Authors: Marcie Steele
Lucy glared at her but chose to ignore her.
Five minutes later, the middle aged lady picked up her cup, finished her drink and left.
‘Another one bites the dust.’ Lucy sighed wearily as Kate sat back down again.
‘We need to chill out,’ Kate told them. ‘It’s our first full day. It’s time to worry if it’s like this in a few weeks.’
‘But time’s going so slooooooooooooowly.’ Chloe leant back in her chair. ‘And it’s too quiet without Alex and Tom.’
‘I know. I keep waiting for one of them to pop their head around the door and interrupt us. Not that we’re doing anything they can interrupt.’
‘How long will they be working in Birmingham?’
‘I think Terry said the job would last them for the rest of this year,’ said Kate. ‘So it means they won’t even be popping in anytime soon.’
‘They won’t come in here now that the work is finished,’ said Lucy. ‘They’ll be off to the nearest Wetherspoons for a cheap pint.’
‘How would you know?’ said Chloe. ‘You don’t even know them.’
Kate sat upright as the door opened. ‘Oh, we have a regular. He came in on Friday.’
‘He’s the one I was telling you about,’ said Chloe with a nod. ‘The one with the funny name. I’ll see to him.’
Lucy jumped to her feet. ‘No, I’ll go. I need something to do.’
Kate hurried over behind them but Chloe got there first.
‘Hi. It’s Serle, isn’t it?’ In her eagerness, she forgot to stop and landed with a thump in his chest. ‘Oops. Sorry.’ She flashed him her sweetest smile.
Serle smiled back revealing a set of straight white teeth which contrasted with his ebony skin. The scar of quite a recent accident was visible under his left eye and a red woollen hat hid what little hair he had.
Huge black hands held Chloe at arms length. ‘Hey, it’s not often I have girls fighting over me.’ His voice seemed to fill the whole room.
‘What would you like?’ Chloe stood poised with her notepad.
As Serle studied the menu on the wall behind her, Kate and Lucy sloped away.
‘Never mind, someone else will be in soon,’ said Kate as she sat down and practiced her little knowledge of origami on a paper napkin.
Wednesday had been pretty much the same as Monday and Tuesday. So when Thursday started off busy and stayed that way, no-one had actually been prepared. Chloe lost her temper when a squat, weedy man accused her of short-changing him. Lily rushed in with apologies which had made Chloe even worse. Lucy seemed to be getting on with things nicely, despite the frosty looks coming from Chloe every ten seconds and Kate lost count of the times that she’d been moaned at by people kept waiting. They hadn’t complained last week, she fumed silently, when everything was free.
Friday was much steadier. Saturday started off well but by eleven-thirty, the coffee shop was completely empty. It gave them a chance to take stock of the first week and keep their chins up regarding the second. At their next meeting on Monday morning, over a working breakfast of tea and toast, Lily offered congratulations as the first item on the agenda. Kate, Chloe and Lucy smiled, relishing the praise after all their hard work.
‘All in all, I think our first week went pretty well,’ Lily continued. ‘We had a marvellous turnout on Thursday and Friday and, even if the earlier part of the week was quiet, the end certainly made up for it.
‘Moving swiftly on.’ She checked the next item. ‘We need to keep The Coffee Stop in the spotlight, so to speak. Have you any ideas?’
‘What about a takeaway service?’ Chloe suggested. ‘Let people come in and take a drink away with them. That way we could catch some of the workers as they pass by. They might then buy a muffin or a cookie to go with it.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ said Kate. She looked at Lily. ‘Shall I look into that?’
Lily nodded.
‘What about handing out more cakes?’ asked Lucy.
‘It isn’t cost effective now that we’re open for business,’ explained Kate.
‘We could have some sort of a promotion,’ agreed Lily. She tapped her pen lightly on her upper lip. ‘Something that will help people to remember us.’
‘How about the local radio?’ Kate suggested, trying to remember the name of the morning deejay.
‘Yeah, I’ve listened to that,’ joined in Chloe. She swallowed her toast before continuing, ‘That Reg Barker’s really quirky. Do you think he’d let one of us do an interview? Or a jingle, maybe?’
‘Is that something you could look into, Kate?’ Lily wanted to know.
Kate shook her head slowly from side to side. ‘Not me,’ she said. ‘You know how tongue tied I get.’
‘Oh, go on,’ said Lily. ‘You said you’d done presentations before. It must be similar to that.’
‘It’s nothing like a radio –’
‘I’ll do it,’ piped in Lucy. ‘I think it’d be a laugh.’
‘I don’t think so!’ Chloe shook her head fervently. ‘You’ve only been here two minutes. It should be me or Kate.’
‘I’m only saying if Kate doesn’t want to. You can’t force her to do it.’
‘It’s not fair if she does it.’ Chloe looked at Kate for support. ‘I want to do it then.’
Lucy glared at Chloe. ‘Don’t be a baby. You only want to do it so I can’t.’
‘No, I –’
‘Okay, you two! Enough of the bickering!’ Kate raised a hand for silence, rolling her eyes at Lily. ‘I’ll do it, if it means you two being quiet.’
‘Are you sure?’ said Lucy, spotting her big moment sliding away. ‘I can –’
‘Me too,’ cried Chloe.
‘I’m sure,’ said Kate, never feeling so unsure in her life. ‘I’ll get it organised.’
‘Has anyone moved the sign from outside?’ Chloe called out as she barged through the front doors of the coffee shop.
‘You mean the visa sticker on the door?’ Kate slid two dirty cups onto her tray, the only two drinks she’d made since the rush of seven people at lunch time. ‘I took it down because it kept peeling off. I’ll try and fix it again later.’
‘No, the one we had made to stand by the pavement. You know, with all the different coffees and prices on it?’
‘It was there when I went to the bank,’ said Kate. At Chloe’s insistence, she came outside. She walked around in a small circle before scratching her head. ‘Where the…?’
‘Perhaps someone else has moved it.’ Chloe went back into the coffee shop to see but came out again moment’s later, empty handed.
‘Are you sure we didn’t just forget to put it out?’ Kate questioned her.
‘No.’ Chloe shook her head. ‘It was definitely there when I came in.’
‘Then it must have been stolen.’
‘Don’t be stupid! Who would want to steal a board displaying all the prices of
our
coffees? It’s useless to anyone else.’
‘Maybe,’ Kate retaliated, not liking Chloe’s tone at all, ‘if you kept your eyes on your work, you’d know exactly what happened to it.’
Chloe turned quickly in her direction. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Sometimes you’re like a dog on heat. You make eyes at every male who walks past – single or accompanied – whether he’s coming in here or not.’
‘It’s called PR,’ snapped Chloe. ‘Something you’d do well to learn.’
‘What on earth is going on out here?’ said Lily, moving as fast as her arthritic legs would take her. ‘I can hear you two from in the kitchen!’
‘The sign’s gone missing,’ Kate informed her. ‘It was here when I came back from the bank –’
‘Cover your own back, why don’t you,’ Chloe muttered.
‘Look, it’s not the end of the world.’ Lily stood with her hands on her hips. ‘Now come on, get a grip. I’m surprised at you, Kate. While you two are arguing out here, who is looking after our customers? There might be only two of them but one of them is my worst critic!’
Kate lowered her eyes, even though she could feel Chloe’s boring into her.
‘Chloe, come and help me out in the kitchen,’ Lily commanded. ‘And Kate, I’m sure you can find something to do. For heaven’s sake, we need to keep what little customer base we’ve managed to build up happy, never mind worrying about a blasted sign that can be replaced.’
As they took flight in opposite directions, Lily glanced over at Alf sitting in a seat he’d commandeered as his own. She could swear she saw ‘I told you so’ tattooed on that bald head of his.
‘So tell me, Katie Cool,’ Reg Barker spoke in a practiced velvet tone. ‘What does a man have to do to get a good time at your place?’
Kate tried to calm her nerves before she began to speak on the Thursday morning breakfast slot. She skimmed her eyes around the studio, trying not to take in the vast space filled with buttons, dials and microphones. Don’t think about the thousands in the audience, Reg had told her on her brief induction. Just clear your throat before you go on air and you’ll be fine.
Fine? I bet he doesn’t get palpitations, or sweaty palms, probably not even a frog in his throat on a bad day.
Kate cleared her throat anyway and was mortified to hear it amplified around the room.
‘He could always request a house special,’ she finally spoke. Reg’s assistant screwed his face up in agony as he pulled his headset away from his ear and frantically started to fiddle with buttons.
‘Oh, you do specials, do you? A bit like extras?’
‘Not exactly.’
‘And what about the other girls working there? Do they do specials?’
‘Oh yes. And we have many different varieties to choose from. We do –’
‘Different varieties, huh? Do you do different sizes too?’
‘Of course. Grande and regular.’
‘Tell me what size I’d like,’ Reg said huskily.
‘Hmm, let me see…’ Kate paused for effect. ‘I bet you’d like a café grande, the top of the range with oodles of froth, and plenty of whipped cream.’
‘That sounds good to me. Tell me something else, Katie Cool. Are you footloose and fancy free?’
‘Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say free.’
‘Ah, sounds like you’re heading for a break up? Am I right?’
‘No, I’m –’
‘So, there you have it folks,’ he interrupted her again. ‘Another exclusive here on the Reg Barker Show on your local radio station 107.2FM. Here’s a message for all you single guys out there. Get yourself down to The Coffee Stop, because Kate could possibly be in the mood for love.’
The sound of Lionel Ritchie telling everyone that it’s easy on a Sunday morning came into range as Kate pulled off her earphones. Reg stuck up his thumb in appreciation.
‘That was fantastic,’ he said when they came off air. ‘You played me well and that’s what people will remember when they hear your jingle. They’ll be coming to see you in droves.’
‘You made me sound like a complete tart,’ said Kate, visibly relaxing now that her nightmare was over. Then panic set in. ‘I didn’t sound too desperate, did I?’
‘No,’ Reg assured her. ‘You sounded flirty. It’s just a laugh, anything to keep the public interested. You were so convincing, I might even come and see you myself.’
‘Well, you never know.’ Kate smiled cheekily at him. ‘Maybe I’ll let you have a free house special.’
‘Shush, here she comes.’ Chloe ran from the window as she caught sight of Kate marching across the forecourt and joined Lucy and Lily at the counter. Kate opened the door and jumped as she heard one almighty cheer.
‘Yay!’ screamed Chloe. ‘You were fantastic, Kate. It sounded real cool!’
‘I agree,’ said Lucy, with a lot less noise. ‘Although I still say someone younger would have been more appropriate.’
‘Well, you couldn’t have done any better,’ said Chloe.
‘How do you know?’
‘Okay, okay, you two.’ Kate tried hard to ignore their chiding. ‘Give me the low down. Did I sound pathetic?’
‘It was
brilliant
,’ reiterated Chloe heading towards Serle with his takeaway coffee and muffin tucked neatly inside a brown paper bag.
‘It was okay,’ sulked Lucy as she strode off into the kitchen.
‘I heard you!’ Serle took off his baseball cap and ran a hand over his smooth head before putting it back on again. ‘It was really funny!’
‘You were very good.’ Lily smiled her approval.
‘It was humiliating!’ Kate feigned a hurt expression as she stood in the middle of the room, not sure what to do with herself. It had been a nerve-wrecking experience but she had yet to come down from the high. ‘I’ve never heard a conversation with so many double entendres.’
‘People will certainly remember our name now.’ Chloe jumped onto a stool against the counter. ‘What was the jingle he made up for you?’
‘I can’t remember,’ Kate lied. She hid her crimson face in her hands. Already she was dreading going to the bank tomorrow. Sam and the others would never let it go.
‘Come to The Coffee Stop and see the tart with a heart!’
‘Please tell me it didn’t sound that bad!’ Kate pulled herself up beside Chloe and unzipped her fleece jacket. ‘I’m never doing anything like that again. Next time you want free publicity, Lily, I’ll leave the young ones to do it.’
Kate smiled at Lily as she came into the living room the following morning.
‘Are you having trouble sleeping too?’ she asked with a yawn. It was only six thirty.
Lily nodded. ‘My stomach was off but it seems all right now.’
Even though Lily gave the impression of being all right, underneath Kate could see she was exhausted. Her skin had hardly any colour to it and for once her perfect grey curls had dropped nearly as much as her shoulders.
‘What about you?’ Lily asked her. ‘Is there something on your mind?’
‘Oh, I’m just feeling a little lost, that’s all.’ Again last night, Kate had gone to bed and not been able to sleep. Nick had emailed to say they should meet. She’d replied to say this weekend would be good but immediately she’d sent it, she’d started to worry about it.
Lily nodded. ‘I still feel that way about Bernard.’
‘You miss him a lot, don’t you?’
‘Never a day goes by when I don’t think of him. Some nights I even cry myself to sleep. Stupid, I know.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with that. You were together for years. You must feel like you’ve lost a limb.’
‘You have a funny way with words.’ Lily smiled at Kate. ‘But I do know what you mean. And I do know that you will get used to life without Nick. When are you going to see him again?’