Chapter 4
My mother called the next morning.
Mr. Hale had phoned her. They had known each other for years, long before he hired me. She said he was worried I had become caught up in a misunderstanding at work.
“He thinks you’re going to lose your job,” she said.
“I might.”
“Then apologize to the owner and leave Richard out of it.”
“I already apologized.”
“Good. Tell him you panicked. You’ve had a hard month.”
I was standing in my kitchen with a mug of coffee I hadn’t touched.
“Mom, I told a man he couldn’t afford a necklace because of how he looked. Then I put my hands on him.”
She went quiet.
“I didn’t know about the touching.”
“It wouldn’t have been all right without it.”
“Claire, I’m trying to help you.”
“I know. I’m telling you what happened.”
She sighed. “Richard says you’re blaming his training.”
“I told them what he taught me. I also told them what I did.”
“We’ll talk later,” she said.
I put down the phone and waited for the call from employee relations. It came just before noon.
A woman named Monica asked me to meet her at the regional office. She had my written account and Mr. Hale’s message. She wanted details about his instructions and the customers I remembered.
I took the list I had made on the bus.
Monica listened without interrupting. When I finished, she asked whether I understood that Mr. Hale’s conduct and my own would be reviewed separately.
“Yes.”
“Why did you tell Mr. Sterling to leave?”
I stared at the edge of the table.
“I thought he didn’t look like a customer who would buy something.”
“What made you think that?”
“His clothes. His shoes.” I forced myself to keep going. “And he was Black. I made an assumption I wouldn’t have made about a white customer wearing the same thing.”
It was the first time I had said it without hiding behind the word appearance.
Monica wrote something down.
After the meeting, I went home and opened my laptop. I had rent to pay whether or not Sterling kept me. I updated my résumé, then stopped before listing customer service as a strength.
I thought about Mrs. Brooks asking why I hadn’t looked for her locket. I had always considered myself helpful. I had been helpful when helping felt easy.
At three, Mr. Sterling called.
“Mrs. Brooks agreed to let me share her contact information with you,” he said. “She said you asked for it. Before I do, I want to know why.”
“I want to apologize to her directly. I also found the date of her deposit in the register.”
“She has her locket now.”
“I know. I don’t expect her to make me feel better.”
He was silent for a moment.
“I’ll ask her whether she still wants to speak with you,” he said.
“Thank you.”
Before we ended the call, I asked whether his wife’s necklace had been repaired.
“Yes,” he said. His voice softened. “My granddaughter can wear it tomorrow.”
I pictured the small blue stone against a graduation gown.
“I’m glad.”
“She knows what happened at the store,” he said. “My daughter knows too.”
I felt the weight of that. I had disrupted a family day for them. Mr. Sterling had spent time finding Mrs. Brooks’s locket when he meant to be with his granddaughter.
The next morning, I received a short message from him. Mrs. Brooks had agreed to talk in a public place, and Priya would come too if that made everyone more comfortable.
We met at a café near the store. Mrs. Brooks wore her repaired locket over a green blouse.
I stood when she came in.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said. “Sit.”
Priya brought our drinks to the table. Mrs. Brooks listened as I apologized for trusting Mr. Hale’s claim over her receipt and for failing to search for the locket myself.
“I believed him because he was my manager,” I said. “I should have believed that you knew what you brought in.”
She folded her hands around her cup.
“His title made your job easier. I had to come back and ask again.”
“Yes.”
“The picture inside belonged to a time when my son and I were happy together,” she said. “He’s alive. He’s doing fine now. But that picture means a great deal to me.”
“I’m glad you have it back.”
She touched the locket.
“I accepted this meeting because I wanted you to hear me. I don’t know whether I can shop there again.”
“I understand.”
Priya showed her how to reach the new customer service team directly if she needed anything concerning the repair. Mrs. Brooks thanked her and left after finishing her tea.
I sat for a moment with my empty cup.
Priya looked at me.
“Mr. Hale took other repairs off the log,” she said.
“Do you know how many?”
“I found four entries. There may be more.”
“Have you told Monica?”
“I’m on my way there now.”
May you like
I walked out with her. Across the street, the brass letters on the store caught the afternoon light.
The investigation had begun with Mr. Sterling’s broken necklace. I was starting to understand how many people might still be waiting for their belongings.
