Page 18 of Mr. Aster
We walked into a room with a metal desk, a chair, and a fan to cool the place. It was something straight out of the 1980s. Thank God the reception room was halfway decent—probably the only reason the Mitchells tasted the wines from this place and wanted to purchase it—but it was clear that everything else would need an enormous overhaul.
“You will tell me what this is all about, Mr. Aster,” Billy said.
I admired the man for finally digging in and behaving with more grit and self-respect.
“If you wish for that disgruntled employee to stay, she will undergo extensive training, which I plan to implement for all new hires. This current behavior will not stand.”
“Disgruntled?” he questioned me. “She’s the sweetest young lady.”
Well, if we’re comparing her to your daughter, who is overly opinionated and obnoxious, then you’re right,I thought, rolling my eyes at how Darcy nearly went to war over everything I said.
“Sweet or not has nothing to do with it. She was unhappy with my assessment of how she is dressed, and instead of listening and understanding, she chose to argue with me.”
Well, maybe she was like his daughter after all. What was with the women here, anyway?
“Perhaps that’s because you insulted her,” Mr. Burke answered, still irritated.
“She insults this winery by wearing such clothes. She is a professional, yet you can nearly see through her top, and?—”
“Oh, it’s just kids. You know how they?—”
“No,” I snapped, “I willnotlisten to excuses. Listen, Mr. Burke, if you want this place to flourish and grow, you need to step out of my way as I lead from here on out. I understand you sympathize with the young woman; however, I have a strict policy to avoid any personal relations in my business. It only leads to poor decisions and is very detrimental to the business.”
“Very well,” Mr. Burke answered. “However, I take the blame for how she is dressed. Don’t sack her over my lapse in judgment about having a strict dress code. I didn’t think it would make or break this place.”
“This place isverybroken, sir,” I said without care, “and I am here to fix every crack. However, because you are adamant, I will make an exception for her thisonetime. I will not demand her resignation or terminate her employment, but she is to leave the premises immediately and return tomorrow, wearing the appropriate attire for her job.”
“And how would she know what to wear?”
“You are joking, aren’t you?”
“No,” he said, “I’m not.”
“Have you ever toured a winery aside from your own?”
“Not in years,” he answered earnestly.
“Perhaps you and your employees can visit a few wineries this week and do your homework while I stay and run some numbers. Hopefully, when I meet with the rest of the employees after that, they will be dressed appropriately to host tastings here.”
“We’ve never had a problem with our tastings before?”
“How many appointments for tastings do you have today?”
“We’re free today, so I’m fine with shutting down the tasting room, and I’ll go check the schedule for the rest of the week.”
“That’s the problem, Mr. Burke,” I answered him. “Your tastings should be completely booked for the next four months. You should be extremely concerned that you havezerotastings today, and I’m extremely concerned that you have no idea what the rest of the week looks like for your tastings. This is a winery, not a playground at a fast-food joint. I do hope you’ll take note of what you see with the other wineries you will visit this week. In fact, I expect you and Miss Parsons will return with some brilliant improvement ideas for this place when we all meet again on Friday.”
“I look forward to it,” he answered. “Call me if you run into any trouble going through the numbers.”
“I will need all of the logins and passwords before you leave, as I have no desire to call and interrupt your day out with your employees,” I offered.
“Oh, those are all on sticky notes on my computer screen,” he answered, all smiles as he breezed out of the room.
It was nice to know he had an inkling of a backbone, even if it didn’t last long. The man went from pissed off—which I liked—back toBahama Breezeswithin five minutes. Oh, well. Iwas sure to light his ass right back up again after I got done viewing the financials. I was dreading these numbers more than anything. Everything here needed a total overhaul. Honestly, I was relieved to shut this place down for the week and send everyone out of here so that I could focus on the bullshit at hand.
This wouldn’t be easy or even remotely thrilling, but it would consume my mind, and after the morning I’d had thinking about Melissa, I welcomed the distraction wholeheartedly. I was looking forward to finding all the bleeds in the financial areas of this company so long as it kept my mind on numbers and off my emotions.
I’d spent longer than I realized at the metal desk, sitting on the uncomfortable metal chair and staring at unbelievable numbers. I was shocked as hell they were managing even to keep the damn lights on here.
