CHAPTER EIGHT — THE DEMONSTRATION
Nestwell announced a public demonstration at its newest model facility on Saturday.
The invitation promised a guided tour of an operational family room, an explanation of its staffing service, and a presentation from Dorian Kells.
The program was intended for corporate clients and local reporters.
Rosa received an invitation through the Hollis employee committee.
She forwarded it to Mallory, who forwarded it to Jonah.
Jonah did not intend to go.
Then Edwin told him that a customer had commissioned the workshop to repair a rotating display for that very venue.
The old display belonged to a former department store, and it was being used as part of the facility’s cheerful retro design.
Jonah could have asked Edwin to assign the delivery to someone else.
He chose to complete his work and let the customer handle installation.
The event took place in a converted storefront with polished concrete floors and murals of clouds along the walls.
A ribbon of yellow tape marked a path through the lobby.
Several women in business suits stood near a coffee station.
Rosa and Mallory were speaking to a reporter beside a display of sample childcare schedules.
Jonah arrived with the sign motor in a padded case, delivered it to the technician, and prepared to leave.
Then he saw Belinda at the far end of the room.
She wore a pale green blazer and looked as though she had not slept.
Dorian stood beside her, gesturing toward the demonstration suite.
The room had two doors.
One opened from the lobby, and the other led into an unfinished service corridor hidden behind a curtain.
Jonah noticed the second door only because a maintenance worker stepped out carrying a box of unassembled cabinet hinges.
The curtain closed behind him.
A photographer instructed Dorian to stand near the entrance while Belinda smiled beside the Nestwell logo.
She did not smile.
Dorian touched her elbow and leaned close.
She pulled away.
At that moment, Rosa approached the demonstration suite with Mallory and the reporter.
“May we see the staffing office?” Rosa asked.
Dorian smiled widely.
“The administrative components are handled off-site.”
“The invitation says the facility is operational,” Rosa replied.
“It is.”
“Can someone make a reservation for next week?”
“Our scheduling partner is finalizing the interface.”
“Then it isn’t operational for employees.”
Dorian’s expression hardened.
“This is a preview, not an interrogation.”
Mallory held up her phone.
“The website used the word operational.”
The reporter asked Dorian whether he could provide a working booking demonstration.
Dorian gestured toward Belinda.
“Our regional operations director can explain the commissioning sequence.”
Belinda looked at him.
She had been introduced as the woman responsible for a process whose documents she could not access.
Jonah saw her mouth open, then close.
He expected her to repeat Dorian’s language.
Instead she said, “The booking process is not ready to demonstrate today.”
The room became quiet.
Dorian laughed too quickly.
“What Belinda means is—”
“I mean exactly that,” she said.
“We shouldn’t represent a scheduling function as available until someone can actually use it.”
Rosa lowered her phone.
The reporter began writing.
Dorian guided Belinda away from the crowd with a hand at her shoulder.
Jonah watched them pass behind the cloud mural.
He wanted to follow.
He stayed where he was because Belinda had not asked him to intervene.
A moment later she returned alone, carrying her coat.
She walked straight past Jonah without looking at him.
At the door, she stopped and said, “I have my own ride.”
“I know,” Jonah replied.
She left.
Dorian emerged from behind the mural several seconds later and found the reporter waiting for another answer.
The demonstration was still scheduled to continue for forty-five minutes.
No one seemed particularly interested in the sample furniture anymore.
