AllFreeNovel
Share Us
––––––––
‘...TWO ICED BUNS, THREEdoughnuts, and... hold on...’ The woman standing in front of Jessie stepped away from the bakery counter and called outside before returning. ‘Sorry about that. I’d completely forgotten what everyone wanted.’
‘That’s okay.’ Jessie placed the last doughnut in the bag.
‘Now, where was I?’ Tapping the counter with her purse, the woman frowned.
‘We’ve got one cupcake, two iced buns, and three doughnuts so far.’
‘That’s it, four flapjacks and... umm, what shall I have? I’ll have one of those cookies, please? Make it a big one, would you?’ The woman tapped the glass of the counter.
‘Of course.’ Smiling, Jessie picked the biggest one and placed it in a paper bag.
‘Great, thank you.’ The woman rolled her eyes. ‘Not only have I got to come and order it all, pay for it and now, look at them, lounging about outside while I, here, have to carry them all.’
‘Do you want a bigger bag? We’ve got some big paper bags I can put them in for you?’
‘Oh, yes, that would be a great help. Thank you.’ Taking the bag, the woman passed across a note. ‘Keep the change.’
‘Thanks.’
‘Ooh, you got a tip within your first hour.’ Diane sidled up to her and nudged her shoulder.
‘Ha-ha, what can I say?’ Shaking her head, Jessie grinned. The queue hadn’t stopped all morning and judging by how busy the beach was, the steady stream of customers wasn’t going to slow down any time soon.
‘Diane, Jessie, loves. I’ve got some more cupcakes and cookies for you.’ Elsie squeezed between the customers and swapped the fresh trays for the empty ones. ‘I’ve got some pasties and sausage rolls just about to come out of the oven too, but then I need to pop out for five minutes. Poor Brooke is really struggling, bless her, and Annie and Max are at a hospital appointment, so I’ve said I’ll run some medicine up to her. Will you both be okay for five minutes? Fifteen at the max?’
Diane glanced across to the door as another huddle of customers made their way inside. ‘We’ll be fine.’
‘Are you sure?’ Elsie looked at the customers joining the queue.
‘Positive, and if we’re not, then Teresa or Wendy will jump behind here. You know they will.’ Diane grinned.
‘Yes, yes. I know.’ Elsie nodded. ‘Thank you. Both of you.’
‘Give Brooke my best wishes.’ Diane called as Elsie made her way back into the kitchen.
‘I didn’t realise it got this busy. Whenever I come out of the office, you always seem to have everything under control.’ Jessie placed four sausage rolls into a bag, leaving the tray empty.
‘We’re swans, that’s why. We might look all calm and collected, but underneath we’re paddling as fast as we can to stay afloat.’ Diane laughed. ‘Nah. There’s three of us normally and even then, when we have the manically busy times like this, we feel it.’
‘Ah, okay. Glad to know it’s not just because I’m super slow and struggling.’ Jessie took the money from her customer before waving them off.
‘You’re doing just fine. Better than fine.’
‘All right, girls. That’s everything.’ Elsie placed the trays of freshly baked sausage rolls and pasties behind the glass of the counter. ‘There’s a couple of cakes in the oven, but I’ll be back before they need to come out. Thanks for this.’
‘No worries. Hope Brooke’s okay.’ Diane turned to her next customer.
‘Morning, what can I get you today?’ Jessie smiled at the man in front of her.
‘Are those pasties hot?’
‘Just out of the oven.’ Jessie nodded.
‘I’ll have one of those then, please?’
‘Coming right up.’ Turning, Jessie almost knocked into Diane as they both headed to the same place. ‘Sorry.’
