"You think a pack of napkins isn't worth anything? Think I'm being petty?"
"Fine. That ten dollars is coming out of your paycheck this month!"
"Maybe that'll teach you a lesson about what things cost—and how hard it is to earn a dollar!"
The girl flinched under the verbal assault, her whole body trembling. Her eyes reddened instantly. Her lips quivered as if she wanted to say something in her defense, but in the end, she just lowered her head. She bit down hard on her lower lip, tears pooling in her eyes, refusing to let them fall.
I watched the whole thing, and something inside me went cold.
I pulled a hundred-dollar bill from my wallet and held it out to Gloria.
"Here. Keep the change."
Her tirade cut off mid-breath.
She turned to face me, reassembling that smile of hers—even more effusive than before. She snatched the bill with practiced speed, her fingertips giving it a quick, expert rub.
"Oh, Mr. Dickerson! You're too generous! You really shouldn't have..."
"Thank you so much! You're such a class act! Next time you come in, I'll have the kitchen set aside the freshest ingredients just for you—"
I'd already stopped listening.
That greasy smile of hers, glistening under the neon lights, turned my stomach in ways I couldn't put into words.
I straightened the front of my coat, let my gaze pass over the girl—still standing with her head bowed—then settled it on Gloria's beaming face. When I spoke, I chose my words carefully.
"Gloria, the secret to good business is thinking long-term."
"You'd do well to broaden your horizons."
She clearly didn't understand—or didn't care. She took it as polite small talk and nodded eagerly.
"Yes, yes, absolutely! You're so right, Mr. Dickerson. Long-term! Long-term!"
The next day, back at the office, I called my secretary in and gave her a simple instruction.
"Send out an internal memo. Effective immediately, any company-expensed meals or client entertainment involving Gourmet Grace will not be approved for reimbursement."
She froze, blinked, and instinctively double-checked. "Mr. Dickerson, you mean... Gourmet Grace? All reimbursements? Denied?"
Her surprise was understandable. For thirteen years, that restaurant had practically been our unofficial company cafeteria—especially for executive dinners and the annual company gala. It had never changed.
"That's right." I picked up my freshly brewed coffee. "Send it out."
The memo went out via internal email. At first, nothing happened.
But within half a day, the ripples started spreading beneath the surface.
That afternoon, I walked past the break room and caught fragments of conversation drifting through the doorway.
"...Is this for real? We don't have to go to Gourmet Grace anymore?"
"The memo's already out. You think it's fake? Mr. Dickerson signed off on it himself."
"About damn time!" someone chimed in, their voice carrying the weight of long-suppressed frustration. "Last year our department dinner was there. We ordered a fish—clearly not fresh. We mentioned it once, and the owner came over and spent twenty minutes going on about how expensive her suppliers were and how hard sourcing was. Then she gave us a two-percent discount like she was doing us some massive favor."
"You got off easy," another woman's voice joined in. "Last time we were entertaining a client—Mr. Li—he casually mentioned that the complimentary peanuts were good and asked for another plate."
"Guess what? When the bill came, that plate of peanuts was twenty-eight dollars!"
"We asked the waitress, and she hemmed and hawed. Then the owner came over and said they were premium amber-glazed peanuts—high cost."
"Twenty-eight bucks for a plate of peanuts! Highway robbery!"
"It's not just the food prices," an old-timer from accounting couldn't help piling on. "Getting invoices from them was a nightmare. Always delayed, always wrong. It'd hold up the whole reimbursement process. Drove everyone crazy."
