The fierce expression falls from her face and I see the concern in her eyes. “Come with me,” she says, leading me towards the staff room. “Let’s get you cleaned up and checked out.”
In the staff room, Maggie helps me remove my shirt, wincing at the sight of the reddened skin on my chest. She hands me a cold compress, which I press against the burn, feeling a little relief.
“I’m going to have to report this to HR,” Maggie says, her face pinched with worry. “And we need to get you some medical attention.”
“I’ll be fine,” I say weakly, feeling a little nauseous. “Just a little burn.”
Maggie shakes her head. “No, Lani. This is not okay. You’ve been injured on the job and we need to take care of you.”
“Okay.” I feel all kinds of awkward. I was meant to be helping and I just seem to have made everything worse today.
“You arenotto blame for this. There will be no negative repercussions on you whatsoever, I promise. And I’d have you back in my restaurant anytime you wanted.”
“Thanks.”
“Here, take this. It’s a spare and it’s clean.” She holds out a fresh shirt for me to take. I thank her again and shrug it on, wincing when the starched material catches my tender chest. I need to get some ointment on that, but I’m sure my grandmother will have something back at the house.
“Am I okay to go?”
“Of course. I’m going to speak to Pete. He mentioned you were on the late shift at TBG tonight, but I’m going to tell him you need the night off.”
“Oh no, that’s not necessary—” I panic. I need the money and I can’t risk the reputation of being flaky when I’m so new.
“I insist. You’ll receive full pay of course, though I can’t do anything about any missed tips.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s standard procedure when an employee is injured.”
“Okay. If you’re sure.” Actually, after the day I’ve had, a night resting probably isn’t a bad idea. “Thank you, Maggie. I promise I’ll be less trouble next time.”
She shushes and shoos me away, and I exit the staff room with my coffee stained shirt in my hands, surprised to find Finn still there, waiting for me.
“Can I please cover your dry cleaning bill?” Finn asks.
“You don’t have to do that, Finn. But thank you,” I say, feeling touched by his kindness.
“Nonsense,” he says, smiling at me. “I want to help.”
I nod, feeling a lump form in my throat as I try to hold back tears.
“Okay,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”
He takes the shirt from me and then holds my hand, gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s go, Lani. I’ll walk you home.”
We exit the restaurant together, hand in hand, and make our way to the gardens. There’s a path which leads down the cliff to the beach, and from there it’s only a short walk back to my grandmother’s house.
As we walk down the path, Finn’s grip on my hand tightens. I look over at him, and he’s staring straight ahead, his jaw clenched. I can tell he’s trying to hold something back, but I don’t know what.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
He doesn’t answer right away, and I can feel the tension between us building. Finally, he stops and turns to face me.
“Lani, I cannot apologise for my father’s behaviour enough. I’m so sorry that both times you’ve met me now, it’s been a negative experience because of him. Please believe I’m not anything like him,” he says, his voice low and serious.
I look into Finn’s eyes, and I see the sincerity in them. I feel my own eyes start to well up with tears, not because of the hurt that his father caused me, but because of the tenderness in Finn’s words.
“It’s okay,” I say, my voice catching. “I believe you. Anyone can see you’re nothing like him.”