Hope disappeared.
“You will surrender store access credentials and keys to Kevin. You will not access company email, customer files, camera systems, or employee schedules until instructed by counsel.”
Patricia stared.
“So I’m suspended.”
“Yes.”
“Paid?”
“That will be determined under company policy.”
“You’re doing an investigation after you saw everything?”
“I saw enough to remove you from authority.”
Diana’s voice remained even.
“I did not review your employment file, prior complaints, your communications, or every relevant fact.”
Patricia looked confused.
“You want more?”
“I want a process I would consider fair if our positions were reversed.”
That sentence affected Kevin.
He remembered it.
Diana continued.
“You will have an opportunity to give a statement.”
Patricia whispered:
“And then?”
“Then we decide based on evidence.”
She looked around the store.
“That is how authority is supposed to work.”
Patricia’s shoulders dropped.
For the first time that morning, she had nothing to say.
Kevin collected her access card.
Her store keys.
Her company tablet.
Marcus did not escort her physically.
Diana specifically told him not to.
Patricia gathered her handbag from the office.
Before leaving, she approached Diana.
“Can I say something?”
“Yes.”
“I really am sorry.”
Diana studied her.
“I believe you are sorry right now.”
Patricia flinched.
“That isn’t the same as believing you understand yet.”
Patricia nodded slowly.
Then she left.
Nobody applauded.
Diana would have hated that.
There was nothing triumphant about watching a career fall into jeopardy.
The store remained silent after the door closed.
Then Diana looked toward the slightly crooked display case.
She walked over.
Placed both hands against the base.
And adjusted it half an inch.
Straight.
Ashley laughed unexpectedly.
She covered her mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Diana looked at her.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just after all of that, you noticed the case.”
“I noticed it when I walked in.”
Kevin stared.
“You noticed that?”
“It was crooked.”
He looked.
Then shook his head.
“I’ve worked here eleven months.”
“You’re not supposed to notice everything.”
Diana glanced toward where Patricia had stood.
“But you are supposed to notice people.”
At 10:06, Sarah Grant arrived with Luminous Designs’ head of human resources, Naomi Wells, and general counsel Rachel Kim.
Diana met them in the office.
She refused to use Patricia’s desk.
They sat in the small conference room instead.
Rachel opened a notebook.
“Start from entry.”
Diana described everything.
Precisely.
No adjectives when facts would do.
What Patricia said.
When.
Who was present.
What Diana requested.
How Patricia responded.
When Kevin intervened.
When Marcus refused physical removal.
When Ashley attempted assistance.
Rachel asked:
“Did Patricia touch you?”