Page 20 of Autumn at the Oak Leaf Café
‘That’s understandable, I suppose.’
‘So yeah, I got sacked. Second one, I sold these cakes off at half price to some homeless guy. The manager—who’d also asked me out on a date and I’d said no—got the hump, saying I shouldn’t sell something with so much sugar to someone with so few teeth. I told him that if he looked closely, he’d see the man had dentures anyway, but that he never looked closely at anyone because he was a shallow turkey and an a—’
‘Right,’ Madeline said quickly. ‘So you got fired?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘The third one?’
‘What third one?’
‘You held up five fingers.’
Ruby smiled. ‘Oh, those were just embellishments, to make the story more interesting. I did actually work at a third place, but I quit because the money wasn’t so good.’
‘So you’ve only been fired twice?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, that’s a relief. Consider yourself hired, if you want to be.’
Ruby beamed. ‘Great. I’ll start today.’
‘You already did. Just let me know what hours you’re available and we’ll make you up a schedule.’
‘Just one thing,’ Ruby said. ‘I mean, you might be a swinger, or whatever, but no asking me out on dates. You’re way too old.’
‘I’m not going to ask you out on any dates,’ Madeline said with a smile. ‘And I’m thirty-two. That’s not old.’
‘I’m nineteen. You could literally be my mum.’
‘Only just. I could also be your older sister.’
‘From a remarriage?’
Madeline just flapped a hand. ‘I think it’s okay if I just be your boss.’
‘That’s good. I have a couple of fisher toys anyway. I don’t have time for anything more complicated.’
‘A couple of what?’
‘Fisher toys. Guys fishing for a date.’ As thought to emphasise the point, Ruby’s phone pinged. ‘That’ll be one of them right now.’
‘And you date these guys?’
Ruby shook her head. ‘Of course not. I just let them think I’m interested. I like to see how keen they are.’ She grinned. ‘Landing a fish is an art form. Check this out.’ She opened her phone, displaying a message from someone called Mike (the guy at the O2).
Can you come up to London next weekend? I got VIP tickets for Foo Fighters.
Ruby opened the reply box and tapped a few random letters, then deleted them again and did the same.
‘What are you doing?’ Madeline said.
‘I’m fishing,’ Ruby said with a grin. ‘He’ll see this little box appear to say I’m replying. Then when I don’t send, it’ll drive him mad wondering what I’m going to say.’
Her phone pinged again. Ruby held it up and grinned.
‘See?’
