Eilis’s supervisor at Bartocci’s in Brooklyn, Miss Fortini is a hawk-eyed and attentive woman with an uncanny ability to tell whether or not her saleswomen are unhappy. For this reason, she notices right away when Eilis comes to work in the throes of homesickness. Accordingly, she asks Eilis to follow her downstairs, where she asks what’s wrong and, when Eilis doesn’t say anything, guesses that she misses her family and her home. She then alerts Miss Bartocci, her boss, and arranges for Father Flood to come talk to Eilis. She also makes it possible for Eilis to take the day off, though she warns her that she has “crossed” Mr. Bartocci by coming to the department store in this state of mind. Later, Miss Fortini takes a liking to Eilis and enjoys talking to her about Tony, since she too has an Italian boyfriend. Developing something like a friendship, she tells Eilis that Italian men are very particular about what their girlfriends look like in bathing suits. She even orders several bathing suits for Eilis to try on, though she makes Eilis quite uncomfortable when the suits arrive, insisting that she change in front of her as she stares at her naked body. She also slides her fingers under the waist bands and tells Eilis that she will have to shave her bikini line.