#((and so in meeting susannah; getting to know her; he's getting the real mccoy; so to speak))

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

Having noticed the way his expression crinkled (and not just because of the unpleasant topic of her boss), Susannah was quick to grab the salve and some pain pills, quickly passing the latter to Philippe to take with his coffee, while she gently applied the salve-it served as something of a distraction from what he'd just said.

He was right, of course; Mickey was a poor excuse for a boss. He was cheap, rude, abrasive, demanding, temperamental, and just about every other negative adjective you could think of under the sun. He overworked and underpaid his employees; the only time he was ever really pleasant was when a wealthy customer came through their door, upon which he'd turned on the charm in the hopes of getting them to empty their wallets purchasing their wares. Susannah dreaded getting up in the morning, knowing she'd have to see his ugly mug first thing she came through the door.

But what could she do? For all his faults, he was the only one who would hire her, and while his wages weren't anything to write home about, they were enough to get her by. She had a roof over her head, food in her cupboards, a steady job, clothes on her back...she had to count her blessings where she got 'em.

"Ah, he's not so bad," she reassured Philippe, as she gently applied the salve. "He's all bark and no bite, really. I could do a lot worse, as bosses go."

She remembered (bitterly) some of the bosses her father used to work for, real unpleasant fellows...they were harsh, pushy types who only just barely tolerated August Pace, chiefly because he was hard-working and accepted whatever meager pay they tossed his way. He was willing to keep his head down and put up with their demands, so long as they didn't insult his family. Inevitably, they would, and he would not stand for it. Her father got into a lot of fights as a result-seldom physical, fortunately, but the verbal sparring, the insults flung at his beloved deceased wife and his innocent daughter, hurt far more than any punch ever could.