CHAPTER FOUR — THE OTHER EMPLOYEES

Emily followed Luis into the service corridor, where the refrigerator motors hummed behind a closed door.
“What consequences?” she asked.
“I don’t know. He said the people who embarrassed the restaurant would be easy to identify when schedules came out.”
“Celia reversed my dismissal.”
“Celia doesn’t write our schedules,” Luis said.
Emily understood at once.
Conrad had the power to make a life miserable without officially firing anyone.
He could assign an employee the slowest tables, change a shift at the last minute, or reject a request for a day off.
He could make a mistake seem like a pattern and a pattern seem like proof that the employee did not belong.

They found two other servers beside the dish station.
Anika had worked at the Halcyon Room for five years and was saving to open a small bakery with her sister.
Peter was an older bartender who knew the names of every regular customer and had stopped expecting promotions long ago.
Both had heard about Emily’s dismissal.
Neither believed Conrad’s threats were empty.
“Last winter he cut the banquet team after they complained about missing tips,” Anika said.
“The tips weren’t missing,” Peter corrected. “They were being divided under a formula nobody would explain.”
“And when we asked to see the formula, he said we weren’t qualified to understand it.”
Emily looked from one to the other.
“Why didn’t you tell Celia?”
Peter gave a tired smile.
“Because somebody has to get through the next Friday.”

Celia appeared at the end of the corridor before Emily could answer.
She had been looking for the linen supplier, whose delivery had arrived without half the promised tablecloths.
Emily stopped her.
“Conrad is threatening people over what happened.”
Celia’s expression did not change immediately.
“Who told you that?”
“Luis heard him.”
Luis swallowed.
“He did say it.”
Celia turned to Anika and Peter.
“Has this happened before?”
Anika looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
Peter glanced at Emily, then nodded.
“More than once.”
Celia stood very still.
“I need specific examples,” she said.
“We can give you examples,” Anika replied. “What we need first is to know whether you’ll still believe us tomorrow.”

The question landed harder than Emily expected.
Celia owned a portion of the restaurant, but she had let Conrad make himself the only door between employees and management.
The arrangement had allowed her to concentrate on the books and the room’s reputation.
It had also left people afraid to tell her the truth.
“I cannot ask you to trust me because I say the right words tonight,” Celia admitted.
“Then what will you do?” Peter asked.
“I’ll take Conrad off the floor immediately, and tomorrow we will set up a process for reviewing schedules and tips with someone from outside the restaurant.”
“Someone he knows?” Luis asked.
“Someone you help choose,” Celia said.