, you should return to the kitchen. I can handle things here.”
Holly’s face said,Are you sure?
I appreciated her not wanting to leave me with my fiendish uncle, but she’d be better off in the kitchen, ensuring our customers stayed happy. I nodded and offered her a small smile.
Turning my attention back to my uncle, I gestured to my laptop. “If you’ll slide that over, I’ll show you what we’ve done and what our next steps are.”
Holly slipped out while I updated Uncle Anthony on everything we’d accomplished in the name of reaching our goal. He grunted, asked questions, and drilled me about every decision. As the hours passed, my head throbbed and my gut turned over.
Regardless that I’d proven myself in previous positions, it was like this was my first day on the job with my boss who didn’t believe in me. Having every little decision I’d made scrutinized took its emotional toll. I couldn’t give Uncle Anthony what he wanted. Why had I tried? What had made me think I had it in me to work a miracle? Why did I do this to myself when I was already certain of the outcome?
After Uncle Anthony left at eleven, three hours after he’d arrived, I dropped my head onto my desk, letting the darkness swirling inside my brain overtake me.
“Rhett?” Holly’s worried tone whispered by my side, where I sat with my head buried in my arms resting on the desk, blocking out the world. “Hey, are you okay?”
No. I was scolded, ashamed, not good enough. Like I’d made a huge mistake but hadn’t even known it until after the fact. Just like the time when I was seven and found a basketball in my parents’ closet.
I took the ball out to the driveway and practiced shooting hoops with it. When Dad got home from work and saw what basketball I had in my hands, he ripped me a new one for going into his room without permission and taking one of his most prized possessions and ruining it.
I didn’t realize the black marks all over the ball were signatures from Boston Celtics players. Dad grounded me with a severe tongue-lashing that lasted way longer than my seven-year-old self needed.
Uncle Anthony’s interrogation had brought all those feelings back and sent me into a dark place. I grunted in response to Holly, physically unable to respond.
Holly gently shook my shoulder. “Talk to me. What happened after I left?”
The fact that Holly was witnessing me in this state should have embarrassed me. The problem was that I couldn’t drum up enough energy to care. Later I’d regret it, but I just…couldn’t right now.
