"Have you met Tyrone?"
Miss Joan's eyes swept the mess hall as, one by one, the shop assistants turned in the direction of her voice.
"He's joining us as the chief in charge of outdoor apparel."
Her eyes darted in attempt to track the sniggers. Granted, Tyrone was portly, but he'd convinced her that he could handle the demands of the job.
"I expect you all to make him feel welcome."
"He looks like a smug arse to me," said Jenny.
"I heard he made all the ladies feel welcome at his last job, until one of them took offence and he made her life hell." Renee studied her nails.
"I don't know." Katie chewed her lip. "Something about him gives me the heebie jeebies. I can't put my finger on it, but it makes my skin crawl."
"Don't you three have work? The customers are waiting." The sound of Miss Joan's voice was enough to scatter them.
The Ermine Department Store specialised in a variety of goods, from ladies' day wear and formal attire to a well-stocked lingerie section. Except Miss Joan called those 'delicates'. Once Renee had said 'scanties' by mistake and she had been summoned for a talking-to about the power of her words. There was a hunting and fishing section, outdoor clothing and sports equipment, and a place for children to play while their parents parted with their cash. Above all, appearances were everything to Miss Joan. She advised her staff to wear a smile at all times -- even if it was false.
The shop was bustling in the run-up to Valentine's Day as love-lorn singles and out-of-love couples tried to find items that would fill the ache in their hearts.
"Would you look at that?" Katie jerked her head in the direction of the shoes.
"You can't be serious." Jenny pulled a face.
"Nobody said he wasn't good at what he does. I'll bet that he's managed to get her number and an invitation to dinner while moaning that he's from out of town."
They watched Mrs Maartens flutter her eyelids at every hiking boot Tyrone proffered. She threw her head back as she laughed and touched his forearm playfully. Tyrone leaned forward to whisper into her ear, and she covered her mouth as she gasped.
"I feel sick." Katie tidied a pile of cashmere sweaters that had been upended by a busty customer.
"Mrs Maartens is married. Has she no shame?"
"Who are you talking about?" They spun to face Miss Joan.
"It's nothing, Miss Jo..."
"We were looking at how inappropriate Tyrone is being with our married customers, Miss Joan." Renee swatted Jenny's attempt to change the topic.
Miss Joan peered at the scene amidst the leather sandals. "Oh, my. It's just a little harmless flirting. You do overreact so unnecessarily, Renee. I don't see anything wrong with convincing Mrs Maartens to buy top quality shoes, do you?" She tutted and joined Tyrone, who was piling an assortment of items Mrs Maartens wanted to buy.
"Are you out of your mind?" Jenny shook Renee's shoulders.
"I agree with Renee," said Katie. "Somebody had to say something."
"It's not like it will help any of us, will it? You don't have to be a genius to work out where Miss Joan's loyalty lies."
"Makes me wonder, though."
"What's that?"
Renee lowered her voice. "If he's so brazen with Mrs Maartens in public, I wonder what he's like with Miss Joan in private."
Katie paled. Jenny gasped. Renee turned.
"Ah, Mr Feldman. May I interest you in this lovely stole? I'm sure it will highlight Mrs Feldman's new hairstyle."
Jenny entered the mess hall at lunch. The rumour was that they could expect some kind of pie to eat. She hoped it was shepherd's pie rather than steak and kidney. The hall was noisier than usual. Miss Joan and Tyrone were at the head of the middle table, guffawing until their voices echoed to where Jenny waited in line for her food. She felt a tug at her sleeve.
"Do you see what I see?"
"The laughing twosome?"
"No. Katie. In the corner." Renee guided Jenny's gaze with her arm.
"Dear god, what's happened?" Jenny gave up her place in the queue and tailed Renee.
"Katie, are you all right?" Renee spoke to something resembling Katie's face. It was hard to see past the blotchiness and mucous.
Katie shook her head.
"Let's get out of here."
Renee led them to a spot in the storeroom where they could not be overheard. "Tell us everything, from the beginning."
When Katie sobbed again, Jenny fetched a toilet roll. They waited for her to mop up the worst of it before she spoke.
"I was arranging the scarves for our new display. You know, the one by the window. Tyrone came up to me and asked me where I had learnt to fold fabric. I said I had been doing it for years. Then he brought his face close to mine and said he didn't care. He was in charge now. I said Miss Joan always complimented me on my displays. He picked up a fistful of scarves and threw them on the ground. Then he bucked at me and asked what part of 'I don't care' I didn't understand. He was so close that I could smell his breath and feel the spit land on my cheek. He said he was in charge now and if he told me to do it again then he expected me to follow his orders. I said Miss Joan was in charge of my section. He shouted at me that it was 'not relevant' and he banged his fist on the table."
Renee's blood boiled. "That dirty bastard. A few hours on the job and he's given himself airs."
"It gets worse," said Katie. "When I told Miss Joan, she said I was overreacting. She said I was emotional and hyper-sensitive. She said I was stressed out and not seeing clearly. Then she asked me if I was looking for another job."
"You cannot be serious!" Jenny stared at her.
Katie sobbed as she nodded.
"Renee, I don't often say this, but I think you may be right about Miss Joan and Tyrone. There they were, laughing like drains in the mess hall while Katie is falling apart. He must have something on her."
"The question is, what do we do now? Our own boss isn't standing up for us. And we both know that Katie is excellent at what she does."
Katie's shoulders heaved. "I can't go back on the floor like this. What am I supposed to do?"
Renee stopped rubbing Katie's arm. "I have an idea."
The next week, Jenny and Renee were reconciling their orders for the new season. Mr Coffey looked over their papers and checked that everything was in place.
"Have any of you seen Tyrone?"
"Not today."
"Why, Mr Coffey?"
"Oh, it's just that he hasn't handed in his orders yet. The deadline is noon and I reminded him about it two days ago."
"Ah," said Renee. She whispered to Jenny: "This could get interesting."
After lunch, Renee, Katie and Jenny left the mess hall for the powder room. En route, they heard Mr Coffey's voice at a pitch he never used. They hid behind a rack of belt buckles.
"You knew what the deadline was, Tyrone. I reminded you two days ago."
"Then, Mr Coffey, I am afraid you are to blame for this scenario. It's clear that you did not try hard enough to get me to hand my orders in on time."
"My fault? Are you out of your mind? The responsibility lies with you, Tyrone."
"No, Mr Coffey, the responsibility lies with you. If you needed the form, you should have done more to get it from me."
"You, sir, are out of line. How dare you pose such an illogical argument instead of admitting you were wrong."
"I stand by my point, Mr Coffey."
"They're gone." Jenny led them to the powder room. Once the door was closed, all three spoke at once.
"Did I imagine what just happened?"
"He cannot be serious."
"Did you see how manipulative he is?"
Miss Joan stepped out of a cubicle and moved to the basin to wash her hands. "Please, don't let me interrupt you. About whom are you gossipping today?"
"It's not gossip, Miss Joan."
"We saw Tyrone being unreasonable with Mr Coffey."
"Oh, and so you thought it would be all right to call Tyrone 'manipulative', Renee?"
"He was manipulative, Miss Joan. We all saw it."
"Silence, Jenny." She surveyed the group. "I think I've had enough of the three of you ganging up on poor Tyrone. You will report to my office at the end of the day."
"Yes, Miss Joan," they chorused.
The clock's hands seemed leaden until three minutes to six when Jenny, Katie and Renee lined up outside Miss Joan's office. She summoned them inside with a crook of her finger.
"Close the door."
In the silence, Katie's stomach growled.
"I take allegations against my staff very seriously. The three of you accused Tyrone of being manipulative in my presence. I will not tolerate such defamatory statements."
Jenny cleared her throat in preparation for a retort. Miss Joan shot her a look.
"Furthermore, I have been in consultation with our lawyers. The advice I received is that all three of you should, by rights, be punished with at least a letter of warning. Now, since this is your first offence, I have elected to opt for another course of action. Let me give each of you some advice, for free. Don't say things like that about your superiors. It could land you in a whole lot of hot water."
"Miss Joan, with all due respect, Tyrone is the one who behaved badly. He threatened and intimidated Katie. He was unreasonable with Mr Coffey, who we all agree is excellent at his job. He is not faultless here, yet we are being rapped on the knuckles."
"Not rapped, Renee. Advised. Free advice to help you prevent this in future. You all need to think about how you would act differently next time. Speak to me if you need to, but don't speak poorly about your colleague."
"That's just the thing, Miss Joan. Katie did speak to you and nothing came of it."
Katie gave Jenny a grateful look.
"He is a bully, Miss Joan."
"I'm afraid I don't have any evidence to prove that, Renee."
"Isn't Katie's emotional state proof enough? Isn't the fact that we saw his interaction with Mr Coffey enough?"
"Jenny, it's common knowledge that Katie is hypersensitive and that her perspective clouds her judgement of people. It seems to me that all three of you are overreacting because of a personal issue you have with Tyrone."
Renee slumped in her chair.
"How are we supposed to interact with him when he's being unreasonable?"
"My advice to you, Jenny, is to stick to the facts."
"That's what Mr Coffey did, and it didn't help him."
"Mr Coffey is not here to defend himself, Katie. I can only go on the perspectives you three bring."
Miss Joan slid a piece of paper in front of each of them. "As I said earlier, I will not be disciplining you with a letter of warning. But I have drawn up a letter, which each of you will sign, to acknowledge that I have addressed the issue of slanderous language with you. Read it now, and then sign and date it at the bottom."
"What if we don't sign?"
"Renee, I think you know better than to go that route."
They read their letters and, one by one, signed them.
"Thank you." Miss Joan collected the pages into a pile. "And, not that my next question has anything to do with what we've just covered, but how is your job search going, Katie?"
"I have nothing to report, Miss Joan."
"I see. Well, ladies, I advise you to be professional in your interactions with Tyrone. The fact is that he's here to stay and we need to give the impression, especially to our customers, that all is well. Fake smiles if you must. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Doubtful," said Renee, "because it looks like nothing is going to change."
"Then I think we're done here. Good day, ladies."
They filed out of Miss Joan's office to see Tyrone and Eva laughing.
"What do we do now?" Katie's eyes were rimmed in red.
"There's only one thing we can do."
"What are you saying, Renee?"
"If I have learnt anything from this whole experience, girls, it's that sometimes it's better to walk away. There will be other department stores and other customers. But there's only one Katie, one Jenny and one Renee. If our value is not recognised, then we need to go."
"But I like it here," said Jenny. "I have you as my closest friends, and I enjoy my work."
"I agree," said Katie. "But I know in my heart that Renee is right."
"Renee is right, but the situation here isn't. Don't you think we should try to change it?"
"But how, Jenny? You heard Miss Joan. It's clear that she's on his side. And she asked me if I was planning on leaving."
"Yes, and that speaks volumes."
"I hate that man so much."
"Join the club."
"He is the devil!"
"Yes. The devil in the hidden detail."
No comments:
Post a Comment