Elsie was surprised that there was no pushback. And she gladly shook Gloria’s hand. She was so thrilled, in fact, that she gave Gloria a hug.
“Now get to work,” Gloria said with a smile.
“Yes, ma’am,” Elsie said, smiling too, and hurried away.
None of the other employees, however, were as thrilled as Elsie about the outcome. They weren’t exactly comforted by the answers Gloria gave to them. But at least she didn’t appear ready to fire them all. Those who worked hard, which was most of them, were safe, she said. That was all they were hoping for: a fair shot.
But there was also a leeriness that such a young girl could deliver it. Time, they decided just as Gloria had decided about them, too, would tell.
But after the meeting, as Gloria sat in her office arguing with a vendor about how his cost for hamburger buns suddenly flew through the roof after the change in ownership, and she angrily hung up in his face, a knock was heard on her door. She didn’t need the intrusion. She was already behind with vendor follow ups. But she also knew, for the first time in her life, the buck stopped with her.
“Come in!”
When the door opened and Shirley walked in, she exhaled. “What’s up?”
But Shirley saw the stress on her boss’s face. “You okay?”
“Not really, no. We need a new vendor for our buns.”
“He jacked up the price on you, didn’t he?”
“He tried to, yes.”
“You have to beg him a little. He’ll come around.”
“I’m not interested in begging anybody. I’ve got to find a new vendor.”
Shirley was surprised. “You’re going to fire him just like that?”
“Absolutely!” Gloria said. “I hired him to provide me with inventory at a reasonable price. He didn’t hire me. If he suddenly wants to take advantage of me, then fuck him. There’s plenty of factories in Florida who would love to have my business, and that’s where I’ll take it.”
Shirley had never met somebody so forceful. And the language!
But when she continued to just stand there, staring at Gloria, Gloria exhaled. “You came back here for a reason I’m sure.”
“Oh. Right! Yes, I did, matter of fact. Oz Drakos is here to see you.”
Gloria was stunned. She assumed he would stay clear of her the way she was content to stay clear of him. “Oz Drakos?”
“Yes, ma’am. His brother is--”
“Yes, I know who his brother is. I was just wondering why he would want to see me.”
“I can tell him you’re busy.”
“No,” Gloria said faster than she planned to say. Shirley noticed her eagerness too.
“I mean, that won’t be necessary,” Gloria said, attempting to cover herself. “You can send him in.”
Shirley glanced at Gloria another second, but then she left the office to go and get Oz. And Gloria, to her own shock, was just about to remove her glasses and smooth down her clothes and spruce up her messy ponytail. But then she realized she was about to prepare herself for yet another man who was only after her ass rather than her heart. She didn’t come all this way to Florida to give away ass, or to get her heart broken or even tampered with. And especially not by some Game of Thrones-looking joker like Oz Drakos.
She didn’t remove her glasses, smooth down her clothes, nor touch a hair on her messy head.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The employees of the diner were cleaning up for the grand opening while laughing and joking around with Oz when Shirley returned from the office. “You can go on back,” she said to him. But when he made it beside her, she added: “Good luck with that one.”
But her little dig bothered Oz. He stopped and looked at her. “She’s your boss, no?” he asked her.
Shirley was surprised by the question. “Yes, she’s my boss.”
“And you’re her manager?”
“I manage this diner, yes. You know I do.”
“Only a very foolish frog would contaminate his own pond,” Oz said, gave Shirley another look, and then headed down the back hall. Shirley, shocked that he would deign to stand up for a woman he didn’t even know against her, wanted to tell him about his Greek behind. But she was also bothered by what he’d said too. Because he was right. She needed that job. Why in the world was she trying her best to lose it?
“You okay, Shirl?” Pearl asked her.
“Just get back to work,” Shirley snapped at Pearl, and hurried behind the counter.
Oz walked slowly down the dark, narrow hall that led to the only office back there. He realized, in all the time Lucinda owned that diner, he’d never been back there. He also never recalled feeling so oddly vulnerable as he walked toward that office. What in the world was wrong with him? This chic of a girl was nothing to him. Just a piece of ass to conquer, if he were to be honest about it. Why in the world was he feeling so . . . so uncomfortable? “Pull that shit together, Odysseus,” he could just hear Alex saying to him. “Pull that shit together.”
He knocked once on the door, exhaled, and then walked on in. His plan was to put on that happy, charming face he was known for all the world over, and pretend that her little turn down was of no consequence to him whatsoever. But when he walked in, and saw her sitting behind that desk looking beautiful even though she wore glasses and a ponytail that made her look like some bookkeeper, his smile didn’t materialize. Although she looked so hot in that crisscross blouse that highlighted her large breasts, that wasn’t the draw either. It was that look. There was such anguish on her face, as if she had bitten off far more than she could chew, that stopped him in his tracks. There was a vulnerability about her, that same look he noticed in the club, that made him want to protect her.
It was the weirdest feeling he’d ever experienced. Why on earth would he want to protect some female who treated him like he was a joke? But he couldn’t deny how he felt.
Gloria, too, felt some kind of weird way when Oz entered her office. Especially the way he looked when he entered. Gone were the club clothes he wore that night in Vegas, or even what he wore at his brother’s penthouse. He was now wearing a well-tailored suit that fit his muscular frame with linear perfection. And suddenly he had gravitas with his gorgeousness, which was a lot for one man to have. Suddenly he looked more like the successful businessman he apparently was, rather than some aging player. And she was glad to see it. And to see him.
Glad to see him?
Here was a man, she reminded herself, who played around with women’s hearts for sport, and she was actually glad to see him? Really? Was she that desperate for male companionship? Was she that desperate for somebody to love her that she’d consider having contact with a man who’d do everything to her but love her?
Get a grip, Glo, she said to herself. Get a damn grip! But she still smoothed-down her ponytail.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Oz said as he walked on in.
“No,” she said. “I was just having a moment.”
“Who’s the perp?”
“I was on the phone with an unsavory vendor.”
“I have news for you,” Oz said. “They’re all unsavory.”