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“Yes?”
Finn. Terrified. I didn’t know if I enjoyed it or not.
“You know Mark, he’ll want a wedding, and not just any wedding. You know what he’s like. He’ll want the whole beach in the Maldives with naked dancers and champagne flown in from remote farms in deepest, darkest France and then he’ll want you to wear… Yeah.”
Stop. I needed to stop. Mark deserved all of that. Every little scrap of it, down to the special chocolates handmade by virgins in the Costa Rican mountains or whatever.
“Fuck, I know.” Finn smiled. A smile wider than anything. “I’m more scared he’ll say no.”
“He won't say no, and even if he does? He'll just be in a panic over it and we’ll be there to pick him up, hold his hand. Get him through it and then he'll say yes. He’ll love you forever. Well, he already does. You just need to ask.”
“I know, and I’m a bloody coward.”
“No,” I said quietly, reaching out and resting my hand on his shoulder. “You’re just you. I would be terrified asking too, but trust me. If you need this, then Mark will want it for you. I know I would.”
“Thanks.” He picked his mug back up, his hand shaking slightly. “I just needed to hear it.”
“Glad I could help.” It did. I knew the feeling well, but Finn had balls—balls larger than mine. He’d be fine. I also knew he’d talked to Hugo about things I was still scared to bring up. I was okay with that. Finn talked to Hugo not only as his boss but as a friend. Just knowing how much he’d done for Hugo in the past weeks, and for his confidence, I’d grown a whole new level of respect for the man who walked over and picked up another biscuit from the silver tray on the main table. Not one biscuit. Two. I took the other one from his outstretched palm when he returned to where we were stood.
“Trial date is set then?” he said, changing the subject. “And don’t say anything to Mark, yeah? I need to build it up. Work on the whole security bit. Pensions. All that…you know.”
“I know, Finn, and yes, it’s just magistrates’ court at this point and upholding the restraining order. Hugo doesn’t even have to be there. They’re doing a video link thing.”
“Still, draining for him.” Trust Finn to know and understand.
“Yep.”
“I talked to Thomas Greenwood. We’re trying to set something up, not only company wide, but amongst customer-service teams in general. A safety-at-work protocol for employees who might need extra support in a crisis. There are already rules in place but nothing that really works for people when things fall apart. It’s all well and good granting peopledependency days and time off to deal with family matters, but sometimes that’s nowhere near enough. It’s a difficult matter to broach, but we have some ideas.”
“Perhaps you can speak with Annabelle? Get their charity involved?”
“I thought of that. It’s—”
“Mr Christensen!” Immaculately dressed as always, Mr Klutz shook Finn’s hand and slapped my arm hard enough for me to spill coffee down my trousers. Finn stifled a grin. I took it all back. Bloody bastard.
“I hear Kiran Patel has handed in her resignation. Have we got a replacement lined up?”
News to me, but then people left all the time. New people took their places. Change. This place always changed.
“I have, actually,” Finn said confidently.
“I need Seth Green to cover for that maternity leave in Sales. I’ve already talked to Saffiya.” If Mr Klutz had talked to Saffiya, it was already set in stone.
“Seth Green will take up the sales position.” Finn crossed his arms. “Totally with you on that one. And Hugo Burrows will move into the reception manager role.”
“Hugo Burrows,” Mr Klutz said, mulling it over while I gulped like a goldfish. “Solid choice.”
“I’ve already discussed this with Hugo, and he’s adamant he’s refusing the promotion,” Finn said, “but I’m not taking no for an answer. Hugo has the experience and the temperament to make an excellent reception manager and is the perfect addition to the team.”
“I expect HR has advertised the role and dealt with the whole legal…merry-go-round.” Mr Klutz was a man of few words and was already moving on to me. “Speaking of Mr Burrows, how is he?”
“He’s fine,” I said, faking nonchalance and professionalism as my stomach tumbled on the inside.
“Did I ever tell you about my brother?”
Mr Klutz never told anyone about anything if it didn’t have to do with work, so this was a surprise. And now I was the one spilling crumbs down my front.
“Oh don’t look so shocked, Chef. I know how you care for Mr Burrows. I may not know everything, but I do see things. My brother, bless his soul, was a beautiful boy. He struggled through because back in our days, being who he was frowned upon, illegal in places even, but he was my favourite person in the world.”
