I was quite surprised when Mrs West suggested the café as a meeting place. I was expecting to go to her office premises. But she said as I already knew how to find the café, it might be simplest.
After breakfasting on an apple and a banana, and a plastic beaker of tea, I stuff my wash bag and towel in a carrier bag and head for the superstore out of town, where I manage to buy swimwear for the pool fairly cheaply. It hurts to hand over a ten-pound note, but I remind myself how lovely it will be to feel properly clean again.
It does feel good, blow-drying my hair in the changing room after my shower. I’m trying to focus on the positives and not worry about what I’ll do when the money runs out. This cleaning job will be a life-saver.
Mrs West is there when I arrive. I spot her through the window and instantly feel guilty, even though it’s not yet ten o’clock. She was probably expecting me to be ten minutes early for our appointment.
‘Lucy.’ She smiles up at me when I walk over. ‘How was your night? Did you find a camp site?’
‘Er, no. I…’ I’m about to start explaining about the money situation, but instead I say simply, ‘It’s on my list of things to do today.’
She nods, her eyebrows arching curiously. ‘So you spent the night…where?’
I shrug. ‘Just in a lay-by.’
‘Oh, dear. Is that safe for a young girl like you? In a camper van all by yourself?’
‘Well, I probably wouldn’t do it again,’ I confide. ‘It was a bit scary with the traffic rattling past all night.’
‘Are you short of money, Lucy?’
Her question takes me by surprise and I falter.
‘Because I could give you an advance on your wages if you need it?’ She smiles. ‘I believe in looking after my employees. You can’t expect your staff to be loyal and give their best if you don’t give them a reason to trust you, can you?’
I stare at her, a great wave of relief flooding through me. ‘Are you sure? About an advance?’
‘Yes, of course. How much do you need? Fifty pounds?’
‘What? No.’ I shake my head. ‘I couldn’t take that.’
She smiles. ‘I’ll sort it out. It would be a loan. And it’s not a problem, Lucy.’ She gives a little tinkling laugh. ‘I trust you not to run off into the sunset with my cash.’
I swallow. ‘That’s so good of you, Mrs West.’
She pats my hand. ‘And I’m happy for you to park your camper van on my driveway, if that would make things easier for you?’
‘Oh, no, that won’t be necessary.’
‘It’s fine. It would just be until you managed to pay for a plot on a camp site.’
‘Gosh, well, if you’re sure. It would help so much. You’ve no idea.’
‘Right, that’s settled, then. Coffee before I take you to your first job?’
‘Thank you but no.’ I shake my head firmly, already feeling embarrassed by her kindness towards me.
‘You’d be paying for yours, of course,’ she says smoothly.
‘Oh…yes, of course.’ I look at her, feeling weirdly wrong-footed. ‘No, I just…I’m happy to get straight on with the job.’
‘Okay. Well, how about I drive you over to collect your van and you park it on my driveway first? Then we’ll head over to The Sea View Hotel.’
‘Great!’ I follow her out of the café, with a smile back at Josie. ‘So we’re cleaning a hotel today?’
‘That’s right. It just sold at auction and the new owners want a deep clean throughout. ‘It’s fairly small, as hotels go. Four days should be enough. I’ve told them we’ll have it gleaming by Friday.’
‘Will I have a tabard to wear?’
She glances at my outfit. ‘No, no. What you’re wearing is fine.’
I follow her in the camper van to her home, which turns out to be a large modern detached house in ample grounds with plenty of space for Effie on the double driveway.
‘You’re welcome to use the downstairs shower,’ she says, after she’s shown me where to park and I’m sitting in the passenger seat of her BMW, having helped her load cleaning equipment into the boot.
‘Really? That’s so good of you.’
‘No problem. Glad to help.’ She starts the engine and reverses quickly and expertly back up the driveway.
I swallow hard, gratitude forming a big lump in my throat. If it wasn’t for Mrs West and her cleaning job, I don’t know what I’d be doing now. ‘You really don’t have to do this, you know. Just the job is fabulous enough.’
She shoots a glance at me, her shrewd blue eyes slightly narrowed. ‘I can see it means a lot to you, Lucy. And I’m very happy to help. You’ll just have to work hard to prove you’re worthy of my generosity.’
‘Of course,’ I say quickly. ‘And I will.’
‘Will your…parents be visiting you here?’ she asks.
Thinking it’s an odd question, I smile and say, ‘No, no. Dad’s busy and I…lost my mum last year.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that, Lucy.’
‘It’s fine.’
I sit back and watch the scenery fly by. Mrs West reminds me of my old history teacher, Mrs Glover. She had an outwardly calm and gracious manner and was fond of twinsets and pearls, but we were never in any doubt that she was the boss. She had a core of steel that would emerge every time someone acted up in class. Even the class joker, Mickey Foster, would crumble beneath Mrs Glover’s cold grey stare.
I have a feeling Mrs West will be quick to tell me if my work isn’t up to scratch. I’ll just have to make doubly sure that I don’t let her down…
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Sea View Hotel is a rather sad-looking red brick building in a seedier part of town. It has metal shutters on the windows, which makes me think it’s probably been standing empty for quite a while.
I carry in the hoover, while Mrs West brings the bucket full of cleaning materials. She glances at her watch, and I guess she must be wondering where the rest of the cleaning team has got to.
‘Right. Let’s get you started. It might be best to tackle the bedrooms first and then move on to the ground floor?’
‘Okay.’ It’s clear the place will need a lot of hard work before it’s ‘gleaming’, but I’m eager to get started.
‘Come on, then. The sooner we get started, the better.’
She heads for the stairs and I follow with the hoover. ‘How many bedrooms are there?’
‘Twenty-six. Then there’s the restaurant and kitchen, of course, and the reception areas.’
‘Quite a big place, then,’ I remark cheerfully, wondering if it’s really going to be possible to do a good job in just four days. ‘I’m looking forward to meeting the others.’
‘The others?’ She turns with a puzzled frown.
My heart lurches. ‘The rest of the cleaning team?’
She laughs as if I’ve said something really funny. ‘In these testing times, I can’t afford the luxury of a “team” behind me, Lucy. No, you’ll be cleaning on your own here.’