Jinnie was surprised when, just after lunch, Brian arrived at Maple House. He put his head around her door and said, “Hi, that was an interesting morning. I don’t envy you having to work with Sir Percy; he really is an old grump.” Jinnie smiled and said, “It’s all an act, he is actually a pussycat. I thought like you when I first met him, but when I got to know him, I found that he cares deeply about his business, is a bit old-fashioned, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. He likes his directors to be proactive, but many have bought the act, and he doesn’t really like it. I stood up to him, and so did the HR Director, and his attitude to us changed completely. In fact, he offered me the MD’s job, but I said no.”
“Well,” said Brian, “I didn’t think he initially liked Andrew, but by the time we left, Andrew had answered all the questions thrown at him, and I think he was warming to him. He was OK with me once he learned I was FD at Wright, DKL, and Trattoria Trevi.” “That’s hardly surprising,” said Jinnie. “He is definitely a money man, and I know he actually likes Andrew; he told me how impressed he was when he presented the Crawley SuperBurger design.” “Anyway,” continued Brian, “the refurbishment LoI is signed, and I spoke to Belinda on the way round the M25, and she says your meeting went well this morning.”
“It went perfectly,” said Jinnie, “although I understand that it was a bit of a rush to get the branch finished, and there was a strong smell of fresh paint. Anyway,” she continued, “I’ve just heard from Brooke again, and she says a couple of independents, who are close to Jack, have put two and two together and realised he was involved in something big. They have approached him and want in. They currently have five franchises between them and are looking to become our first franchisees. How close are we to having an organisation set up in Canada?” “I’m told later this week,” said Brian, “I was looking to get out there at the weekend and get everything in place by Tuesday. But if some people have already fallen in, perhaps I should be out there as soon as possible and get all the contacts signed ASAP.”
“Good idea,” said Jinnie. “Can you get out there tomorrow? Have a chat with Travel; I’m willing to authorise first class if that’s all that’s available. I wanted to be there for the start-up, but I expect to be elsewhere on government business. I know I can trust you, as you are in the same reserve as me.” “I did hear something was happening,” said Brian, “but it was being played very close to the chest, and I won’t be asking you anything at all. I’ll talk to Travel immediately and let you know what’s happening. Will you tell Alberto, and I suppose I’d better let my PA in Crawley know I’m not going to be in this week? I don’t think there is anything urgent there this week.” Jinnie said, “Leave Alberto to me, I told him about the SuperBurger contract, and he is happy thinking of the increased DKL dividend! I intend to be in Crawley tomorrow so I can make sure everything is OK.”
“Before I go,” said Brian, “a quick update on Bournemouth. The Supreme is likely to be ours later this week; it’s all going through smoothly. Our solicitor has the purchase price in an escrow account, Alberto has come up with a list of minor changes for the restaurant, the general manager has resigned as he has been offered a new post by the owners. Belinda has placed orders for new signage and is forming a small team to do the back-of-house decorating, and the lift company is on standby. It should be making money for us by the time you get back.”
Brian continued, “As for the Belvedere, that’s taking a bit longer as we have been arguing a bit over one or two things. The AC system needs a bit more work than was initially thought, and the power into the building needs an update. Nigel has had a good look at the IT and thinks it can be done within budget, but there is a lot to do. Belinda says the BIM models have been a great help in keeping costs down, and she tells me she has been talking to BPC planning, and they are happy to see the hotel back in business and not a seafront eyesore. But they have a few demands, like the same windows as the Supreme and the same external colour. Belinda says that’s not a problem. Nor is knocking through between the two hotels, provided we provide building control with full structural calculations that they can accept. I think we are just about there with negotiating, and it will be in the hands of the lawyers soon. But the work programme is about two and a half months. If we can get the lawyers to work quickly, we could be open for the school holidays.”
“That is good news,” said Jinnie. “Do you know if legal have set up the holding company yet?” “I believe so,” replied Brian. “In that case, I have some work to do,” said Jinnie. “I need to promote Rick to Ennios Hotel Group MD and get him to sort out a board, I wonder if we have office space in the Ennios Southampton for him and the new General Manager? He knows this is coming and we talked about promoting his deputy at Southampton to General Manager. As for the Supreme, that’s easy Rick said the Deputy there should have been made General Manager when he left. But he’s going to be very busy setting up and recruiting for the enlarged hotel.”
***
Jinnie set off very early for Crawley. Travelling before the rush really started made the journey from north of London to south of London much easier and faster, as she had recently learnt. Like last time, she stopped at the burger van for breakfast and carried her egg and sausage bap and coffee into the office. She was just finishing the coffee when Ro arrived. Ro said, “Morning, boss. I didn’t buy a coffee this morning as I saw the Lexus in the car park and hoped you had got the coffee on. I can smell it, so do you want one?” “Yes please,” said Jinnie, “while it’s nice and fresh.”
Ro brought Jinnie’s coffee in and, with her egg and bacon bap in her hand, said, “There’s only one thing in the diary for this morning. Belinda rang just before I went home last night and asked for a meet with you early this morning for a chat. I pencilled her in for 9 o’clock.” “That’s good,” said Jinnie. “I’m always up for a chat with Belinda, and after Friday’s news, I’m delighted to see her.” “I didn’t hear any news on Friday,” said Ro. “Well, I’m not really surprised,” said Jinnie. “It was only agreed quite late on Friday evening. Brian and Andrew signed the initial paperwork yesterday. I suspect it might be in the papers this morning, but I haven’t seen one yet, though we leaked it yesterday morning. Wright Refurbishment has won an order worth over £23 million.”
“Wow,” said Ro. “No wonder she sounded happy. I wonder if it’s in Jed’s paper; he always gets the Mail on the way in. But they only have a little bit on finance.” “It might be in the news part because it’s all about SuperBurger,” said Jinnie. “They have launched a new menu and are refurbishing all 932 of their restaurants, and that’s the order Belinda has got.” “That’s odd,” said Ro. “Jed and I were in the County Mall on Saturday, and we walked past SuperBurger and noticed it had been done up. I said to Jed how much better it looked, and he saw a notice in the window that said they had a new menu. So, when we finished shopping, we popped in. We haven’t been in there for years because it had got so grotty. But the place was nice and modern and busy. My ‘BigUn’ was good, very different to the one in that taste test I organised.”
“That’s exactly what we hoped to hear,” said Jinnie. “That restaurant was the first one to be refurbished and was the prototype. People seem to like the new design and the new menu, as sales at the few test restaurants so far refurbished have leapt.” “But why hasn’t it been advertised?” asked Ro. “Because it was only a test,” replied Jinnie. “The advertising campaign will start soon.”
Jinnie’s first action of the morning was to log into the Potters Bar Press website, where she found the story of the SuperBurger rejuvenation project was the lead story, but with a real emphasis on the local aspect. It drew attention to the connection between Wright Refurbishment and what was described as the ‘fast-growing local catering giant Trattoria Trevi Group’. Somehow, it managed to skip over the similar connection between Wright Refurbishment and SuperBurger but told the story of how their design team had been asked to provide a branch restyle to match the SuperBurger new and much-improved menu. The design and menu had then been tested in a single branch, and having been proved popular, had been rolled out to a dozen typical restaurants scattered around the country as a full test, one of which was Potters Bar. Jinnie was quite happy with what she was reading; it gave the basic facts, even if it was a little light on detail and heavy on the local angle. The reporter continued, saying how he had visited the PB restaurant on the day it had opened, praising the refurbishment and its local version of its national theme. Bill wrote how he had not previously frequented the restaurant as it wasn’t to his taste, but the refurbished branch was bright, airy, and modern, without being ‘plastic and brash’. But more importantly, the revised menu was much more to his taste, and there was a hyperlink to the restaurant critic’s review.
Bill then explained that SuperBurger was so happy with the results of the trial that the new menu was being rolled out to all 932 branches and would be in every one of them as soon as possible. In addition, every restaurant was to have a similar makeover, and Wright Refurbishment had been contracted to carry out the work nationwide. That contract was understood to be valued at over £20 million. Bill added that, with the changes, there was also to be an advertising campaign starting very soon. There then followed several photographs taken in the outlet that showed it off at its best. She guessed that some of the photos had been taken after she left the restaurant, as it was much busier.
Jinnie followed the hyperlink and read the food critic’s review. He said he had ventured into the restaurant with some trepidation, as he was not used to eating in burger joints. But he needn’t have worried, as the restaurant had impressed him from the moment he had stepped over the threshold. It had been bright and modern without being garish, like some chains. The service had been excellent, with an extremely pleasant waitress welcoming him and taking a drinks order while he and his companion had selected their meals. They had been warned that the food might be a few minutes, as every burger was cooked fresh and not precooked and kept warm under heat lamps, as in so many other places.
The reviewer said that, while waiting for his food, he had tried the coffee he had ordered, and he had been pleasantly surprised to find that it had been the best coffee he had drunk in any fast-food outlet or café ever. The very short wait for the food had been worth it, as what arrived was a freshly cooked, juicy, tasty burger enhanced by his choice of fried onions to replace the raw onions in the brioche-style bun. In his opinion, the sweet fried onions were a huge improvement on the harsh raw onions in the burger’s salad, and how good it was to be offered the choice. The critic said he had been surprised to see fresh fruit salad amongst the desserts available and had to try it. It had been served with a choice of cream or ice cream, and he had chosen cream, expecting it to be the normal catering squirty offering, but he had been served pouring cream in an individual jug. He had enjoyed his meal and found it superior to any burger bar he had ever visited.
Jinnie sat back and digested what she had read. It couldn’t have been much better, even if it was in her local paper and a little biased. She only hoped Bill had got the story into the national press. She strolled down the row of directors’ offices to Jed’s at the far end. Looking up as she tapped on the glazed panel in the wooden door and entered, he greeted her with the “Hi, boss” he had picked up from his wife and continued, “I guess you’ve come to borrow my paper.” Handing it over, he said, “It makes good reading. The report is on page 5 with pictures, the restaurant review on page 9, and a mention in the financial pages. How the hell did you manage to keep that lot quiet?”
Jinnie settled back at her desk and read all three articles. They had obviously been based on the articles on the Potters Bar Press website and, as Jed had said, made good reading. The story on the financial page went a bit deeper, talking about how SuperBurger was investing a large chunk of its reserves in the major refresh. The writer speculated that the decision to spend on the refresh might have had something to do with a recent appointment to the board. He continued, saying that an insider had said the arrival of Dame Jinnie De Luca, the power behind the privately owned, highly successful Trattoria Trevi Group of restaurants, had shaken the board to its roots, pointing out that it was no good having a huge cash pile and a business that wasn’t performing at its best. This bold move could only enhance her growing reputation in the city, where it was rumoured that several large companies would like her on their boards, but she had turned them down.
Jinnie chuckled; she had not been approached by anyone other than Sir Percy and suspected that the ‘company insider’ was none other than him. Jinnie was pulled from her thoughts by the arrival of Belinda, who took one of Jinnie’s visitor chairs. “I suppose you want to talk about your recent triumph?” said Jinnie. “Not really,” replied Belinda. “Although Bill seems to have done a good job on the press. Everyone seems to have the story of the refurbishment and the restaurant review. Only the Mail and the Financial Times have really dug a bit deeper. I wonder who the ‘insider’ was and who you’ve turned down for a job.”
“I’m pretty sure they’re one and the same,” replied Jinnie. “The only job I’ve turned down was Managing Director of SuperBurger, and only three people knew about that: me, Brian, and Sir Percy. I haven’t even told Paolo, and Brian can keep a secret. As I didn’t leak that to the press, it can only have been Sir Percy.” “Well, I didn’t really come to talk about that. I have this morning been asked to do a sit-down interview with a reporter from Refurbishment World. I assume that is OK with you. I’m pretty sure the young girl didn’t know about the SuperBurger order; she prattled on about ‘a woman in a man’s world’, but she did mention a big job Keith is in the final stages of negotiating in Barbados. It’s the fit-out of a new big luxury hotel and is something quite new for him, worth about £6 million. From her accent, I think the reporter could have West Indian roots, so she might know something.”
“I’m quite happy for you to talk to her,” said Jinnie. “I know you can be discreet. Now, to change the subject, did Brian get off OK this morning?” “I think so, he was booked on an 8 o’clock Air Canada flight to Toronto and then it’s a connecting flight to Ottawa,” said Belinda. “He wasn’t very happy he had to get up early to get a taxi to Heathrow, but I told him at least he was in first class and could make up for the early alarm call on his lie-flat bed. I packed him off with the latest rendered images for Jack’s outlets, and I must say Andrew’s team have done a brilliant job.”
“Not that I came to talk about Brian, there are actually a few things we need to discuss, and I’m going to be cheeky here as one of them is Bournemouth, and that’s Trattoria Trevi business, and another is Wedding Dress Bargains, which is our private company. But first, a bit of DKL business. I have started looking at building the SuperBurger team, and I’ve had a chat with Jed about setting up the computing side of it. He’s got it all on order and is confident it will be ready in time. I want to have Liam from Andrew’s team run it; he’s proved himself over the last couple of years as an excellent project manager. I’ve borrowed Miranda for a couple of days, and we’ve trawled the agencies, and I had an advert in yesterday’s Evening Standard and Brighton Evening Argus for designers, 3D AutoCAD architectural draughtsmen, a personal assistant for Liam and one for Andrew and me to share, another stylist, people to work in procurement, and a couple of general dogsbodies.”
Belinda continued, “The papers came out yesterday late morning, and the phone started ringing almost immediately. We asked people we thought sounded good to come in for an initial interview tomorrow, and I wondered if you could join Miranda, Andrew, and me on the interview panel? We made a good team when we interviewed for DKL.” “I’d love that,” said Jinnie. “I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of people, but I don’t know much about design and AutoCAD.” “Andrew and Miranda do,” said Belinda, “but you and I know people. Can you be at the Crawley Travelodge at 9am? We’ve booked a couple of meeting rooms: a smaller one for the interviews and a bigger one to act as a waiting room. The first interview is booked for 09:15, and we have 15-minute slots arranged until 13:00, and then 14:00 until 17:00. Oh, and one other thing—can we borrow Ro to organise the applicants? She is brilliant at that.”
“That is OK,” said Jinnie, “and I’ll bring Ro. But why a hotel?”“I don’t want to disrupt work at Manor Royal,” said Belinda. “We are far too busy for that. And I don’t want people knowing it’s Wright Refurbishment recruiting. The advert says, ‘A Manor Royal, Crawley-based company is recruiting for a new project starting immediately.’” “I understand,” said Jinnie. “I’ll be there.”
“Right,” said Belinda. “Now the easy one. Miranda and I have been chatting to Melissa, and she would love to go back to WDB. Miranda explained what she has been doing, and Mel says she hadn’t realised how much the business had grown, with a shop in Brent Cross and one in Birmingham. Miranda told her plans were well advanced for Bristol, Cardiff, and Manchester, and her first job would be staffing them and setting them up. Mel says she will be in contact with you as soon as she gets moved in. You’re right about Miranda; she wants to get back to TT Events.”
“Finally,” said Belinda, “What do you think of these?” She fired up her iPad, called up a file, and spun it around to reveal a render of the proposed enlarged TT Ennios Bournemouth. “We have done these for planning and building regulations,” said Belinda.
Jinnie was looking at a street view of the combined building; it was painted white, and all the windows matched. The big entrance to the Belvedere had gone, and in its place were more matching windows. “Swipe left,” said Belinda. Jinnie did and revealed a plan of the ground floor. She recognised the existing reception area and the big bar off it. Pinching out to enlarge the view and moving the screen with her finger, she revealed that on the other side of reception was the restaurant, but this one was much bigger, incorporating the Belvedere restaurant accessed through two triple-width openings.
Belinda said, “Those openings are in a firewall and consequently they are protected by 90-minute fire doors, which automatically close in the event of the fire alarm sounding. We have increased the kitchen by incorporating 50% of the Belvedere’s kitchen and built a 90-minute firewall and ceiling box around the new area, so it becomes part of the old Supreme. The other part is now a gym. At the far end, where the reception and bar were, there is now a business centre and a cocktail lounge. The lounge can be accessed externally from the far end of the building and internally. I suggest it should be a relaxing place with a cocktail pianist.” “Nice,” said Jinnie, who swiped left again and got a series of renders of the gym, the much-enlarged restaurant, the business centre, and the cocktail bar, before stopping on a first-floor plan.
Belinda said, “We have replicated the layout of the first-floor layout of the Supreme but as a mirror image. That’s another 60 rooms, 6 of which are executive. So, in total, we will be able to offer 120 rooms, 12 of which are executive.” Jinnie swiped on and got images of the various room types and bathrooms. With the next swipe, another floor plan appeared. Jinnie said, “I don’t understand. I only saw one level of bedrooms when we toured the building.”
“That is really what I wanted to show you and talk about,” said Belinda. “When Andrew and Willow were investigating the 3D model, they realised there was an enormous unused loft area. Apparently, when the hotels were originally built, the space was allowed for future expansion, but they were never used, and over the years, were forgotten about. There is the same over the Supreme. The ceiling is high enough, and like on the main floor, we could get in a double row of rooms over the two hotels, so that could be another 120 rooms with dormer windows, about a central corridor. Strangely, the lift shafts in both hotels serve the loft level, but the lifts don’t, but they could with some minor modifications. There are two sets of stairways in each hotel: an emergency stair at either end of the building and a double-width stair that is an extension from both main staircases.”
“Seriously?” said Jinnie. “We could double the number of rooms? I thought 120 was pretty good, but 240 would be amazing.” “That’s true,” said Belinda. “But it does not come free. The cost of developing the area wasn’t included in the original costing.” “I realise that,” said Jinnie. “But what an opportunity! Say it costs us another couple of million, that’s cheap for another 120 rooms.”
“If you look at the plan,” said Belinda, “you will see we have actually only got 80 rooms on this floor. But they are half as big again as the standard rooms. The proposal is that these are deluxe rooms with a bath as well as a shower, and a sitting area. Two TVs, improved fittings, king-size beds. Talking to Rick, I hear that in Southampton, he could sell the most expensive rooms several times over, and they bring in about double the income of a standard room.” “I had heard that,” replied Jinnie. “So, has Rick seen this? What does he think?” “I sent him this presentation when Andrew finished it last night,” said Belinda. “I talked him through it and he loves it. Like you, he asked, ‘How much?’ I think you’re right; it’s going to be a couple of million, but I can’t confirm that until estimating have finished their work.”
“I have been talking to planning about the idea,” said Belinda, “mainly because of the dormer windows and the need to upgrade the air conditioning plant. They are not too bothered about anything inside the building. That’s down to Building Control, and they are pretty relaxed about the dormers, so I will revise the planning application if you and the board agree.” “Well, I agree, and it’s my money at risk, so let’s do it,” replied Jinnie. “I’ll drive it through the board.”
“I don’t think you will have to find extra money,” said Belinda. “We are doing the back-office work in the Supreme without any need to close. We can start on the Belvedere as soon as it is ours and even do both at the same time if necessary. Nearly all that work will have no effect on the Supreme. We can get virtually all the work on the ground and first floor of the Belvedere done before we punch through to the Supreme. We can do that behind plastic sheeting and shutters, causing minimal disruption and keeping the restaurant open. That way, you will have the income from 120 rooms before we start on the second floor. That income should pay for the second-floor work. I think that the effect will probably be that your loan is paid back more slowly at first and much quicker in the end. However, we will have to be very careful about dust and noise.”
***
For the second day running, Jinnie had kissed the sleeping twins goodbye and set off for Crawley. This time, she didn’t bother to enter the DKL car park but pulled up next to the Burger Van and was just paying for her breakfast bap and coffee when Jed dropped off Ro and waved to Jinnie before he drove into the DKL car park. Jinnie bought Ro’s breakfast, and they headed into town in Jinnie’s Lexus, to where the Travelodge was. A few minutes later, they had found a spot in the hotel’s car park, and a few minutes after that, had consumed their breakfasts. Jinnie spoke to the receptionist, who took her car registration and then directed them to the two hired rooms. First, Jinnie and Ro set up the interview room so that the panel were seated around a rectangular coffee table with the interviewee opposite.
There was a tap on the door, and a waiter delivered bottles of water and vacuum jugs of tea and coffee, together with glasses, cups, saucers, sugar and milk, which were placed on a credenza. They all moved to the ‘Waiting Room’ and were soon busy setting it up when Belinda, Miranda and Andrew arrived. The drinks had been placed on a side table this time, with additional bottles of soft drinks and plates of mixed biscuits. Andrew said, “This is good,” and grabbed a bottle of Coke Zero and a couple of Party Rings. Miranda said, “Andrew, when will you grow up?”
Ro was set up with a laptop and printer on a table at the front of the room, connected to the internet. Belinda logged the computer into the Wright Refurbishment section of the DKL network and pulled up the list of interviewees. Belinda looked at her watch and said, “I think we’ve got time for a coffee before the first interview,” and they went back through the open interconnecting door to the interview room. Ro poured herself a coffee and said, “I’m going to put a notice on the door. Give me a shout when you’re ready for a candidate and I’ll show them in through the interconnecting door.” Belinda said, “At the end of the interview, if we show them back to you, take all the details because it means we want to see them again. If we’re not interested, we’ll send them out the other door into the corridor.”
Ro had just finished blue-tacking an ‘Interviews’ notice to the door when the first candidate arrived. He had just given his name to Ro and been ticked off the computerised list when Andrew stuck his head around the interconnecting door. Ro showed him in, introduced him, closed the door and went back to her desk. A few minutes later, the next candidate arrived a little early. Ro ticked them off the list and asked if they would like to have a drink while they waited for their interview time. And so it began: a steady stream of interviewees went into the interview room, and a lower number came back out to give her their full details.
At lunchtime, they all visited the hotel coffee shop and bought coffee and sandwiches. Jinnie bit into a roast beef and horseradish sandwich on white farmhouse bread, sipped her coffee and said, “This coffee is better than the muck in the meeting room, and the sandwich is passable, but I’m spoiled by regularly getting my lunch from Artisan Sandwiches.” “So do we,” replied Miranda. “We are now on one of the regular rounds, and Mum can get her favourite egg mayo and a big Bakewell every day.”
“So, what did you make of the candidates?” said Ro. “I reckon you have rejected about two-thirds so far.” “A very mixed bunch,” said Andrew. “It just goes to show that you can’t really tell what someone is like on the phone or from a CV. One or two I had great hopes for were rubbish, and my favourite candidate for a CAD Operator was Jonathan Fox, who I only put in at the last minute to make up the numbers.” “Yes,” said Miranda, “he knew his stuff and was someone I could work with.” “OK,” said Belinda. “I don’t know about his AutoCAD skills, but he came over very well.” “I agree,” said Jinnie. “He was the nicest person we spoke to this morning, and he’s local and drives. I’d hire him tomorrow.” Belinda said, “Quick, Ro, get an email to him this afternoon, calling him in for a second interview at Manor Royal as soon as possible. If Jinnie says someone is good, they invariably are.”
At the end of the day, they met in the hotel restaurant to discuss the day over an early dinner. Belinda said, “That was a tough day, but I reckon we have found some pretty good candidates.” Andrew added, “I think we can fill each position on offer. But I have been chatting to Lucy, and she said there had been a heap more applications today if we need more interviews.”“Please, no,” said Miranda. “I’m knackered.”
***
Jinnie was nearly at the South Mimms exit of the M25 when her mobile rang, and the electronic voice said, “Penny calling” over the car speakers. Jinnie pressed the ‘speak’ button on the steering wheel and said, “Hi, Sis. Is it good news?” “I don’t know,” said Penny. “We heard today the package from America will be in Italy on Sunday, so we are down to fly first thing on Monday. I will pick up the tickets on Friday and bring them home. Can I pop over late Friday afternoon? There are a couple of things to talk about.” “That’s OK,” said Jinnie. “Will you be bringing Dan? Friday night is Fish and Chips night; I’ll get Paolo to bring in extra.” “Two large cod with small chips, please,” replied Penny.
Jinnie was now on the St Albans Road heading for Hadley, and laughing, she said, “That was quick.” “We both like our Friday night fish,” replied Penny. “So do the twins,” said Jinnie. “But recently, they have been getting fish cakes and chips. I think Izzy is out with George, so you can help me put the twins to bed. They will like that, and you can listen to them read. They’re getting pretty good. Miss Evan has made them ‘Advanced Readers,’ so they aren’t reading the same books as the rest of the class.”
When Jinnie got home, the twins were in bed reading their book aloud with Izzy. Jinnie rushed upstairs, followed closely by Larry, and arrived just in time to hear the last couple of pages. Larry curled up on Millie’s feet and listened to Millie read a page, then Willie read the last page of the chapter. The only thing was, he had no idea what was going on and had no idea who or what ‘Moonface’ was, but he gathered he or it lived up a tree! Larry watched as Jinnie took the book and put it on the bedside table. Willie leapt out of bed, walked through the Jack and Jill bathroom, and climbed into his own bed. Larry knew it was sleep time when Izzy and Jinnie first kissed Millie goodnight, then followed Willie into his room. Larry followed Jinnie back downstairs after she and Izzy had kissed Willie goodnight and settled on her lap next to Paolo, who was watching TV. Life was good.
***
Thursday was a working-from-home day, and Jinnie joined Izzy in taking the twins to school. They watched them greet their friends and trot across the playground to the entrance of the reception classroom, where Miss Evans was waiting for them. Jinnie said to Izzy, “Those two are growing up so quickly. I know they’re not six for another month, but they have changed so much since they started here. They are so confident. I’m sure I wasn’t like them at that age.”
“I know I wasn’t,” said Izzy. “I don’t think I’ve told you this, but when Willie was in hospital, Millie was telling me that George fancied me. She could see it, and I couldn’t!” “I’m not surprised,” said Jinnie. “Tell me, have they told you Larry talks to them?” “Of course,” said Izzy, pulling out into traffic and heading for the house. “They say he puts words in their heads and reads their minds. I don’t see it myself.” “I do,” said Jinnie. “He does it with me and with Nigel. Haven’t you noticed how he is always on the windowsill a few minutes before I get home? That cat knows.”
In Chapter 30 – Tunisia
© WorthingGooner 2025