Adrien understood that.
He also understood that helping her did not mean taking control away from her.
So he gave her access to his best advisers, but he never made decisions on her behalf unless she asked.
The restaurant was going to become her responsibility.
And that meant she needed the freedom to learn.
The first major challenge arrived on a rainy Thursday.
A letter from a former employee's attorney appeared on the restaurant's desk.
The employee, Daniel Price, had worked at Ridgeview Grill for almost four years.
He claimed that Gregory Mason had reduced his shifts after he reported repeated harassment by a group of customers.
The letter included dates, text messages, and copies of scheduling records.
Talia read it twice.
"Why wasn't this in the original complaint file?"
The human-resources consultant, Elaine Foster, answered.
"Because the complaint was never formally recorded."
"Who received it?"
"Gregory."
"And what happened?"
"He told Daniel that the customers were important to the restaurant and that he should learn how to handle difficult personalities."
Talia closed the letter.
"Did anyone investigate?"
"No."
She looked toward Adrien.
"I want to meet him."
Adrien nodded.
"Arrange it."
Daniel arrived the following afternoon.
He was thirty-two, tall, broad-shouldered, and quiet. He had recently started working at another restaurant but was still angry about what had happened.
He sat across from Talia in the office.
"I don't know why I'm here," he said.
"Because I want to hear what happened."
"You've already heard the story."
"I've heard the paperwork. I want to hear from you."
Daniel looked down.
He explained that a customer had repeatedly made insulting comments about his accent and appearance.
When Daniel asked him to stop, the customer complained to Gregory.
Gregory told Daniel to apologize.
When Daniel refused, his shifts were reduced.
He eventually quit.
"I had a daughter at home," Daniel said. "I couldn't afford to keep fighting with management."
Talia listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked, "What would you have wanted someone to do?"
Daniel looked surprised.
"What?"
"If someone had stepped in, what would have made a difference?"
He thought about it.
"I wanted somebody to tell that customer he couldn't talk to me like that. I wanted Gregory to stop acting like my job depended on making rich people comfortable."
Talia nodded.
"That's fair."
Daniel leaned back.
"Is this meeting just to make your company look good?"
"No."
"Because I've heard that before."
"I understand."
He studied her.
"Do you?"
Talia held his gaze.
"I do not know exactly what it felt like for you. But I know what it feels like to work somewhere that expects you to swallow disrespect because you need the paycheck."
Daniel's expression softened slightly.
She continued.
"I can't promise that everything will be fixed immediately. I can promise that your complaint will be investigated independently, and I can promise you won't be punished for speaking about it."
Daniel looked toward the window.
"That would be a start."
Talia nodded.
"It will be."
The investigation confirmed his account.
Daniel received compensation for the lost wages that could be documented, and the company issued a formal acknowledgment that his complaint had been mishandled.
Talia also requested a review of every employee complaint from the previous three years.
The process took weeks.
But the findings changed the direction of the entire project.
The restaurant's problems were not limited to racial harassment.
Employees had been denied breaks.
Some had been scheduled for closing shifts followed by early openings.
Others had been discouraged from reporting unsafe conditions.
One dishwasher had been working with an injured wrist because Gregory refused to authorize a replacement.
A young cook had been threatened with termination after asking about missing overtime pay.
The restaurant had not simply failed Talia.
It had failed many people.
And now she had to decide what kind of place would replace it.
One evening, she and Adrien walked through the empty dining room.
The tables had been removed for renovation.
The walls were being repainted.
The old lighting fixtures were gone.
Talia stopped near the windows.
"Do you remember what you said when you walked in?"
Adrien nodded.
"I remember."
"You told Gregory to be quiet."
"He was talking."
She smiled slightly.
"He was trying to welcome you."
"He was trying to avoid responsibility."
She looked around.
"I used to stand right here and wait for people to finish eating so I could clear their plates."
Adrien stepped beside her.
"I know."
"I remember every table. I remember who sat here. I remember which customers were kind and which ones made the shift difficult."