‘You ate here?’
‘Yes, we had lunch. She was very competent.’
‘That’d be Bo. She’s grown up in this place – thinks she owns it sometimes!’
Lou smiled and thought what a lovely atmosphere this would be to grow up in. ‘Anyway, it’s just Jack and me, so I don’t want to work full-time.’
‘Oh, you’re a single parent?’ Aidan narrowed his eyes at her. ‘That’s tough.’
What would you know about it?she thought. ‘It’s not as hard as people make out,’ she said airily, eager to deflect the condescension and pity she had no doubt was coming.
Aidan raised his brows. ‘Then “You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!”’ he muttered with a sigh, sitting back in his chair.
‘Oh!’ He was full of surprises. ‘You’re a single dad?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, you’re right – it’s not easy. I only said that because?—’
‘You thought I was going to be a dick about it?’ He smirked.
‘Yeah, sorry.’
‘Don’t worry about it. I get it.’
‘I bet you don’t get it, though.’
‘Huh?’
‘I don’t imagine you get people treating you like you’re a pathetic loser because you’re a single parent.’
‘No, you’re right,’ he admitted. ‘I get people treating me like I’m some kind of hero just for looking after my own child.’
‘Huh! Knew it. It’s so unfair.’
‘Which pisses me off just as much, honestly.’
Lou smiled. She could understand that – it was just coming at the condescension from another angle.
‘Well, I can certainly give you some lunchtime shifts,’ Aidan said.
‘So… I’ve got a job?’
‘Yes. You’ve got a job. It will have to be a trial at first,’ he warned.
‘That’s fine.’
‘And you wouldn’t be cooking,’ he said, his gaze flicking to her CV. ‘So if you’d rather a chef job, maybe you should look elsewhere.’
‘No, that’s fine. I wouldn’t expect to be. I’m perfectly happy with waiting, and I have plenty experience.’
Plus she’d still be learning, soaking up everything she could from working in a place like this. And who knew – if a cooking job ever came up down the line, she’d be in the right place and maybe Aidan would give her a chance. But she kept that thought to herself.
‘You can start in a week’s time, if that’s okay? So Tuesday week. We’re closed on Mondays.’
‘That’s perfect.’ She’d have a week of freedom to spend with Jack before he started school, and it would give her a chance to sort out childminding and fix the house up some more. And she was glad she could be there to pick him up for his first week of school.
‘Great!’ He opened his desk drawer again and pulled out some sheets of paper. ‘There are some employee forms you needto fill out with your contact information and tax details, etc.,’ he said, handing them to her. ‘You can take them away and drop them back in when you’re next passing. Any questions?’
