“Alexis, there is not nor will there ever be, a time where you are in my field of play. You have two weeks, or feel free to leave today.”
Her face gets red, she clenches her fists at her side, and she screams through gritted teeth. When she leaves my office, she slams the door. Petty, at its finest.
Me: I talked to Alexis
Lily: How did she take it?
Me: Not great. I think she may have thought I was firing her so she had a chance.
Lily: What did you tell her?
Me: That it would never happen.
Lily: That’s crazy, I’m sorry you had to do that. I’m sure having those kinds of conversations are hard.
Me: They can be. I’ve only had to fire a couple people before, and they more or less knew it was coming. I don’t think Alexis had a clue.
Lily: I’m glad it’s just me and my sister. We can’t fire each other.
Me: True.
I see three little dots come up, but they disappear after a few seconds.
Me: Can we have lunch together today?
Lily: I usually just stay here, I don’t close for lunch or anything.
Me: That’s okay. I brought my lunch, but after that, I need you wrapped in my arms.
Lily:
Me: Perfect.
I look at the clock, only a couple hours. I have back-to-back appointments starting in five minutes, so the time will go by fast.
I walk into the store and she’s sitting on the couch, reading with a cat next to her. She looks up to me and smiles.
“Who’s that?” I point to the cat.
She looks over to him. “This is Sharkbait. He’s a “former” alley cat.”
“Former?”
“Yeah. The guy who lives above the bar has kind of adopted him. Gave him a name, feeds him and lets him in whenever he wants.”
“Well, that’s sweet of him.”
I walk over to her, bend down and kiss the top of her head before sitting next to her. I set my lunch on the table then pull her into me.
“Mmm, this is just what I needed,” I say as I nuzzle my face into the nook of her neck, smelling the sweet scent of her perfume. She always smells like amber and vanilla.
“I’m glad I could be here to help you.”
She looks up at me, I kiss her, and her hand comes to my cheek. She gently scratches through the beard that has grown in nicely over the past few weeks.
“I’m really liking this. You are getting this mountain man look down.”
“I’m glad you like it, baby girl.”