Page 58 of The Little Board Game Café

‘Shit, Em. Are things that bad? I just assumed things would be going well. You checked the books before you bought this place, didn’t you?’

‘Of course I did. I’m not sure where I’ve gone wrong. Perhaps the last owner wasn’t exactly honest with his figures. Or perhaps customers stopped coming here in the period it was closed, and never came back. Although it wasn’t shut for that long. Whatever the reason, no one’s interested in The Lancashire Hotpot so I’m planning to relaunch it as The Little Board Game Café.’

‘Well, you know what you need for a relaunch, don’t you? A marketing expert.’

‘I can’t afford you, Kate.’

‘Don’t be daft. I wouldn’t charge you. Come home and let’s make a plan.’

‘I need to clear up. I’m opening tomorrow.’

‘No you’re not. You said it yourself. It’s empty most of the time. Close the place. Draw a line under The Lancashire Hotpot right now. Set a date when you’ll launch it as a board game café and get the transformation done behind closed doors. It’ll be easier for a start. You can make as much mess as you want, if no one’s coming in. And then generate publicity around re-opening.’

‘I can’t close it, Kate. Ludek’s board games group meet here on a Friday. I’ll change it little by little – buy some shelves and some games. Sand and paint the tables. Swap the Lancashire pictures for board games ones. Buy a new sign.’

‘Nah, that’s no good. A gradual change will go unnoticed. You have to close. The board games group can play in the pub again. Just for a week or two. Hang a sheet over the window so no one can see inside. Maybe even put a sign up saying, Coming soon: Essendale’s very own board game café. That’d create a bit of intrigue.’

‘Intrigue? Who with? Hardly anyone comes down this street.’

‘Well, whatever. Decide how long you need to get everything ready, choose your date for the launch event – I’d suggest a Saturday – and I’ll spend every spare minute doing your publicity. Well, every spare minute when I’m not at work or shagging Freddie’s brains out.’

‘That doesn’t sound like a lot of spare minutes to me. If the last few weeks are anything to go by.’

‘I’ll create some time if you promise to close. Do we have an agreement?’

‘Yes, okay. Thanks, Kate.’

‘Come on, let’s go home, open a bottle of wine and toast your new venture. And we can pop next door too; it’d be a lot easier with an electric sander and I think Gary’s got one. I bet he’ll let you borrow it.’

*

Emily should have known that Mr B wouldn’t be deterred by a closed sign and one of Kate’s old sheets hanging over the window. Next morning, she had almost finished her second table top – Kate was right; it was a lot easier with Gary’s electric sander – when the door opened and Mr B poked his head round.

‘Sorry, Mr B, I’m closed today. As you can see, the place is rather a mess.’

He looked past her into the café. ‘Make me a cappuccino. I’ll be back in five minutes. Just popping back home for something.’

‘But, Mr B, I’m not actually open,’ she said, but it was too late. He had already gone.

She had started sanding the third table when he returned wearing bright-blue all-in-one overalls and carrying a cardboard box.

‘We’ll have these done in no time.’ He opened the lid of the box and pulled out his own electric sander.

He had almost finished his first table when he suddenly said, ‘What’s all this in aid of?’

‘Board games. I’m going to paint chess boards on the two small tables, Scrabble on two others. Cluedo on one and Snakes and Ladders on the other.’

‘Good idea,’ said Mr B, as if painting games boards on tables was something you saw every day.

‘It’s top secret. You can’t tell anyone about this. My friend Kate says I have to create intrigue.’

‘I see.’

‘So where’s Marjory today?’

‘She’s volunteering at the Oxfam shop. Mondays and Wednesdays. She wanted to get out a bit more. Meet some new people.’

‘That’s nice. I wish I could get Dad to do something like that. Get him out a bit more.’