The red mark was becoming more noticeable, and the employee was standing unusually still, as if she were making a conscious effort not to react to the humiliation she had just experienced.
Officer Turner noticed it too.
He looked at Victoria, then at Natalie, and finally toward the other customers.
OFFICER TURNER: "Did something happen before we arrived?"
VICTORIA: "She provoked me."
OFFICER TURNER: "That wasn't my question."
For the first time since the officers had entered, Victoria seemed genuinely offended by something other than Natalie's behavior.
She took a step toward the younger officer.
VICTORIA: "Excuse me? Do you understand who you're speaking to?"
OFFICER TURNER: "I'm asking what happened."
VICTORIA: "And I'm telling you that this woman was disrespectful. I don't expect to be treated like this when I'm spending money in a place like this."
Natalie looked directly at the officers.
NATALIE: "I explained that the item she wanted couldn't be sold at the price she demanded. I offered to check whether another location had it available. That was all."
VICTORIA: "You made me look foolish in front of everyone."
NATALIE: "I explained the price displayed on the product."
VICTORIA: "You embarrassed me."
NATALIE: "That wasn't my intention."
VICTORIA: "You think you're better than me?"
NATALIE: "No. I'm simply doing my job."
The answer was quiet, direct, and entirely reasonable.
Somehow, that made Victoria even angrier.
She had expected Natalie to apologize repeatedly, lower her eyes, and accept the blame. She had expected the officers to see an affluent woman who had been mistreated by an employee and to resolve the situation without asking too many questions.
Instead, Natalie continued to stand upright.
She was not begging for forgiveness.
She was not trying to flatter Victoria.
And she was not changing her account of what had happened.
Victoria looked around the boutique, noticing that several shoppers were still watching her.
Her pride could not tolerate the possibility that anyone might leave the store remembering her as the person who had lost control.
VICTORIA: "This is ridiculous. Officer, why are you standing here questioning me? Take her outside and deal with her."
OFFICER REED: "Ma'am, we haven't established what happened yet."
VICTORIA: "I already told you!"
OFFICER REED: "And we're going to speak with the employee as well."
VICTORIA: "Unbelievable."
She turned sharply toward Natalie.
VICTORIA: "You should be grateful I'm even giving you the opportunity to explain yourself."
Natalie said nothing.
Her silence was not an admission of guilt. It was a decision not to turn the confrontation into another shouting match.
Officer Turner glanced toward the entrance, where a young shopper was holding her phone at chest level.
OFFICER TURNER: "Miss, did you see what happened?"
The shopper hesitated.
She looked at Victoria, whose posture had become rigid, then at Natalie, who was still standing beside the display counter.
SHOPPER: "I saw the woman in pink hit the employee."
Victoria immediately turned around.
VICTORIA: "What did you just say?"
The shopper swallowed nervously but did not withdraw her statement.
SHOPPER: "I saw her slap her. The employee wasn't touching her."
For a brief moment, the boutique became almost completely silent.
Officer Reed turned toward Victoria.
OFFICER REED: "Is that what happened?"
VICTORIA: "She was being incredibly rude to me."
OFFICER REED: "That doesn't answer my question."
VICTORIA: "I was upset. She was provoking me."
OFFICER REED: "Did you strike her?"
Victoria opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Her eyes moved from one officer to the other behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses.
VICTORIA: "I expect people to show me respect."
OFFICER REED: "We're discussing what happened here, ma'am."
Victoria let out an exasperated breath and adjusted the strap of her handbag.
She still believed she could recover control of the situation by speaking more forcefully than everyone else.
VICTORIA: "You officers are wasting your time. My family has connections. I don't think you understand how serious a mistake it would be to turn this into a bigger issue."
Officer Turner exchanged a brief glance with his colleague.
Neither man appeared impressed.
OFFICER TURNER: "Having connections doesn't change what we need to establish."
VICTORIA: "You people are making this much more difficult than it needs to be."
Natalie watched the exchange without interrupting.
She knew that the officers had not yet heard everything. The argument had begun long before the slap, and the original disagreement concerned a product that Victoria had insisted should be sold under conditions the store did not permit.
But Natalie also knew that explaining every detail to someone who had already decided she was the villain would accomplish very little.
She would provide her account when the officers were ready to listen.
Until then, she intended to remain calm.