Part 6
Claire absorbed that.
It was not the comforting answer. Elena appreciated that Daniel did not offer false confidentiality to make courage easier.
Claire placed another pearl in the case.
“Thirteen.”
Then she said, “I want to answer now.”
Marianne’s expression hardened.
Claire saw it.
Her voice became quieter, but she continued.
“When Ms. Vale came in, I found the appointment. It was in the private-service calendar. The note said the client would deliver a legacy piece for workshop assessment.”
Marianne said, “It did not say she was the client.”
“It said E. Vale.”
“There are many people named Vale.”
“Not on our private-service calendar.”
Marianne’s lips pressed together.
Claire looked at Elena. “I told Ms. Voss the appointment was valid.”
“You said it might be valid,” Marianne replied.
“I said it was confirmed at ten forty-two this morning.”
“You didn’t show me the confirmation.”
“You took the tablet.”
“Because there were people entering the salon.”
“There was one person.”
“Enough,” Daniel said.
He did not raise his voice.
Both women stopped.
Elena asked Claire, “Why did you cover your mouth?”
Claire’s cheeks colored.
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
Claire looked at the pearls.
“I thought she had really hurt you.”
“What did you do next?”
“Nothing.”
“Why?”
The question did not require cruelty, but it caused pain anyway.
Claire rubbed her palms together.
“Because I’ve seen what happens when people embarrass her.”
Marianne’s foot moved beside her handbag.
Claire noticed and looked at her.
“I’m sorry,” Claire said reflexively.
Then she seemed angry at herself for apologizing.
Marianne gave a short, humorless breath. “You make me sound insane.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“No. You only implied that everyone here lives in terror.”
“I didn’t say that either.”
“What happens?” Elena asked.
Claire turned back to her.
“Hours change. Client assignments change. Sales credit changes. Sometimes a person is left off a private event and told it was an oversight. Sometimes their uniform is suddenly wrong even though it was fine the week before.”
“Uniform?” Elena looked at Claire’s tailored gray dress.
“We buy our own clothes within the appearance guide.”
Daniel’s brow creased. “The company provides an annual allowance.”
“It doesn’t cover what we’re expected to wear here.”
Marianne said, “This is the flagship salon.”
Claire’s voice sharpened. “That doesn’t make fabric cheaper.”
The sentence hung between them.
Elena had read the allowance policy. She remembered approving a recommendation to increase it by eight percent. At the time, the number had seemed responsible.
She looked at Claire’s dress again. The tailoring was careful, but the hem had been repaired by hand. One stitch near the side seam was slightly lighter than the fabric.
“What happens if someone cannot afford the standard?” Elena asked.
Marianne answered. “We work with them.”
Claire gave her a look Elena could not interpret at first.
Then Claire said, “She sends links.”
Daniel glanced down, perhaps hiding a reaction.
Elena nearly asked what kind of links, then understood. Marianne recommended clothing employees were expected to purchase with their own money.
“How much did this dress cost?” Elena asked.
Claire hesitated.
“You don’t have to answer.”
“Four hundred and twenty dollars.”
Evan looked at her.
Marianne said, “That is not unusual for client-facing luxury retail.”
“How much does an associate earn here?” Elena asked Daniel.
He already had his phone out.
Claire answered before he found the figure.
“Twenty-six dollars an hour, plus commission.”
“Commission varies,” Marianne said. “Strong associates do very well.”
Claire’s mouth tightened.
Elena asked, “Who assigns walk-in clients?”
“The floor director.”
“Who is the floor director?”
Marianne did not answer.
Claire did. “Ms. Voss.”
Another pearl clicked into the case.
“Fourteen.”
Elena leaned back. The chair pressed against her hip in the wrong place. She adjusted, embarrassed by the visible effort.
Daniel noticed but did not comment.
Marianne uncrossed and recrossed her ankles.
“I am not going to defend every management decision in an improvised interrogation,” she said. “This has moved far beyond the incident.”
“No,” Elena said. “It has moved backward.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m learning what happened before I entered.”
Marianne’s face lost some color.
Elena looked at Claire. “Did you recognize my name?”
“No. Not really. I thought you might be connected to the family, but I wasn’t sure.”
“Have employees been briefed on the leadership transition?”
“We received an email saying the board was considering a successor.”
“Was my name in it?”
“No.”
Daniel looked up. “It should have been.”
Marianne said, “The transition was confidential.”
Elena turned to him. “Was it?”
“The final date was confidential. Your candidacy was announced internally six weeks ago.”
Claire shook her head. “We didn’t see that.”
Evan said, “I didn’t.”
Daniel’s thumb moved across his screen.
Marianne’s voice became careful. “Communications are distributed through the management portal. I forward what is relevant.”
Elena looked at her.
“Relevant to whom?”
“To the staff.”
“Decided by whom?”
Marianne did not answer.
Daniel found what he was looking for.
“The message was opened by the flagship director account six weeks ago,” he said. “It included a requirement to brief all employees during the next scheduled meeting.”
Claire looked at Marianne.
Evan stopped touching his cuff.
Marianne’s eyes hardened. “I did not believe it was appropriate to discuss an unconfirmed appointment.”
Daniel read from the screen. “The subject line was ‘Leadership Transition and Required Staff Communication.’”
“I understood the instruction.”
“Apparently not.”
Elena held up a hand.
Daniel stopped.
She knew his contempt could become efficient and therefore dangerous. He had spent years assisting executives who treated mistakes as character defects. He disliked Marianne now, and dislike made details easier to arrange into certainty.
Elena did not want certainty yet.
“Why didn’t you tell them?” she asked.
Marianne looked past her toward the street.
“The staff was already distracted.”
“By what?”
“Sales targets. Scheduling changes. A product launch. There is always something.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
May you like
Marianne touched the gold belt at her waist, checking a buckle that did not need checking.
“I thought the announcement would unsettle people.”
