Chapter 118: Of Mice And...
The best laid plans of mice and men, or was it the best laid schemes of mice and men. Or was it the plots of minds and the plans of men? Emily had no idea how the saying actually went, but she knew, with all of her heart, that it absolutely applied to the situation that she was in, when it came to Derek Haven.
That evening she had come into work with a plan. A great plan at that. One that would finally give her closure. She was going to confront Derek Haven. Emily was going to ask him why it was that he had not thought her worthy of finding employment elsewhere? And she would not let him go until he had given her an answer that was satisfactory. Then maybe, just maybe, depending on what he would say, Emily might be able to forgive him.
And for the first few hours at work. Emily had been able to hang on to the notion that by the time sunrise came the following day, she would have her answers. She had gone about her duties, wiping tables, mopping, sweeping, and taking the orders from the customers over to the cook, and then serving them once they were done. Dealing with various personalities as she had done so.
She had gritted her teeth and dealt with a detective who had insisted on calling her sweet buns every chance he got. A light in his eyes like they were sharing some sort of joke. Emily would have loved to know what he thought they were joking about. But she’d had the idea that if she knew, she would not have spent the night at the diner. Instead she would have been in a holding cell. Arrested for beating a police officer over the head with her shoe.
After the officers had left she’d had only a few minutes to cool off, and get things in order before the hurricane that was miss Beth had come through.
"...Oh Emily, sugar, you would not believe the day I’ve had. First that old hag from next door had the gall to tell me that my plants looked like they were dying! Can you believe her?! She wishes she had a rooftop garden as luscious as mine. Then Mr Hendrix told me that my Binky’s barking was keeping him awake all night. Binky, is a lady she only barks because the smell of tobacco coming from his side is so overwhelming. A man of his age still smoking 30 cigarettes a day, imagine!" Emily had no idea who any of those people were but that had never stopped miss Beth before.
Somehow the story about Mr Hendrix and his 30-year-day habit had turned into Emily being told about all the gossip that was going on at miss Beth’s book club. Apparently Paloma’s daughter Teresa was pregnant. But Paloma had somehow got it into her head that Teresa was only sick, and her stomach being bloated was just a symptom. Never mind that Teresa looked ready to pop. Emily had then been informed that such wilful blindness was because Paloma spent too much time in other people’s business and not her own. From there the story had gone to how Laura’s son had a gambling addiction and had recently sold all of her furniture to place a bet.