I took a steadying breath, trying not to let my anger get the best of me. I decided to reason with the logical part of her brain, hoping to help her understand. “This isn’t a difficult dish. I’ll go over it with you today, we’ll prep the chutney ahead of time and we’ll use the fat already prepared for the duck to make the frites. I think it will be a great addition to tonight’s service.”
If she would have kept her mouth shut, I would have been able to move on. Or at the very least, she could have asked to speak to me in private. But she was too angry and too bitter to think clearly. Or that was what I told myself after she growled, “This is fucking bullshit,” in a whiny, high-pitched voice I had to believe was an imitation of what I was supposed to sound like.
And that was the final straw.
God, I hated that Vann was right again. And I hated that it was Ashlynn of all people. In a mostly male-dominated space, I was not in a hurry to fire one of my only female employees.
But that was too far. And she’d questioned my authority blatantly in front of the entire staff.
Honestly, she left me no choice.
Before I could overthink it or let my soft, squishy heart get in the way, I shouted, “That’s it! You’re fired.”
The room froze in place. Ten pairs of eyes stared at me. It was hard to know if they took me seriously enough to even heed my order. It was just as likely Ashlynn would ignore me entirely and keep working through service. Then I would have to call Ezra in here.
Or the cops.
Meanwhile, it took everything in me not to drop my face into my hands and groan.
Or reach out, grab her hand and apologize.
Instead, I steeled my resolve and glared at her, not backing down.
The entire room flinched when she finally spoke. “What did you say?”
I leaned forward, planting my hands on the counter to get eye level with her. “I’m done with your disrespect, Ashlynn. Now you’re questioning me in front of the staff and refusing to follow orders. You are fired.”
“You can’t fire me,” she argued, sounding slightly hysterical.
“I just did.”
“You’re not even the fucking boss!” she railed, her voice taking a demonic pitch that managed to be high and low at the same time.
I thought I would break down the second she questioned my decision, but I found it easier to remain calm the more crazed she became—especially because after all this she still hadn’t learned to respect me. “I am the boss,” I assured her, rather serenely if I did say so myself. “And you are fired.”
“You childish bitch!” she shouted. “You’re a fucking toddler! An infant! You can’t just come in here to my restaurant and pitch a fit every time you don’t like something. News flash, we don’t like you, but you don’t see us acting like babies.” She turned to Blaze, fomenting, “This is unbelievable. Fucking unbelievable.”
There was this part of me that hated what I had just done, the can of worms I’d just opened. I wanted to shove my words back in my mouth and swallow them. I wanted to apologize and tell her I didn’t mean it. I wanted to run away and not have to come back here and deal with these people and this responsibility and Ezra’s expectations of me.
And why couldn’t it have been Blaze? Why of all people, was I forced to fire the only woman on shift today? Not only that, she had the most seniority. I was basically firing the only other person capable of running this kitchen without me.
But most of me, all the important parts, knew that I’d made the right decision—especially after her reaction. It was the wise decision. Vann had been right. I had to assert my dominance. I had to show my people I meant business.
And, most importantly, I needed to purge this place of bad juju.
This atmosphere was toxic. And the longer I let it fester, the more people were poisoned. Ashlynn had to go. It was obvious now.
“This isn’t your restaurant,” I told her calmly, with almost no tremble in my voice. “It’s mine. And if I say you don’t work here anymore, you don’t. Get your knives. Get whatever else is yours. And leave.”
“You won’t survive dinner service tonight without me,” she hissed, spittle flying with her fiercely punctuated words. “You need me. You can’t run shit without me.”
Now I was just irritated. “This is one of the most capable kitchens in the city. Look around, Ashlynn, they’ve never needed you. They don’t need me. They’ve kept this place functional for months. I’d venture to say they’ll hardly notice you’re gone.”
Her face wrinkled in frustration. She knew I was right. She knew the staff had been operating without leadership for a long time and they could continue to operate well without leadership if they had to.
True, the menu wouldn’t change, and the quality of cooking would diminish, but these people weren’t idiots. They just needed the right leadership.
And it clearly couldn’t be found in Ashlynn.
