She asked why I couldn’t tell my boss my back hurt.
I said my personal problems weren’t the store’s concern.”
Nathan said nothing.
“She remembered the sentence,” Clara continued.
“Children do that.”
Lily looked between them, confused by the silence.
Nathan’s gaze traveled past Clara toward the showroom he had spent years perfecting.
Every pair of shoes sat at the correct angle.
The amber lights softened the leather.
The glass held no fingerprints.
The music remained low enough to suggest wealth without demanding attention.
A customer laughed quietly near the front display.
An employee immediately smiled back.
Nathan had always thought that calm was evidence of excellent management.
Now he wondered what it cost to maintain.
“Why didn’t you ask for time off?” he said.
Clara’s expression changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
“Because I need the hours.”
“One day would not destroy your job.”
“Maybe not.”
“Then why act as if it would?”
Clara looked toward the folder.
“Because nobody wants to be the person who creates a problem here.”
Nathan frowned.
“Problems are supposed to be reported.”
“Operational problems are.”
“What’s the difference?”
Clara almost smiled.
“A shipment arriving late is an operational problem.
A customer needing a rush fitting is an operational problem.
A register error is an operational problem.”
She touched the edge of the bandage around her finger.
“A tired employee is supposed to handle it.
A parent with a daycare problem is supposed to handle it.
Someone whose back hurts is supposed to handle it.
We learn the difference quickly.”
Nathan felt irritation rise again, but this time it had nowhere comfortable to go.
“Who told you that?”
Clara held his gaze.
“You never had to.”
The answer made him look away.
Lily stepped closer to the counter and carefully flattened one of her dollar bills against the wood.
“I have three,” she said.
Nathan looked down.
“Three what?”
“Dollars.”
“I can see that.”
“Mommy said missing work costs money.
So I’m paying some.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Lily.”
But Nathan could not stop staring at the bills.
Three dollars.
Inside the showroom, a client had just tried on shoes worth four hundred times that amount without checking the price tag.
