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"I wonder what you do all day anyway! You're responsible for the entrance area. You're late for work at the reception, so your colleagues have to stay longer. You don't really want to work longer either, as I just heard. And yesterday, you accidentally sent a guest to the wrong room, which was still occupied."
"That was misinformation from the cleaning team. They reported that the room was empty and ready when it wasn't. We've addressed it. It won't happen again."
"Won't happen again," Mr. Kershaw snorted. "That was exactly one time too many. And anyway... what kind of impression are guests supposed to get of our hotel? Not just the ones who were sent to the wrong room. All of them!"
"What do you mean?" I had no idea what my boss was talking about.
"Just look around!" Emmett Kershaw waved his arm through the air. I followed the hand movement with my eyes. My gaze wandered over the large glass windows that reached to the floor, the low tables and elegant black and white leather sofas for waiting guests, the selection of magazines, and the polished floor.
Everything seemed normal.
What was the man talking about?
I looked at him, puzzled.
"Everything's withered! Everything's dead! There's not a single plant here that's still alive!" Emmett Kershaw made another gesture encompassing the entire lobby and then looked at me angrily. "This is your responsibility."
"I... um... I'm not particularly good at taking care of plants. I watered them every day, but..." I shrugged helplessly.
"Every day? That's a lie! No plant that's watered every day can have such brown, drooping leaves!"
This time, I actually agreed with Emmett Kershaw. A plant that was watered couldn't really wither, could it? But since I had walked through the lobby with the watering can every single day, stopping at each plant and giving it water, it apparently was possible.
"How about we hire a company for plant care?" I suggested. "I submitted a request for that a month ago. But due to the ongoing takeover of our hotel by you, Mr. Kershaw, all approvals for additional costs were put on hold. The takeover is now complete, and we could bring in someone to professionally care for the plants." I beamed at Mr. Kershaw. With exactly the smile I reserved for particularly annoying guests. Fortunately, we didn't have many of those, but of course it happened from time to time.
"Do you think I bought this hotel so that even more money could be spent here?" Emmett Kershaw growled at me.
"Exactly! We need to save money!" Such a comment could only come from Gina. Couldn't this "colleague" finally go home? She had just complained about me being late, and now she was still hanging around here, sucking up to our boss and badmouthing me. Emmett Kershaw whirled around and glared sharply at Gina.
"You will take over plant care from now on," he ordered.
"But..." Gina obviously hadn't expected this response.
"No buts! Or do you want to refuse work too, just like your fine colleague here?" With these words, Mr. Kershaw pointed at me. Gina just shook her head silently.
Refuse work?
I must have heard wrong. I certainly wouldn't let that slide! I worked hard, even if the plants weren't thriving as I'd like them to.
"I'm not refusing work!" My voice sounded sharper than intended, but this pint-sized man with the pig eyes was really getting on my nerves.
"I've already told you once: You come in late. You still don't want a parking space. You don't want to stay longer. You make mistakes. You're not capable of doing your job properly. And you're not even wearing your work uniform." Mr. Kershaw now reminded me of a hissing snake. He took a step closer to me. Since he was barely taller than me, our faces were now very close. Uncomfortably close. Involuntarily, I raised my hand to wipe a drop of spit from my cheek. Mr. Kershaw actually hissed. And he hissed wetly.
"What would you do with such an employee?" he asked now, firing off another drop of spit in my direction.
I owed him no answer. Maybe he would leave sooner if I said nothing. And hopefully, he would take Gina with him. I just wanted to do my work in peace.
"You're fired, Miss Abbott! I can't use you here."
The words only slowly penetrated my brain. "What?"
Fired?
I had lost my job?
That... that couldn't be.
That MUST NOT be.