After Kazimir’s visit, Sier had torn Nate a new one and then given him the cold shoulder.
She’d also taken him off most of his shifts, which absolutely sucked. He’d just barely managed to squeeze in his full payment to keep his damn lights on at home even. So, if she wanted to ply him with drinks now? Fine. He’d take it, so long as it meant come Monday morning, she’d go back to giving him his usual hours.
It’s not like it mattered if he got wasted anyway. What was the worst that could happen?
Oh right. He’d already experienced that.
“I can’t even remember the last time I wasn’t tense,” he sighed.
“Yeah, well that’s not going to help you,” she rested a hand on his thigh under the table and gave a friendly squeeze. “I promise. We never have one of these things without a reason, you know that.”
He did. Sier was too cheap to pay for dinner on the company's dime without needing a damn good excuse. Typically, that was her showing off in front of their few higher-class clients.
Like Mit.
Nate’s stomach sank. He’d been so distracted with his self-wallowing that he hadn’t even considered that Mit might be showing. Every other time they’d done this, the older man either arrived before them, or came with. He placed the beer down on the table and scowled. There was no way he wanted to deal with that creep's advances while buzzed, let alone actually drunk.
But it wasn’t like he could actively tell Sier no…
“Why don’t you try sneaking out back?” Annya said. “I can cover for you.”
He considered it.
“You shouldn’t have to put up with this just because of that guy.” Word had quickly spread once Kaz had left what’d supposedly happened—that Nate had lost a big client. Annya wasn’t the only one on Nate’s side, but she was the only one who’d dared voice as much out loud. “Everyone knows losing that client was in our best interest. Catering to a Devil of Vitality? Not worth the hassle.”
Nate snorted. “You say that like you have experience with them.” No one else would dare make a comment like that, that was for sure. Everyone in the workforce was too busy trying to suck up to people like Kazimir Ambrose, or at the very least, trying to avoid him due to his standing within the Brumal.
“My sister does,” Annya confessed, not meeting Nate’s gaze.
“You have a sister?”
“Not all of us are as lucky as you are,” she told him. “She and I don’t really talk much. She’s currently attending Guest, the fine arts academy?”
Nate knew of it. It was a pretty ritzy school, but then, pretty much all of them on Vitality were. The planet was known for its riches and wealth. Very few people worried about surviving paycheck to paycheck like Nate did.
“She was always dad’s favorite, especially when she chose to go into music after him. She hangs around with some of the Devil’s sometimes,” Annya continued. “I’ve seen it on her social media page. Anyway, enough about her. All I’m saying is we dodged a bullet, and if Sier can’t see that then—”
“Did someone say my name?” Sier popped her head up and took in all of the workers around the table. When no one stepped forward, she clucked her tongue and then got to her feet. “Since I have all of your attention now anyway, I would like to make an announcement.”
Annya sent Nate a look that screamed, ‘I told you so.’
“We’ve sold the business!” Sier’s wide grin turned to a frown when out of the twelve employees there, only two remained quiet at the news, the others instantly voicing their complaints.
Nate didn’t say anything because why bother, and Annya was too busy shaking her head in disbelief. They’d only just sold the company a year ago, and now it was changing hands again? He wasn’t a fan of Sier, but she’d only held onto the place for a bit. And how the hell had she managed to find someone willing to buy her out when they were doing so poorly?
“What does that mean for us?” Foh, one of the older workers demanded.
“Yeah,” Greta, a woman who’d been working for a couple of years there, asked. “Are we losing our jobs?”
“As far as I know, the new owner has no intentions of making any cuts,” Sier reassured. “Honestly, there’s no reason for any of you to be this upset. This is a good thing!”
“For you maybe,” another worker, this one seated on Nate’s left, muttered under his breath.
“Who’s the new owner?” Annya finally piped in, crossing her arms. None of them liked the uncertainty this news brought.
“He’ll be here in a moment to greet you all,” Sier promised. “Please calm down. We don’t want to make a terrible first impression, now do we?” It seemed lost on her that she was speaking to them like they were children and not her employees, or that this was probably the single worst way to deliver this news—in public during what had been pitched as a company dinner to thank them for all their hard work.
Nate set the glass he’d been forced to drink from down and rubbed his hands together nervously. There weren’t many people out there who’d bother buying a little shop like theirs, especially when it hadn’t been placed on the market. The last time, Quartet Air had been actively trying to sell for almost a year before it’d been purchased.
