Family Drama 4 E-Book Bundle (8 page)

As Pearl went back to the dining room she saw both Bernie and Alice chatting as they drank their tea.

‘Come on, Pearl, I've poured a cup for you too,' Alice called.

It was a friendly gesture and Pearl responded, chatting to the woman whilst Bernie popped out to the kitchen.

Alice glanced around the café. ‘I expect it's the same routine as the Trafalgar and I'll soon settle in.'

‘I'm sure you will, but I think there must be an easier way to take the orders.'

‘What do you mean, love?'

‘We have to write out a separate chit for each customer, and sometimes if there are four on a table it takes ages.'

‘That sounds a bit daft to me and not very efficient.'

‘I think it would be easier to write out one slip per table, listing the order with the customers initial beside it. Most come from the market, they know each other, and nine times out of ten sit with the same crowd each day. Of course, if strangers sit at the same table it wouldn't work, but that doesn't happen very often.'

‘It sounds like a good idea to me.' The bell pinged, and as customers came in, Alice said, ‘Right, Pearl, shake a leg.'

Pearl frowned. Alice made it sound like a command, but the first four men took a seat at one of her tables so she went to take their order. ‘Good morning, and what can I get you?'

‘Morning, love,' Frank said. ‘I'll 'ave me usual.'

‘Me too,' another man said, adding, ‘Is that another new waitress?'

‘Yes, she's starting today.'

‘She looks like a battle-axe, Frank.'

‘Yeah, a bit of a Boadicea, if you ask me.'

Pearl was smiling as she wrote out their chit. It
was obvious these men liked to find nicknames for people. During her first week, Frank had started to call her Minnie Mouse, but she didn't mind. It was just their way, and she was getting used to them now.

The smile left her face when she went into the kitchen. The new waitress was talking to Mrs Dolby and she looked as pleased as punch at what she was hearing.

‘Blimey, Alice, that's a great idea and I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. My old gran set up the present system, and as it worked we just carried on. Now though, if we do things your way, not only will it speed up service, it'll also save us a fortune on order pads. Well done, Alice, and it's lovely to have someone who takes an interest in the business.'

‘Thanks, Mrs Dolby,' Alice said.

‘Pearl, our new waitress has just come up with a marvellous idea for taking orders and we'll start using it straight away. I'd best get these breakfasts on so I'll leave Alice to put you in the picture.'

With a smile of satisfaction, Alice beckoned Pearl to the dining room. ‘Mrs Dolby was dead chuffed when I suggested writing out one order chit for each table and it's certainly got me into her good books.'

‘But … but it was my idea.'

‘Well, yes, but does it matter who came up with
it? As long as it makes things easier for us, that's all that matters. Oops, better get a move on, customers are waiting.'

Pearl stood rooted to the spot for a moment, unable to believe that Alice had pinched her idea. It was her own fault, she should have plucked up the courage to speak to Dolly herself, but now it was too late. She heaved a sigh. Maybe Alice was right – after all, it would make things easier for them – but she still had a bad feeling about the woman.

By eight thirty the café was heaving, and when Derek Lewis came in he took a table at the far end of the café, surprised when Alice came to serve him.

‘Hello, where's Pearl? She hasn't left, has she?'

‘No, she's in the kitchen. I'm doing the tables down this end. Now then, what can I get you?'

‘Just a couple of eggs on toast.'

Carrying two plates, Pearl came backwards through the swing door, and as she rushed past she didn't see Derek. He watched her, his face showing his disappointment. He'd decided to pluck up the courage to ask her out today, and now felt deflated. He'd been rehearsing what he was going to say, his stomach knotted as he came in the café, but now he wouldn't have the chance. Maybe he'd be able to catch her on her way home.

Derek kept his eyes on Pearl as she worked, and
when Alice put his breakfast in front of him he hardly looked at it as he picked up his knife and fork. Would Pearl say yes? Christ, he hoped so. She always seemed pleased to see him, and sometimes stopped for a chat. He'd never had attention from a girl before, and hoped he hadn't misread the signs.

Pearl was rushing to the kitchen again, but this time she saw him. Her elfin face broke into a smile. ‘Hello, Derek,' she called, but sailed on past.

Derek finished his breakfast, drank his tea, and then went to pay at the counter, pleased when Pearl came to his side.

‘Hello, how are you?' he asked.

‘I'm fine thanks. How's your gran?'

‘She's back to normal, and bossing me around as usual.'

‘That's good.'

‘Er … Pearl, I was wondering …'

As Bernie filled two cups of tea, Pearl grabbed them, and Derek was left staring at her back as she hurried away. His heart sank. She hadn't even let him finish his sentence. Maybe he'd imagined it and she didn't like him after all. Sadly he watched her running around for a moment. Then, with his shoulders slumped, he left the café.

It was eleven o'clock when Derek saw Kevin Dolby strolling through the market, and he lifted his arm to catch his attention.

‘Watcha, Derek, how's things?'

‘Fine, but I wanted to ask your advice.'

‘Fire away.'

‘It's that waitress, Pearl. She seems to like me, but how can I know for sure?'

‘You can't, mate. Sometimes you just have to take a chance. Anyway, I don't know what you're worried about. She can only say no, and there's plenty more fish in the sea.'

‘Yeah, I suppose so,' Derek murmured as Kevin walked away. It was all right for him – he was a good-looking bloke and obviously had no trouble finding women. Derek thought back to the one time he'd asked a girl out, and she'd made her distaste plain. Would Pearl be the same? Would she tell him to bugger off too?

A customer came to the stall and, pushing his worries to one side, Derek went to serve her, pleased when she purchased a tea set.

Pearl was relieved when her shift finished and was just preparing to leave when Dolly came out of the kitchen. As she walked the length of the café, her eyes inspected each and every table, but thankfully they were all clean and tidy.

Pearl's ears pricked up when Alice said, ‘Mrs Dolby, can I have a word about our tips?'

‘What about them?'

‘It's a bit frantic in here, both for the breakfast
and lunch servings, and I've noticed that Pearl ain't quite got the hang of it yet. To help out I've cleared a few of her tables, but some customers leave tips and in the rush I might have put hers in with mine by mistake. I wonder if it might be better if we have a jar on the counter to pool them in, sharing the money out at the end of the week.'

‘Surely mixing Pearl's tips with your own won't happen very often?'

‘That's just it. I don't know. As I said, there'll be time when I'll have to clear Pearl's tables, and it's easy to get in a muddle.'

‘What do you think about this, Pearl?'

‘I … I'm not sure. Maybe it would be better to keep them separate.'

‘You should think yourself lucky that Alice has helped you out, and by clearing your tables she takes on extra work. If you ask me she should keep any tips she finds.'

‘Oh, no, Mrs Dolby,' Alice protested. ‘That wouldn't be right. I'd rather we share them.'

‘Very well then, until Pearl gets up to speed you can put a jar on the counter. If and when she improves, we'll discuss it again.'

Pearl wanted to protest, to tell Mrs Dolby that she didn't need Alice's help. With only half the tables to do now she could easily manage, but seeing impatience on her employer's face, she was held back by fear.

Both she and Alice took their handbags out from under the counter, saying goodbye as the left together, but when the door closed behind them, Alice turned to Pearl, her smile ingratiating. ‘I hope you don't mind my suggestion, love. After all, we don't want to get our tips mixed up, do we? See you tomorrow.' With this she walked off in the opposite direction to Pearl.

For a moment Pearl watched her, unhappy but helpless. Alice had made her look bad in front of Mrs Dolby, and she should have had the courage to speak up for herself. Yet both women were dominant, assertive and she just didn't have the nerve. Kevin was walking towards her, heading for the café, and once again her heart skipped. It wasn't often that he spoke to her, but just a rare smile in her direction was enough to bring the colour flooding to her cheeks. Would he speak to her now?

‘Watcha, Pearl.'

‘Er … hello,' she stuttered, but he walked straight into the café without breaking his stride. Disconsolately she started to stroll along the market, berating herself for being silly. Kevin Dolby would never look at her twice. He had the pick of the girls and she could never compete.

Derek was looking out for Pearl and at three forty-five he saw her meandering down the market.
Fingers crossed, he went to the front of his stall, smiling when she drew near.

‘Hello, love. Off home, are you?'

‘Yes, I've finished my shift.'

‘Er … Pearl. I … I was wondering if you fancy going to the pictures one night?'

Her huge eyes rose to meet his and he gulped. Christ, she was such a lovely little thing. She looked so innocent, so frail, and he held his breath for her answer.

‘The pictures? Well, yes, I suppose so.'

‘That's great. How about tonight?'

‘Yes, all right. Can we go to the Granada? There's a Marlene Dietrich film on that I'd love to see.'

‘Fine with me. How about I pick you up at seven?'

‘Yes, do that.' And smiling shyly, Pearl walked away.

Bloody hell, he'd done it! With a little skip, Derek was grinning as he returned to the back of his stall, and was busy for the rest of the afternoon.

As Derek walked in the door that evening, Connie Lewis assessed him shrewdly. ‘What are you looking so happy about?'

‘I've got a date, Gran.'

‘Have you now? And who with? I hope she's a nice girl and not one of these painted tarts you see nowadays. Does she live around here?'

‘Now then, Gran, I'm twenty-six, not sixteen,
and don't need an inquisition. But yes, she's a nice girl and I think you'd like her. Now, I'm off upstairs to have a bath.'

Connie frowned as her grandson left the room. Derek wasn't one for the girls so she was surprised to hear he had a date. She was under no illusions. Derek couldn't be described as handsome. He'd been a plain little boy when he'd come to live with her, and was plain now, but of course boxing hadn't helped.

Yet he was a lovely lad, kind and caring, in fact, sometimes too caring. She smiled, remembering all the lost and wounded animals he'd brought home over the years, from wild birds to cats. In fact they still had one of the cats now, a fat and lazy creature that spent all day asleep on a chair.

As if knowing she was thinking about him, Marmalade opened one eye, yawned and stretched, rousing himself enough to settle in another position before closing his eye again. Connie smiled. Yes, Marmalade was a good name for the ginger cat, and she was quite fond of the old thing really.

She rose to her feet, walking across the kitchen to feed cabbage into the pan of boiling water on the stove. Unbidden, Connie found herself thinking about her daughter, an expression of sadness crossing her face. Mary had got herself pregnant and had never revealed the name of Derek's father,
but she didn't deserve to die that way – trapped under the rubble of a pub when it had been bombed during the war.

‘What's for dinner, Gran?' Derek asked as he returned downstairs, towelling his hair dry.

‘Stewed steak.'

‘Smashing.'

‘Where are you taking this girl tonight?'

‘We're going to the flicks.'

‘Well, just make sure you behave yourself!'

‘What's that supposed to mean?'

‘Oh, sorry, love. Take no notice of me. I know you'll be a perfect gentleman.'

‘What's up, Gran? You not only sound snappy, you look a bit down too.'

‘I was just thinking about your mother. It's her birthday tomorrow.'

‘We'll take some flowers up to the cemetery as usual.'

‘She seems to fill my mind more than ever around this time. I don't know why. It's almost as though she draws close to me on her birthday. I know she wasn't much of a mother to you, but I'll never forgive myself for the way I treated her.'