Page 4 of Promise Me Ever After
She shoved me gently on the arm. “I’ve got some stuff to pick up from the shop. It’s on my way, so don’t feel special.”
I laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, I don’t.”
Darcy owned Itsy Bitsys, a kitsch boutique which sold all manner of pretty, sparkly things you didn’t know you wanted until you went in there. I’d healed many a broken heart with a flamingo mug, an impractical floaty top or another new pair of earrings.
“Do you want to come in?” she asked, when we reached the door.
I shook my head. “Not today. I don’t want to be late.”
She drew me in for a hug. “You’ll smash it, sis. They’re lucky to have you.”
I only hoped she was right.
When I arrived at Anna’s Kitchen, the door was locked. I knocked on the glass, peering through into the familiar restaurant. It did feel strange to be going to work in a place I’d always enjoyed eating at as a customer.
Moments later, Ellis Gregory’s—the owner of Anna’s Kitchen—smiling face appeared and he unlocked the door. He opened it with a dramatic flourish and waved at me. “Georgie, good to see you again. Welcome to Anna’s Kitchen.”
“You too, Ellis, thank you.” I smiled back. “I’m a little nervous to be honest.”
“Seriously, you have nothing to be worried about. We’re easy to work with.”
Ellis had a point. Compared to the bustling, chain restaurant I’d worked for in Bristol, this place was the polar opposite. Given how many times I’d been to Anna’s Kitchen in my lifetime, I felt like I knew the menu backwards.
He beckoned me through the restaurant to the bar, where his Tess, his wife, waited. She’d been the one to interview me initially, before getting me to meet Ellis on the second occasion.
“Hey, Georgie, welcome.” She smiled. “Good to have you on board.”
All the stars had aligned for me to get this job. Once I’d made the decision to get the hell out of Bristol and come to Ealynn Sands, a telephone interview and a face-to-face meeting later, the position was mine. Perhaps my mum’s belief in fortune cookies wasn’t as misplaced as I’d always assumed.
Tess handed me a folder. “That’s basically the bible. It’s got everything you need to be aware of. Health and safety, what’s in the dishes in case of food intolerances, that sort of thing. I don’t expect you to memorise it, but you need to know it’s there.”
“We had tablets at the restaurant with all that information,” I said, flicking through the paperwork.
“It’s a bit archaic, but the Wi-Fi can be wonky here, so we save that to take card payments.” Tess turned to head towards the kitchen. “I’ll leave you with Ellis, I’m going to start setting up upstairs for a kid’s party we’ve got tonight.” She rolled her eyes.
We sat down at the bar andEllis talked me through some of the things we’d been through in the previous interview: rotas, who was who in the staff; four chefs, a similar number of serving staff and kitchen hands. Ellis and Tess also helped out most nights too. They hired casual staff to deal with the tourist season but scaled back for the winter months. It was a model which worked well for them. Anna’s Kitchen was a small, well-oiled machine. I would do well to take note for my own restaurant dreams.
As front of house manager, I’d welcome the customers to the restaurant, seat them and organise their first drinks. Then the serving staff would take over for the duration of the meal and I’d step back in when it came to paying the bill. All pretty straightforward stuff, and around half of my previous workload.
“Of course, if it’s busy then you’ll need to help out with serving food,” Ellis added. “The guys in the kitchen are pretty good at letting you know if there’s a backlog.”
Ha, in my experience chefs were never backward in coming forward.
We chatted some more, and the nerves I’d experienced when I first walked in slipped away.
“There is something else I’d like you to take on for me,” said Ellis, once we’d been through everything I needed to know for my first shift.
“Sure, what is it?” I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping he wasn’t about to suggest I take full responsibility for the children’s parties. I couldn’t think of anything worse.
“Each year, we help out with the Ealynn Marina Hotel charity event. Usually I oversee it, but Tess has persuaded me to take a step back this year.” He fumbled in a pile of paper on the bar for a flyer. “There’s a meeting on Wednesday with their Marketing person to agree the final details. I’d like you to go and represent the restaurant.”
Thank God it wasn’t kids. Working on a charity event I could handle. With large chain restaurants, you didn’t often get involved in town activities unless it was to donate a gift card for a meal. From what I remembered of previous events, there was a dinner where chefs from the local restaurants teamed up with the hotel chefs to create a feast. There was also an auction or raffle to raise money with prize donations from other businesses in the town. Darcy usually donated gift vouchers for the shop.
“Alex Kane is going to be our representative this year. He’s one of our best chefs,” said Ellis. “I’ll introduce you to him when he gets here.”
“Sounds good.” I nodded in agreement.
“I’ll need you to attend the dinner as well. Do you have any issues with the date? It’s next Friday, the 28thOctober.” Ellis looked expectantly at me.
