Chapter 43: Justice In The Mall.

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Justice In The Mall.

The two security officers approached Flora, who was standing beside Maya, the store attendant and her staff. Her staff looked surprised as they brought out their identification cards and showed them to Flora.

"Madam, we are security officers from the mall," one of them said. "We need to ask you a few questions."

Flora looked at their identification cards, then raised her eyes to their faces.

"Questions about what?" she asked, confused.

Before either officer could answer, Simon noticed them from a distance. He had been watching from the car. Something about the situation immediately caught his attention.

Where did these officers suddenly appear from?

His eyes moved from the officers to the store attendant, who looked frightened, and then to Flora, who was standing nearby with a calm expression on her face.

Simon checked the time on his wristwatch. It was 3:28 p.m.

He had intended to relax in the car, but the sight of the officers changed his plans. Without wasting another second, he turned and walked towards them.

As he approached, he heard one of the officers speak.

"Madam, we received information that you intend to take a staff member who works here without permission."

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Flora stared at the officer as though she had not understood his words. Flora slowly turned her head towards him, while the store attendant’s eyes widened in fear.

Even the people standing nearby stopped what they were doing.

What kind of accusation was that?

Maya looked at the officer in disbelief.

"Excuse me? What exactly do you mean by that?" She asked but her mother told her to shut up.

The officer maintained a serious expression.

"We were informed that you want to take this employee away from her workplace without the store owner’s permission."

Flora glanced at the young woman beside her.

"Take her away? Who told you that?"

Before the officer could answer, the store owner stepped forward. He had been standing beside the security officers, watching the entire situation.

"I am the owner of this store," he announced. "And I have every right to protect my business."

Flora turned towards him.

"Nobody is trying to steal your employee," she said firmly.

"Madam, with all due respect, this is a workplace. My employees cannot simply decide to leave whenever they want, especially when someone is encouraging them to do so."

Flora’s expression remained unchanged, but her eyes became colder.

"Then perhaps you should explain why your employee wants to leave in the first place."

The man frowned. " You don’t expect me to explain myself to you. Whatever her reason is, it’s an internal matter."

"No," Flora replied. "It becomes a matter of concern when you allow security officers to approach people and accuse them of something they have not done. I came here to shop. Unexpectedly, this situation came up, the least you could do is settle the issue amicably ,instead ,you have turned it into a public accusation. If you have a problem with your staff member, deal with it professionally."

The store owner opened his mouth, but Flora raised one hand slightly.

"Please, allow me to finish. You should ask yourself why your employee wants to leave. Have you treated her well? Have you paid her properly? Have you given her a reason to remain here?"

The man’s face tightened. "That is none of your business."

Flora gave a small, humourless smile. "Then you should not have made it my business by bringing security officers into a simple conversation."

One of the security officers cleared his throat.

"Madam, we are only responding to the information we received. We have not accused anyone of a crime. We simply need to understand what happened."

"Good," Flora replied. "Then ask questions before making assumptions."

At that moment, another security officer who had been standing some distance away noticed Flora’s face. He stared at her for a few seconds, as though trying to confirm what he was seeing.

Then he walked towards the group.

"Good afternoon, ma’am," he greeted respectfully.

Flora turned to him. "Good afternoon."

The officer looked at her with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

"Ma’am, are you the owner of Floac Estate?"

Flora answered briefly, "Yes, I am."

The officer turned towards his colleagues.

"She is the owner of Floac Estate. I have worked for her before. I know her very well."

His colleagues looked at Flora in surprise. The store owner’s expression changed immediately.

A few customers began whispering.

"Is she really the owner of Floac Estate?"

Flora, however, remained composed.

"Now that we have established who I am, can we return to the real issue? Why does your employee want to leave?"

The man swallowed. For the first time since the officers had arrived, he seemed unsure of what to say.

Immediately, the girl stepped forward. She could no longer keep quiet.

"Excuse me," she said, her voice shaking but loud enough for everyone to hear. "I have submitted my resignation letter. I submitted it two weeks ago. But Mr Mike has refused to pay me. He has refused to pay my salary and my holiday pay."

Everyone went silent.

The officers looked at the owner of the shop.

"Is that true?" the Flora asked.

The store owner refused to talk. His head was down. For the first time, he looked nervous. He was now regretting why he did not settle the issue amicably. He had wanted to embarrass the girl, but now the embarrassment was on him.

People around were whispering. Some were recording with their phones.

The officer turned to the girl again. "Did you submit it in writing?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. "I have a copy. And I have the email I sent to him."

She brought out her phone to show them.

The store owner finally spoke, but his voice was low.

"I... I was going to pay her. I just wanted her to finish the month."

Flora looked at him directly. Her eyes were calm but very firm.

"Paying your staff is not a favour. It is the law," she said.

"This is London. You cannot keep a worker’s salary because she wants to resign. You cannot hold her holiday pay. That is illegal."

The owner swallowed hard and said nothing.

Flora continued, "You called security to accuse me of taking your staff, but the truth is you are holding her money. That is why she wants to leave."

She paused.

"So I will give you two options. Pay the girl off today, her full salary and her holiday pay, or I will take up this matter legally. My lawyers will write to you tomorrow morning. And I promise you, it will cost you more than what you owe her."

The officers nodded. One of them said, "Madam is right, sir. Under UK employment law, you must pay all outstanding wages and accrued holiday pay, even when someone resigns."

The store owner was sweating now. He looked at the girl and said quietly, "How much did you say I owe you?"

"Nine hundred and twenty pounds, sir," the girl said. "Two weeks’ salary plus eight days of holiday pay."

Flora looked at the girl and then at her own team.

"Don’t worry," she said to the girl. "You will get your money."

Then Flora turned to her staff.

"Please return to the car," she told them. "Maya, Simon, go with them. Take the gifts."

Maya was surprised. "Mum, are you not coming?"

"I will join you in a minute," Flora said calmly. "I want to make sure this young lady is settled."

Simon nodded. "Okay, let’s go."

They turned and headed towards the car park, carrying their gift bags. Maya kept looking back, worried about her mother.

Now it was just Flora, the security men, the store owner, and the store attendant standing in front of the mall.

Flora brought out her phone.

"Sir," she said to the owner, "I am giving you five minutes to transfer her money. If you do it now, we end this here, amicably. No police, no lawyers. Just pay her what she worked for."

The owner looked at the officers, then at Flora. He knew he had lost.

He brought out his phone with shaky hands.

"Give me your account details," he said to the girl.

The girl quickly called out her account number, her hands still trembling.

Flora stood there watching, ensuring that justice was done.

In less than ten minutes, the girl checked her phone.

"Ma, I have received the alert," she said. "￡920."

Then she knelt down to thank Flora.

"Thank you so much, ma’am. God bless you."

Flora quickly helped her up.

"Please, stand up. Don’t kneel for me. Go home and rest," Flora said. "You have earned it."

The girl nodded and went back into the store to pick her things. She removed her apron and folded it neatly.

The owner turned to the manager who was walking towards him.

"Follow her to the changing room. Make sure she only takes her own things," he said.

"Okay Sir ...He said and followed her immediately

The other security officers turned and left, but Flora called the security man who had recognized her.

"Hello, please can you meet me in the car. I would like to speak with you," she said.

"Yes, ma’am," he replied.