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CHAPTER38
Calista honestly hadn’t thought about renovating the dancers’ changing room. She’d never even seen them. She fixed problems as they came to her. That was one of the reasons Dahlia was so pivotal. Dahlia had a dream for a big hockey family-friendly atmosphere, like with the costumes. Truth was, though, Calista had only helped a tad there, and hadn’t really put in sincere effort. And what little Calista had done had been to support Dahlia, or in the case of the mermaid costume, to indulge her own interest in Ronan.
“We’re waiting,” Judge Johnston said. He had the sound of a person in command who was trying to give her a fair say but who was growing impatient. She appreciated that, but she also had the impression he was on Dodo’s side, which was making this more uncomfortable for her. Or maybe that was her unfair assumption about him. Judge Johnston wouldn’t be that happy with Dodo if he had any inkling Dodo had a thumb drive on his wife. She shared a quick look at Ronan.
Ronan met her gaze. His steady eyes offered no hint of direction, but he looked tired too. There were circles under his eyes. That helped somehow. So did the fact that he didn’t toss the flash drives on the table. Being a shady blackmailer wasn’t a role Calista wanted. Truth be told, the thumb drive hidden in the secret sex room still could be innocent. Calista held in her snicker. She concentrated on the problem at hand. “To be honest, I haven’t given ideas for the dancers as much attention as I have for the hockey team and fans.”
“See?” Dodo said. “Can you at least tell them if the dance team will exist if the judge has your contract stand? How much notice are you giving the dancers you cut?”
Cuts had never crossed her mind. Shock flashed through Calista as Dodo outmaneuvered her with his question, planting a false seed.
Lots of attendees started talking at once. One dancer got up and paced. “Will we even get two-weeks’ notice?”
“Under the Amvehls? I don’t know,” Dodo said solemnly.
Calista’s gut tightened. Job insecurity was one of the things Dad did his best to suppress. Auto shop work was physical, which caused limitations. Dad made accommodations where he could and transitioned some workers to the office when needed. She wanted to use Dad’s model, not get rid of people.
Judge Johnston slapped his palm on the table. “Quiet.” The room settled, but the tension remained high. “Ms. Amvehl, I understand you have an attorney and a business manager, but we all know major decisions come from the top. You are not under criminal investigation. There is no taking the fifth here. We are simply exploring the ramifications of a decision on this purchase.”
This was sort of like the time Calista had explained about Liam’s birthday plans. She could have slipped out of the conference room then, but she hadn’t wanted Ronan to think she couldn’t handle life. Truth was, she was like Dad, not a big picture project manager type. It was why Dad hired good people. She also knew addressing this huge group with ease and charisma wasn’t something she could pull off convincingly.
On the other hand, Calista owed the dancers more attention than she’d given them. Calista got up and moved in front of the women so she could narrow her focus and be less intimidated compared to speaking to the full room. Her mind flashed to the dancers cheering her on in the Mer-tank. There, her tension eased. She’d speak with them with that in mind. These three women were potential friends, like Vivien and Olivia, well, more like Dahlia and Piper, but they were two of her favorite people in the whole world.
“Are you keeping the dance team?” the head dancer asked.
“Do you even like the dance team?” the blonde dancer asked. “Or…”
“Shh,” the third dancer hushed her. “Let her answer. They keep asking her questions and then step in before she even has a chance to say anything.”
“Yes,” Calista said. And being able to spit out the one word freed her to speak further. “Everyone likes to be cheered on. And Dahlia has some family fun day events planned that the dancers could help with. I know the role of dancer is part time now, but I want to expand its responsibilities.” She had no details there. Or of how future negotiations could go, other than to provide the example of the democratic choosing of the costume, but she didn’t want to go down that road after facing up to her failing to give it her all, the way she had done with the players’ upgrades.
There were a ton of murmurs, which was a fair reaction. As Ronan said, Calista was talking life upheaval. Calista swallowed. “I’ll do better and put in the thought like I would for the guys. I’ll improve your dressing room.”
“Okay, whoa, thanks,” Dodo said, cutting her off.
“Let her finish,” the third dancer said. She shook her unopened jewelry bag.
Hmm, Calista wasn’t the only one who didn’t fawn over Dodo. Nice. “I don’t have all my plans figured out. Dahlia is best at that, but my father has the auto shop on Henderson. I’d model much of the work here like he does his shop.”
“You’re saying we’ll get a free oil change,” Jerry said. “Great, that’s a hundred bucks. But now, you will have the dancers working overtime on your projects. That compensation doesn’t remotely weigh even. I know I sound tough, but I’m looking out for the team.”
No one had asked him.
Lots of murmurs sounded in the room.
Judge Johnston banged his hand again. She could tell he wished he’d brought a gavel. Though, as he’d said, this was not a courtroom, but a private arbitration.
“That wasn’t what I meant.” Calista flushed and didn’t look at Jerry. Of course the dancers wanted to know about their salary. She should have led with that, but she had no idea how much money they made now as seasonal staff. “I’d make the dancers full time, year-around. I’ve lined up a financial advisor to work with the organization. I plan to start all staff from the cleaners up at a minimum of six figures.”
The head dancer asked her to repeat that number.
Calista did.
“Dancers, concessions, janitors, those aren’t six figure gigs,” Jerry said.
“Shut up,” the head dancer said.
“Turnover and unhappy workers cost companies more than they think. Dad says secure workers stay, which saves us money down the road. And once we chart your career path options, you know, after dancing, you’ll know what next Snowers career to target.” Calista held up her palms. “Training, Phys Ed, concessions, marketing…I know we’ll need education stipends. Dahlia has ideas about merchandizing royalties for the players. We could create stuff relevant to the dancers.” She wouldn’t know where to start with that, though Dahlia would. She herself could speak to the dressing room remodel. The structure wouldn’t be that different from the men’s, but the women would have better vanities and a peg wall for appliances. Was this a good time to go over those details? Women weren’t like men, they’d want a say in the fittings and that would take another meeting. Calista sought the eyes of the dancer who’d spoken in defense of her. “We could get lunch with Dahlia and Piper and strategize what we can offer better.”
