When I’m done letting her know that she’s no longer an employee at One Sweet Tooth at a Time and can come into my office next week to get her final pay, I turn my attention back to Octavia. “How do you feel about taking over the day shift, Tavie? No more late nights.”
Her eyes widen and I see the excitement gleaming through them. “Really!?”
“Yup. I’ll give you tomorrow night off to recuperate from your double, but starting the next, you’re now taking over the morning shifts with Jake.” I nod, making my decision final. Seems Shane is getting his wish much sooner than planned.
“Hell yeah!” she exclaims as she turns and high-fives Jake who seems happy by the change. “But wait, what about Sasha?”
“Sasha no longer works here as of right now.”
“Damn, boss. You’re on fire!” Octavia laughs as she greets another customer.
Yeah apparently, I’m not the sweet, innocent, pushover manager anymore either. I really am improving. Good for me.
I’m still a good manager to begin with, or else I don’t think my boss would have given me the job. I’ll admit I was nervous at first, the shy me wasn’t sure I’d be up for bossing people around. But when it comes to the bakery, I’m in my element and a new side of me comes out.
“But what about you? You gonna do the evenings on your own?” Tavie asks with a concerned frown as her eyes quickly drop to my belly.
“No, actually I was planning on working during the day instead. Apparently, my boyfriend’s best friend thinks it’s not safe for me to work nights anymore.” I give my head a little shake of annoyance.
She laughs. “Is that the broody billionaire?”
I tell Octavia pretty much everything. She’s also the only one from the bakery aside from Clara who knows about my pregnancy.
“The one and only,” I deadpan as I head toward my office for a moment, needing to go over the schedule and make the necessary changes, as well as find two employees to cover the evenings.
Julian had a point about working alone at night, and I won’t put my employees in that situation. I could always hire new ones, but that takes more time that I don’t have right now.
Forty-five minutes later, I’ve found three employees who are looking for extra hours and are willing to take up the evening shifts, and I’ve just finished checking the delivery and signing it off.
“At least nothing’s missing this time,” Octavia says as she begins to place the supplies in the kitchen.
“Or in triple like last time,” Jake adds, carrying a big box filled with folded-up bakery boxes.
“Ugh, don’t remind me.”
Having extra flour is fine—we’re a bakery, we use it daily to an ungodly amount. But when it’s perishable goods that I know we won’t use before they’re no longer considered fresh, not so much.
Clara thought hiring a company that delivered basically everything was the best way to go, it would save us money and make it easier to deal with. But it’s proving the contrary, and I’m starting to think going with individual dispensers will be a much better option.
“All right, are you guys good to finish up here? It’s Shane’s birthday and I’m meeting his family for the first time,” I ask, checking the time on my phone.
“Yeah, we’re good, boss. Go have fun with your man and tell him happy birthday for me!” Octavia beams as she goes back to the counter to serve the two customers that walked in.
I wave goodbye and head to my car. Once inside the security of the cab, I go through my messages quickly. I invited all my friends over tonight for Shane, and they all RSVP’d yes, except for two. My brother and Emma. My heart tightens at the thought.
Emma and I still talk regularly, but I can tell there’s a bit of strain between us. I understand it, she’s in a tight position given that Greyson is her husband. She wants to respect him and his decisions but also our friendship.
I pull up my brother’s number and press dial. It rings a few times then goes to voicemail. I take a deep breath, biting my thumb as I try to call him again. This time it rings once before he sends me to voicemail. I feel the tears rising in my eyes as I pull my phone away and type out a text to him.
Me
Greyson, can we talk please? I’m sorry, okay? Please just let me explain.
His message comes back immediately.
Grey
No.
