Arthur smiled faintly.
“You’ll know soon enough.”
Emily frowned.
“That’s not fair.”
“No.”
He looked toward Richard.
“It probably isn’t.”
Then Arthur Bennett took the cake, walked to the nearest café table, and sat down.
He did not leave.
Richard stood behind the counter.
Emily remained near the register.
And for the first time since the bakery opened that morning, nobody seemed interested in ordering anything.
PART 2 — THE BOARD NOBODY KNEW EXISTED
Richard Collins recovered first.
He always did.
Years of management had taught him that uncertainty became dangerous when other people could see it.
He turned to Emily.
“Get your belongings.”
Arthur remained seated at the café table.
Richard glanced toward him.
The old man had placed the cake carefully in front of himself.
He was doing nothing threatening.
That made Richard more uncomfortable.
Emily looked at Arthur.
Then at Richard.
“Am I actually fired?”
“Yes.”
Arthur spoke from the table.
“Has the termination been processed?”
Richard turned.
“That’s none of your business.”
Arthur nodded.
“Interesting.”
Richard stepped toward him.
“Sir, I don’t know what you think is happening here, but I need you to leave.”
Arthur looked toward the rain.
“I just bought a cake.”
“You’re disrupting the business.”
“I’m sitting.”
Richard’s mouth tightened.
Arthur continued.
“If a seventy-six-year-old man sitting quietly is enough to disrupt your operation, you have more serious problems than I thought.”
A customer coughed to hide a laugh.
Richard looked around.
“Everyone, please continue. We apologize for the delay.”
Nobody moved immediately.
Then the line slowly resumed.
Emily went to the employee room.
Her hands were shaking now.
She removed her apron.
Folded it.
Then unfolded it because the fold was crooked.
She hated herself for caring.
She placed it on the shelf.
Her purse hung on a hook.
She took it.
Inside was her wallet.
Thirty dollars lighter.
She stared at it.
The reality hit her suddenly.
She had no job.
No paycheck next Friday beyond the hours already worked.
No certainty she could replace the income quickly.
Her school envelope would become rent money.
Then grocery money.
Then disappear.
Emily sat on the small bench.
She covered her face.
For the first time, she cried.
Quietly.
She did not hear Arthur enter the hallway.
He stopped before the employee room.
He did not come inside.
“Emily?”
She wiped her face quickly.
“Yes?”
“May I speak with you?”
She took a breath.
“Sure.”
Arthur remained outside.
Emily appreciated that.
She stepped into the hallway.
He held the cake with both hands again.
His phone was hidden.
He looked exactly as vulnerable as before.
Emily almost felt angry about it.
“What was that?”
Arthur nodded.
“A reasonable question.”
“Did you know your card would be declined?”
“No.”
She studied him.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You were testing me.”
Arthur did not answer immediately.
Emily’s face hardened.
“You were.”
“Not in the way you think.”
“What other way is there?”
Arthur looked toward the bakery.
“I came here because I needed a cake.”
“That doesn’t explain the phone call.”
“No.”
“Or the board.”
“No.”
“Or why Richard looked like he saw a ghost.”
Arthur gave a tired sigh.
“Richard doesn’t know who I am.”
Emily frowned.
“Then why was he scared?”
“Because he knows enough to be worried about not knowing.”
That only annoyed her more.
Emily crossed her arms.
“I lost my job.”
Arthur’s face softened.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“No, I mean do you actually understand what that means?”
Arthur did not respond.
Emily continued.
“I don’t have savings. Not real savings. I’m not working here for spending money.”
“I know.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Arthur caught himself.
Too late.
Emily noticed.
“How do you know?”
He was silent.
“You looked me up?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Arthur leaned against the wall slightly.
“I’ve been watching this bakery for several months.”
Emily stared.
“That is somehow worse.”
He almost smiled.
“Again, fair.”
“What are you?”
Arthur looked at her for a moment.
“Someone trying to solve a problem.”
“What problem?”
Arthur glanced toward Richard.
“Succession.”
Emily blinked.
“What?”
“That is all I can tell you tonight.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I know.”
“You called a board because I bought you a cake.”
“Not exactly.”
Emily laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You know what? I don’t care.”
She picked up her purse.
“I need to figure out how to tell my mother I’m unemployed.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“Emily.”
She stopped.
“I will not let you lose income because of what happened.”
She looked at him.
“I don’t want your money.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It sounded like it.”
“I meant the termination will be reviewed.”
“You can do that?”
Arthur said nothing.
Emily shook her head.
“Of course.”
She started toward the front.
Arthur spoke again.
“The most important thing you did tonight happened before you knew any of this.”
Emily stopped.
Arthur continued.
“You believed I had nothing.”
She turned.
“I didn’t think you had nothing.”
“You saw an old man whose card was declined.”
“So?”
“You paid anyway.”
“It was sixteen dollars.”
“Twenty-eight fifty.”
“I mean what you were short.”
Arthur smiled slightly.