met her in Bali. She really hoped she would be good news for Ed. And she hoped and prayed that Ed would not get hurt like she had.
She’d watched with a slow, sinking feeling in her stomach as Ed had gone through the security gates without a backward glance.
45
Maddie pulled her coat tight around her and bowed her head in the rain. It was the 28th of December and she was due at the café at 11 a.m.; she almost wished she’d never accepted the job, but Lauren had texted her yesterday to confirm she was able to come and had said she was quite desperate, as that day had been unusually busy and she really needed help.
Maddie pushed open the door of the café and was glad of the warmth. She could smell spicy cinnamon and the aroma of fresh coffee. Lauren was behind the counter, hair escaping from her messy ponytail and wearing a bright green Christmas jumper with a reindeer on the front and a red gingham apron. ‘Hiya!’ She beamed at Maddie, who felt instantly better seeing her.
Maddie hoped that she’d used enough concealer under her eyes to cover the dark circles and pulled her shoulders back. She needed this job and, if she was honest, she could do with the company.
‘You OK, hon?’ Lauren came out from behind the counter and, alarmingly, looked like she was about to put an arm around Maddie.
‘Fine!’ Yes, great – big night last night,’ Maddie fibbed.
‘Oh, I see! Burning the candle at both ends!’ Lauren laughed and then reached for something behind the counter. ‘Put this on, and then you can help me with the mince pies in the kitchen if it’s not too busy.’
After about twenty minutes, Lauren had shown Maddie where the mince pies were in the kitchen, how many batches to cook and how to refill the coffee beans in the machine.
‘It’s busier today than I thought – thanks for coming in. You can never tell – and Sue can’t get here till tomorrow.’
Maddie served the next two customers, a mum with her young daughter. They both had hot chocolates and scones. Maddie took their orders, their money and said she’d bring it over.
Once she’d done the order, she looked up to see where Lauren had got to and caught sight of her in a small room running off the back of the café. She popped her head round. It was a room no bigger than six feet square with a view over the bay. There were crates of bread, some large tins of coffee and stacks of takeaway coffee cups, but otherwise it was pretty empty.
‘Oh, hiya, I was just getting some more sugar.’ She bent down and grabbed two bags of sugar cubes. ‘Would you mind refilling the bowls on the tables?’
‘Sure thing.’ Maddie glanced between the room hidden at the back of the café with its view out to the sea and at the bare shelves as she filled up the sugar bowls. She filled the bowls methodically as her mind yanked her thoughts to Greg, much like a tongue seeks out a sore tooth and prods it, just to make sure it hurts as much as last time. No texts. She sent him one this morning:
I need to talk to you, to explain. PLEASE.
There had been stony silence in response. She knew she had to see him, to alter, forever, her future and what he thought of her. She didn’t want to embarrass him by going to the water sports centre, where he had a small flat tucked above the storeroom. He wasn’t answering his phone.
She looked up at the shelves on the far wall of the café and then leant back on one of the tables and folded her arms. They were bare, like her soul. The café needed something else to it. She frowned. Then she glanced at the small room to the side, back at the shelves as an idea started to form. Maybe she knew how to fill up the hole in the café, even if she couldn’t fill up the hole in her heart.
When she was tidying up later, her phone bleeped in her apron pocket. She went into the storeroom and glanced at it. It was Greg. He’d agreed to meet her in a few days. At the beach.
Just for 10 minutes.
His text was curt. It was like a kick to the stomach.