Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
“ I don’t know what he said to her, but she thinks the sun shines out of his overly tight backside,” Gemma said as she sat in the pub.
After the encounter with Sophie, she needed a drink and a distraction. All she could do was think about how Monday morning would be her first shift with Kent, and she would have to face him again, her new executive manager.
“Sophie is a pretty good judge of character, though,” Nina said. “Perhaps he is quite nice.”
“Are you serious?” Gemma made no attempt to hide her disbelief. “Sophie is a terrible judge of character. Do you not remember her previous list of boyfriends before Graham? I mean, Jay snogged her sister, and I’m pretty sure she might still have forgiven him.”
“Okay, Sophie is a terrible judge of men when it comes to dating,” Nina relented. “But that doesn’t mean she’s a terrible judge of character. Perhaps it won’t be as bad as you think. You’ve just got to give it some time.”
“Eight weeks,” Sophie said. “That’s how long I’ve got to give it. Fifty-six days, well, fifty-five days because he’s already had his first day of work.”
A slight sense of calm filtered through her at the thought. Sunday, they didn’t have anyone in the kitchen. It would just be her and one of the part-timers. This meant when she did finally start working with Kent, there would only be fifty-four days to go. Almost three per cent of her time with Kent would be over before she actually had to work with him. Thinking of it that way made it all feel a little more bearable.
She opened her mouth, ready to say as much, when her phone started ringing. Fleur’s name flashed up on the screen.
Like all the members of the book club, Fleur and Gemma got along really well, although they didn’t do many things, just the two of them. Fleur had fallen into a relationship with Henry not long after moving to Maldon, although she had always tried to stay involved with everything the book club did. Even when she was the only one of them who had a partner.
“Do you mind if I get this?” Gemma said to Nina, gesturing at the phone.
“Of course not, go for it.”
“Gemma, brilliant, you picked up,” Fleur said. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No, not at all. I’m just out for a drink with Nina.”
“Oh, okay, well, I won’t be long. I just wanted to know if you’ve got plans on Monday night?”
“Monday night?” Gemma’s mind flickered forward to Monday. All she could think about was how she would be face-to-face with Kent for the first time, but she pulled that thought back. That probably wasn’t what Fleur wanted to know. Besides, that wasn’t in the evening. Gemma’s Monday evening was completely free, like most evenings that didn’t involve the book club.
“No, I’ve got nothing planned for Monday. Why?”
“Perfect! How do you fancy coming on a double date?”