Winning Her Heart

After making the necessary corrections, I take the documents out to an employee who has been working with me for years, a sweet elderly lady whose name fails me at the moment. "Could you type this up for me again? The temp that the agency sent over has no idea what she's doing." I confide in her quietly.

She glances behind me to the temp, and whispers to me: "Sounds about right."

We both share a quiet laugh and I leave her to her work. "I'll have them on your desk by lunch." She assures me.

I like working with competent people. I want my company to run like a well-oiled machine. I ignore the temp, who tries to smile at me as I walk by. I walk into my office and shut the door. I don't believe in workplace relationships, too messy. Besides, I'll see plenty of women like her at the auction. Young, and gorgeous, only good for a few turns and not much else.

I quickly dial the temp agency and speak to them quietly about sending this one back. "Is there a problem sir?" The lady on the phone asks me. "Oh no, it's just that I’ve decided to promote from within and I’ll no longer be needing her help,” I assure her in my most polite tone.

"Ok sir, we will let her know. Please contact us in the future with any openings you need help to fill!" She replies.

I assure her that I will and hang up quickly. Thank goodness that is over with. I make a note to learn the name of the woman whose help I asked for. I also want to negotiate a better position for her now, maybe one that includes secretarial duties. It'll save me money because I won't have to hire anyone else. I can afford to give her a raise as well. I'm writing all this down, and as I look up, I see the temp talking on her cell phone.

I sigh in exasperation. I'm so glad that today is her last day. She looks up suddenly at my office window, glares at it then storms off. I guess they just called and told her. Satisfied, I go back to writing. I need to make this proposal sound more professional.

Chapter 4 - Lorelai

It's been about a month since the fire. So much has happened that even though everything has been a whirlwind, it still feels like it’s been longer somehow. I’m still trying to process that night. It’s been a lot to deal with. I contacted my insurance right away, and thankfully they were able to cover the cost of some of the damages and repairs.

Some of the minor work, especially the cleaning, I was able to do on my own, although it took a lot of work and time.

You can still see how damaged the store is, but at least I was able to get it mostly operational and take in a few customers again. I stand in the shop and pause to take a breath. I look around at the parts that I have blocked off. I've had to reduce the inventory and number of clients that I can handle because of the fire.

I walk to the back of the shop, into the new makeshift office where I have a pile of bills to wade through. I glance through them, looking at the total for all of them. I'll be lucky if I'm able to pay them all and still keep the lights on for another month.

The cost of everything is too much to bear right now. The fire devastated me, both emotionally and financially. And having to take on fewer clients has meant less profit, compounding the issue. My hand shakes a little as I set the papers down, the numbers making my eyes swim.

For the past few days I have been worried that I might actually lose the shop. I'm barely making anything now, and on top of everything else, I’ve still got to pay my own rent and keep myself afloat. I wander into the shop and plop down in one of the chairs I have for my clients. My worries get the better of me and I start to cry again. I'm so busy crying that I don't hear my next customer come in.

"Lor? Hey, are you all right? Is everything ok?" A voice next to me asks.

I jump, startled, and stop crying. I try to pull myself together and wipe my eyes. Looking up, I see that it's Tammy. "I'm here early for my final fitting,” she explains.

I nod as I try to get my emotions under control. She sits down next to me and puts a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. "You want to talk about it?” she asks.

I sniffle and stare at the ground. "I'm just worried. This fire has taken so much for me. The biggest problem of all is money. I don't know if I will be able to stay in business. This was my grandma’s shop, you know? She left it for me to take care of and I feel like I’ve failed her."