Chapter 3 - The Price of a Dress
“You stupid girl!”
Beatrice grabbed Clara’s uniform before Clara could place the tray down.
The remaining glasses crashed onto the marble.
“I’m so sorry,” Clara said. “Someone stepped backward, and I lost my balance.”
Sophia pushed the fallen tray away with her shoe.
“Are you blaming me?”
“No. I only meant that it was crowded.”
Beatrice tightened her grip.
“Do you know how much this dress costs?”
Clara could smell the wine and Beatrice’s expensive perfume.
“No, ma’am.”
“Forty-two thousand dollars.”
Guests began gathering around them.
Some watched with concern. Others raised their phones.
Clara felt heat rise into her face.
“I’m sorry. It was an accident. The hotel has specialists who can treat the fabric.”
“You think cleaning will fix this?”
Beatrice pulled Clara closer.
“You have ruined a custom-made gown.”
Daniel rushed across the lobby.
“What happened?”
“This waitress attacked me with a tray of wine,” Beatrice said.
Clara stared at her.
“That isn’t true.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“Clara, apologize.”
“I already did, but she said I attacked her. I didn’t.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Do not argue with a guest.”
“But there are cameras. They will show what happened.”
Sophia stepped between them.
“Are you calling my mother a liar?”
“No. I’m asking Mr. Cross to check the security recording.”
Daniel glanced at the surrounding guests.
His priority was not truth. It was avoiding embarrassment.
“There is no need to disturb the reception with a security investigation,” he said. “Clara will accept responsibility.”
Clara’s heart sank.
“I can accept that I spilled the wine. I cannot accept something that didn’t happen.”
Daniel moved closer.
“You are already on your final warning.”
She blinked.
“What warning?”
“The one you are receiving now.”
Rosa stepped forward from the edge of the crowd.
“Mr. Cross, I saw Sophia step back into Clara.”
Daniel turned sharply.
“Return to your station.”
“But Clara did nothing on purpose.”
“Return to your station before you join her.”
Rosa hesitated, then stepped back.
Sophia picked up a white napkin from a nearby table. She dropped it into the pool of wine at Clara’s feet.
“Kneel down and clean it.”
Clara looked at Daniel, expecting him to stop her.
Instead, he said, “Do as the guest says.”
The humiliation struck harder than any insult.
Clara looked around the lobby.
Hundreds of faces watched her. Some were uncomfortable. Some were amused. Most were silent.
Beatrice released Clara’s collar.
“Well?”
Clara thought about her rent.
She thought about Evelyn’s medication.
She thought about how difficult it had been to find steady work after leaving college to care for her mother.
Slowly, she bent down.
Her knees touched the marble.
Sophia smiled.
“Use your hands.”
A young hotel worker near the reception desk looked away in shame.
Clara pressed the napkin against the wine. It was far too small to absorb the spill, but no one offered another.
Beatrice stood above her.
“My dress will be deducted from your salary.”
“That would take more than ten years,” Clara said quietly.
“Then perhaps you should have been more careful for ten years.”
A few guests laughed.
Clara’s eyes burned, but she refused to cry.
She had survived poverty. She had survived abandonment. She had survived watching Evelyn grow weaker while insurance companies rejected treatments.
She would survive this too.
Sophia lifted her phone and aimed the camera at Clara.
“Smile. People should see what happens when unqualified employees are hired for appearance instead of ability.”
“Put the phone down,” Clara said.
Sophia’s smile disappeared.
“What did you say?”
“I said put the phone down. I apologized for the accident. I will help repair the damage. But you do not have permission to film me while I’m being humiliated.”
Beatrice grabbed Clara’s shoulder.
“How dare you speak to my daughter that way?”
Her fingers caught the edge of Clara’s blouse.
The fabric pulled.
A button snapped free and rolled across the marble.
Clara’s left shoulder was exposed.
So was the tattoo.
May you like
Across the lobby, Arthur Vale saw the crescent moon and three stars.
The blood drained from his face.
