“Ehm… yes, I think so,” he stammered, looking at her wide-eyed as if it was a trick question.
“Good. Me too. Love the consistency and the seasoning. Love the perfect simplicity; you haven’t overcomplicated anything.” She shot him a wink. “Congratulations, you’re hired.”
“Just like that?” He stared at her incredulously. “I just cooked eggs.”
“Yes, you did, and you’d be surprised how many people get that wrong.” She took his hand and shook it. “So, do you want to join my breakfast team?”
“I’d love to.” He smiled widely; excitement written all over his face.
“Excellent.” Zoe pointed to the pans. “I suggest you clean that up and I’ll take this out to the builders. I’m doing seven interviews a day; they must be sick of eggs by now, but I don’t like throwing food away. After that, we can sit down together, and I can talk you through your contract.” She walked out to the bar and put the plate down, then waved at the handful of men and women tiling the poolside. “Who hasn’t had eggs today?”
“Me!” one of the men said, rubbing his hands as he approached her.
“You’re in luck; this one is actually really good.”
“Amazing, thank you.” He tasted it and moaned. “Mmm… better than my wife’s eggs. Anything else being cooked in the coming weeks?”
“Yes, actually. I’ll be hiring the dinner shift soon, so you’ll have more steak than you can handle.”
His face lit up and he lowered his voice as if she’d just shared a secret. “Great, sign me up for that.”
“I will.” Zoe noted Marcy was helping out on the other side of the pool. One strap of her dungaree shorts was hanging down, and her white vest was stained from the soil. She hadn’t asked to try one of the numerous plates of eggs that had left the kitchen, and they’d mostly ignored each other since Zoe had been coming in to start the hiring process.
As if she could feel Zoe’s eyes on her, Marcy looked up for a moment, but Zoe quickly averted her gaze and returned to the kitchen. She wasn’t sure if she’d been too harsh on Marcy, but simultaneously, she didn’t really care what she thought of her.
Just stay out of her way. She won’t be here forever.
7
“Be nice,” Lisa warned when they spotted Zoe approaching from a distance.
Marcy huffed. “When have you ever heard me be anything but polite to anyone?” She’d told Lisa, the project manager about her run-in with Zoe, and she had no doubt Zoe had given her own version of their conversation.
“Anyone but Zoe,” Lisa shot back at her. “Look, we’re just going to discuss some potential small changes to the kitchen. It’s nothing personal, so let’s try and take our emotions out of it, okay? That’s why I suggested to meet in this bar. We need to be off-site in a neutral environment.”
“I’m not the one getting emotional,” Marcy protested, then held up a hand and relaxed into her chair. “Okay, okay…” She narrowed her eyes as she spotted something flapping over Zoe’s head. “What’s with her and the butterflies? I don’t get why they like her so much.”
“What do you mean?” Lisa asked.
“Butterflies seem to be attracted to her. They must be stupid insects.” Marcy could have sworn she’d seen this phenomenon as least three times when Zoe was outside taking a break. “Never mind; it’s probably just a coincidence.”
The waiter came over with her beer the moment Zoe sat at their table, and Marcy was grateful to have something to focus on. She liked Lisa very much, but she found it hard to grasp how she always remained so calm and impartial. Their working relationship was great; they’d even been for a drink together with Lisa’s girlfriend, Stella, but she still refused to pick sides. And with Zoe being so difficult, Marcy really needed her on her side. It wasn’t just the porter station she’d complained about. There were a couple of other issues, like electrical sockets being too low to the ground, and the extractor fan that wasn’t powerful enough for her liking. Basically, Zoe was being a diva, just to get under her skin.
“Hi, Zoe,” Lisa said with a smile. “Thanks for coming. What would you like to drink? Wine? Beer? Coffee?”
“I’ll have a coffee, please,” Zoe said to the waiter before returning Lisa’s smile. “I don’t make a habit of drinking during work hours.” She casually crossed her legs, avoiding Marcy’s cold stare.
“Here we go,” Marcy muttered under her breath, then demonstratively took a sip of her beer. There was no way that wasn’t a dig. Zoe was a miserable git, and Lisa’s idea of meeting in a neutral place wasn’t going to change that.
“Right, let’s talk about the kitchen.” Lisa opened her tablet and took a couple of deep breaths, clicking her ballpoint several times. Marcy could tell she was nervous and she didn’t blame her. She and Zoe had not seen eye to eye since day one and even though she knew it was childish, and that they needed Lisa to mediate, she refused to be the one to capitulate. She hadn’t done anything wrong after all.
“I’ve crunched the numbers for the proposed changes Zoe requested through you and it’s going to cost you an extra nine thousand euros,” she said, raising a brow at Zoe before turning back to Lisa. “Since you told me there was no room for error, and we had to be bang on with the budget, I can only assume that’s out of the question.”
“Nine thousand euros is ridiculous for a couple of small changes.” Zoe turned to her and raised her voice. “You’ve overpriced it on purpose, just to dismiss my proposal. Overcharging people is a criminal offence as I’m sure you know.”
“What?” Marcy gasped. “I would never do such a thing.” Waving her cost sheet in front of Zoe, she continued. “It’s not just a matter of moving stuff, we have to redo the plumbing, the electricity, and even some of the tiling. Not that I expect you to understand that; it’s best if you just stick to your omelettes. Seriously, I’m so sick and tired of your insults so please stop talking if that’s all you’re going to throw at me. God, you’re such a…” Aware she was getting too worked up for her own good, Marcy stopped herself.
“Such a what?” Zoe got up and shot her a vicious look. “A what, Marcy? Seriously, tell me what you think of me.”
