Chapter 10

DECEMBER 26th The next morning, she woke up at her usual time and left for work after having her breakfast. The snow had settled to the ground like a thick blanket.

Her feet dug deep while walking through the snow. She walked extremely slow but still made it on time. After changing into the Christmas costume, when she walked out of the changing room, all the staff and Mr. Davies stood there on table number 05, with a tiny chocolate cake and one candle in the middle of the round cake.

"Happy Birthday." They screamed in unison. 

Iris laughed excitedly. "I can't believe this." 

She blew the candle and sliced the cake with a knife and fed a piece to Mr. Davies.

"Happy Birthday, Sweetheart," said Mr. Davies and fed her a piece of cake as well.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Davies. This is really sweet of you."

"My pleasure, Iris. You have been with us for such a long time. I thought you deserve a little celebration this year."

Iris's heart melted. This was indeed a good year for her. Mr. Davies never took such efforts for anyone not even for her.

Iris was overwhelmed. She exhaled sharply after everyone went back to doing their chores and took away the cake into the pantry.

Mr. Davies was behind the counter checking the muffins in the refrigerated glass display.

"Mr. Davies," Iris said.

"Yes?" He said while positioning the muffin into the line.

"Could I take the birthday bonus for leaving at five today?"

Mr. Davies would give his staff the benefit of leaving three hours early from their shift on their birthdays. It was called a birthday bonus. Iris never used the bonus in six years for obvious reasons.

"Why? You never use your Birthday bonus."

"This year I really need it." Iris tried to convince. 

"Ah! Seems like last night went well." He stood straight and closed the glass lid.

Iris rolled her eyes. "I would really like to leave early. I know it's going to be crowded today as well but I could really use it. Please."

Mr. Davies sat on the computer without speaking and turned on the button on the CPU. 

Iris waited eagerly for him to speak. He looked at her from over glasses and sighed.

"Fine." He said.

Iris smiled widely. "You are amazing." She said.

"You know I can't say no to you." He said smiling.

"Thank you, Mr. Davies." She said and left.

The cafe got crowded pretty soon. It was hard for Iris to concentrate. She couldn't wait for time to pass by and get to meet Hugh again. She skipped her lunch. She couldn't eat with all the butterflies in her stomach.

Her eyes would flick to the entrance door again and again throughout the day. It was 4:30 PM now. She tried hard to concentrate on the orders as she had too many to handle. The clock was ticking, and Hugh could walk in any minute now.

She was serving the order to Mrs. Abraham when her eyes fell at the entrance again and Hugh walked in, in an off-white cashmere sweater, black jeans, black boots, black round cap, and a dark grey overcoat.

He wore the red scarf around his neck. He rubbed his hands together and exhaled while looking around releasing the water-vapor from his mouth. He then noticed Iris standing in the left corner staring at him already with a soft smile on her face. He smiled back and waved to her. Iris waved as well and walked up to him.

"Hi! Nice scarf." She said.

"Well, all thanks to you. Are you ready?" Hugh asked.

"Yes. Give me ten minutes please. I'll handover my orders to Sandra and change."

"No problem. I'll wait in my car. It's freezing."

"Sure," Iris said.

Hugh went out of the door and Iris rushed to the counter and told Mr. Davies she was leaving.

After handing over to Sandra and changing into her green and brown striped woolen sweater and blue jeans, she left and got inside Hugh's car.

"Oh, it's snowing again. I don't think we can drive outside the village. What do you suggest we shall do?" Hugh asked.

"We could probably hang around. I could show you some good places in Avebury. There are some beautiful green places, which are covered in snow now."

"That's okay! We can go to one of your favorite nearby places and take a walk for a while. If you don't mind walking in the snow."

Iris chuckled. "I love walking in the snow."

"Okay then! Where to?" Hugh asked.

"Silbury Hill."