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“Their expenses were higher than yours for the revenue they were bringing in. They overstaffed. They were open longer than they should have been in the slow times. Their food costs weren’t great because they were buying too much and then throwing it out or buying things that were too expensive to keep on the menu.”
“There were some items on the menu I found out only sold a few of each week,” he said.
“Probably the food they were throwing out. So you add your food and your management of the kitchen and you can see where it’s working out.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“And Hadley has blown your desserts out of the water. If we measure apples to apples, she is pulling in more desserts at Southside than you are at Duke’s.”
“What?” he asked. “How is that possible?”
“I said apples to apples. If you count units sold per week and then factor in Duke’s has over three times the tables and break it down to the same size, she is outselling you in units sold.”
“Jesus,” he said, running his hands through his hair. He left it down like he always did when he wasn’t working.
Kelsey was smiling at him as she shoveled in the dessert. “What’s bothering you, baby bro?”
He hated when she said those words to him. But he needed to talk to someone else and told her everything that happened on Sunday with Hadley and then his conversation with Hailey just now.
“It’s a mess.”
Kelsey laughed at him. “Not a mess. You can fix it. But this does fall on you. It’s that Jell-O inside you’ve got. All jiggly and squishy at times. You spend all this time pumping people up and here she did exactly what you’ve been helping her to do and you didn’t like it. Now you feel like shit because you might have stepped down and broken that little confidence wall she was starting to build.”
“Thanks for that,” he said.
“Only speaking the truth and you know it,” Kelsey said.
“Not like I need it shoved in my face.”
“You wouldn’t have come here if you didn’t know I’d do that. If you were right, I’d tell you that. But you’re not. The success of Southside is on both you and Hadley. More you, but a good part of her too. I think her question was a reasonable one. She was in the dark about the contract and that isn’t her fault. You said she asked you to tell her. Why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know. I wanted her parents to do it. I didn’t want her to think I was making it up.”
“That’s crazy, Duke. You know that. First, you wouldn’t make it up. Second, she could find out the truth anyway. Why lie?”
“It seems I’m making a big mess out of everything.”
“Guess that is what happens when Amore Island hits you in the face with the legend.”
He stood up. He’d had enough. “Don’t go there.”
“It’s so much fun to go there,” Kelsey said. “What’s your next step? Are you going to try to fix this with Hadley or just let it ride out?”
“I’ll fix it. I can’t let her think she did anything wrong. She didn’t. This is all on me.”
“That’s my baby bro. Good for you.”
He scowled at her and walked out.
When he got to his SUV, he saw Hadley had texted him that it was probably wise to talk. That was it, nothing more.
He couldn’t leave her hanging and beating herself up. He knew she had to be doing that.
He texted back he was sorry and that he’d explain more tomorrow. She’d done nothing wrong.
He hit send, watched where she’d read the message and didn’t reply.
Guess it would serve him right that he’d have to sit on that until tomorrow.
