Nora stifled her laughter. ‘Sorry, I know I’m not meant to laugh but it is quite funny.’
‘Even I can see the comic value and the lads all thought it was hilarious and had their photograph taken with the cake. Unfortunately Glenda is blind to seeing the humorous side of anything.’
‘Still quite harsh to sack you over that,’ said Nora.
Dixie winced. ‘Actually I think what tipped her over the edge was that while I was at the cricket club there was a bit of an accident. I’d forgotten to put the handbrake on in the van and it rolled down a slope into a tree. But nobody was hurt,’ she added hastily.
‘Blimey, and I thought I’d had a bad week.’
‘I know, right? I did try to explain that I’m not used to a handbrake. I mean, I know she calls the van vintage but that’s just code for old and clapped out.’
‘It would seem that we’re both back at square one,’ said Nora. ‘You still haven’t found your ideal job and I’m no closer to proving or disproving whether my love match is out there.’
‘I’m sure we’ll both find what we’re looking for. As long as we live long enough to hunt them down, that is.’
‘Cheering thought,’ said Nora, taking a swig of her wine.
Nora had slung a pizza and dough balls in the oven, so while they munched their way through them and the scallops, they mulled over their dilemmas.
‘Everything is just a bit harder when you’re on your own,’ said Dixie, looking downbeat. ‘Not that I want you-know-who back because I definitely don’t. But sometimes I think it would be nice to come home to someone who has run you a bath and cooked tea.’
‘You don’t need a partner, you need staff,’ said Nora.
Dixie gave her friend a withering look. ‘Is it so bad to want a bit of romance in my life?’
‘Knights on white chargers are hard to come by these days.’
Dixie, unlike Nora, was a romantic. ‘I don’t need the white charger. I’m actually allergic to horses. But someone who cared would be nice.’
‘You have lots of people who care about you,’ said Nora.
‘You’re right. I need to sort myself out first before I do anything else.’ She puffed out a breath. ‘But finding a career that’s right for me is almost as hard as finding the right man.’
‘I think your problem is easier to solve than mine.’ Nora grabbed a notepad and pen. ‘Jot down jobs you’d like to do.’
‘I quite liked working in the bakery,’ said Dixie, sounding a bit glum.
‘You can still put that on the list. Maybe there’s another bakery you could work in.’
‘I’m pretty sure Glenda won’t be giving me a reference.’ Dixie took the pad and twizzled the pen around her fingers while she pondered. At last, she began to write. Nora ate her pizza and didn’t say anything so as not to interrupt her friend’s flow of ideas.
After a few minutes of writing, Dixie was staring into space. ‘I think that’s all I can come up with for now.’
‘OK,’ said Nora, getting comfy on the sofa. ‘How many have you got on your list?’
Dixie counted them up. ‘Eleven.’
‘Great. Read them out,’ said Nora.
‘Number one is bus driver because I’ve always fancied that. Next is professional sleeper. You know where you get to test mattresses and stuff because I am dead good at sleeping. Olympic level, Ma always says.’
Nora doubted this was a paid role but Dixie didn’t seem to notice her frowning and carried on with her list.
‘For number three I thought being a living statuemight be fun. I have the perfect bag to be Mary Poppins, but I don’t think it pays very well. Next is I thought a job with animals like in Jurassic Park or maybe the Sea Life Centre would be fun but there isn’t one near here.’
‘There’s no Jurassic Park anywhere,’ pointed out Nora. ‘Only in the film.’
‘I didn’t mean Jurassic, I meant Exotic, sorry.’ She grinned and went back to her list. ‘Number five is a social media influencer and—’
