The Villa by Rosanna Ley

Author:Rosanna Ley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781780875057
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2012-05-29T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 36

Ginny wasn’t sure what made her go in. The Bull and Bear was a bit of a sleazy pub, and she’d never wanted to work behind a bar. To be a barmaid, like a character from East Enders or Corrie … Jabbering jellyfish … But it was a job.

After Nonna’s breakfast bombshell, she had typed up a cv on the computer – Pops had always kept up with technology, he’d even talked about getting an iPod, though when Ginny’s mind conjured up a vision of Pops with earphones, it didn’t quite work somehow. And after lunch she’d trailed around shops and restaurants in Pridehaven, thrusting copies into the startled faces of shopgirls and waiters. This is me. This is what I have done with my life …

Not a lot, they probably thought. A paper round, babysitting, college. A girl without direction. A drifter. That’s what they called it in some of her mum’s old hippy songs … That’s what her father had been.

It was pretty hopeless. No one seemed interested. And perhaps she only went into the Bull and Bear because it was 6 p.m. and she didn’t want to go back to Nonna and Pops and tell them she’d failed. With her mother she could rise to this sort of challenge (angry and defensive always worked well), but with Nonna expectations were high. Ginny hated to disappoint her; her diminutive white-haired grandmother had a quiet dignity that Ginny envied.

‘I was wondering,’ she said to the guy behind the bar – in his late thirties she’d guess – ‘if you had any vacancies for bar staff?’

‘Who’s asking?’ he said.

Well, that was bleeding obvious. ‘I am,’ she said.

He grinned. ‘Yeah, but what’s your name, love?’

‘Ginny Angel.’

‘Over eighteen?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Previous experience?’

‘No.’

He seemed surprised. ‘Why d’you want to work behind a bar?’ he asked.

Ginny racked her brains. Why would anyone? ‘I like people,’ she said. Which was a lie. ‘And I’m an evenings sort of person.’ Which was another.

He raised his eyebrows.

Dumb dog, she thought. The place was probably open all day. ‘I’m quick,’ she said. ‘I can learn.’

‘OK,’ he said.

‘OK?’

‘I’ll give you a try,’ he said. ‘The last girl walked out a week ago and I haven’t got round to advertising for a replacement yet. Start tomorrow at six?’

‘Er … Great,’ said Ginny.

‘Aren’t you going to ask how much I pay?’ he asked. ‘Or what hours I’ll be wanting you to work?’

‘OK.’ She waited, but he said nothing. ‘How much do you pay?’

He told her. It wasn’t that much, but it was a lot more than nothing.

‘OK,’ she said.

‘The hours are negotiable,’ he went on. ‘We’ll talk about that tomorrow.’

As soon as she left the pub she sent a text to her mother. Guess wot? I got a job!

Her mother phoned her right back. ‘Well done, darling,’ she said. ‘I worked in a bar once.’ She sounded quite nostalgic.

‘At least I’ll be earning some dosh.’ Ginny wished her mother’s voice didn’t make her feel quite so sad. It reminded her how much she missed her.

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