Page 29 of Wassailing We Will Go
I really don’t think I told them about the soup shooters, though, just that I had tried some of Chef’s food and that it was great, he said. I didn’t go into details. I think they might’ve just had a similar idea. It is soup season, and they don’t have much of a kitchen setup. They have to cater in for all their events, and this is a way around it. It’s an innovative solution for them.
But you see how this looks bad for us, right? We posted ours hours after they did. And it’s not just me. Chef and Daniel are both pissed off as well.
I can ask Britt and Ryan outright, if you want. I just don’t know that it changes anything. I think it’s a bit like the karaoke thing— he starts before stopping abruptly.
What karaoke thing? I ask. He sighs.
bitter&sweet was going to have a Christmas song karaoke set up for the Wassail festival entertainment on Friday nights, he says, defeated. But then Sparks started the karaoke Thursday night thing, and they felt foolish going forward with it after that and brought in some bands instead, which was a little pricier. He looks down at his coffee, swirling it around in his cup.
I…didn’t know that, I say. It gets silent for a few moments, which is rare around Harrison.
I don’t want you to confront your friends about this, I finally say. Like you said, I don’t think it changes anything. I just wanted to hear what you thought before I go speak to Daniel and Chef and talk them off the edge. They’re proud of their work on this holiday menu, is all.
And they should be! It’s bloody amazing! I just think what Chef is doing with her fancy little ceramic bowls and her fancy little breads is a very different setup than what Britt and Ryan are doing, just from looking at that picture.
It’s just after the cider award thing—well, we don’t need to go into that again, I say.
Please let’s not, he agrees.
Alright. I think we can accept that everyone just wants tiny cups of soup and let this one go. I’ll talk to the restaurant squad later.
So…can we talk about the sauna now, then? Harrison looks up from his coffee and smiles. Also, do you want anything else? Chocolate croissant? Those look good.
I’m alright, thanks, I say, though I kind of do want one now that we’ve sorted out the business side of things. I lean in and speak more softly. I’m sorry I bailed. I was slightly mortified when that couple came in. I also realized at that moment that I had been in the sauna for like twenty minutes and desperately needed to cool down.
So, the look of horror and subsequent fleeing was not about an almost-kiss, then, he asks, eyebrows raised. Well, a second almost-kiss, he adds.
We do seem to be making a habit of it.
I’d like to rewind a little further, though, as there were two major announcements that happened right before that, he says. First, you said Charlie is thinking of retiring, and then you also admitted that if I didn’t work for you, you would, in fact, date me, in nearly the same sentence. The problem is that I’d really like to look at both of these options further, but I’ve still only been here a few weeks. Seems like quite the choice here.
And I don’t need an answer on either of them, right now, I say. Charlie is thinking about retiring. That could be months. And because of that…I would like to go on a date with you, I add, feeling my cheeks blush. I’m tired of pretending I don’t. I just think we need to keep the two lanes very, very separated. And then if you do maybe stay longer, and if maybe Charlie does retire…well, that’s a different conversation for future Kate to have.
So, what I’m hearing is that I finally get to experience Big Jimmy’s, he says, grinning. You know, Britt suggested takeout from there the other day, and I just couldn’t do it. Didn’t seem fair without you.
I feel like you are very much building up a restaurant that is only just fine to pretty good, but I appreciate your commitment to the bit, I laugh. But that said, tomorrow, we kick into Wassail mode, and you need to know that I will turn into an absolute monster. You won’t like me, I won’t like me—it’s just how it’s going to be until next Monday when we close again. I will be Boss Kate until that time. There will be no fun. And then, on Monday and Tuesday…I have some ideas for our days off.
I am both frightened and intrigued, he says and finishes the last of his coffee. Alright. Two-lane Kate. When does the switch flip?
Tomorrow when my eyes open, basically, I say, then finish my own drink.
He looks down and checks the time on his phone. So we’ve got, what, fifteen to sixteen hours left of nice Kate?
Honestly, I’ll probably wake up before dawn and not be able to get back to sleep again, so shave another hour or two off, I say, and just picturing it makes me yawn. I’ve been a little stressed lately.
But you’re off the clock now, yeah?
Let’s say yes?
Come with me, he says.
Big Jimmy’s closed on Tuesdays, I say flatly. He frowns.
Alright, that is a hit, not going to lie, but I have a backup plan. Come with me anyway.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HARRISON’S RIDICULOUS VEHICLE IS PARALLEL parked just outside the cafe, and he offers up the purple PT Cruiser once more. After living in and around the County for most of my life, I can tell where he’s headed after about two turns, but I let him continue like it’s going to be a surprise.
