Page 17 of A Wish For Jo
Jo belted her coat, shouldered her handbag and stared Harvey straight in the face. She saw a maelstrom of emotions, but the overriding one was desperation for her to say yes. Every fibre of her being screamedno— what if Aaliyah let something slip about her true identity? — but Jo's heart kicked her head into touch. 'OK. Thank you. See you at seven?'
Back home, with Aaliyah already asleep and unlikely to have set her alarm, Jo made a calming herbal tea and curled up on the sofa.What have I done?Sipping her drink, she flicked on the TV, then turned it off again. Tomorrow she, Aaliyah and Harvey would don aprons, measure out ingredients and work together in perfect harmony. What could possibly go wrong?
CHAPTER19
'Aaliyah,you have precisely two minutes to haul your bony arse out of bed before I drag you out myself.'
Jo stood on the landing, her temper reaching boiling point. After last night at Harvey’s, she'd questioned the wisdom of the three of them working together at A Bit of Crumpet. She'd even considered giving Aaliyah the day off, before discovering that Aaliyah had eaten the entire profiterole stack, used the last of Jo's wax hair-removing strips, and signed up to an online dating site with Jo's credit card.
'Stop being such a drama llama,' Aaliyah had huffed, massaging Jo's favourite oil into her hair-free legs while clicking through potential suitors on Jo's laptop. 'Did you have fun with Harley?'
'His name is Harvey, and yes I did. You do realise you can’t possibly date in the real world? How are you going to introduce yourself? I'm Aaliyah, normally a lamp-dweller, of indeterminate age and origin, with the ability to grant wishes. Fancy a kebab?'
Now, with less than half an hour until Harvey showed up at the café, Jo chose not to question why she'd put on make-up and given her hair more than a perfunctory brush. Nothing to do with trying to impress Harvey. No sirree. The fact that she normally pulled an early shift bare-faced and tousle-headed meant nothing. Not a thing.
Aaliyah slunk out of the bedroom, looking as if she'd spent several hours in a beauty parlour. Damn the young, and their ability to stay fresh-faced and uncreased after a night's sleep. Although Jo had no clue how old Aaliyah was, or if magic came into to play somehow.
'Calm your jets, Jo. Once you've made me a cuppa and some toast, I'll be ready to rumble. Oh, and I'll need a few minutes to check if any lush lads have viewed my dating profile.'
For the sake of peace, Jo made Aaliyah a sugar-laden coffee and slammed two slices of wholemeal bread in the toaster. She had no appetite herself, which she put down to the mountains of sickly sweet delights they'd shortly be preparing.
'Eww, as if I'd be interested in someone like that!' Aaliyah swivelled Jo's laptop around and pointed disdainfully. 'I've seen better-looking camels. And this one isn't much of an improvement. Face like a well-slapped arse.'
Granted, neither young man had posted the most flattering profile pictures. Therewassomething vaguely camel-like about the first one, with his protruding bottom lip and goofy stare. As for the other…
'There's no need to be so mean, Aaliyah,' retorted Jo, gathering up her bag and keys. 'I'm sure they're perfectly nice boys — men — and it's not like you'll be dating them anyway. Surely it's against genie law or something to fraternise with humans in that way?'
Aaliyah guzzled the toast, gulped down the coffee and tapped her nose. 'That's for me to know and you to find out. Don't worry, pet, this is a thirty-day free trial and I won't have you wasting your money on a gallery of gawky no-marks. Maybe there's someone in Cranley who fits the bill…'
Shuddering at the thought, Jo led the way to A Bit of Crumpet.
* * *
At seven o'clockon the dot Harvey entered the café, looking very dapper in a smart shirt, faded blue jeans, and brogues so shiny Jo suspected he'd given them a military-style buff and polish. 'Morning, Harvey.'
'Morning, Jo, and … sorry, brain like a sieve. Nice to properly meet you, erm…' Harvey extended a hand to Aaliyah, who eyed it like a venomous snake, then shook it limply.
'Aaliyah,' she replied, emphasising every syllable. 'Ooh, hang on a sec. Let me get some scissors.'
Jo and Harvey regarded each other with alarm. What on earth did she need scissors for?
The answer came a moment later when Aaliyah reached around Harvey's back, performed a surgical snip and produced a price tag. 'Thirty quid for that? You were robbed, mate.'
Getting off to a good start, thought Jo. Perhaps she should remove all sharp objects, lest a bloodbath ensued. But they needed knives to chop and slice, and skewers to stab cakes and ensure they were cooked all the way through.
'Right. I have a list.' Jo waved a piece of paper in front of them. 'The brief is: butterfly cakes with silver and pink sprinkles, chocolate chip traybake, polenta pizza bites and sticky hoisin sausages. I've already baked two sponges to fashion into a dinosaur birthday cake, God help me. The mum assures me she's stocked up on fruit and healthy snacks, which I have no doubt will remain untouched.'
Jo unfolded a printed-out recipe with a picture of a garish green dinosaur, smothered in Smarties and baring white icing teeth. Aaliyah grabbed it excitedly. 'Ooh, can I make this? Better than the boring stuff you usually have me do. Hmm, it reminds me a bit of you-know-who. All prickly, and green with envy. Prat.' Aaliyah shot a glance at the lamp on the shelf.
'Aaliyah, it's not easy. I don't want little Tommy sobbing his eyes out because his dinosaur cake looks like an R-rated swamp monster.'
Harvey coughed discreetly and pulled Jo aside. 'Look, Jo, why not let her have a go? You can supervise while we get on with the rest of the menu. It'll be fine. Pass me an apron and let's get cracking.'
Two and a half companionable hours later, the job was done, all bar Aaliyah putting the finishing touches to Dhassim (as she insisted on calling him): spiky red spines along his back and enormous googly eyes. She stood back and admired her handiwork, gaining a high-five from Harvey.
'Nice job,' he said, wrapping the dish of sausages in tinfoil. 'Aren't you meant to be open for business now, Jo?'
‘Eek!’ Jo dashed to the door, flipped the sign over, and mumbled an apology to the lone customer shuffling outside. Leaving Aaliyah to take their order, she went through to the back with Harvey and they stacked the party food into crates.
