Chapter 19 Dismissed
Marco
I turned to face Nina, my hand raking my hair out of frustration, and asked, "Find her how?" She's a legal adult who chose to leave. We can't force her to stay." I sat down. "And frankly, Nina, this is partially your fault."
She flinched. "What?"
"I left you in charge. Your job was to keep things running smoothly. That includes keeping the girls in line. If something happened to Amelia on your watch—"
"I had an emergency! My boyfriend's sister was in the hospital!"
"And I understand that. But you left her vulnerable. You knew there was a problem with the other girls; you told her to hide in her room, and then you left anyway."
"What was I supposed to do? Let his sister suffer alone?"
"You were supposed to figure it out. Delay leaving for an hour. Take Amelia with you. Something." I picked up my pen again, done with this discussion. "But it's done now. She's gone. Maybe she found somewhere better to stay. Maybe she got smart and left the city. Either way, it's not our problem anymore."
"Not our problem?" Nina's voice rose. "Marco, she was blind! Vulnerable! If the girls forced her out onto the street—"
"Then she'll figure it out like everyone else does. She survived before she came here; she'll survive after." I looked at her pointedly. "We run a business, Nina. Not a charity. We gave her a job and a room. If she chose to leave—or if she was encouraged to leave—that's unfortunate, but it's done. Move on."
Nina stared at me, like she didn't recognise me.
"Is that really how you feel?" she asked quietly.
Honestly? No. I'd liked Amelia. She was smart, tougher than she looked. She'd shown real potential.
But I couldn't afford to care. I couldn't afford to search for a girl who may have genuinely chosen to leave. And I definitely couldn't afford to start a war with my staff over someone who'd been here less than a week.
"That's business," I said instead. "Now, did anything else happen while I was gone that I need to know about?"
Nina's jaw tightened. "No."
"Good. Then let's move forward. "We're open in six hours, and I need you to focus."
She stood stiffly. she siad "Fine." turned to leave, then called.
"And Nina?" I waited until she looked at me. "Next time I leave you in charge, you must not leave the premises." Period. I don't care what the emergency is. You're the one in charge, which means you stay here. Understood?"
"Understood," she said coldly.
After she left, I sat alone in my office and tried to ignore the nagging feeling in my gut.
Amelia was gone. Probably for the best, really. A blind girl working with special customers would always present complications. Too much liability, too much risk.
She better find somewhere safer. She needed to find a place that didn't require her to serve dangerous men in private rooms.
I pulled up the staffing schedule and crossed her name off. One less person to worry about.
Business as usual.
NINA
I stood in the hallway outside Marco's office, hands clenched into fists.
He didn't care.
He actually didn't care that Amelia was gone, potentially hurt, possibly thrown out by the other girls.
Business as usual.
I'd worked for Marco for five years. I'd always known he was practical, sometimes ruthlessly so. But this? This was cold even for him.
I walked down the hallway to Amelia's former room and opened the door.
Empty, like I'd reported. But now I looked closer.
The bed was made, yes. But too perfectly. It looked as if someone had straightened the bed, rather than it being made by someone who had actually slept in it.
The dresser drawers were all closed. I opened them. Empty. But something felt wrong. The drawers were too neat, lined up too precisely.
I checked the closet. Nothing.
If Amelia had packed her things and left, she'd have done so quickly and efficiently. But she'd been blind. Would she have been able to pack everything perfectly, make the bed hospital-corners tight, and leave absolutely nothing behind?
Or would someone else have cleaned up after they'd thrown her out?
I closed the door and walked back downstairs.
The girls were in the dressing room, getting ready for the evening shift. I heard laughter as I approached.
"—probably halfway to New Jersey by now," Jade's voice said.
"Good riddance," someone else said.
"Yeah, well, at least now we don't have to deal with her bad luck anymore."
More laughter.
I pushed open the door. Five girls looked up—Jade, Ashley, Carmen, Beth, and Trina.
"Can I talk to you?" I said to Jade.
"Sure." She didn't look remotely worried.
I waited until we were in the hallway, away from the others.
"What really happened yesterday?" I asked quietly.
"I told you. Amelia left. Decided the work wasn't for her."
"And you didn't think to stop her? Didn't think maybe a blind girl leaving alone at night might be a problem?"
Jade shrugged. "Not my job to babysit her."
"Did you see her leave?"
"Yeah. She came downstairs with her bag and her cane, said she was done, and left."
"What time?"
"I don't know. Seven? Seven-thirty?"
"And she seemed okay? Not upset or hurt or—"
"She seemed fine. Why are you interrogating me? She quit. People quit all the time."
I studied her face. She met my eyes steadily, not a flicker of guilt or nervousness.
Either she was telling the truth, or she was a better liar than I'd given her credit for.
"If I find out you did something to her—"
"You'll what?" Jade's expression hardened. "Tell Marco? He already knows she's gone and he doesn't care. Face it, Nina. Nobody cares about the blind girl who couldn't cut it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for work."
She walked back into the dressing room.
I stood there, frustrated and angry and helpless.
Marco was right about one thing—Amelia was an adult who'd left on her own. Even if I suspected foul play, I had no proof. And without proof, there was nothing I could do.
But I could keep my eyes open. Watch Jade and the others. Make sure they knew I was watching.
And if Amelia ever came back—if she ever tried to return—I'd make damn sure she was protected.
JADE
After Nina walked away, I went back into the dressing room.
"What did she want?" Ashley asked nervously.
"To play detective. Asking questions about Amelia." I rolled my eyes. "I stuck to the story. She quit; we saw her leave, end of story."
"What if Nina doesn't believe us?"
"Doesn't matter. Marco already dismissed it. As far as he's concerned, case closed."
"But what if Amelia comes back?"
I paused in the middle of applying lipstick. "She won't."
"How do you know?"
"Because she has nothing to come back to. She has no job, no room, and no friends to return to. She's gone for good." I smiled at my reflection. "And now I can finally get the position I deserve. Marco will have to assign me to special customers now that she's not around."
The other girls exchanged glances but didn't say anything.
Good. They'd learnt their lesson—follow my lead, or get left behind.
Amelia was gone. Nina was suspicious but powerless. Marco didn't care.
Everything had worked out perfectly.
MARCO
That evening, I stood at the bar watching the floor fill up with customers.
Business as usual, just like I'd told Nina.
But I couldn't quite shake the image of Amelia standing in my office, asking for a cane. The quiet dignity in Amelia's voice when she explained her desire to appear more competent was memorable.
Smart girl, I'd called her.
And now she was gone.
I poured myself a whisky—something I rarely did while working—and drank it in one swallow.
Maybe she was better off. Maybe she'd found somewhere safer.
Or maybe she was lying in an alley somewhere, hurt and alone, because I'd given her a job she couldn't handle, Nina had left her vulnerable and the girls had seized their opportunity.
Either way, it was done.
And I had a business to run.
I poured another whisky and gulped it in one shot.