Page 27 of The Perfect Melody

Mum’s the next to arrive just as I’m returning from the office with t-shirts for everyone. I forgot to ask Cassie what size she’ll need when she was here on Sunday and make a mental note to check with her today. I got a few extras of every size just in case anyone needs to switch, so there should be something that will work for her in the box of spares in my office. Mum smiles at me, her excitement clear, but the brightness dims when she spots Molly setting glasses around the table.

I line up the piles of t-shirts along the bar, a sticky-note on top of each stack with the soon-to-be owner’s name on. “Everything looks great.” Mum pulls me in for a quick hug, then, before pulling back, asks, “Did you really have to hire the Watson girl?”

“Just because her mum’s a piece of work doesn’t mean she is. Molly did well in her interview, and she’s keen enough to have arrived early.”

Mum mutters something that sounds like, “Don’t think the job’s what she’s keen on.”

I have no idea what she means by that, so I ignore it. “I wouldn’t want someone comparing me to dad just because we happen to be related—I won’t judge her for who her mum is.”

She tenses at the mention of Dad but shakes it off. “Tell you what—I’ll give her a chance as long as you promise to do the same for Cassie.”

“I gave her a job, didn’t I?”

“Yes, with a large portion of attitude on the side. It wouldn’t kill you to be nice to the girl.”

“I’ll be on my best behaviour,” I reply, rolling my eyes.

A couple of minutes later, everyone else arrives, and I instruct them to grab a seat around the table. Five minutes before we’re due to begin, Cassie slides into the chair between Mum and one of my returning servers, Mei. She’s dressed similarly to how she was when we met, in jeans that hug her narrow waist and an oversized t-shirt tied in a knot at the bottom. Her gaze flicks around the room, cataloguing her surroundings before her eyes meet mine and she quickly looks away. I rub a hand over my short beard. Maybe Mum was right about me being too hard on her. Sure, I was justifiably pissed off on Sunday, but the last thing I want is for her to be afraid of me. I’ll apologise when I pull her to one side to check what size t-shirt she needs.

Training was off to a great start until I started walking everyone through the till system before lunch. Cassie is by far the worst at navigating it, entering practice orders far too slowly. “I thought you’d worked as a server before.”

Her already pink cheeks darken further with embarrassment, but that does nothing to detract from the stubborn set of her jaw as she tilts her chin up to look me dead in the eye. “I have.”

“Then why are you finding this so difficult?” I ask gesturing between her and the till she’s operating with all the speed andskill of a sub-par actor doing a caricature of an octogenarian with a smartphone. “You’re holding everyone else up.” The rest of the staff have completed their training and are ready to sit down for lunch—she’s the only one who can’t get the hang of this.

She glances at the group milling around behind me. “It—it’s been a while, so I’m a little rusty.”

I sigh in frustration. “If you’re not going to take this seriously, tell me now and stop wasting my time.”

Her baby-blue eyes narrow in a glare. “Maybe if you stopped looming over me, huffing like an angry bull for five minutes, I’d get to grips with it quicker.”

“Excuseme?”

“Why don’t I stay and keep working with Cassie while the rest of you sit down for lunch,” Mum interrupts, stepping between us and giving me a pointed look. It’s an obvious reminder of my promise to be nice. Tough. I warned her I wouldn’t be doing any handholding. She folds her arms, which only intensifies the ‘mum stare’.

“Fine,” I capitulate, then fix Cassie with a stern look. “Don’t join us until you’ve got the hang of it. If you’re not up to speed by the time lunch is over, then you won’t have a job here.” That will also mean she won’t have the money to pay me back, but I’d rather take the loss than have someone incompetent on my team. The reopening is going to be stressful enough without me having to worry about Cassie messing up orders.

Cassie gives me a tight smile, even though the look in her eyes tells me she wants to throttle me. “Yes, boss.”

I shake my head, turning to tell everyone else to sit down for lunch.

I can’t make heads or tails of Cassie. Even though she was clearly nervous when we met, she showed she had a backbone. Earlier today she was friendly enough but quiet as everyonebroke the ice. Now she’s mouthing off and full of fire. Which version of her is real? Maybe I should have been more patient, but I can’t help feeling like she’s not really trying. Why else would someone experienced struggle so much? Sure, it’s a system she’s unfamiliar with, but at the end of the day it shouldn’t bethatdifferent from anything she’s used before.

I sigh and take my seat. Cassie’s a puzzle I neither have the time nor desire to complete, yet my mind can’t help but try to put together the pieces I’ve gathered so far in the hopes they’ll form the picture of who she really is and what she’s hiding.

* * *

Cassie

I stab my finger at the till’s touchscreen, clearing Austin’s practice order so I can start again. A warm hand lands on my shoulder, and I’m so wound up that the gentle touch still makes me freeze up.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have touched you without asking,” Austin’s mum, Abby, says, immediately removing her pale, freckled hand.

Forcing myself to relax, I give her a tight smile. “It’s OK—I’m just jumpy. Your son’s right, I should have this down by now.”

“You’ll get the hang of it. I was a little slow getting to grips with this thing too, but I found taking a few minutes to explore the different screens helped. That way, when I started inputting practice orders, I didn’t need to look at every single box because I already had an idea of what was where. You’ll notice a lot of it’s grouped by colour, too.” She taps the screen for starters, then points. “See here, everything vegan or vegetarian is green, meat is pink, fish is blue.”

Realising she’s right, I relax a little. “I don’t know why I didn’t notice that before. It seems so obvious now you’ve pointed it out,” I mumble, embarrassed.