She motions to the pair of couches sitting opposite each other, a small coffee table in between them. “Hi, Robin. Please, take a seat.”
I sit down quickly on the sofa closest to the door, folding my arms.
She comes over and sits down across from me. “I’m glad you’re here. I have something to ask you.”
“Oh …” I murmur, wondering if something’s wrong.
“It’s just a small thing,” she says quickly. “We can discuss it after. What did you want to talk about?”
“Uh, well, first off, I wanted to say thanks for the clothes. I didn’t expect to be given so much. I just … Thank you, Lana.” Managing to keep my voice from cracking is hard, but I make it.
She smiles. “It’s my pleasure. I see Susan made some nice choices. That’s a beautiful color on you.”
The dusky-pink sweater would look good on anyone, but I nod anyway.
“I love all of the things she picked.”
“That’s great. I’ll let her know she did a good job.”
“Thanks. I wondered if it might be possible to speak to Dr. Morgan. I know he doesn’t work here, exactly, but I just … I wanted to thank him, too. For the things he helped me to remember.”
“You’re right, he doesn’t work here, but he is helping us with something at the moment. It’s as and when he has time so I’m not sure when he’ll be back, but I can let you know once I know.”
“That would be great.”
She nods. “Good. Oh, I got you the name and number of that detective.”
I watch as she gets up and goes back to her desk.
She brings over a slip of paper with some writing on it.
“Detective Waterman,” she adds, as she passes it to me.
I don’t look at it, I just hold it.
“Thanks.” I clear my throat. “You had something you wanted to tell me?”
I can feel my heart pounding harder as I wait for her to speak.
This has to be when the other shoe finally drops.
She’s been too kind. People like this don’t exist in real life.
All of this is way too good to be true.
“Okay, so I know I said you would start work next week, but we just had our new kitchen hand call in sick, and our first socialevent of the year is tomorrow night. I was wondering if you might want to help out? It’s completely fine if you don’t …”
“Sounds great!” I blurt, not believing that’s all she’s asking.
I’ve been ready to work this whole time.
It’s a relief to have something to look forward to tomorrow.
She laughs. “You can take a minute to think about it. I know you’re keen to start working, but it would kind of be throwing you in the deep end making your first shift the first social event I’ve arranged since I took over here. There might be some stumbling blocks.”
“I don’t need to think about it,” I assure her. “I’m ready to work. I’ll enjoy it.”
She lets out a sigh. “You’re a lifesaver. You have no idea the trouble you’ve saved me calling temp. agencies. All you need to do is be in the kitchen for seven p.m. Your shift will be done before midnight, and I’ve been assured that Katie will show you everything you need to know. You can speak to Chef Harris if there’s anything you’re not sure about. He’s pretty easy going.”
