She immediately set about filling the filters with ground coffee and she was so engrossed in the task that, turning round, she almost jumped to see Pete gazing at her, his large eyes full of questions. Her heart lurched and she realised her hands were shaking, so she hid them below the counter. He jerked his head towards the storeroom.
‘Can I talk to you?’
‘Sure, just give me five minutes here,’ she whispered.
Glancing round, she caught Evelyn’s eye. The older woman made no comment but turned back to preparing her Waldorf salad.
Pete was pacing distractedly when she slipped into the storeroom and closed the door. Oh God, she was in the wrong with him as well.
‘Hey.’
‘Ally, I need to talk to you. I feel like we’ve sort of lost contact, or something has happened .?.?.’ He seemed to have run out of words to express what was obviously gnawing at him.
Oh help, what was she going to say to him? She opened her mouth, quite unsure of what was going to come out.
‘Pete, I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid.’
‘Afraid .?.?. of what? Me?’
‘No. Not exactly.’
‘Look, I know it’s complicated. I’m complicated. Things with me are messed up at the moment. I just want to say that I’m not usually like this.’
She nodded.
‘Look, I wouldn’t blame you for a moment for not wanting to have anything to do with me. A beautiful girl like you, and right now I’m homeless.’
‘That’s not it. Anyway, that’s not how I see things.’
‘I know you don’t, Ally, and that’s why I .?.?. like you.’ The tone of his voice caused her insides to melt.
She wasn’t sure afterwards which of them had made the first move, but the next moment she felt her hands pressing against the dusty T-shirt (the one Rosemarie had assured her was Prada), his rough stubble against her face as she parted her lips to allow his tongue to probe her mouth. There was no need for thought, no self-consciousness, as she felt her body yielding to his strong arms.
‘Er, excuse me .?.?.’ said Dave. ‘There’s a queue forming outside.’
‘Oh, oh, gosh, sorry, yes, I’ll be right there .?.?.’ she stammered, breaking away from Pete, despite the fact that, strictly speaking, she wasn’t even supposed to be working that morning. She stumbled out into the light and the sea of faces, feeling totally disorientated.
‘Hi, yes .?.?. sorry, who’s first?’
Thursday lunchtime was busy, especially coming up to Christmas, so she worked steadily for the next two hours, buttering, scooping and making coffees, which was probably amercy, given her inner turmoil. Eventually, she looked at her watch to see the time was ten past two and allowed her shoulders to drop. There was nothing else for it: she was going to have to face Dave and be honest.
* * *
His face was aghast.
‘Tomorrow? You’re starting the new job tomorrow?’
‘Well, yes .?.?. I’m really sorry but, you see, they need me to start immediately.’
She was about to explain to Dave just how busy Georgina had been but gagged herself in time. This was awful, even worse than she’d expected.
‘Look, I can work Saturdays. And help Evelyn in the mornings from six to eight.’
Even as she heard herself blurting this out, she knew it was crazy. Still, anything was better than the overpowering sense of guilt she was feeling.
‘I can’t hold you, Ally. I can’t offer you a full salary. But what about upstairs? Would that make any difference? Sure, the bulk of most people’s income goes on housing these days.’
‘It’s not just the money,’ she admitted.
