Chapter 176: A little sour, a little sweet
Andrew couldn’t believe his ears. That was what she was worried about? This damn woman!
Maxwell’s laughter filled his ears and Andrew felt a shiver run down his spine.
"You want him to not report you, huh? Well, I don’t care if Andy doesn’t say anything, because I sure as hell won’t let this stand. Especially when I know that you have treated other people, my employees, poorly. I will not let this stand, and in fact, your behaviour, your actions, have made our board of directors decide that outsourcing childcare is no longer a viable option for our employees who have children. You better believe that my brother certainly won’t be bringing his child here when they are born, and no child of mine would ever step foot here." Maxwell tore into her, making her already pale form shake.
"Max." Andrew warned, and Maxwell rolled his eyes.
"I cannot believe that someone who is so prejudiced against people of a lower social status can remain in business the way that you are. For someone who claims that they teach children good manners and prepare them for a life ahead of them, you certainly have not displayed that type of behaviour in the small amount of time I have found myself in your unfortunate presence." Andrew almost felt bad for the woman.
She looked like she was going to lose her mind. Or faint. Possibly both. Everyone else in the room was floored at Maxwell’s words and behaviour, but Andrew wasn’t.
"I would like to add," Andrew started, and Maxwell shut his mouth. "That if you had simply treated me like an equal, we would not have had this embarrassing display. But because you chose to diminish me and my partner at every chance you got, instead of speaking to us like we were human, like we were equals, you are now facing an embarrassing situation that will not make me feel better at the end of the day, but I have a feeling you will feel worse. Genuinely, I worry for your business if this is the treatment you have shown to your potential clients, and I feel sorry for the parents who hear about the ’good work’ that you do, only to be berated, and treated like they are less than any other simply because they have a few less zeros to their sum total." Andrew sighed.
He shook his head, staring down at the woman before him. He doubted that a word would get through to her, but he’d said his peace. Maxwell had taken all of the angry words from him, so he felt it was only fair he dealt the slightly softer warning.
"Maria, I’m sorry we’re speaking so ill of the place Hewett is going." Maxwell told her and Maria shook her head, her eyes wide.
"N-No, it’s fine. I had no idea that they had treated you so poorly. I must have arrived too late to witness it. Did Andy yell?" She asked and Maxwell scoffed.
"Oh, he certainly raised his voice. I was worried his pheromones were going to go out of control, but he did a wonderful job of restraining himself. He’s only recently manifested, and is improving leaps and bounds over everyone else." Maxwell bragged. "Now, let’s get to that coffee shop, shall we?" Maxwell began to wrap himself up with the scarf again, and pulled his gloves out of his pocket, taking his time pulling them on.