“The tables looked clean when I arrived,” she said. “Did you clean them, or Christine?”
“Oh. I usually clean them, but I was so busy with other stuff that I guess Christine did it that day.”
“What tasks were you working on?” Bridget asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Oh... uh... the usual,” Sean said. “Getting everything ready.”
At that moment, the phone in Bridget’s office rang. Sean took it as an opportunity to say, “Gotta get back to those drinks!” He hurried off.
Bridget was about to turn to her office to see who might be calling when Sean’s phone caught her eye. It was still lying on the counter where he’d left it.
She didn’t like the sight of it lying there. She picked it up with a mind to bring it back out to Sean, along with a polite reminder to please not use it while he was on shift. As she picked it up, curiosity struck her. What had he been upset about, when she walked into the back room? A text message? An email? Something he was reading online?
She looked at the dark screen and gave it a quick tap. It lit up. Apparently, it wasn’t password protected, because she was immediately in his email. Her steps slowed down as she scanned the message quickly.
It was from someone named Timmy Kendrick, and the subject was DUDE! Where’s my paycheck?
Hey dude,
I know that this week has gotten off to a rough start. Sorry I freaked out on you on Monday, man. But bro, seriously, I need to get paid. I took your word for it that you were good for the money.
Every time I told you we were going over budget you said you had it covered. My guys need paychecks for all the labor they’ve put into Base Camp, and dude, to be honest, I need a paycheck too.
We’ve been bros for a long time. Remember the days back at Evergreen? Lets not let this job mess that up. We’re still gonna go skiing in New York next winter. Stop ignoring my calls. Man up and call me back.
Timmy
Bridget slowed to a stop and read the whole thing again. No wonder Sean looked upset. He was reading a message from someone who seemed to be a friend at one point, given all the “mans,” “bros,” and “dudes” thrown around.
Didn’t Sean mention once that he’d gone to college at Evergreen? And Bridget had heard Sean talking about ski vacations with some college buddies before. Maybe this guy Timmy was one of the guys he usually went with. So what was this job that was threatening to mess up their friendship? And what was Base Camp?
Why was it over budget?
She was surprised that though she’d worked with Sean five days a week for the past nearly two years since he’d started at Glitter Cup, he’d never mentioned it to her.
While Bridget thought this over, the phone’s screen went black again. She walked it out to the café and handed it to Sean, along with a quick reminder about the company policy regarding cell phone usage. Then, her mind still chewing on the message, she walked to her back office.
The cordless phone by her computer had a flashing red light, which indicated a waiting voicemail. Bridget listened to the message. It was from Sara White, the associate editor for the Dayton Newspaper. The message was brief; Sara simply requested a call back.
Bridget grinned as she dialed Sara’s work number. She’d gotten to know Sara the year before, when Glitter Cup was awarded a people’s choice award for Best Dayton City Coffee Shop. In addition to being the associate editor of the Dayton Newspaper, Sara also headed up the business section. Sara had written up a great piece on the café, and in the process, she and Bridget had become friends. Sara was smart, thoughtful, and had a kind heart. Bridget liked her.
“Hey, just got your message,” Bridget said when she got Sara on the line. “What’s up?”
“Bridget! Thanks for calling me back so fast. Listen, I just got a tip that there’s some big changes afoot for the Glitter Cup organization. There’s a buzz around this news that the CEO, Giovanni Costa, is going to announce early next week. People are speculating that he’s going to retire.”
“Really?” Bridget said. “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“I guess they’re keeping the news quiet within the company, too,” Sara said. “Too bad: I was hoping you might have the inside scoop to share with me.” There was a sound of rustling papers on Sara’s end of the line, and then she said, “Can I bring a videographer by within the next few days? We want to get some footage of the inside of the shop so we’re ready when the story breaks.”
“Video?” Bridget said, surprised.
“Sure. We post video clips on our website. It’s a new thing I’ve initiated since taking over. We’ve got to keep up with social media these days, you know! How does tomorrow at 1:00 sound to you?”
“I think that’ll be fine. Let me run it by my regional supervisor. She can be fussy about media coverage. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll call you back by the end of the day so you can make plans with your video guy.”
I wonder if Giovanni Costa is really retiring? Bridget thought once she got off the line.
She placed a call to Shelby, who quickly agreed that allowing the paper in to grab video footage would be no problem. Bridget called Sara back to share the news.
Once all that was handled, she allowed herself to think over her brief conversation with Sean, and the message she’d read on his phone.
It had surprised her to find out that he was having money troubles. He’s never mentioned his financial stresses to me, she thought. And what’s this Base Camp all about? How come I’ve never heard him talk about it? That struck her as odd. Is he under so much pressure from this Timmy guy that he decided to blackmail my dad?
She bit her lip. It was a tough question to answer, especially because the more she found out about Sean, the more uneasy she felt. It was like he was only showing her parts of himself and hiding the rest.
I’m going to have to dig deeper, she realized. And I really have to talk to Christine.
9
Beauty
Christine arrived at 2:00 for a short afternoon shift, and Adrienne and Sean headed out and were replaced with two other workers. Though Bridget tried to catch Christine alone for a moment, her attempts kept getting thwarted. Sebastian, who had showed up for his shift at eleven—actually right on time for a change—requested to be put on the register, which made it even harder to get Christine alone.
When there wasn’t a line, Christine was busy giving Sebastian tips about placing orders on the touch screen. The few times that Bridget did manage to pull Christine into the back room for a few moments alone, something always came up out front. First Sebastian had an issue voiding out an order. Then he ran out of change and didn’t know where to get a new roll of quarters. Next, he abandoned the register altogether, despite the lunch rush-hour line, just to walk an elderly woman to her seat.
“What is he thinking?” Christine scoffed as they watched Sebastian pull out the elderly woman’s chair. “He can’t just leave the register like that! And Pat Melhue comes in here everyday, and she’s got no problem seating herself!” Christine scoffed.
What a frustrating day, Bridget thought as she collected her jacket and purse at the end of the day. I made zero progress, except to learn that my employees have been hiding their personal lives from me. Adrienne and Jeremiah... and Sean with his money problems...