At The Alibi Room.
Dexter was truly amazed at how well-informed these drunks were. He felt like, in a way, these guys were just like the busybodies back in his rural hometown who spent all day gossiping together.
Tommy and the others had talked a lot.
Listening up to this point, Dexter was very satisfied with what he'd heard.
Comrade Terry Milkovich—who knows how many people he'd ticked off in his life—was now dead. For Tommy and the people living in this neighborhood, it was practically a reason to celebrate.
As for who killed Terry...
The possibilities were endless!
Tommy and Kermit alone listed over a dozen suspects. Other drinkers chimed in with even more.
Most importantly, the police still hadn't found the wreckage of that motorcycle. Dexter smiled, confident that this whole thing would gradually die down after today, and he felt even more at ease.
Just then, Fiona and Veronica walked in.
Kevin spotted them immediately, stopping his chat with Tommy and the others in surprise. "V, what are you doing here?"
Veronica grinned mischievously. "I heard Dexter was here. I came to see him. Don't get worked up."
"...". Kevin's face fell, and he didn't know what to say.
Veronica saw his expression and laughed heartily.
Soon, Veronica and Fiona were seated on either side of Dexter.
"I feel like I'm surrounded," Dexter joked.
Veronica played along, giving him a flirty smile. "You're not wrong, you are surrounded."
Dexter heard that and immediately put up his hands. "Then I surrender. Mercy, please."
Fiona was amused by his comical performance and broke out into a beautiful, bright smile. She told Dexter, "I didn't realize you were so funny."
Fiona had done her makeup tonight, dressed up, and looked much more polished. Truth be told, she was quite a stunner, but sadly, she had a reputation...
"I can't help it. You're dressed so nicely tonight," Dexter said, looking at Fiona and teasing her a bit.
Fiona paused, caught off guard by the flirt. "I guess I should thank you."
"Why don't you two just get a room?" Veronica ribbed them.
Fiona just smiled and ignored her.
Dexter did the same, skipping the topic altogether. He asked, "So, what brings two lovely ladies to find me?"
Kevin was quick on the uptake, setting two beers in front of Veronica and Fiona.
Veronica picked up her beer and took a sip. "Fiona, you tell him."
"Okay." Fiona really wanted this job, so she didn't waste any time. She told Dexter, "Veronica and I just went to your restaurant. I slipped my resume inside. There were a ton of people gathered outside, so it looks like the competition is going to be fierce."
"I really, really need this job, so I came here to see if I could sweet-talk you a little."
Fiona was completely honest.
"Well, that makes sense," Dexter said, pretending to think hard. Then, he teased her again. "That depends on what you're willing to give up."
Fiona's face changed slightly at his words.
Veronica reacted the same way.
The reason was simple: Neither of them expected Dexter to say something like that, especially not so directly.
Fiona didn't speak for a moment.
Dexter noticed her reaction, felt a little amused, and quickly added with a smile, "Don't get the wrong idea. What I mean is, I have very high standards for the servers at my restaurant. You'll have to put in a lot of hard work if you want this job."
"???" Fiona blinked, highly suspicious that Dexter was talking nonsense with that addition. However, thinking about the money, she decided to suppress her doubt for now. "I'm not afraid of hard work. I think you can tell that."
Dexter shook his head. "The 'hard work' I'm talking about isn't just physical."
Fiona was confused. "??? I don't get it. What do you mean?"
Hearing this, Dexter thought, 'The fish has taken the bait.' He didn't answer directly, instead posing a question. "Before I answer that, I have a question for you, Fiona. What's your education level?"
Fiona froze.
Veronica and Kevin did too.
You need a degree to be a server? Who with a college degree would be a server?
But then...
The three of them quickly came back to earth. They realized, "Okay, for a server job with such high pay, needing an education is actually pretty normal."
"I went to high school. I finished 11th grade but had to drop out because of something," Fiona said, not happy about bringing it up and feeling a little embarrassed.
"Given your family situation, I understand," Dexter said with a gentle smile, trying not to sound condescending. "Now, to answer your question: One of my requirements is that you must have at least a high school diploma. Following that, if you work at my restaurant, I will require you to go to college part-time and finish your degree. If you quit school mid-way, you'll be fired."
"The high school diploma is the basic threshold. When I review the resumes, I'll only select applicants who meet this standard."
"But since we're friends, I can tentatively include you, provided you quickly get your high school diploma or take the GED."
"The requirement to go to college part-time and finish your degree applies to all applicants."
Dexter laid out all his requirements in one breath.
Fiona was bewildered and instinctively asked, "I can understand needing a high school education, but why the college degree requirement?"
Dexter smiled and shook his head slightly. "It's about preparing for the future and developing talent. I won't go into the details today... Do you want to hear the other requirement, the one that might be really tough for you?"
Fiona didn't hesitate; she nodded.
Taking the GED, or even going to college, wasn't inherently a bad thing. Fiona wasn't dumb; she knew the importance of education. If she got the job and her income was secure, she wouldn't object to going to school part-time.
"While working, you cannot skip work and cannot take days off unless you're personally sick or there's a life-or-death emergency with a family member," Dexter said, delivering what he considered the main, key requirement he had thought up. "I think this will be very difficult for you."
Fiona went silent.
This requirement...
It wasn't just very difficult; it was extremely difficult. Given the Gallagher family situation, various crises were constantly popping up... Fiona felt she couldn't meet this demand and instinctively wanted to give up right then and there.
But then she thought about all that money, and stable money at that... Fiona couldn't bring herself to walk away.
Seeing Fiona's silence, Dexter pondered for a moment. "Sounds like I hit the nail on the head. No worries. You can take some time to really think about it. No rush."
Fiona nodded when she heard him.
Dexter said no more, turning his head to signal Kevin. "Another beer, please."
Veronica saw the exchange and her mouth moved, wanting to say something, but she couldn't think of what, so she just nervously drank her beer.
About five minutes later, Fiona said goodbye to Dexter and left The Alibi Room with Veronica.
---
The wind had picked up outside, and the cold was biting.
"Looks like I'll have to give up on this job," Fiona said, shrugging her shoulders with a wry smile.
Veronica hesitated for a couple of seconds. "Are you sure? Five grand a month plus tips? That's easily six grand a month."
"Plus, based on what he said, his restaurant does limited servings, so you'd have a lot of downtime and wouldn't be too exhausted."
"You..."
Before Veronica could finish, Fiona shook her head and spoke. "You know my family situation well. I'm definitely going to have to take time off and even miss work a lot."
Veronica frowned, looked at Fiona, wrestled with the thought for a moment, and then decided to speak her mind. "Are you really sure about that 'definitely'?"
"Fiona, you know in your heart that's not true."
"This is really just a choice."
Fiona smiled bitterly and didn't say a word.
She knew it was a choice. But how was she supposed to choose?