Rosy levels him with a sharp glare. “Whatever it is, it’s your job to make it work. We’ve got a busload of people showing up in less than half an hour and no way to check them in.”
“I’ll have it up and running. Don’t worry.” He rolls his eyes at me and shakes his head as though the idea of a new computer system not working perfectly moments after installation is absolutely absurd. “Just give me five minutes.”
Rosy sighs. “I know what you’re going to say, and I don’t want to hear it. We have to give him a chance, Brianna.”
“Why? He isliterallytheworstbellboy I’ve ever seen. He doesn’t even understand the concept of loading the big items on the bottom and the small things on the top. Who doesn’t get that, Rosy?” I ask, my voice rising in desperation. “I mean, seriously? Who!? My four-year-old daughter understands the concept because when she builds a sandcastle, she doesn’t start with the little cups. She starts with the big bucket, and she hasn’t even gone tokindergartenyet. Do you know what I’m saying? He doesn’t start with the big bucket, Rosy.”
Rosy seems unconcerned. “Well, you’ll have to do a better job training him, won’t you?”
Oh,no frigging wayis she going to pin Mr. Incompetent’s incompetence on me. “He’s a lost cause. Trust me. It’s one thing to have somebody with no experience, but I really can’t do anything with a guy who has zero common sense.”
Kevin cuts in with, “In actual fact, common sense is exceedingly rare. I can count all of the people alive with common sense on one hand.” He holds up his right hand and starts naming them. “Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Warren Buffet, famed mathematician Ruth Lawrence, and Jay-Z.”
Rosy turns to him and puts her hands on her hips. “What about Stephen Hawking?”
“I said living.”
“He passed away?” Rosy asks, her face falling.
“Uh,yeah,” Kevin says sarcastically.
Turning to me, Rosy says, “Really? How did I not hear about this?”
Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I say, “I don’t…I don’t know, it was a very big news story, but can we please get back to the topic of firing the new guy, who by the way, thought he was going to get paid $11.72per minute?”
Kevin busts out laughing. “Per minute. That would be $703.20 per hour. Bahahaha.”
I give Rosy, an I-told-you-so expression. “See? Kevin gets it. Now, Leo’s going to be here any second, so we need to figure out how to get rid of him.”
Rosy purses her lips. “Did you happen to catch Leo’s last name?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Taking off her glasses, Rosy lets them hang from the chain around her neck and stares at me. “Davenport. As in Pierce Davenport’s little brother…”
A sharp stab of envy followed by crushing anger hits. “He’sPierce Davenport’sbrother? All the more reason to fire his arse and give the job to someone who needs it.”
Rosy shrugs. “No can do. Emma brought him in on her way to the restaurant yesterday, told me he’s desperately in need of employment and asked me to find a suitable position.”
Nepotism strikes again. “Well then, you’re going to need to find something more suitable. Like maybe he could handle a job in janitorial or groundskeeping. Something that doesn’t require efficiency or a functioning brain, neither of which he has.”
“I don’t have openings in any other areas right now, but Idoneed a bellboy. Quite frankly, I expect more from you, Brianna. You’re normally very good at training newbies. That young man may be useless right now, but someone of your intelligence should be able to bring him up to speed quickly. He’s obviously capable of learning because he has a degree from the University of Valcourt.”
Seriously? How?“In what?!”
“I don’t know, something to do with chemistry.”
“Well, I doubt he actually did any of the coursework himself. His rich parents probably paid off the dean like those Hollywood celebrities, because there isno waysomeonethat uselesscould have gotten a degree in anything from anywhere.”
Kevin, who has been watching our exchange, glances past my left shoulder and snorts out a laugh. “She’s talking about you, in case you weren’t sure.”
From behind me, I hear Leo’ voice. “I gathered that. Thank you.”
I close my eyes for a second and slowly turn to see Leo standing there with a small smile, even though his eyes are filled with hurt. My heart sinks to my ankles, and my face burns with shame.
Kevin bursts out with a loud giggle. “Oh, man, this is so awkward.”
“Quite,” Leo says in a soft voice. He gives me a slight nod. “Hello, Ms. Lewis. Useless bellboy reporting for duty.”
