Chapter 9
The tent was gone. Completely. Looking around she couldn’t even find the pegs she had spent too long hammering into the soil.
She was considerably peeved about having spent so much money on something that had simply disappeared in the night, especially as it had disappeared with her new sleeping bag and air mattress inside it too but Annie quickly realised what a blessing this could be for her.
“Maybe there is a God,” Annie thought, “I have to go back to the pub now!”
“Would look suspicious to go straight back there,” she thought, “or would it be better to wander around for a while and take in some of the local sights.”
She didn’t want to appear to be some kind of stalker, even if she did feel like one.
No, it didn’t matter, she decided; she would go straight back - the story of the blown away tent was a pretty good one and would break the ice again. She would be able to recover from this morning.
Hopping in the car and driving out of the campsite she felt like things were really going her way.
…
Annie was peering through the front windows of the pub, having parked her car in the car park behind the building. It didn’t look like anyone was there. When Sadie had let her out of earlier the lights had all been on as she hoovered and cleaned the bar area.
“She must have finished and went home,” Annie thought, “Maybe I’ll have to go for a wander around the sights after all.”
There was only a little bit signal and her phone, not enough for a web page to load on her internet browser or to load Google Maps.
“I’ll just wander towards the town centre and see what I find,” she decided.
It look her around half an hour before she found what she thought was the centre; it had a row of pubs, restaurants and shops on either side of the road. It had been a while since Annie had experienced retail therapy, so a good look around the shops sounded like a sold plan for the afternoon.
A few hours later, having raided every department store she could find in the centre, she felt she had done enough. Laden with shopping bags, including a new dress, some matching flats and a some sexy underwear. She had considered high heels but she didn’t want to appear overly keen, and the flats were nice enough that they matched the dress without seeming too informal.
“Just incase,” Annie told herself as she had tried the set on in the changing room.
She didn’t look bad for someone approaching forty, she thought, pleased with how she looked in the mirror. She tried not to think too much about what Tadhg might thing if he knew she was buying underwear to wear for him.
The thought of her bank balance was pushed to the back of her mind again.
It was time for lunch, or tea time really. Because she had woken up so late this morning she felt a bit out of sorts with the time. It was 5 o’clock now and she was only starting to feel peckish after the huge breakfast Tadhg had cooked for her that morning.
There was a pizza place just outside Debenhams that looked good, so she grabbed a seat by the window to people watch and ordered a pepperoni pizza and a bottle of Peroni to go with it. It was rare that she drank beer but she always felt that a bottle of something light and fresh goes perfectly with a good pizza.
The garlic bread that a couple across the room were eating looked amazing and she almost ordered it, before realising it was probably a bad idea to arrive back to the pub stinking of garlic.
People watching was one of her favourite past times and the time flew as she polished of the pizza and a second bottle of Peroni for good luck. She would need Dutch courage for the trip back to the pub and the second bottle helped the nagging ache of a hangover she could still feel. Though she was tempted by the desert menu too, she decided to forgo this as well.
“I don’t want to get bloated,” she told herself, thinking of the tight fitting dress and fancy underwear.
It was 6:20pm when she checked the time. How long would it take to find her way back? At least, half an hour, Annie reckoned. It was time to get a move on and get back to the pub but she wanted to look her best when she arrived.
There was a single ladies toilet which was quite spacious and she got changed into her new clothes, admiring herself in the mirror. She fixed up her makeup and trying to tidy her hair a little bit.
“You’ve got this,” she told herself as she applied some lipstick.
…
It took her nearly an hour to find her way back to the pub, getting lost twice and having to retrace her steps back to the main road before continuing.
The car park of the pub was rammed with cars when she finally did arrive, dumping her bags in the boot of her car.
Bracing herself outside the doors of the pub she could hear the buzz of people inside. Opening the door she couldn’t believe how many people were in the pub already, it was only around quarter to 8 in the evening but the place was jammed with patrons. Looking around, it looked like there was a few parties; what appeared to be an 18th birthday at one end of the bar area and an 80th birthday at the other end.
Annie squeezed her way through the mass of customers to the bar and towards Tadhg. Finally, managing the part a gang of teens standing by the bar but not ordering anything, she spotted Tadhg who looked red, sweaty and very much under stress.
“Tadhg,” she shouted as he finished a man’s order.
He hadn’t heard her.
“Tadhg,” she tried again, louder this time and with a wave.
His head snapped up from what he was doing, having heard her.
Annie gave a little wave, feeling suddenly awkward ass he came towards her. He was glancing behind him with a worried look at the deep queue at the other end of the bar.
“How long have you been there, Annie? Sorry, I’ve been swamped,” Tadhg said.
“I’ve just come in, why is it so busy?”
“Sadie went home sick so it’s just me, I don’t think I’ll have much time for chatting tonight, sorry” he said, adding “but do you want a drink?”
“He actually sounds disappointed,” Annie thought excitedly, “maybe I haven’t blown it after all.”
She looked around her at the swelling queue at the bar, he heaving mass of bodies and back to Tadhg.
“You can’t do all this yourself! Let me help you!” she volunteered with a swell of adrenaline.
Tadhg laughed, “you’re so cute, have you even manned a bar before?”
“No but I’ll learn as I go,” Annie replied, confidently, “it will still be quicker than you doing it on your own.”
“Well, go on then” Tadhg surrendered, “come on back here.”
Annie squeezed back through the crowd to the part of the bar that opened up at the end, she lifted it up and entered the bar, starting to wonder what she was getting herself into.
She had never been behind a bar before but it was messier than she had imagined, maybe it was because Tadhg was on his own. Used glasses were sitting everywhere, the dishwasher was half open and half filled, wet beer soaked cloths were dotted around and there were trodden lemon and lime slices strewn across the floor.
“Watch out for those,” Tadhg gestured to the fruit slices, “I dropped them earlier and haven’t had a chance to get them yet.”
Annie kicked a few of them out of her way.
“Now, I’ll do it the way I normally train someone new but we’ll be doing it quicker than usual.” Tadhg said, sounding a little like a school teacher.
“OK,” Annie confirmed with a nod of her head, slightly daunted by the task now she was actually about to do it.
“You can watch me for the first few rounds and then we’ll do a couple of rounds were we do it together and then I’ll watch you for a couple on your own and after that I’ll let you loose. Let’s get going!” Tadhg said, slapping the bar confidently.
Annie wasn’t feeling so confident.