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‘Thanks Sophie, we can definitely sort something out then.’ Melanie felt her shoulders relax a little.
‘But hopefully we can all meet for drinks before that point?’ Sophie asked.
‘Excuse me, miss?’ Melanie glanced around to see yet another person looking down their nose at her.
‘Yes?’ Melanie said, trying to keep her voice polite, full customer service mode activated, but it was hard.
‘I understand you are the owner?’
‘Yes, how can I help you?’
‘I’m Chemaine Dalgleesh, from the council. I’m here to inspect your kitchen. We’ve been receiving complaints. Do you often walk around the restaurant with a dustpan full of what looks like broken glass? Perhaps we should go somewhere more private?’
Melanie couldn’t understand what was being said or the ID badge being flashed around at first. There was a dull clanging in her head. Like her body had realised the seriousness before her brain. But then her brain slowly caught up.
‘Er, yes of course, follow me.’
Melanie quickly looked back at Sophie and mouthed ‘sorry’. And she was. Really sorry. Sorry that this day was happening.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Paige
Paige was at the bar waiting for her appointment to turn up, as she looked through the reviews for Lulu. Something was niggling at her that Melanie was right. There was something a little off about them. They read as though someone was jealous rather than genuinely upset about the service or food or whatever. Paige clicked back and forth, but wasn’t able to come up with any sort of plan. She was grateful when there was a knock at the bar door.
As she unlocked the main door — they weren’t yet open — she realised Belle had turned up at just the right minute too.
‘Hi Jenny. Come on in. Hey Belle, you OK?’
‘All good boss, you?’
Paige gestured them in then locked the door, leaving the key in the lock for Jenny to see so that she could get out easily if she needed to. Sure enough she saw Jenny glance once and look quickly away again. And every time it twinged at Paige’s heart. Paige strode towards the windowed section so that it was nice and bright, hoping Jenny would follow and knowing Belle would.
They got to the seats and Belle didn’t miss a beat, but between the two of them they had been doing this routine for a while now. ‘I’ll go get us all a drink yeah? Has the milk turned up yet?’
‘No just run upstairs, it’s unlocked. Thank you.’
Belle saluted before dashing away.
‘Make yourself comfy. We’ll just have a drink and a chat. I’ll tell you about the bar, how it works, and then if you want you can tell me a little about you, then if you fancy it you can try out behind the bar before we open. We don’t properly open for a little while so we’ll just pretend for now. Although you can help me set up for an event we’re running later if you want?’ Paige sat with her arms on the table, her tone purposefully mellow, and even smiled occasionally. Well, smile was a bit much but she certainly wasn’t growling.
‘So Jenny, I’m Paige, that was Belle and you know Selena, right?’
Jenny nodded, twisting her hands in her lap. Paige watched as Jenny steeled herself, her spine straightening. ‘Yes, Selena said she’s had other people work for you before right?’
Paige nodded. ‘Yes, we’ve had a few. Some people enjoy work but don’t want to work in a bar, some enjoy bar work and stick around and others get bar jobs elsewhere. I’m more than happy to be used as a stepping stone to wherever you want to go next.’
‘What do you want, guys?’ Belle shouted from behind the bar.
‘Cup of tea, please. Jenny?’
‘Tea, please.’
Drinks made Belle rejoined them.
‘So how this normally works is that we offer you work of a few hours each day. Once you get used to it you can then pick what hours and days you want. If it’s working out that is. You might decide you don’t want to work here. If you haven’t worked anywhere before or if it’s been a long time don’t worry. We get that a lot. Just take it easy and see if you like it first, OK?’ She hadn’t already bolted which was a good sign. ‘Do you want to have a go at pulling a pint?’
It wasn’t long until Jenny was chatting away to Belle, and they were pouring pints, measures, shots and all sorts. Next was managing the payment system and Paige was impressed to see she was handling that like a pro.
