Looking at Miles the next morning, I felt the same involuntary curling of my lips that I’d had with Tiffany last night. Adam had invited Miles to Silver Bells to meet the team, but having walked in on Miles and his designers, I’d overheard them talking about taking down the Christmas decorations, as soon as he signed the paperwork.
What was the hurry? Couldn’t he leave them up through Christmas?
Miles nodded to me as I walked through the lobby. “Faith, how are you? Isn’t this exciting? Now, listen, what is it they say about team, hmm? There’s no . . .?”
“There’s no ‘I’ in team?” I said, giving him a deadpan look and reminding myself that working for Miles was my job now.
He beamed. “That’s right! But there is a ‘t’ and I’ll have mine with two sugars, thanks.”
As I walked away, I muttered under my breath, “But team rhymes with scream, and that’s what I feel like doing.”
Adam called a staff meeting and as the Silver Bells’ employees gathered I looked from one person to another and then another. I’d loved working with these people this past year. I felt bad that they had no idea their lives were about to be turned upside down.
After a short speech about the tough decision to sell—the fact that I hadn’t rolled my eyes should’ve made me a saint—he said, “Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Silver Bells’ new owner, Miles Wilson.”
Adam stood back to make room for Miles, who stood in front of Harmony’s desk, beaming. Not one person clapped, including me.
“Hello, everyone,” he said, sounding like a game show host. “Today is a great day for all of us, as I take over from Adam. Now, I know there have been a lot of rumors flying about, so let me set the record straight. Silver Bells won’t change in the slightest . . .” He paused, as a smattering of applause went up from a few members of staff, and Harmony looked at me quizzically. I shrugged. “No, Silver Bells will change in the mostest!”
A few jaws dropped and I sent daggers at the back of Adam’s head with my eyes.
“This little business has had its day and now it’s time for it to retire and make way for something new and exciting. Tomorrow morning, Adam will officially hand the reins over to me before flying back to New York. Then work will begin to build a Wilson luxury spa resort!” He liked his dramatic pauses, but when dead silence ensued, he frowned and carried on. “But don’t worry, there will be plenty of jobs for everyone, and more besides, and it will bring a lot more revenue to the town. So it’s a win-win. Now, are there any questions?”
Harmony raised her hand. “Are you saying that Silver Bells Luxury Tours won’t even be open through Christmas?”
Miles smiled, the way a cartoon shark smiles at its prey. “I’m saying that Silver Bells won’t even exist by Christmas. It’s time for new, bigger, and better. As a goodwill gesture, all members of staff will get to use the state of the art day spa facilities at ten percent off. Now I can’t be more generous than that, can I? Hmmm?”
Cue my internal eye roll.
With the meeting over, a low murmur of discord could be heard, as staff members whispered among themselves in obvious shock. I could see Adam and Miles deep in conversation in the corner, before Miles gestured towards the lobby and then flounced, yes flounced, towards Adam’s office. Adam raked his fingers through his hair and caught my eye, before nodding his head towards the door in a “follow me” motion. Up until our argument yesterday I’d have followed Adam to the ends of the earth, but now I wanted to run in the opposite direction. As I neared the office, I could hear raised voices.
“What is wrong with these people? I offer them jobs and all they do is moan? They should count themselves lucky when I could fire every single one of them. Seriously, Adam, I assumed you’d done the groundwork, paved the way for me to make the transition as smooth as possible.”
“Miles, if I could—”
“I guess it’s all I should expect from small town people. No imagination. No vision. All stuck in a time warp like a snowy version of Little House on the Prairie. Well, they’d better start prairie-ing that I don’t get rid of the lot of them.”
Miles paused for breath as I knocked on the door.
“Come in, Faith.” Adam didn’t meet my eye. “Close the door.”
Miles re-oxygenated and started again. “No, don’t close the door. Don’t close the door at all. Let them know how upset I am at their ingratitude. So ungrateful when there’s more than a few people working here that could do with using a health spa if you know what I mean.”
I crossed my arms. “What are you implying, exactly?”
“Let’s just say they weren’t at the back of the breakfast line.” Miles wagged a finger at me and then threw his arms up. “Now, I need to go and lie down somewhere dark.”
My jaw dropped open and silence hung in the air after Miles left. I turned to Adam in disbelief at what he was leaving us with, but there really wasn’t anything more to add to what had already been said between us. He sat on the corner of his desk, a gesture already so familiar that I felt my eyes prick.
“Faith, I don’t want to go back to the city with bad blood between us.” His tone sounded sincere even though his face registered little emotion as he held a hand out. “No hard feelings?”
“Sure.” I took his outstretched hand and shook it, but any warmth that had existed between us had disappeared. This was business, and I knew it. “No hard feelings. Good luck with the partnership. Good-bye, Adam.”
I blinked the tears back as I walked down the hall, knowing I couldn’t fall apart at work even though my heart felt like a dull ache in my chest. I felt like a dead woman walking, my legs so heavy that I may as well have been shackled.
There was no way I could work for Miles, not after first having Mr. Kline as my boss and then Adam—albeit for a short time. Despite his plan to sell, Adam had thrown himself into Silver Bells, embracing every last old-fashioned tradition. He’d made work fun and Miles? Well, Miles would require an epic degree of patience as well as ignoring every obnoxious comment that came out of his mouth. Yeah, not going to happen.
A trashcan that normally sat by the copier had apparently been knocked over during Miles’s epic flounce. I stopped to pick it up. As I straightened the lid, something inside caught my eye. Mrs. Kline’s mistletoe had been scrunched up and thrown away, the berries folded in on themselves, and the leaves crinkled and creased.
Adam. Tears stung my eyes as the thought went through my head that Adam had thrown it away. But in my heart I knew he wasn’t a mean or angry person. The more likely scenario was that Miles’s crew had started their demolition of Christmas decorations, even before he’d signed on the dotted line. Scary preview of what work would be like.
I pulled open the door to the lobby and entered to a barrage of questions being pelted at me. Harmony rushed to the front of the line, tears running down her face, a box of tissues in her hand. She offered one to me, but I shook my head, determined not to give Miles the satisfaction. I made a mental note to ask Harmony where she bought her makeup—no panda eyes for her!
I felt a rush of air as the bathroom door opened behind me, and Miles came up and stopped beside me. Harmony hurried to hand him a tissue, but, realizing he was the enemy, snatched it back again and turned on her heel, stalking away.
“What a drama queen. Seriously, people,” he said, raising his voice. “It’s. Just. A. Small. Change. Get a grip. Shape up or ship out.”
I decided then and there that I’d rather ship out. Maybe that was what I should do. I couldn’t work under Miles, could I? Maybe I needed to give my notice as soon as Bernice confirmed I could start at It’s All Downhill From Here. But how would I ever say good-bye to Silver Bells?