“No good. Let them keep their jobs. They’re good people, Hunter. They all work hard.”
“Not all of them, trust me. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone wholly good. Everyone’s on the take one way or another.”
“I’m not.”
He pulls out a set of paperwork from his briefcase. “What do you call this?”
I glance down at the pile. “This came out of my desk. You got this from my locked drawer. You had no right.”
“I own the firm and the staff and the paperwork. If I wanted your panties right now, I’d take them.”
“I’d claw your eyes out if you tried.”
He taps the pile of paper. “Riddled with spelling and grammar errors. Got the date wrong on three of these letters. I’ve fired people for much less. You need to up your game if you want to keep your position here.”
“Maybe I don’t want to work for you. You consider that?”
“You want money, though. You already told me. Desperate to open that clothing boutique of yours.” He stretches his hands above his head. “I tell you what. You do something for me until New Year’s Day, and I’ll do something for you.”
“What kind of thing?”
“You want to look after all those people out there. That’s commendable. I want to see just how good your skills are at looking after other people. You come and look after my daughter for the next couple of months. Do a decent job, and when the time’s up, I’ll let everyone out there stay here for good. Deal? You fuck up, and this magazine folds.”
“You have a daughter?”
“I do.”
“How old is she?”
“Eight, going on fifty by some of the shit she comes out with.”
“Where’s her mother in all this? How will she feel about me getting involved?”
“Her mother’s dead same as yours. Now I have a lot to do this morning. I’ll give you the length of time it takes for me to take a piss. When I get back, I want an answer. A simple yes or no.”
“Two months babysitting, and you won’t fire anyone else?”
“I’ll even sweeten the deal. Pay you a bonus big enough to start your own business, and buy whatever building you need for your boutique. I’ll even have it fitted out to your specifications. Get some contacts in Rome and Paris to get designs over here for you to sell. How’s that sound?”
He gets to his feet and walks over to the door. “You’ve got until I get back to think it over.”
He walks out, shutting the door behind him. I dig out my phone and call Ursula.
She answers at once. “What’s up?”
“You will never guess what’s happening here.”
“I’ve seen it on the Whatsapp group. Big purge going on. You safe?”
“Might be able to stop it going any further.”
“That’s great.”
“There’s a catch.”
“What is it?”
“The new boss wants me to babysit his kid for a couple of months. Says he won’t fire anyone else if I do it, and he’ll pay for whatever store we want to buy so we can get the boutique going.”