Chapter 3 - The Price of Empathy
The heavy wooden door of the manager's office swung open with a sharp crack. Julian emerged, holding a leather clipboard, his eyes locking instantly onto the scene at the leather chair.
His footsteps echoed like thunder across the polished floor as he marched back across the lobby.
"I told you to send him out," Julian snarled, his voice dropping into a furious, controlled whisper as he reached Toby.
Toby stood his ground, placing himself between the manager and the seated man. "I couldn't leave him in the cold," Toby said, his young voice trembling slightly but firm with moral certainty.
May you like
Julian glared at the boy, pulling a pen from his breast pocket and scratching a line through Toby's name on the duty roster.
"Then you're fired," Julian said coldly. "Pack your things and leave through the service entrance."
