“Hell yes, it’s odd,” Julia said, anger building. “It doesn’t matter that this was your first night. You’re entitled to that money. And part of her job is divvying it up. I’ll talk to her.”
“Maybe you should let me handle it. I’ll mention it tomorrow. I want to see how she reacts. Defensive? Apologetic? Blasé? It’ll tell me a lot. Okay?”
“All right,” Julia said after thinking it through. “I’ll let you deal with it. But I’m not happy.”
“There’s something I think you should be more unhappy about,” Nico said, his voice grim.
“What? Something else with Carole?”
“Yeah.” He described what had happened with the Barretts, and she frowned as she tried to place the couple. Finally a picture appeared in her head.
“Couple in their late fifties, early sixties? She’s thin and quiet. He’s a loud, bullying drunk.”
“In a nutshell,” Nico said.
“So what happened tonight?”
Nico paused, as if trying to frame the story. “Just tell me,” she said. “Straight out. Don’t sugar-coat it.”
“Okay. It was late -- around nine. Restaurant was maybe a quarter full. Barrett started yelling about how horrible his meal was. His wife looked embarrassed, but she didn’t say anything. Carole was talking to him, I assumed trying to calm him down, but she had a couple waiting to be seated, so I went over and told her I’d handle it. She told me she’d take care of it, but I pointed out the couple waiting. She didn’t like it, but she went over to help them.
“Barrett was saying loudly that his meal was horrible, and he wasn’t paying for it. The thing is, he’d already eaten. His plate was empty. His wife told him to stop. To be quiet. But he was drunk enough that he didn’t care he was making a scene.”
“I told him about your policy about making things right, but he needed to say something before he ate his meal. I told him Madeline’s would comp him tonight, but I’d also put him on the Do Not Seat list. He didn’t like that, but I hustled him out the door to end the scene. His wife called an Uber, and as they were getting into the car, she shoved some money into my hand. Two hundred bucks.”
“So he wouldn’t pay for his meal because he said it was terrible,” Julia said slowly. “But his wife paid with cash.”
“Yes. When I went back inside, Carole tried to take the money. But I gave it to Barrett’s server and told him whatever was left over was his tip.”
She frowned. “Is that why she didn’t give you tip share? Because you wouldn’t give her the cash?”
“No idea. But it’s possible,” he said carefully.
Nico didn’t say anything more. Smart man. He was letting her draw her own conclusions. And she didn’t like how the dots were connecting. “Are you sure you didn’t do something or say something to antagonize her?”
“No.” He hesitated. “At least not that I’m aware of. I was respectful. Paid attention to her. Did my job. My real job.”
He held up his hand when Julia opened her mouth. “Not talking about bussing tables, although I did enough of that as a kid I could do it in my sleep. Bussing is my cover, but you’re my actual job. I watched everyone in the restaurant -- servers, bussers, Carole. The bartender. The cooks. The customers. Assessed the risk level, and I saw nothing that alarmed me, other than Barrett.
“I know how to do my job -- how to get along with people. How to blend in. How to pay attention to everything. How to be low-key. It’s part of my training. Delta Force does a lot of high-level protection work, and we’re trained very well. We’re unobtrusive. And we always, always watch what’s going on around us. I can guarantee you I did nothing to make Carole dislike me.”
“So whatever is going on with Carole comes from her? Is that what you’re saying?”
“It has to be. Because other than dealing with the Barretts, I know I did nothing to draw her attention.”
Julia studied him in the light from the passing streetlights. Light. Dark. Light. Dark.
The light illuminated his determined jaw. The muscles obvious beneath his shirt, even though it wasn’t tight. His natural confidence. His competence in whatever he was doing. “You’re not our usual busser,” she finally said. “Most of them are younger men and women who what to be servers. They’re eager to please. Ingratiating. And I quickly weed out anyone who doesn’t get along with the other servers or Carole. Anyone who isn’t respectful to the customers.”
Nico swiveled in his seat to face her. “Are you saying Carole sees me as a threat to her turf?”
“It’s possible,” Julia said slowly. “She likes being the alpha. I think that’s the real reason she didn’t want to stay a server. She was one of many. As hostess, she’s the boss of the front. And you are definitely more alpha than Carole.”
Julia smiled. “There can only be one alpha in a pack. Maybe Carole recognized instinctively that you were stronger than she was. And maybe she thought if she was unpleasant enough, made you uncomfortable enough, you’d quit.”
“That’s not happening.”
“I know. I’m trying to figure out her reasons for acting that way.”