I dart my head around to look at him but he doesn’t acknowledge he did anything, he just kicks off his boots and makes a B-line for the back room.
“Dick,” I mumble under my breath and take a few steps towards the dumpster, gearing up to throw the tray in with no regard over whether the paint gets on anything. But I stop, remembering the sketches I saw there last night. I walk the extra few yards, and right before dropping the tray inside I spot Tek’s slippers. I look back towards the door, then, without thinking, I reach in and grab them.
They’re unlike any slippers I’ve ever seen. They look hand made, but well done, with embroidered lettering in what I assume is Korean across the top of both. I thumb at the paint, the still wet grey smudging further on the light blue.
I should drop them back in and walk away, but instead, I hold them behind my back as I head inside. Pausing by the break room, I see Tek slouched against the sink, hands braced on either side, just staring into the basin. He doesn’t see me, or maybe he does. Maybe he wants me to ask him if he’s okay? And maybe I might have if he didn’t just barge me aside—so screw him. Though I am still holding his damn slippers so how much of a ‘win’ is it really?
Taking a paper bag from a pile I’d found yesterday beneath the counter, I put the slippers inside and stash them in the side cupboard.
“C’mon. Let’s get this shit over and done with.”
I slam the door closed on accident in a rush to not have Tek see what I’m hiding.
“The fuck are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
He sighs, a long drawn out exhale, and turns on the monitor. As the screen flickers to life, he jerks his chin towards the stool.
“Don’t you wanna sit down?” I ask.
“I spend twelve hours a day on my ass.”
I roll my eyes and sit beside him. I expect a lecture but he doesn’t bother with an introduction, he just starts up the scheduling software, clicking away hard on the mouse. I listen while he explains the booking system and the proper way to log deposit payments even though there is barely a free half hour anywhere in the next few months where I could place a booking anyway.
“You following?” he asks after five minutes.
“Yeah.” It’s not hard. When I wasn’t teaching kids and their mothers how to surf in Bali, I’d fill in at the resort’s booking kiosk. It’s virtually the same system. “Are you always this busy?”
“No.” He pauses before continuing. “Yes, actually. Just not this late in the year. But I’ve taken on a ton of Eden’s bookings, and…” He stops again, like he’s searching his brain for the right words to use.
“And, what?”
I watch him scroll down past next week on the calendar. Reeze and Eden’s names are still in the system, and whilst there is nothing marked under Reeze’s name, starting from the day after Thanksgiving, Eden’s schedule goes from empty to packed. “This is the main reason I’m pissed at him. There’s at least a thousand dollars worth of deposits taken for each day.” Tek continues to scroll, the weeks changing from December, to January, to February. “Each one of these is still an active booking. They don’t know he’s not here. I can take some on, but most people booked with him, because they wanted him. And that means they all need to rebook, or we lose those deposits.”
“I’m sorry.”
“If only other people's apologies counted for something.”
“Dick,” I mumble again, just like when he barged into me.
“Yeah, well, you’re really gonna think I’m a dick in a minute.”
“But I already think you’re one now.” Tek looks down at me, and I tilt my head to the side and stare back at him. He raises his brows, so I raise mine. Our eyes remain locked until I eventually roll mine because I just can’t be bothered with this little battle. “Fine. Tell me what it is that’s gonna piss me off so bad.”
Tek’s face softens. “I need you to call them all.”
“All?”
“All. Every one of Eden’s bookings between next Friday, and the end of February.”
“Fuck me.”
"You said you take cash."
My eyes gape because did he just make a joke? Like an actual funny callback?
Smirking, I go to say something even more suggestive to continue the banter, but he's already pretending like he never said anything.
