Chapter 17

DECEMBER 30th As decided, they met again. And again. Hugh had become a part of her life. Mr. Davies had started waving at Hugh whenever he came to the cafe to pick Iris. The staff started to recognize him as well. 

The crowd had decreased now. The tables weren't always full. Iris was able to leave early with Hugh and go to either of their places for dinner. The cons of Avebury not having many restaurants was they couldn't go out for dinner and the pros were that they got more time to spend with each other while cooking together. 

Iris wore the Christmas costume and started her day at work. Comforting herself throughout the day that Hugh would come in the evening to pick her. 

“What should I cook for dinner tonight? Spaghetti Bolognese? Fish Pie? roast chicken?” 

She served the turkey sandwiches to Mr. Roberts and his daughter. She was subconsciously occupied with worrying about dinner with Hugh. 

“He likes chicken more than fish. I think I should make the chicken roast. I might have to go to the market. A lot of stuff is over at home. Luckily because of Christmas people are giving good tips. I could buy some groceries and meat.” 

She walked up to table number 11 and took Ms. Catelyn's order. Then tore the page from her mini notebook and gave it in the pantry. 

“Should I make pork ribs for New Year's dinner tomorrow? He likes that too. I should buy some ribs as well.” 

She got distracted from the noise of arguments. She looked around and noticed Albert arguing with Mrs. Lewis. She then looked at Mr. Davies who was sitting behind the computer. He looked at her at the same time and signaled her to handle the table. She nodded at once and marched towards table 11. 

Mrs. Lewis was the most hated woman in the cafe. She was a resident of Avebury with a short afro and was at least around 280 pounds. She was infamous for giving the staff a hard time including Iris. Though Iris was good at dealing with the arrogant customers, Mrs. Lewis was something else. She would change her order and blame it on the waiters for bringing the wrong order. Mr. Davies had given up on her. He would never argue with her and wouldn't even scold his staff. 

"Listen, you are accusing me of lying. Why would I order for a blueberry muffin and then say I ordered a scone?" Mrs. Lewis said firmly to Albert. 

"But when I asked for your order, you said you wanted a blueberry muffin. Why would I bring you a muffin if you asked for a scone?" Albert replied in the same tone. 

He spoke while looking at Mrs. Lewis in her eyes. Mrs. Lewis was one of the richest and a very influential person in Marlborough. But Albert never feared anyone. He was impulsive. He had argued with customers and had almost got fired many times. 

But Mr. Davies had a soft corner for him just like he had for Iris. He would fight with him, but he never really fired him. Even if he asked Albert to not show his face again in the cafe, Albert would show up again the next day, change into his work clothes and Mr. Davies would behave like nothing happened yesterday. 

Iris interrupted. "Mrs. Lewis. It's so good to see you after so long." She lied with a fake smile on her face. "Is there anything I can help you with?" 

Mrs. Lewis shifted her smoldering look from Albert to Iris. "This young man always accuses me of changing my orders. I asked him for a scone, and he brought me a blueberry muffin." She complained. Her big black eyes blinked rapidly twice, and her shoulders were shrugged as she spoke. 

"Mrs. Lewis, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. But are you sure you were very CLEAR," She pressed on the word, "that you wanted a scone while placing your order?" 

Mrs. Lewis's thick lips with pink lipstick pouted out. "Of course, Iris. He's rather impulsive. His brain is not in his work. It's somewhere else all the time. Maybe in the Cricket." 

"Mrs. Lew...." Albert almost picked a finger at her, but Iris shushed him and held his hand down.

"Let me fix this." Said Iris with her same fake smile. "Albert, show me your note."

"It's in the pantry." He said acidly, his furious eyes still at Mrs. Lewis.

"Mrs. Lewis, I'm going to take this muffin back and bring you a scone." Iris picked the plate from her table. 

"Thank you, Iris. That's kind of you." She said without a smile and started scrolling on her phone. 

Iris held Albert's hand and dragged him slowly towards the counter. 

"Stop staring at her," she whispered to him. 

All the customers stared at them. 

"She's a horrible woman and you know that," Albert said bitterly. 

"Yes, I do." 

Iris left Albert near the counter and went to the pantry's window. She picked the note for table 11 and checked the order. Albert had written Blueberry Muffin. She knew Albert wasn't lying. Everyone knew that. But Mr. Davies never took any action. She took the note to Mr. Davies.

"You've got to do something. She always does this. How many of us had to pay for her this behavior?" Iris told Mr. Davies. 

"I don't take money for wrong orders from your salaries anymore. Especially for Mrs. Lewis's orders. I know she does that but there's nothing we can do. She always has been like that. Just ignore her Iris." Mr. Davies said while typing. 

"But this is really pathetic. She usually does this with Albert because she knows he's the only one who can't control his rage. And she takes total advantage of it. I don't think she's going to back down unless she has him fired from here." 

"That won't happen. Be rest assured." Mr. Davies said while looking at her this time. 

Iris shook her head in disbelief and kept the note at the counter.

"Start taking other tables, Albert. Avoid that woman as much as possible." Iris said. 

"Okay! I can't believe a woman like her has such a humble son. Andre is so kind and then there's his mother." Albert snarled while staring at Mrs. Lewis, who was still busy on her phone. 

Iris patted his shoulder. "Let it go. I'll take care of it." 

She took the scone from the glass display and placed it on a plate. 

"Here's your scone, Mrs. Lewis," Iris said while keeping the plate on the table. 

"Thank you, Iris. God bless you," Mrs. Lewis said and kept her phone aside. 

"Is there anything else I can get you?" 

"No, thank you." 

Iris walked away.