Retribution by Donald Catalano

Author:Donald Catalano
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Coffeetown Press
Published: 2023-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

Posy Branch sat at her desk in the back room of French Tips, Juleps & Jazz, waiting for her next interviewee. With business booming, it was time to hire someone to replace Chiffon as hostess and to assist with managing the establishment. Posy had resisted for a while, mostly out of deference and respect to her beloved friend, but reality had settled in and Posy understood she could no longer handle the business with just Michael as a co-manager. French Tips was popular and lucrative so there was no paucity of qualified candidates applying for the position.

“I’m gonna fess up right here, sugar, I ain’t that much into reading resumes,” Posy confessed, “So let’s just have ourselves a good old chat and see if we like each other.”

“Sounds good to me. My name is Lawton Cavanaugh. I’m 32 years old, born and raised right here in New Orleans. I’ve worked in nail salons and in customer service management for 10 years. My prior nail salon experience was four years ago. I worked for Olivier Bellevue for a little under two years.”

“Well, don’t that beat all,” Posy said with a devilish grin. “What did you do when you was with Olivier?”

“Floor manager for the most part. I took reservations, worked with the girls on scheduling and such, dealt with customer relations and complaints, and did pretty much whatever Mr. Bellevue didn’t want to do. Which at times could be substantial, including handling the business ledgers, bank runs, that sort of thing,” Lawton replied.

“And did you like the work?” Posy inquired.

“Sure, I liked the work well enough, but I’m gonna be very frank, towards the end of my two years, I had some personal issues with Mr. Bellevue,” Lawton stated.

“Can you tell me a little about them issues?”

“I guess, it was mostly a personality conflict. Mr. Bellevue didn’t treat any of his employees very well. He was especially rough at times with the nail technicians. He would bully and yell at the girls. I never felt comfortable being around someone like that. But, it was a job and I got paid alright, so sometimes you just look the other way and hold your tongue,” Lawton responded.

“Shoot! I wish someone done taught me how to hold my tongue. I ain’t real politic when it comes to keeping my thoughts to myself,” Posy laughed.

“That’s the other thing. Mr. Bellevue was not always honest with his employees. He’d tell us one thing and then do the opposite. At times, he’d try to pit one of the nail technicians against another just to stir things up and create competition among the girls. It wasn’t very nice and only caused tension and distrust,” Lawton related.

“Well, we all one big happy family here,” Posy announced. “I’m sorry you had a tough time with Olivier. I know exactly what you’re talking about. Olivier ain’t good people. He done shown his true colors to me. You’re a nice looking boy, you present well to the clientele. You got a nice voice and a good smile.

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