“Do you know how to read, Sicily?” he asked coldly, snarling at me like I’d stolen his wallet or something.
“I’d say so.” I kept my cool, but I had no idea what I’d done to piss this guy off.
“Then why the fuck is—”
“Mr. Taylor.” Dex dropped his tone, abandoning his composure altogether. “I apologize if our services didn’t meet your standards, but Sicily is new and learning the ropes, and surely you have some kindness in your heart to be understanding. No need to drop f-bombs to a lady.”
He lowered his hand and turned his attention on Dex, even more furious by the way he was spoken to. “Don’t even get me started on you, nerd. I don’t want your prying fingertips touching my shit again—”
“Tony.” Cleo appeared from the rear, walking forward and between Dex and me until she approached Big Bitch and stopped in front of him, a dot compared to this man who looked like he wanted to snap our necks. But she somehow felt like the tallest person in the room. “What seems to be the problem here?”
“I don’t want this punk in my condo.” He stared at Cleo and ignored us. “She’s too stupid to know where the dry cleaning goes, so I don’t want her touching any of my other shit. I only want you in my residence, alright? And this geek over here needs to learn—”
“Do not call him that.” Cleo didn’t raise her voice, but it felt like she was yelling. The rage was palpable in the air around her, in her clipped tone, in the fiery way she stared at Big Bitch like she wanted to knock him out. “Speak to my staff like that again, and you’ll be dismissed from the building—”
“I own my condo—”
“Well, I own the building.” Her hands went to her hips as she stared him down without a hint of hesitation. “You’re replaceable, Tony. We are not. Talk to Dex that way again, and I will run you out of this building with your tail tucked between your legs. Look at him wrong, and I swear to god you’ll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.”
Damn.
“It is our joy to serve our clients and make their lives easier. We’re selfless and hardworking, and if you don’t recognize that, perhaps this relationship is no longer viable. You will be dismissed from the building, so I suggest you contact your real estate agent because you’re moving.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “You can’t do that—”
“Looks like I just did.” She turned around and sauntered off like she didn’t just cut off his balls and put them in her pocket.
He watched her walk away, his expression becoming more crestfallen. “Cleo, wait.” He tried to move past us.
Dex put his hand to Mr. Taylor’s chest to stop him. “The boss has spoken. Leave.”
He looked down at Dex like he might punch him, but he clearly took Cleo’s threat seriously because he turned around and marched off, giving a loud scream when he was near the entryway.
I stood there in shock. “This is all my fault…”
Dex kept his eyes on him until he was out of the building. “No, it’s not. He’s always been a difficult client. We rarely dismiss people, but it happens sometimes. His days were limited anyway.” He turned back to me. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for standing up for me.”
He gave a slight smile. “We have one another’s backs here.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” I looked to where Cleo had disappeared into her office. “She’s really protective. Like a mama bear.”
His smile increased. “Yeah, exactly like a mama bear.”
Over the next few weeks, I started to catch on.
I became more confident in my abilities, started to handle things on my own, established relationships with the clients that made me excited to see them again. Every single one of them was unique and different, having their own quirks and routines, but all of that was much easier to remember once I knew who they were.
I was putting away groceries in the kitchen of one of the residences, referring to the pictures I’d taken on my phone so I would know exactly where everything went because it was important to keep our clients organized. We consolidated things into the same box and took all the extra trash as a courtesy. If we got them more hair products, we threw away the old stuff and took the trash with us. We were supposed to be in and out without them knowing we were there at all—other than the fact that everything was perfect.
One of the difficult parts of the job was the fact that people didn’t really notice perfection. They got used to it. But if something was slightly off, they definitely noticed. So sometimes the feedback could be negative, like if the granola bars were in a different cupboard and it took them a couple minutes to find. They became annoyed at the time they wasted and didn’t hesitate to tell us that.