Piece of Cake by Kate Forster

Author:Kate Forster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Published: 2013-07-01T16:00:00+00:00

The next morning when Lola woke, sweat was running down her neck. She stretched in her bed. Her muscles ached and her mouth was dry.

‘Ahhh,’ she moaned, keeping her eyes closed. She wasn’t quite ready to face the day.

Dreams about her mother always messed with her head. Whenever she dreamed about her mum, she was certain to have a bad day. It was one of her superstitions, just like Babcia’s one about people with green eyes.

Last night’s dream was the same as always; for as long as she could remember, she’d had this dream. Lola was on one side of a river, her mum on the other. Lola could never get her mum’s attention. She’d frantically wave and call out, but her mum never responded. Eventually her mother would walk away, leaving a sobbing Lola on the other side of the river.

Maybe it was the heat, thought Lola. After an underwhelming summer the previous night had been stiflingly hot, and today was going to be a scorcher. At least the cafe has air conditioning, she thought, as she rolled out of bed and did the only yoga she knew, the salute to the sun.

There was a knock at her door. ‘Come in,’ she called from her downward dog pose.

Sam stood in the doorway, dressed and ready for work.

‘Morning,’ she said, looking up at him while trying to maintain her pose.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Yoga.’

‘Why?’ He looked at her as though she was hanging upside down from the roof.

‘Because I had shitty dreams and this helps. What do you want?’ Lola lowered herself onto her hands and knees and looked at Sam properly. ‘You’re messing with my Zen.’

‘There’s no water,’ he announced.

‘What?’ Lola stood up and ran past Sam. In the bathroom she tried turning on the tap. Nothing came out. ‘Shit,’ she said, racing back into her room and grabbing her phone. She dialled quickly and cursed under her breath when the call went straight to voicemail.

‘Hi, Jane? It’s Lola. I know it’s early, but the water’s gone off and I don’t know if it’s because of the bill. When is the extension till? Call me back.’ Lola hung up and raised her eyebrows at Sam. ‘Fun times at Cafe Ambrosia, huh?’

She and Sam sat on her bedroom floor, waiting for Jane to return the call. Within a few minutes Jane called back.

‘Jane rang the water company. The whole block is out,’ said Lola with relief after hanging up. ‘It’s not just us. Apparently it’ll be back on soon.’

Sam nodded. ‘Kind of makes it hard to make coffee and tea though, doesn’t it?’

Lola stood, deep in thought. ‘Maybe. Let me get dressed and I’ll meet you downstairs.’

Lola pushed Sam out the door, pulled off her boxer shorts and Snoopy T-shirt and pulled on underwear, denim shorts and her tank top with tropical fruits on the front. She put a bandana around her head and slipped on her Converse before bounding down the stairs.

Kelsey and Fiona had arrived and were in the kitchen, looking concerned.

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