“So maybe I’m not the only person being tested.”
She walked toward the door.
Before she opened it, Arthur spoke.
“You’re right.”
Emily stopped.
Arthur continued.
“We failed that test.”
She looked back.
He did not defend himself.
That mattered.
Margaret said quietly:
“And now we have to decide what we do about it.”
Richard Collins was called into the office at eleven fifteen.
Emily had not left.
Not yet.
Arthur asked her to stay for the discussion.
She refused at first.
“I don’t want to sit there while you fire him.”
Arthur looked at her.
“What makes you think we’re firing him?”
Emily frowned.
“Aren’t you?”
“No decision has been made.”
“He fired me in ten seconds.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re giving him a meeting?”
Arthur nodded.
Emily stared.
“That seems unfair.”
“Maybe.”
“Why?”
Arthur’s answer was simple.
“Because if I punish impulsiveness impulsively, I haven’t learned much.”
Emily disliked how reasonable that sounded.
So she stayed.
Richard entered.
When he saw Emily seated beside Arthur, his expression tightened.
David closed the door.
Margaret opened the file.
Richard sat.
Arthur began.
“Tell us why you fired Emily.”
Richard looked at him.
“She violated policy.”
Margaret asked:
“Which policy?”
Richard hesitated.
“Employees can’t give away product.”
Emily interrupted.
“I didn’t.”
Richard looked at her.
Margaret said:
“She paid full retail price.”
Richard shifted.
“Employees are discouraged from personal transactions involving customers during shifts.”
“Discouraged?”
“It creates complications.”
Margaret continued.
“Is there a written policy prohibiting an employee from using personal money to purchase an item for a customer?”
Richard looked down.
“No.”
Arthur asked:
“Then why did you fire her?”
Richard inhaled.
“She ignored me.”
“Did you tell her she would be fired if she paid?”
“No.”
“Did you warn her?”
“No.”
“Did you ask her to step aside afterward?”
“No.”
“Did you document misconduct?”
“No.”
“Did you call HR?”
“No.”
“Then again—why?”
Richard stared at the table.
Emily watched his face.
At first she expected excuses.
He surprised her.
“Because I was angry.”
Arthur said nothing.
Richard continued.
“She contradicted me in front of customers.”
Emily frowned.
“I didn’t—”
Arthur raised one hand gently.
“Let him finish.”
Richard looked at Emily.
“You didn’t raise your voice.”
He swallowed.
“You didn’t insult me.”
He looked back at Arthur.
“But everyone was watching.”
Arthur nodded.
“And?”
“I felt like if I backed down, I would look weak.”
Silence.
David leaned back.
Richard continued.
“I made it about authority.”
Emily looked at him differently now.
Not kindly.
But more clearly.
Arthur asked:
“Has that happened before?”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t know.”
Margaret opened the complaint file.
“We do.”
Richard looked at her.
She read.
“Three written employee complaints in two years.”
Richard’s face changed.
“Three?”
“Six informal exit comments.”
He looked at David.
“You never told me six.”
David looked ashamed.
“I received summaries.”
“Then why didn’t you say something?”
David replied:
“I did.”
“No. You told me to improve retention.”
“I thought you understood what I meant.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“That’s ironic.”
David looked down.
It was.
Margaret continued.
“Complaints describe public criticism, schedule retaliation, threatening reduction of hours, and humiliating employees over minor errors.”
Richard’s face hardened defensively.
“I never retaliated.”
“A former employee says you cut her Saturday shifts after she challenged inventory procedures.”
“She requested fewer hours.”
“Two months earlier.”
Richard stopped.
Margaret continued.
“Another employee reported that you told him, ‘If you don’t like the way I run this place, there are twenty people who want your apron.’”
Richard closed his eyes.
He remembered saying it.
Arthur asked:
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Emily looked down.
That sentence was worse than she expected.
Richard rubbed his forehead.
“I’ve managed this store through labor shortages, inflation, delivery failures, inspections, staff turnover—”
Arthur interrupted.
“Those things are real.”
Richard looked at him.
“No one is denying the difficulty of your job.”
Arthur continued.
“But difficulty does not transform humiliation into leadership.”
Richard’s shoulders dropped.
“You think I’m a bad manager.”
Arthur answered carefully.
“I think you are a manager who has produced strong financial results while damaging trust.”
Richard looked toward David.
“Is that what you think?”
David hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
Richard leaned back.
The truth seemed to remove something from him.
Not dignity.
Defense.
For the first time, he looked tired.
Emily spoke.
“Can I ask him something?”
Arthur nodded.
She looked at Richard.
“Why did you hire me?”
Richard seemed surprised.
“What?”
“You interviewed me.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you hire me?”
He thought.
“You were prepared.”
“That’s it?”
“No.”
Richard looked uncomfortable.
“You were honest.”
Emily waited.
“You told me you had never worked in a bakery before instead of pretending your café job at sixteen counted.”
Emily remembered.
Richard continued.
“You said you needed stable hours and would learn quickly.”
He looked at her.
“And you did.”
“Was I bad at my job?”
“No.”
“Late?”
“Once.”
“My bus broke down.”
“I know.”
“Customer complaints?”
“None.”
“Cash shortages?”
“None.”
Emily swallowed.
“Then you erased six months because I embarrassed you?”
Richard looked at her.
“Yes.”
The answer was painful.