SarahfoundBobata picnic bench outside, head in his book, oblivious to the drizzle.
‘Hi,’ she said, tapping him on the shoulder.
‘Ah, hello. How did it go?’
Before Sarah could answer, Felix came jogging towards them. ‘Hattie wants to know if you’ll be needing the on-site accommodation?’
‘Yes, please, if it’s still available.’
‘Sure is. Hey, we’ll be neighbours.’ Felix stuck his thumbs up, then jogged back to the café, leaving Sarah with more questions and a sense of foreboding.
‘So I take it you got the job?’ asked Bob.
‘Looks like it.’
‘If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t sound all that excited at the prospect.’
‘The job seems fine. I could do it standing on my head. It’s the company I’m worried about.’ Sarah marched off, hoping to hide another spontaneous blush, leaving Bob trailing in her wake.
On the journey back to the house, Bob was quiet, and Sarah was glad. She needed to think. A million and one questions popped into her head she should have asked when given the chance.What was the salary? What were the hours? What was the on-site accommodation like?
Sarah picked at the skin around a nail. It wasn’t like her to be so careless, so casual about life decisions. Was it a mistake in coming here? What had she let herself in for?
‘A penny for them,’ said Bob as they drove up Bodmin’s high street.
‘I was thinking of all the things I should’ve asked. The only thing I know about this job is that I start tomorrow. I was beating myself up about not asking questions, but now I come to think of it, what kind of organisation doesn’t provide a detailed welcome pack to new employees?’
Bob suppressed a chuckle, but not well enough to hide it from Sarah. ‘Sorry,’ he said, noticing her glare. ‘I’ve just never heard of hospitality jobs providing that level of information. Waitressing is pretty casual, isn’t it?’
‘How should I know? I’ve never done it before.’ She wasn’t about to admit to working at the burger bar despite her desire to inform Bob of the induction videos they had forced her to watch as part of her training, or the policies and procedures she’d had to read.
‘I see. So what’s this accommodation like?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Right. Well, if it’s not up to scratch and you need a few days to sort something else, you’re welcome to stay at our place.’
‘Thank you, but I’ll be fine.’
‘Well, the offer’s there,’ said Bob.
Bob parked the car and let them both into the house.
‘Hello you two. How did it go?’ Kate was sitting at her computer, notebooks and text books piled up beside her.
‘Sarah’s got good news,’ said Bob, leaning over to kiss Kate on the head.
‘You got the job?’
‘Yes, I got the job.’
‘Wow, that’s fantastic. Well done, you.’ Kate jumped off the sofa and stunned Sarah with a hug. Conscious of how hot, bothered, and smelly she was, Sarah extricated herself from Kate’s arms.
‘Thanks. I’m going up to my room now, think I’ll have an early night.’
‘Are you sure? I was going to order a takeaway. You’d be welcome to join us.’
‘That’s kind of you, but no thanks. I’m exhausted.’
