The woman turned to Lorenzo. ‘It doesn’t suit me to be here earlier. I have to do my housework after the family leaves for school and work each day. When you tried to change this, Luca said—’
‘Excuse me.’ Scarlett said the words firmly and waited for the woman to glance her way. ‘I recall speaking with you earlier today. In fact, I’ve spoken with each and every staff member, explained my presence here and let you all know that, for the extent of my stay, Luca has handed the reins of control of Rosa to me.’
Did this woman think she could turn to Lorenzo and usurp Scarlett’s authority? It sounded as though she’d already used Luca’s generous outlook to undermine Lorenzo’s authority, too.
That can’t have been easy on the head chef, Scarlett admitted silently. She held the woman’s gaze. ‘I am your boss now and, while you are always welcome to discuss any concerns with our head chef in his role as Assistant Manager, it’s not appropriate to do so as you’ve just done, ignoring my authority in the process.’
‘Well, I merely wanted—’
‘Miss Gibson is quite right.’ Lorenzo seemed to be having his own battle. His fingers were clenched about the copy of the paperwork he’d received as his gaze took in the small group of faces. ‘If changes need to be made here, perhaps it’s best to be grateful that you still have a job. I’ve only been made aware of these changes now, as you all have, but, at first glance at least, they still seem fair and equitable to me.’
His eyes gentled as he looked at the other woman. ‘Perhaps you can rearrange your schedule so you clean your home after your shift instead of before it.’
When the woman looked ready to argue again, Scarlett spoke. What was her name? ‘Maria, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t suit Rosa to have one of the wait staff arriving to start a lunch shift when everyone else is run off their feet already and your presence was needed an hour earlier. Are there special circumstances for why you absolutely can’t make it earlier?’
The woman dropped her gaze and muttered beneath her breath, but eventually shook her head.
‘All right.’ Scarlett let her gaze travel over the group. ‘Across the board I’ve streamlined the rosters to maximise staff availability at the busiest times of the day. As staff are paid on a Thursday, this new roster will start straight after pay day, this Friday.’
She drew a breath. ‘Within the next week we’ll be getting ourselves up to date with written employment contracts for all staff members. It’s in your best interests, as well as Rosa’s, to have these in place so you know things will have to go through due process if there are ever problems.
‘You’ll all see that I’ve made it part of your conditions here that you don’t try to swap rosters at the last minute unless there’s a case of genuine emergency. Those will be assessed if and when they arise. Rosa will function best if we run a tight show.’
That about covered the roster side of it. ‘Please read the written conditions. You’ll be expected to adhere to those from now on. Cuts in the number of paid holidays et cetera simply bring Rosa into line with industry standards.’
Scarlett wound the meeting up. ‘If any of you wish to discuss any aspect of the new conditions after you’ve read them, you are most welcome to book a meeting with me to do so. Thank you, and goodnight.’
They filed out. Good staff, many of them, and possibly a few less than great ones. Let them go to their homes, read the conditions, take the time to absorb them and hopefully realise they were, indeed, quite reasonable.
Lorenzo was the one person who didn’t file out with the others. ‘That was unexpected.’
Scarlett drew a breath. ‘These steps have to be taken. I thought you understood that.’
‘Of course.’ He spread his hands. ‘As your assistant manager, I could have supported your cause better if I’d known your plans. That’s all.’
Scarlett had forged ahead without consulting him or asking for his support. She admitted this. Emotionally, she didn’t trust him and yet, when it came to Rosa, Isabella trusted Lorenzo. Luca trusted Lorenzo. The other staff seemed to trust Lorenzo. Could he be a wonderfully supportive assistant manager to Scarlett? Could they work together like that, despite their past history?
‘I will try to keep that in mind in future.’ In this moment, that was the best she could come up with.
Tomorrow. She would force herself to totally assess all of this tomorrow. Scarlett cast a longing glance at the door. ‘It’s, um, it’s getting late. We should be going.’
Scarlett needed to go, so she could stop being aware of the fact that they were here alone. Alone, together, for the first time in five years. She was pushing that knowledge down as hard as she could, but it was still there.
Why couldn’t she simply respond to him in the same way she responded to anyone? Only treat him as a co-worker. Her tummy was suddenly in knots and…
‘I’ll walk you to your bedsit.’
He already knew of this? ‘How do you know—?’
‘This is Monta Correnti.’ He gestured to the restaurant. ‘And this is Rosa, which is owned by Luca, who is a member of your family, which makes your presence here the topic of a great deal of interest amongst staff and patrons alike. Did you think the news that you’d moved out of Lisa’s villa and into your bedsit wouldn’t travel all through the restaurant in minutes?’
He shook his head. ‘All the family gets talked about here, Scarlett. A week ago, it might have been “The Angel of New York’s” baseball career, but your presence gets its degree of attention, too.’
Scarlett had not as yet met Luca’s sons, Alex and Angelo, born to an American woman. Her Italian family certainly knew how to keep life complicated, though Scarlett wasn’t at all sure that she wanted any time under the Rosa staff’s microscope!
‘Actually, I hadn’t thought that news would travel through the restaurant at all.’ She tugged so hard on her ribbon that it came out in her hand. Scarlett compulsively threaded it through her fingers and decided it wasn’t fair that she had dressed for success and got through a big day, only to be startled by the strength of the gossip mill right at the end of it.
‘Your nose is scrunching,’ he said softly. This observation was followed by a frown that seemed self-repressive before he quickly turned his gaze away and headed for the door. ‘It’s less than five minutes’ walk to your bedsit. I’m sure you can deal with my company for that long, despite your efforts to avoid me today.’
‘I did not.’ She had, though, and why did a tingle go over Scarlett’s skin and her breath catch in her throat at the thought of him walking her home, for goodness’ sake? ‘As for moving to the bedsit, it’s not that I wasn’t happy at Mamma’s villa.’
‘Happy to the degree that you chose to move yourself into a bedsit after just two days there? And that was with your mother not even in residence in her home at the time.’ He shook his head. ‘You left her at age twelve, preferring to move to the other side of the world and live with your father, Scarlett. I haven’t forgotten that you told me that, or of your inability to feel close to her.’
He hesitated. ‘I also hear plenty about Lisa in terms of her ownership of Sorella. Your mother’s restaurant is our key rival for business here.’
‘Well, at least this way I avoid any conflict of interest.’ Scarlett dropped her guard a little. ‘I’m sure Mum would understand. Working for Luca, I couldn’t allow that. Really, I should have thought of it before I came over here.’
‘Certainly. I’m sure your mother should understand this.’ A twinkle in his eyes showed that he could see the strategy in Scarlett’s outlook. A moment later his smile faded to a more serious expression. ‘Scarlett, this morning I said things about you—’
‘It’s