An Alarming Shift In Conversation

(I agree to work an opening shift at a different branch of the coffee shop. It’s 6:30 am; I push open the front door of the store.)

Me: “Hey, [Other Worker]? It’s me, [My Name]. Hello?”

(No one answers and I walk around the store trying to find her, when the store alarm goes off. Because this isn’t my usual place of work, I don’t have a code to shut the alarm off. In a few minutes the phone rings.)

Manager: “The security company just called me. What’s going on?”

Me: “I don’t know! I came in and I couldn’t find [Other Worker] and then the alarm went off!”

Manager: “Wait. How did you get in if no one else is there?”

Me: “I just walked in through the front door.”

Manager: “Wasn’t it locked?”

Me: “Nope.”

Manager: “And [Other Worker] is now fifteen minutes late for her shift?”

Me: “Looks like it.”

Manager: “…I am going to have some serious words with my staff.”