"You had no right to do that," Nadine said. Her voice shook with anger. "You had no reason to touch her bag."
Derek ignored her. He raised his voice so that people at the nearby counters could hear. "This is a luxury establishment. People come in here to look at fine merchandise and have a peaceful shopping experience. We cannot have individuals creating disturbances, touching everything, and refusing to follow basic rules."
Willa stared at him. "The only thing I asked was to see a necklace."
"And you've turned a simple request into a spectacle."
"You searched my belongings," Willa said. "You accused us of stealing. You found nothing."
"I'm responsible for what happens in this store."
"Responsibility doesn't mean making an innocent person ashamed to be here."
He laughed without humor. "You want to teach me how to run a luxury business?"
Willa did not answer immediately. She looked past him at the carved wood, the marble, and the softly illuminated cases. She had spent years negotiating the rents, ordering the merchandise, recruiting people who knew their craft, and building a company that could fill a room like this with beautiful things. She could have answered with dates and figures. Instead, she said simply, "I would like to purchase the pendant."
That refusal to fight on his terms seemed to enrage him more than a shouted insult would have. Derek reached for a thick store catalog lying near the counter. It contained hundreds of pages of merchandise, photographed carefully for customers who preferred to order from home. He tossed it toward Willa rather than handing it to her. The heavy book landed awkwardly across her lap, making her flinch.
"Here," he said. "Pick something out of that and order it from home. Save yourself the embarrassment of coming in here."
The insult did not feel new to Willa. The faces were different and the surroundings more expensive, but she recognized the old assumption that some people did not belong in certain rooms. She thought of the young woman who had saved a month of pay to buy a necklace from the first Beaumont store and had almost turned around at the door because she feared the prices. Willa had greeted that woman, offered her a seat, and spent half an hour explaining the pieces without pressure. The woman later brought her daughter to the same store on her wedding day.
There was a time when Willa could have answered Derek with the authority of ownership. She could have demanded a regional director, called an executive, and reminded everyone that the company carried her name in its foundation documents. But that morning, the effort required simply to be present had already depleted her. More importantly, she did not believe she should have to produce a title to be treated decently.