Diana answered without increasing her volume. "No. Not until this is addressed."
It was not a threat to remain indefinitely. Diana knew there were legal and practical limits to what a business could require of a visitor, and she had no interest in creating danger for anyone. She simply refused to surrender the question of what had happened because the woman responsible found the question uncomfortable. She had asked for a supervisor, and she intended to secure a proper review.
Patricia took Diana's refusal as a final insult. "I don't care who you think you are. You need to leave my store, or I'll call security to kick you out."
"I'm asking you to follow your company's own service and complaint procedures," Diana replied. "That is not a disruption."
"My company has procedures for protecting expensive inventory," Patricia shouted. "And you're giving me every reason to use them."
Kevin came out from behind his counter, holding his hands open at waist height. "Patricia, let me take over the consultation," he said. "We can move the conversation somewhere private and have the purchase questions reviewed through our normal process. There doesn't need to be a confrontation in the showroom."
Patricia rounded on him. "Kevin, stay out of this."
"I'm not trying to undermine you," he said. "I just think we can resolve it without anyone feeling threatened."
"Then do your own job and let me do mine."
For a moment Kevin hesitated, not because he believed she was right but because he knew the consequences of defying her publicly. He had a student loan, rent, and parents who occasionally needed help when the restaurant had a difficult month. His position was the result of years of work, and Patricia had the power to describe him as insubordinate in a review. Yet he could not ignore the fact that the woman facing her had remained calmer than anyone else in the room.
Ashley stepped forward as well. "Patricia, I can take the customer to the consultation area," she offered. "If someone needs to verify payment authorization before an actual purchase, we have a process. We don't need bank statements just to show a necklace."
Patricia stared at her. "Since when do junior sales associates decide our security policies?"
"I'm not deciding anything," Ashley said. Her voice trembled, but she stayed where she was. "I'm trying to follow the procedure in the handbook."
It was a small act of courage, and Diana saw its cost immediately. Ashley's shoulders were squared in the posture of someone fighting the instinct to retreat. She had chosen to speak even though Patricia was looking at her with the expression of a person already planning the consequences. Diana made another mental note: staff members were afraid to identify written policy in front of their own manager.
Patricia pulled her phone from her pocket and pressed the security extension. Then she looked toward Marcus, who had already stepped closer after hearing his name shouted. "Escort her out. She's a thief, she's refusing instructions, and she's upsetting the other customers."
Marcus glanced from Patricia to Diana. "Ma'am, have you seen her take an item?"
"I just told you she's a thief."