“Sorry,” he said, looking completely unrepentant. “But you’re back now, right? So all’s well that ends well and all that shit.”
“Fine.” Lauren ran a hand though her hair. Obviously she wasn’t getting through to him. “I guess so, if you want to look at it that way. Why are you here, though? Did my mom tell you I was back?”
“Nope.” He shrugged. “I’m just here for my regular shift. I’ve been coming in every day, turning on the lights and the AC, making sure everybody knows we’re still open.” He grinned. “Aren’t you glad I was here to hold down the fort while you were gone?”
Lauren nearly groaned. On the way over she’d been thinking about all the bills which had accumulated while she’d been gone. Her one consolation had been that the electric bill at the Sweet Spot—which was always pretty big—should be next to nothing since she’d been gone so long. Now Lorenzo was telling her he’d been running the lights and air conditioners for hours every single day, ensuring that her electric bill would be as big as always without any profits to help pay it.
“Why did you do that?” she asked, shaking her head. “Why open the shop when we had nothing to sell?”
“Well because…” Lorenzo looked hurt. “You didn’t want everyone to think we went out of business, did you?”
“No, but you could have put up a sign saying we were on vacation or something like that,” Lauren pointed out. Sighing she walked briskly back to the kitchen area and flipped on the lights. “I mean, not that I don’t appreciate the effort but the electric bill is going to be sky high and—” She stopped short as the room came into view. “What the hell is this?”
Every available space, including the stainless steel counters and the island in the middle of the kitchen, was covered in trash. Empty beer cans, some still leaking beer, half-empty pizza boxes, bottles, bags, and cigarette butts were everywhere. Even worse, everything was coated in a fine layer of white. It looked like someone had gotten into her bin of cake flour and flung it everywhere. One of her two professional grade convection ovens, which had cost an arm and a leg and which she was still paying off, was standing open. When Lauren walked closer, leaving footprints in the flour, she saw that hardened cheese was dripping from all its racks.
“What happened?” She turned to Lorenzo, feeling bewildered and betrayed. “Were we robbed or…or vandalized or something?”
“Oh this?” He shrugged uncomfortably. “Nah, nothing like that. I just had a few buddies over the other night. They wanted to see where I worked, you know? We had a few beers and one of their girlfriends wanted to see how the ovens worked. So we reheated a pizza in that one.” He pointed to the open convention oven. “Came out real nice too—crispy.”
“And the flour?” Lauren demanded. “What happened there?”
Lorenzo had the grace to look slightly sheepish. “Uh, well that was kind of an accident. Some of the guys had too much to drink and started fooling around. Sorry.”
“Sorry?” Lauren turned on him. “You used my shop as your own personal party pad while I was gone and trashed it and all you can say is ‘sorry?’”
“Hey, don’t get so touchy.” Lorenzo frowned. “I said it was an accident. Besides, I’ll help clean it up in a little while. You get started if you want and I’ll man the front. I’ll help you once the morning rush dies down.”
“There is no ‘morning rush’ when we don’t have anything to sell,” Lauren pointed out through gritted teeth. “And forget ‘helping’ me clean up your mess—I’m sure you’re as good at cleaning as you are at everything else.”
“Hey.” Lorenzo’s blond eyebrows drew low on his forehead. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I want you out. Right now.” Lauren pointed in the direction of the front door. “But first give me your key. You’re fired.”
“Hey now, babe, you don’t really mean that.” Giving her his most ingratiating smile, Lorenzo put an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, we’re a team, aren’t we?”
“Get off me!” Lauren shrugged his arm off and faced him. “I’m not kidding, Lorenzo, I knew you were a flake but I didn’t think you’d do something like this. I want you gone.”
His smile turned into a sulky scowl immediately. “Fine, I’ll go. Just pay me my salary and I’m out of here.”
“Your salary?” Lauren couldn’t believe his nerve.