“I meant I needed your help, Clay. I don’t need another woman in here.” She called across the shop, “Hello, sir. I’ll be right with you.” The elderly man nodded and gazed into a glass case. “You don’t need this other woman. I’ll get caught up. I know I’m behind on the Internet kink orders.” She probably didn’t even realize her lip curled automatically when she’d said the words. “But I’ll get them all done. I don’t need the help, Clay.”
“Yes, you do, Tabitha. The decision is already made. And they aren’t Internet ‘kink’ orders. They are personal jewelry orders or just Internet orders, if you can’t stomach that. They represent a larger and larger part of my business. Customers are e-mailing me and asking why it takes so long to receive their orders, and local people don’t understand why they can’t pick up their items here unless they make an appointment with me. I need to focus on design and creation and don’t have time to handle sales because you’re squeamish about selling a clit clip.”
Tabitha cringed, flapped her hands, and did a full-body shudder, shushing him and glancing over her shoulder at the man who still looked in the jewelry cases. “Ssshhh!” Her face turned an unattractive shade of beet red. “I can’t stand it when you use that word. I swear you do it to embarrass me.”
“I’m going to train her to handle the process, from receiving orders all the way to shipping them or delivering them to customers directly. You won’t have to deal with that end of the business anymore at all.”
Tabitha seemed to ponder that for a few seconds. Her lower lip came out in an unpleasant pout. “All right.”
“You’ll also teach her to handle the register and help her learn the ropes of waiting on the regular store customers. That way I won’t be shorthanded when you take vacations or miss work on sick days.” Clay suppressed a groan as the familiar, irritating tickle began in his sinuses. T-minus ten seconds and counting.
Tabitha took on a decidedly martyred air and replied, “I suppose it’s a good idea. But I hope you appreciate that I’m not making a bigger deal out of it.”
Wow, is her perspective ever in need of adjustment. “It wouldn’t make a difference if you did, Tabitha. We are busier than ever. I’ve needed to do this for a while. I’ll also be training Lily to help me in the workroom.” The telltale tickle turned into a burning sensation as he pulled out his handkerchief and sneezed.
Tabitha’s jaw fell open in shock. “But I thought I—” She clapped her mouth shut, and a hint of some darker emotion crossed her face for an instant.
“What?”
“I thought eventually you would train me to help you back there. We would work well—” her words were interrupted as he sneezed violently again—“together. Does she know about your employer-employee relations policy?”
Clay looked at her through stinging, watering eyes. “What?”
Tabitha rolled her eyes, licked her lips, and said, “The ‘No Dating’ policy. Wait! Lily? You mean the one who—”
Clay sneezed again, growing more irritated by the second. “The one who had the accident. Yes.”
The elderly customer craned his neck, obviously wondering about the delay in service.
“So, not only is she living with you, she’s also working for you? It’s a good thing you have that policy, Clay. She sounds more and more like a gold digger. Like there aren’t already enough of those in Divine.” She crossed her arms under her ample chest with a huff, sending a plume of cat hair into the air from her cleavage. His throat tickled unpleasantly at the sight.
Sighing, Clay said, “I’ll tell her about it, Tabitha. That customer is waiting. I’ll have a new list of duties for you this afternoon. And just to be clear, she would be your coworker, not your subordinate.” It was hard to keep his tone neutral.
Clay could almost hear her teeth grinding together as she gave him a tight nod. “My commissions?”
The elderly man frowned at Tabitha as she looked expectantly at Clay.
Why do I put up with this? Does she expect an increase?
Clay sneezed and replied, “Commissions will remain the same. Please help him.”
Tabitha twisted her mouth in a frown as she turned to wait on the customer. He doubted she’d be very effective as a saleslady on the tail end of that conversation. Maybe he should’ve waited until the end of the day to talk with her. The truth was that he was anxious to have the details hammered out even though Lily couldn’t start yet.
He glanced at the “No Dating” policy tacked to the bulletin board as he walked past it. He hadn’t given it much thought since it had achieved the desired goal three years before. Lily wasn’t in a place where she could handle a relationship, but she might be someday. Until then, leaving the policy up might help her to lower her guard and heal if the boundaries for working with him were clearly defined.