The word came out slightly too quickly. "You've managed this location for how long?" "Four years, sir." "Four years." Alexander let the number sit in the air for a moment.
And in those four years, have you been given any guidance, any instruction, any training, any policy document that authorizes you to refuse service to a guest based on physical disability? Dominic's jaw moved. It was a matter of the floor layout and the visual. I'm not asking about the floor layout, Alexander said. I'm asking whether you were authorized to do what you did, sance.
I'd like an answer, Alexander said in the tone of a man who will wait for as long as is necessary. No, sir, Dominic said finally. I was not authorized. No, Alexander looked at him for a long, unhurried moment. You were not?
He turned back to Evelyn. Is there anything else? Evelyn had been watching her father work with the expression of someone who has seen this before and still finds it instructive. She looked past him briefly to where Lucas sat with Luna at the adjacent table. The little girl had fallen into the drowsy, heavy-lidded state of a child past her bedtime, but unwilling to admit it.
Lucas was watching the exchange with the expression of a man trying to understand something that keeps adding new variables. There's something else, Evelyn said. She looked at Alexander. That man, she nodded toward Lucas is the reason this situation didn't become worse than it was. He pushed my wheelchair in when no one else would, and he stayed when your manager tried to have him removed with his daughter.
Alexander looked at Lucas. Lucas looked back at him with the calm, steadiness of someone who has nothing to hide and no particular need to make an impression. What's your name? Alexander asked. Lucas Harachi.
Did you know who she was? Alexander asked. There was no accusation in it, just the question. No, Lucas said. Did it matter?
Lucas thought about this for exactly as long as it deserved. Not really, he said. Something shifted in Alexander's expression. Not by much, but enough to catch if you were paying attention. He looked at his daughter.
Evelyn. I'm aware, she said, and the slight dryness in her voice was the closest thing to warmth she had displayed all evening. Alexander turned back to Dominic. What followed was brief, deliberate, irreversible. Mr. Pharaoh, Alexander said, "You are relieved of your responsibilities at this location effective immediately.
Human resources will be in contact regarding the formal process. Please collect your personal belongings from the office and escort yourself out." Marcus will see to it. "Marcus," to his visible relief, nodded at once. Dominic stood very still for a moment.