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Chapter Two
Walking down the stairs, Carmen tied her scrunchie to the end of her plait. The shower had been amazing, not like the one in her houseshare, which was a dribble at its best. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside the bakery. Elsie had introduced her to Diane and Brooke, who were serving behind the bakery counter, and Teresa who served coffee and cakes from the counter along the back wall, on her way through the bakery to show her the guest bedroom. They had all seemed lovely.
‘Hey, do you feel better now?’ Diane called over her shoulder before turning back and serving a customer.
‘Yes, thanks. Sorry, I’ve not been any help today.’ She pulled an apron off the hooks by the door and slipped it over her head.
‘No worries. You’ve only just got here!’ Diane passed a small paper bag to the customer in front of her before turning to Carmen.
‘I should have been here ages ago, though.’
‘You’re here now, that’s all that matters.’ Brooke grinned as she pushed the till drawer closed.
‘Just what I was going to say.’ Diane nodded towards the counter as Brooke turned to another customer. ‘Have you had any retail experience?’
‘Oh yes. My second job is working at the local pub.’ Reaching behind her, she tied her apron strings. ‘And, by the looks of it, that till is similar to the one I use there.’
‘Second job? Wow, what’s your first one?’ Diane stepped back away from the counter as her customer walked away.
‘Yoga instructor.’ Carmen stepped forward and looked at the till. ‘Yep, it’s the same make as the one I use at the pub.’ Use? Used. She’d have to get used to that.
‘That’ll make things easier then.’ Diane grinned.
‘Yes.’ Looking across at Diane, Carmen frowned. ‘Sorry, when I said my job at the pub, what I should have said is my old job at the pub. I lost it last week.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry. Or is that a good or a bad thing?’
‘Umm, not so good.’ In theory, it would give her the evenings back and, in theory, she would be able to run more classes, but without her wage from the pub, she wouldn’t be able to book and hire the village hall in order to run the classes. She pinched the bridge of her nose. It was a chicken and egg scenario. This is what she felt like and had felt like since she’d taken the jump from employed to self-employed when she’d given up her job in human resources to follow her dream of becoming a yoga instructor. She was quickly learning that unless her luck changed, she needed money in order to make money hence why she’d taken the bar job in the first place. Now, she had no money coming in from the bar job and barely enough to live on from the yoga instructing and without the extra money she couldn’t expand her business.
‘Ah, sorry to hear that then.’ Diane rearranged a large basket of bread rolls at one end of the counter.
‘Thanks. Although I think it might just be the kick I need to sort my life out.’ Carmen laughed. It was true. She just wasn’t sure how yet. ‘My yoga business isn’t going so well.’
‘Oh no. How long have you been running it?’
‘Only seven months, so it’s still new.’ Carmen looked towards the door. Apart from the customer Brooke was still serving and a group of people huddled around a table by the window, the bakery was quiet.
‘There you go then. It’s still early days.’ Diane grinned.
‘True.’ And it was. She knew it was. But she also realised she couldn’t carry on without her bar job propping it up. She had to make some decisions. And hopefully, these next few weeks would help.
‘Here we go. I thought I’d pop these over while it was quiet.’ Teresa laid a tray full of mugs on the counter.
Carmen breathed in the strong aroma of coffee before taking a mug. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. How are you finding everything here?’ Teresa smiled at her.
Carmen laughed. ‘I’ve not actually served anyone yet, but Elsie’s shower is amazing.’
