modern cooker, and also an electric toaster which could toast two slices of bread simultaneously, a great help when they were busy.
Caitlin was keen to have cushions made for the rather unyielding wooden chairs they had bought, but James had shaken his head. ‘No, we don’t want customers lingering after they’ve had their tea and toast orwhatever,’ he had said firmly. ‘We want them to eat and drink up and then go, leaving space for more customers. If we make them too comfortable they’ll linger and lingerers pay nothing.’
Both girls realised that they could learn a good deal from James Mortimer, though there were some business practices which both Dana and Caitlin absolutely refused to use. He had told them to scrape burnt toast, to use margarine instead of butter, to cut down on the richness of the scones Dana baked each morning now they had plenty of customers, and to buy cheap cuts of meat when they began to make sandwiches for the lunchtime trade.
‘If we take advice like that, James, we’ll end up losing our good customers and our good reputation, and have to rely on folk whose only priority is cheapness,’ Dana had told him. ‘At present, we always buy Sample’s best white bread, which is so delicious that it scarcely needs butter or jam, but if we began to present the customers with the really cheap stuff …’
James Mortimer had flung up his hands in a gesture of defeat. He had been grinning. ‘You learn fast, ladies,’ he had said. ‘I won’t interfere with what you’re doing, at least until your six months is up. Then we’ll take a long, hard look at prices, profits and so on, and decide whether to expand, find somewhere better suited to our business …’
The girls had cried out at this. ‘It’s not your business, James, it’s ours,’ Dana pointed out. ‘We pay you rent; we’ve kept our side of the bargain, getting the place immaculate and keeping it so. We’re happy to take your advice when we’re not sure of our way forward, but further than that we aren’t prepared to go.’
To say that James looked startled was an understatement, Dana reminded Caitlin now, as they cleared the tea room after a particularly successful day’s trading. ‘He still thinks of Cathy’s Place as his baby, but it’s not, you know. We pay the rent he asks, do all the work, keep the books … well, I admit his advice has come in handy, but sometimes he gets quite the wrong end of the stick, and then we go our own way and so far we’ve been proved right. No customer complaints, no brickbats, lots of back-patting, no bills we can’t meet …’
‘Oh, all right, we’re perfect,’ Caitlin said rather crossly. ‘But if it hadn’t been for James …’
‘I don’t deny we couldn’t have done it without him,’ Dana said quickly. ‘But we’ve worked hard and now we’re reaping our reward and I don’t see why he should preen himself. Look at the flat, for instance. He had no hand in that, did he?’
The flat was indeed the girls’ pride and joy. They had not rushed into furnishing it with whatever was cheap, but at first had managed with two battered wooden chairs, an ancient cooker and a couple of truckle beds. They had had a blanket and a pillow each, but such luxuries as sheets and pillowcases had had to come later.
Now, however, halfway through September, the flat was as fully furnished as they felt necessary. The living room boasted an elegant three-piece suite in cream-coloured velveteen, a nest of occasional tables, a large walnutwood wireless set and a square of dark blue carpet patterned with roses and curtains to match. It was here that the girls relaxed, listening to the wireless and playing music on Caitlin’s Dansette record player.
They did not have guests often, being too tired aftereach long day’s work. James was by far their most frequent visitor and he often came to help rather than to be entertained. Though Dana was perfectly capable of keeping the books, he liked
Caitlin was keen to have cushions made for the rather unyielding wooden chairs they had bought, but James had shaken his head. ‘No, we don’t want customers lingering after they’ve had their tea and toast orwhatever,’ he had said firmly. ‘We want them to eat and drink up and then go, leaving space for more customers. If we make them too comfortable they’ll linger and lingerers pay nothing.’
Both girls realised that they could learn a good deal from James Mortimer, though there were some business practices which both Dana and Caitlin absolutely refused to use. He had told them to scrape burnt toast, to use margarine instead of butter, to cut down on the richness of the scones Dana baked each morning now they had plenty of customers, and to buy cheap cuts of meat when they began to make sandwiches for the lunchtime trade.
‘If we take advice like that, James, we’ll end up losing our good customers and our good reputation, and have to rely on folk whose only priority is cheapness,’ Dana had told him. ‘At present, we always buy Sample’s best white bread, which is so delicious that it scarcely needs butter or jam, but if we began to present the customers with the really cheap stuff …’
James Mortimer had flung up his hands in a gesture of defeat. He had been grinning. ‘You learn fast, ladies,’ he had said. ‘I won’t interfere with what you’re doing, at least until your six months is up. Then we’ll take a long, hard look at prices, profits and so on, and decide whether to expand, find somewhere better suited to our business …’
The girls had cried out at this. ‘It’s not your business, James, it’s ours,’ Dana pointed out. ‘We pay you rent; we’ve kept our side of the bargain, getting the place immaculate and keeping it so. We’re happy to take your advice when we’re not sure of our way forward, but further than that we aren’t prepared to go.’
To say that James looked startled was an understatement, Dana reminded Caitlin now, as they cleared the tea room after a particularly successful day’s trading. ‘He still thinks of Cathy’s Place as his baby, but it’s not, you know. We pay the rent he asks, do all the work, keep the books … well, I admit his advice has come in handy, but sometimes he gets quite the wrong end of the stick, and then we go our own way and so far we’ve been proved right. No customer complaints, no brickbats, lots of back-patting, no bills we can’t meet …’
‘Oh, all right, we’re perfect,’ Caitlin said rather crossly. ‘But if it hadn’t been for James …’
‘I don’t deny we couldn’t have done it without him,’ Dana said quickly. ‘But we’ve worked hard and now we’re reaping our reward and I don’t see why he should preen himself. Look at the flat, for instance. He had no hand in that, did he?’
The flat was indeed the girls’ pride and joy. They had not rushed into furnishing it with whatever was cheap, but at first had managed with two battered wooden chairs, an ancient cooker and a couple of truckle beds. They had had a blanket and a pillow each, but such luxuries as sheets and pillowcases had had to come later.
Now, however, halfway through September, the flat was as fully furnished as they felt necessary. The living room boasted an elegant three-piece suite in cream-coloured velveteen, a nest of occasional tables, a large walnutwood wireless set and a square of dark blue carpet patterned with roses and curtains to match. It was here that the girls relaxed, listening to the wireless and playing music on Caitlin’s Dansette record player.
They did not have guests often, being too tired aftereach long day’s work. James was by far their most frequent visitor and he often came to help rather than to be entertained. Though Dana was perfectly capable of keeping the books, he liked
Similar Books
