Chasing His Kickass Luna Back novel Chapter 17

Abby

“What? Why?” Some of them have worked for me for years, Olivia the longest of them all. What would drive her and the others to quit so suddenly?

No one answers.

“Why are you all quitting?” I repeat. I’m not letting them leave here until I get some sort of explanation.

No one looks at me. Clearly, none of them want to be the one to step forward and tell me the truth. After all these years together, they were just going to sneak away in the night without an explanation. Without even finishing their shifts.

Finally, Olivia comes forward, a determined look on her face. “Because they’re joining my restaurant.”

I turn to her, my eyebrows going up. “Your restaurant?”

She nods.

“But why? Am I not good enough to work for?”

She shrugs. “I just haven’t enjoyed working for you. I’ve felt for a long time that I could do a better job, and so I started my own place.”

I thought we were friends, but I can see now that I was mistaken. That realization alone is almost as shocking as the news that every single one of my employees wants to work for her over me.

A wave of insecurity crashes into me. Maybe I’m not as good a boss as I thought I was. I’ve always strived to make this a good place to work. A place where employees can actually enjoy their shifts, but apparently, I didn’t do a good enough job.

I can feel Karl’s eyes on me, and I suddenly wish I just took a cab. Of course, after telling him I didn’t need his help, he had to bear witness to my failure.

“I didn’t realize you felt that way,” I say as monotone as possible. I can’t let them see how hurt I am.

“You’re still stuck in this ridiculous family system.”

“Right.”

“And I just know my place will be really popular.” She looks around at the others. “Everyone else agrees.”

Ethan shakes his head, but no one pays him any mind. It looks like he’s the only one still loyal to me. With his pale, freckled skin, bright red hair, and pronounced limp, Ethan doesn’t come across as much of a threat. I guess she didn’t feel the need to poach him with all the rest.

“Come on,” Olivia says, gesturing to the others. “Let’s go.”

They slip past her, glancing sidelong at Karl and Adam as they go. Olivia’s gaze lingers on Karl, her eyebrows raised. I wonder how much of this has to do with the argument she witnessed between us. Did she use that to convince everyone to leave? I refused to get an important Alpha a reservation, all because of a personal vendetta. Truth be told, I acted petty, and I’m sure she used that to her advantage.

Olivia turns back at the last minute, her hand on the door. “Good luck,” she says. Clearly, she can’t stop herself from gloating. It’s in poor taste, but she obviously doesn’t care. “No employees. A shell of a store. That’s going to be rough.”

I don’t answer. She just grins and pushes her way out of the restaurant.

There’s a stretch of silence, and I can’t bring myself to look at any of them. Ethan lingers for a moment, then leaves me with Adam and Karl. He stacks the chairs. The injury in his leg slows him a little, but he doesn’t put up any complaints. I guess he’s used to working around it after so many years.

“Abby,” Adam starts.

“Look,” I say, forcing myself to meet his gaze, “I don’t really want to talk about it right now. I need to close for the night. Maybe you should just meet me tomorrow or something.”

“You don’t want me to stay over?”

Karl, thankfully, stays quiet.

I shake my head. “If you wouldn’t mind, I think I’d like to be alone tonight. I’m exhausted, and I could use a good night’s sleep.”

It’s partly a lie. I very much doubt I’ll be getting any sleep tonight, but I don’t want to answer questions or come up with some sort of explanation for this. The last thing I want to do is talk about it. I need to process what happened, and then somehow try to wrap my head around what I’m going to do next. If there’s even anything to do.