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“TV?”
Andy was certain the combination of those two letters had never held such a dangerous ring. “Yeah, that’s basically it.”
More silence followed this pronouncement.
Then, “I see.” Also spoken with a deathly calm. The kind that meant her father was processing something. Something that made him feel stabby. By the sound of it, he was currently murdering a Styrofoam take-out box.
“Dad, it’s really not that big a deal.”
This was probably not the wisest thing she could have said. “No big deal?” Her father let out an incredulous snort. “You believe it’s no big deal that someone insinuated your position in the company wasn’t entirely a result of your own intelligence, tenacity, and hard work? You believe it’s no big deal that someone questioned your ability to lead a store team simply because you do not share their neurotypical way of thinking?”
“No,” she said quietly, “I don’t believe that.”
“Good. Then I’m sure you don’t also believe that two employees who’ve discussed my daughter in such graphic, disgusting, and highly inflammatory ways should be allowed to remain in my organization.”
“Daddy—”
“They’re out, Andalise.”
“You can’t just fire them.”
“Of course I can. I built this company from the ground up to honor the values my father instilled in me — his love for adventure, exploration, and health and fitness. What I did not do was sacrifice blood, sweat, and years of my life for it to become a breeding ground for misogynistic assholes to harass my own daughter.”
Holy shit, her father was pissed.
“I know that,” she said softly. “But you’re on your honeymoon, Daddy. I don’t want you dealing with—”
“It takes one call, Andalise. One call to the head of my HR team to get this taken care of, and I do believe your mother will forgive me the distraction under the circumstances.”
“Are you gonna tell her what happened?”
“Yes. Unless you’d prefer to?”
Andy grimaced. There was very little she’d like less than having to rehash this again. “Uhm, no. You can do the honors.”
“Fine. I’ll take care of it. In the meantime, I don’t want you worrying about this anymore. The only thing you should be focused on right now is finding another job. Although, if you haven’t already guessed, there will be a management position opening up at your nearest ManCave real soon.”
“Daddy—”
“Just sayin’.”
The slang was so uncharacteristic coming from her father, Andy snorted out a laugh. At the sound, Petals fluttered up to her shoulder. As she gnawed at a tendril of hair escaping Andy’s bun, Andy smiled and petted her little friend affectionately. “Actually, I’ve already found another management position.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. At a shop near the beach.”
“The beach?” Her father sounded confused. “But you hate the beach.”
“I wouldn’t say Ihateit.”
“You pitched a fit every time your mother and I would take you to the shore when we lived near the Gulf Coast.”
“I was a kid, Dad.”
“Yes, well, you didn’t warm to it when we moved to California either.”
“That’s because the water over here iswaycolder.” Even though she hadn’t meant this to be funny, her father chuckled.
