"Ma'am?"
Florence Langley held up her hand, fingers splayed, and waved it vigorously in front of Shirley Thorne's face. "Ma'am, did you hear what I said?" she asked, confused.
"Oh, huh? What?"
Shirley Thorne snapped out of her daze, a faint blush on her cheeks. "The big-shot billionaire is coming?" she asked.
Florence's eye twitched.
She was certain her boss had just zoned out. Otherwise, she wouldn't have blurted out "big-shot billionaire" and still not realized her slip of the tongue.
'Oh well,' she thought. 'An employee's gotta do what an employee's gotta do. I'll just repeat myself.'
Florence silently composed herself and then repeated, "Your husband and the police will be here shortly. Ma'am, you don't need to worry about those petty people, and you certainly don't need to pay a dime."
Shirley shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine. I wasn't planning on spending my own money anyway."
