His brow furrowed.
“That is false.”
Daniel looked toward Celeste.
Celeste looked furious now.
Not at Meredith.
At the collapse of control.
Nia asked Anthony:
“Tell me about VIP protocols.”
His expression changed.
“What aspect?”
“Customers who complain about other customers.”
Pause.
“We have de-escalation guidance.”
“Show me.”
“It's on internal portal.”
“Open it.”
Anthony used conference-room screen.
Logged in.
A policy appeared.
High Value Client Experience and Floor Integrity.
Nia read.
Language polished within an inch of meaninglessness.
Maintain awareness of client comfort.
Discreetly assess unusual customer behavior.
Preserve privacy of priority clients.
Escalate concerns without disrupting client experience.
She looked toward Daniel.
“Who approved this?”
“Retail operations.”
“Which reports to?”
“Me.”
“Who drafted it?”
“VIP experience and security jointly.”
Nia read farther.
No racial language.
No demographic language.
Nothing overtly discriminatory.
But ambiguity can be more dangerous than explicit rules.
Explicit rules can be challenged.
Ambiguous ones can absorb bias and call it discretion.
Nia asked:
“How is ‘unusual customer behavior’ defined?”
Anthony answered:
“Concealment.”
“Tag removal.”
“Repeated entry without purchasing.”
“Photography of restricted areas.”
“Attempting employee-only access.”
Nia pointed toward screen.
“None of that is written here.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Anthony looked toward Daniel.
“Guidelines were shortened last year.”
“By whom?”
Daniel said:
“Consultants.”
Nia laughed once.
“Of course.”
Maya remained silent.
Nia looked toward her.
“Have you seen customers followed because VIP clients complained?”
Maya froze.
Celeste said:
“Nia—”
Nia turned.
“I am going to ask you to leave now.”
Celeste stared.
“What?”
“Paid administrative leave.”
“Effective immediately.”
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am.”
“You haven't established wrongdoing.”
“Correct.”
“Which is why you are not terminated.”
Nia pressed the conference-room intercom.
“Anthony.”
He stood.
Celeste looked at Daniel.
“Are you allowing this?”
The question revealed more than she intended.
Nia heard it.
So did Daniel.
He became pale.
Nia looked between them.
“Interesting.”
Celeste’s face changed.
Daniel said:
“Don't.”
Nia leaned forward.
“Don't what?”
“Read something into—”
“I didn't say anything.”
He stopped.
Nia looked at Anthony.
“Please escort Ms. Harmon to retrieve personal belongings.”
“Company devices remain.”
“She does not access internal systems.”
“HR will contact her.”
Anthony nodded.
Celeste stood.
Her composure cracked.
“You are doing this because a customer embarrassed you.”
Nia looked at her.
“No.”
“I’m doing this because I asked a sales associate what happened and she looked at you before answering.”
Celeste stared.
Nia continued: