The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

Author:Amanda Hampson [Hampson, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760145835
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

‘Evening, Mrs B, Mrs T, Mrs D, Mrs P.’ Shirley puts the shandies down on the table and gives Irene a cheeky grin. ‘Put this round on your tab, Mrs T?’

‘Still not funny,’ says Irene. ‘Lucky I don’t have a tab, yer’d go broke.’

‘Put them on mine, Shirley dear,’ says Hazel.

‘Shirley, please put them on my tab,’ says Betty, adopting a virtuous tone. She can’t believe the gall of Irene, not just imposing on Hazel at home but expecting her to pay for drinks as well!

‘Of course, Mrs D, no worries. Heard you were poorly, Mrs T? Pneumonia?’

‘Fighting fit now,’ says Irene. ‘Bit a phlegm, is all. I’m staying with Mrs B for a bit.’

Shirley gives Hazel a sympathetic look. ‘We all have our cross to bear,’ she says. ‘Hope Puffing Billy here doesn’t burn your house down, Mrs B.’

‘Bloody cheek,’ says Irene, taking her pipe out of her pocket.

‘No, not that please,’ begs Betty. ‘My asthma . . .’

Irene clamps the pipe between her teeth. ‘All right, keep yer hat on. I wasn’t going to light the bloody thing.’

‘Language,’ Merl reminds her.

Worried the meeting is turning into a squabbling match, Betty gets out her notebook. ‘Now, before our contact from the fire station, Effie Finch, arrives, I will just—’

‘Completely confuse everyone?’ interrupts Merl. ‘Spare us, please.’

Irene takes her pipe out of her mouth and taps it on the table for attention. ‘Never mind yer stupid list. There’s something more important. Go on, Hazel, tell ’em . . . it looks like Bob’s got another missus.’

Tears spring to Betty’s eyes. ‘Oh, Hazel! Oh no . . . that’s . . . awful.’

‘Thank you, Irene,’ says Hazel with a sigh. ‘I wasn’t really planning to make an announcement this evening.’

‘So this Mrs Herrmann is the other woman?’ asks Merl, frowning.

Hazel forces a smile. ‘I believe Mrs Herrmann is his daughter, but her mother is alive and well. So it would seem that, in fact . . . I’m the other woman.’

‘Hazel, you must be . . . Bob seemed such a nice . . .’ Betty trails off, dismayed. She has no idea how Hazel must feel, or how to comfort her.

‘I’m not sure what to think. On one hand, you have to admire Bob for pulling it off for so long – it can’t be easy having two lives. On the other hand, I’m so’—Hazel pauses to compose herself—‘so angry about being lied to all these years. I can’t understand how I didn’t have a clue.’

‘I would die of shame, if it were me,’ declares Merl.

‘Oh, Merl!’ Betty gets out her hanky and mops her tears. ‘That’s a terrible thing to say to Hazel. It’s not her fault.’

Irene agrees. ‘Yeah, pull yer head in, Merl, what a bloody stupid thing to say!’

Hazel holds up a hand for calm. ‘No one actually dies of shame, Merl; besides, I’ve done nothing wrong. All the shame is on Bob. I’m so disappointed in him. He’s not the man I thought he was. Not by a long shot.

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