When Thomas, a wealthy restaurant owner, notices a young dishwasher frequenting the locker room, he suspects her of theft. He shames her in front of everyone and grabs her bag to check, only to regret it after seeing what’s inside. Thomas is a wealthy widower in his early 50s who considers himself smart and charming. He despises those who call him bald and potbelly man behind his back. Thomas thinks he can easily hit on any young and beautiful woman.
He never grows tired of flirting, not that he is a full-time flirt, but he never misses a chance whenever he sees gorgeous young ladies. For Thomas, age is just a number, and it wouldn’t stop him from unleashing his pickup lines and directing his steamy stares toward women, including waitresses and dishwashers who work in his restaurant. Among them is 20-year-old Giselle. Giselle is pretty new at the restaurant. She has been working as a dishwasher for a month.
She is a poor widow who recently lost her husband, the love of her life, Mason. She struggles to make ends meet after the tragedy and comes across a “we are hiring” signboard outside Thomas’s Eatery. She applies as a dishwasher and immediately starts working with all her diligence and dedication. Her co-workers warn her about their boss’s attitude towards the female staff. “That man likes to flirt and has even invited some on dates.
He thinks money can buy anything,” one of them says. Giselle shrugs it off. She is focused on keeping her job at any cost. “I know my boundaries,” she says confidently. But one day, she witnesses the ugly side of her boss.
“Do you have any idea why I hired you, Miss Giselle?” Thomas blocks her way as she is leaving at the end of her shift. He grabs a red rose from a table nearby. “No, sir, please excuse me. I have to get home soon.
Don’t call me sir, Miss Giselle. Call me Tom.” Giselle feels helpless and trapped. Because she is the last to leave the Eatery, she has a lot of dishes to do that day. “It’s getting late.
I have to go. Good day, sir,” but Thomas wouldn’t budge. “I was blinded by your beauty the first day I saw you,” he says cheesily. “I can sing praises of your beautiful smile all day. What do you think?
We can go to his sword, have plenty of drinks, and shop for everything you want.” Annoyed, Giselle gently pushes Thomas out of her way and storms out, saying, “I’m here to work, sir. I’m not here for anything other than my job, and I respect my workplace. Thank you, but I’m not the type you’re looking for. Good day, sir.
Thomas is furious. His ego is hurt. She is, after all, an ordinary dishwasher. How dare she turn down my offer? Wait till I show you what I’m capable of.
Days pass, but Thomas hasn’t gotten over what happened. He is not ready to accept defeat or rejection, and he keeps looking for ways to humiliate Giselle. One day, he sees her arrive at work with a big bag and walk into the staff room. An evil plan flashes into Thomas’s mind, and he waits for the next few days to make sure Giselle carries this bag every day to work. He often checks on Giselle and sees her frequenting the locker room during her shift.
His suspicions brew, and he waits until the afternoon when the Eatery is busy to pounce on her. “Have a nice day. I have to go to the market. I took half a day off,” Giselle says to her friends just as she is about to exit the door. Thomas calls out loud, “Wait right there, Miss Giselle.
What have you got in your bag today? Have you been stealing leftovers and dishwashing liquid? You’re fired.” Giselle is startled. She turns around and starts to sweat in fear.
The guests stare back at her and begin whispering things. Her co-workers assemble behind Thomas and are equally shocked. “I know you’ve been stealing from me. I saw you frequent the locker room at least thrice during your shift. Come here, give me your bag.
Let me see what’s inside.” Giselle is frightened. She wants to step back and run. “It’s nothing, sir. I just have my lunchbox and a set of spare clothes in it,” but Thomas hurries to her and snatches the bag from her hand.
It is heavier than he thought. Some curious guests and staff flock around Giselle and Thomas as he puts the bag on the table and takes out a little blanket from it. “Oh my God, what is this?” he exclaims. “Is this a baby?
Shocked, a newborn baby girl wriggles inside the bag, staring back at Thomas with big brown eyes. He is stunned. “Sir, I can explain,” Giselle says, handing him her baby. “My husband died a few months ago when I was pregnant. After my baby came, I couldn’t find work, and I had nobody to look after her.
When I joined here, I couldn’t leave her alone at home, so I hid her in the bag and carried her to work. I frequented the staff to feed her and make sure she never made any noise. I was just protecting my baby. I’m not a thief. I didn’t take a crumb.
Thomas is moved to tears as the baby reminds him of the child he lost way back. That day, he cries like a kid in front of everyone, exposing a side of him that nobody really knew. Thomas folds his palms and immediately apologizes to Giselle. “I’m sorry, Miss Giselle. I lost my wife and child in an accident many years ago.
I remained single after that because I feared losing my loved ones again. I never found true love after that. My loneliness turned me into a monster. I’m not bad at heart, but it’s just that I lived with the assumption that money could buy anything, even love. I was wrong.
Giselle is teary-eyed after hearing Thomas’s story. “Sir, I’m sorry for what you went through after losing your family. I’m glad you realized your mistake, at least now.” Thomas returns the bag with the baby to Giselle. “You may return to work after a month.
I’m giving you paid leave so you can spend time with your child.” Giselle smiles, and she leaves the Eatery with her baby. Thomas has decided to double Giselle’s salary when she returns to work so that it will help her hire a nanny to babysit her child while she is at work. But did he stop flirting after that? Unsurprisingly, some old habits die hard, which is true in Thomas’s case.
Although he stops flirting with his female staff, he doesn’t completely stop hitting on other random women. Only time will tell if Thomas will succeed in finding true love again, but everyone, including Giselle, is glad he realized money isn’t everything.
