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Beni turned to the guy. “Hey.” He tried to get his attention but the delivery guy was so busy talking that I don’t think he heard him.
“My man…” Beni raised his voice to get the guys attention.
He paused his conversation and stared at Beni like he had a problem.
“This isn't our fault. If you didn't have a dolly to use, we could have had a guy come back and help.”
“I do have one. I didn’t think anybody was going to answer so I left it at the back door.” He said confidently.
“You were going to leave thousands of dollars in product on the back loading dock?” Beni’s eyes narrowed on the man in disbelief. I knew that look because that was exactly how I was feeling.
Who does that?
“Yes.”
“You’re supposed to bring it inside and deliver it to the designated area to be restocked. I guarantee you that nobody planned to unpack these crates at the dock. We would have never been okay with you leaving them where they were.”
The guy's face turned darkened as anger boiled up and over. He wasn’t happy about Beni calling him out, nor had he been taking it well that he’d cut himself over something stupid he’d done. I’d overheard him tell his boss that as we stood there.
“You’ll have to replace this. I know you can’t have more here tonight, and at this hour, it wouldn’t matter if you come back because we’d be closed when you did. We’ll ignore the fact that we did need this and that you were careless. However, on Tuesday, we’ll expect to have it delivered.”
The guy said something to his boss in a different language and I squinted, wondering why he’d switched from English to whatever he was speaking. Beni took the phone out of the guy’s hand and began speaking in the same language the driver had spoken in.
Was it Italian?
After some back and forth. Beni’s expression changed. I heard him mention his name and Massimo’s. And then something about somebody named Tommaso. A few minutes later, he was getting off the phone. He turned toward the guy curling his lips up in disgust.
“You can go. Your boss will talk to you later.”
The guy hurried out the door slamming it behind him.
“Cara and Jill, you can return up front and I’ll clean this mess up.”
Both ladies left the area and I stayed wondering if he thought that he could dismiss me as well.
“He'll be here Tuesday to deliver the cases that you wanted along with an additional two to cover the mess the guy made today.”
I squinted at him. “I could have handled that.”
“I know you could have. That's not the issue.”
“Then why did you step in?”
“Because the moment that he called you a bitch in Italian to the guy he was on the phone with, there was nothing else to discuss. However, I did so I addressed it. Turns out that the guy is a friend of the family and he's going to make it right. He's going to fire the guy. I didn’t come in here to take over.” But he had.
I sighed frustrated with the whole situation. Not just the alcohol on the floor but Beni altogether. He always intervened. He always stepped forward as if I couldn't protect myself.
“Do you think I am some weak woman who can’t take care of herself? Is all of this because of the incident with the car?”
“No, Firefly.”
“Stop calling me that!” I shouted at him.
He raised his hands in mock surrender but remained silent.
“I can't seem to do anything right around you. Something happens and you immediately step in like I need saving all the time. I'm not some damsel in desperate need of someone to make everything right.”
“Is that what you think?”
