Chapter 40
CHAPTER 40
T he minute the words left his lips, Kent regretted them. It had been a stupid thing to say, churlish and spiteful and utterly unnecessary, but he was tired of the attacks. Tired of being treated like he was doing something wrong for trying to make the place more money, and tired of the way she didn’t even acknowledge him anymore. Yes, that part definitely got to him more than he liked to admit.
Since the incident with the blackboard, there had been no conversations over morning butties. No, ‘Have a nice evening,’ when he left in the afternoon. She didn’t even look at him when she picked up the food from the kitchen and took it to the tables. It irked him more than was rational. He knew that. He and Sophie got on perfectly well. What did it matter if one colleague didn’t like him? He’d been hated by plenty of employees and employers before and never given a damn about it. But with Gemma, it was different. And if she hadn’t hated him before today, she definitely did now.
“Look, you’ve been thinking with a small business mindset for too long,” he said, trying to make his outburst seem reasonable. “There is a reason that so many small businesses go bust. This place is already earning a fraction of what it should, given its location.”
“Wow.”
She stood there staring at him. Her hands were by her side, and her lips parted as Kent braced himself for the tirade he probably deserved, but nothing more came. Seconds ticked by. One after another and yet she remained silent. ‘Wow?’ What did that mean? Was she commenting on what he just said about the cafe’s earnings or his comment about the eight-week trial? It was impossible to know.
“I assumed you knew…” he started, but his words faded into nothing.
A sheen of tears glinted in Gemma’s eyes.
He needed to apologise. He had to, yet as he went to speak, she finally spoke again.
“You have an order to cook,” she said. “Don’t keep the customers waiting.”
A moment later, she turned around and strode out of the kitchen. Kent stood there with his baked beans burning on the hob and poached eggs boiling over. What the hell had he just done?