Chương 8
Evelyn stared at him.
“That’s it?”
“No.”
“There it is.”
Adrian leaned back.
“I want to talk about the complaints.”
“Fine.”
“And about Tuesday.”
“Fine.”
“And about what happens when people decide your sidewalk is part of your brand.”
Evelyn folded her hands.
“You think I told Madison to do it.”
“No.”
“You think my staff encouraged her.”
“No.”
“You think I tolerate that kind of behavior.”
Adrian paused.
“I think you tolerate more than you believe you do.”
Her face hardened.
“Based on one incident?”
“Based on the delivery driver.”
“I dealt with that.”
“By apologizing to his company.”
She looked at Daniel.
Daniel suddenly became fascinated by a paperclip.
Adrian continued.
“Why didn’t you apologize to him?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
Evelyn’s expression sharpened.
“Do not do that.”
“Do what?”
“Sit there waiting until I give you the answer you already decided is true.”
Adrian said nothing.
She pointed at him.
“That. Exactly that.”
Daniel placed the paperclip down.
Evelyn drew a breath.
“I didn’t apologize to him because I was embarrassed.”
Adrian waited.
She looked at him angrily.
“There. Happy?”
“No.”
“I had an employee tell a grown man carrying six boxes to walk around a building because she didn’t like how his cart looked in the lobby. I was embarrassed. So I called the delivery company because it was easier to apologize to a supervisor than to a person.”
Adrian nodded.
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“You do enjoy this.”
“No.”
“You enjoy being right.”
He almost denied it.
Then stopped.
“A little.”
Daniel looked at him.
Evelyn did too.
Adrian shrugged.
“I’m working on it.”
Some tension left the room.
Not much.
Evelyn sat back.
“What do you want from us?”
“A written sidewalk and access policy.”
She frowned.
“We have an access policy.”
Daniel slid a document toward her.
“Not really.”
Evelyn read it.
Her mouth tightened.
“It says employees should keep the entry clear.”
“It doesn’t say what to do if someone is sitting near it,” Adrian said.
“Use common sense.”
“Common sense produced Tuesday.”
“Madison isn’t an employee.”
“No. But Jenna told me staff have asked people to move before.”
Evelyn looked up.
“She said that?”
“She said sometimes clients complain.”
“And sometimes people block the door.”
“Then address people blocking the door.”
“We do.”
“Do you?”
Evelyn put the paper down.
“You own buildings, Adrian. You don’t run a salon. A woman paying four hundred dollars for a service does not want to step around somebody smoking against the window.”
“Then ask the smoker not to smoke against the window.”
“And if they refuse?”
“Use the options available.”
“Security.”
“Yes.”
“So we agree.”
“We agree when there is actual behavior to address.”
“And when someone simply makes clients uncomfortable?”
Adrian looked at her.
“That depends why they’re uncomfortable.”
Evelyn held his gaze.
The room became quieter.
Daniel shifted in his chair.
Evelyn finally said, “You want me to train twenty-year-old receptionists to decide whether someone’s discomfort is morally legitimate.”
“No.”
“That is what you’re asking.”
“I’m asking you to train them to describe behavior before making judgments about people.”
She frowned.
He continued.
“Blocking. Threatening. Smoking. Harassing. Sleeping across the threshold. Those are behaviors. ‘Doesn’t look like our client’ isn’t.”
Evelyn looked at the paper again.
Daniel spoke for the first time in several minutes.
“That’s workable.”
Evelyn gave him a look.
“Thank you, Switzerland.”
He lifted both hands.
She returned her attention to Adrian.
“And what about Madison?”
“What about her?”
“She’s been calling.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Not me.”
“She says you’re trying to ruin her.”
“I haven’t spoken to her since Tuesday.”
“I told her.”
“She doesn’t believe you?”
“She believes what keeps her upright.”
Adrian folded his hands.
“What does she want?”
“For me to say she believed you threatened clients.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“Then don’t.”
Evelyn smiled without amusement.
“You make that sound easy.”
“It isn’t.”
“She’s sent more business to Luxe than any individual client I’ve had.”
“Then losing her will hurt.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not going to pretend otherwise.”
Evelyn looked at him for a long moment.
“Would you ban her?”
“From your salon?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Not my salon.”
“You own the building.”
“Different thing.”
“She poured water on you on your property.”
“And?”
“And you could prohibit her.”
“I could probably spend money trying.”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“What would you do?”
“That’s your decision.”
“I’m asking you as the person she humiliated.”
Adrian looked down at the table.
“I don’t know.”
The honesty surprised her.
He continued.
“If you had asked me Tuesday, I’d have told you never let her through the door again.”
“And now?”
“Now I think you need to decide what kind of customer you’re willing to lose money for.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“That’s annoyingly phrased.”
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“No.”
Daniel began writing something on his legal pad.
Evelyn looked at him.
“What are you writing?”
“Nothing.”
“Show me.”
“No.”
She almost smiled.
The meeting lasted another hour.
They argued over language.
Evelyn objected to a clause that allowed property management to impose sidewalk procedures without tenant approval.
Daniel objected to deleting it.
Adrian sided with Evelyn.
Daniel called him irresponsible.
Evelyn sided with Daniel on insurance wording.
Adrian accused both of forming a coalition.
By the end, nobody was comfortable enough to pretend the incident had become meaningful or redemptive.
It had simply become part of the lease negotiation.
Evelyn preferred that.
At the elevator, Adrian stopped her.
“One more thing.”
She turned.
“Jenna.”
“What about her?”
“Don’t fire her for the phone.”
Evelyn’s expression changed.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.”
“You think I would?”
“I didn’t know.”
“That’s offensive.”
“Probably.”
“She didn’t post the video.”
“I know.”
“She shouldn’t have recorded clients without permission.”
“She was recording the sidewalk.”
“Through my window.”
Adrian waited.
Evelyn sighed.
“I’m not firing her.”
“Good.”
“Stop saying good.”
He smiled.
The elevator arrived.
Before entering, Evelyn looked at him.
“You know what bothers me?”
May you like
“Several things, apparently.”
“You came to judge us.”
