By the time I walked Natalie outside and informed her I was heading home, alone, and that I didn’t think this would work out, I was ready to go back in for another beer. Instead of torturing myself though, I texted the guys to see where they were at.
Looked like I would be heading back to my own damned brewery.
TWELVE
rae
“Is it always this busy?”I asked Laila.
Like Brien, I wondered how Sunset got so lucky to have her. She knew a lot about wine, was a real people person, and according to Brien, never took time off. Divorced, with an adult daughter, she cracked me up all day. Nearly everything that came out of the woman’s mouth had me about to pee my pants.
“A sunny day in August? Come on girl, what do you think?”
Dumb question. “That’s a good thing,” I said, stating the obvious. Now that customers were clearing out with only the cruises operating past six o’clock, we finally had a chance to talk a bit.
“Tell me what you love and don’t love so much about working for Sunset.”
“Oh boy. This is a trick question, isn’t it?”
I laughed, wiping the counter down and trying not to think about last night at the bar. “Not at all. I don’t want to come in here and make any sweeping changes, but there’s always room for improvement. I really want to know what we could do better.”
Laila waved goodbye to our last customers and leaned against the tasting bar. “Ok, you asked. I don’t know shit about making the stuff,” she waved to the bottles, “but I’ve been here for six years and definitely have some thoughts on improving the experience for customers.”
I loved that she trusted me enough to be honest. “Ok, shoot.”
“First of all, we give everyone what they expect. Nothing more. No lagniappe, so to speak. We should toss in extra tastings for...whatever reason. It’s their birthday. It’s Halloween. I don’t know, just reasons.”
That was the simplest improvement ever. “Why not just go for it? Doing something extra, unexpected, seems like an easy win.”
“It should be, I agree.
“Can’t you just do that now?”
Laila bent her head down and looked at me from the top of her lashes. Code for, seriously?
“I don’t get it.”
She popped her lips. “The big Jer-o would not be pleased.”
My jaw dropped. “If you gave an extra tasting for someone’s birthday?”
“If I went off script. He likes things a certain way, and giving anything free isn’t his way.”
Sounded like Jerry. “Do it, at your discretion. I think it’s a great idea.”
“Um, so how do I ask this?”
Knowing Laila, she’d simply come out and say it. She didn’t disappoint.
“Do you have the authority to make those decisions? I should have worded that differently, but I don’t want to get in trouble.”
And then it hit me. I should have had a staff meeting. Shit, I was really bumbling. “Yes, I do. I’m the new proprietor here. If Jerry has something to say about a friggin’ extra tasting or two, he can take it up with me. You go ahead.” She wasn’t the only one screwing up her wording.
She leaned over to me, slapped me high five, and said, “I knew I was going to like you.”
Problem was, her question wasn’t out of line at all. Besides one three-way conversation with Jerry and my dad about me coming here, there wasn’t a lot of talk about who made what decision.
You snooze, you lose. Jerry was supposed to have been here when I arrived. His problem, not mine.