The Christmas Spirit (4 page)

4th December

Jacob arrived at the bakery ahead of schedule next day.
Natalie was juggling trays, so he bid her good morning and went to assist her.
Taking Natalie’s instructions on board from the day before, Jacob began to
arrange the cakes and pastries on the platters in the glass cabinet. They
smelled wonderful and his stomach rumbled. Natalie came up behind him just then
to hand him another batch of cakes, and said, ‘Haven’t you had breakfast?’

‘No, no time. I must have set my alarm wrong. It didn’t go
off.’

‘Right, well, as soon as we’re done with setting up, grab
yourself a croissant or something and a cup of tea. I don’t want you passing
out midmorning.’

‘Thanks. I’ll pay for it, of course.’

‘No, you won’t,’ Natalie insisted. ‘Right, I’m just off to
get the strawberry tarts.’

As he put them in the display case, Jacob marvelled at how
many types of cakes there were and how Natalie managed to make them all herself
without staying overnight in the bakery.
What time did she
come in in the morning?
Finished arranging the cakes, he unloaded the
dishwasher and stacked the dishes on the shelves, then asked Natalie what
needed to be done next. Natalie shouted through from the back, ‘Nothing urgent.
Just have some breakfast.’

So Jacob did as he was told, took a plate from the pile of
dishes he had just unloaded, a
pain au chocolat
from
the display case, and made himself some coffee. He noticed the machine was
already on. Natalie must have done it earlier; he knew industrial coffee
machines could take a while to heat up. As he munched on his pastry and sipped
his coffee, he thought about Natalie. She was a bit of an enigma. What must she
be? Thirty-five, forty, but with the kindly way of a grandmother, or rather,
what Jacob imagined a grandmother must be like. He had never known either of
his, as they had both died before he was born.

Although Natalie had spent much of the previous day bustling
back and forth between the kitchen and the front shop, Jacob had noticed her
way with the customers. She always had a kindly word for them. She was
interested. Chatting with the blind lady, she had told her that her dog had the
most beautiful coat and asked her and her companion how long they had been
coming here. She’d given the mum who had brought in the baby girl in the
front-facing carrier, some recipes for when she got older - swore by them. The
woman had been ever so grateful and promised to try them out and seemed pleased
at having been given such attention. Jacob realised he had no idea if Natalie
had children of her own, but he didn’t want to pry. Women could be complex
creatures, although he wasn’t speaking from his own recent experience, he
thought woefully. The chance of him getting a date was thin, even now that he
had a job. Despite the pay Natalie had discussed with Mrs Williams being at the
high end for a bakery assistant, it still really only covered essentials. He
could maybe afford to take someone for a coffee, but that would be about it;
the grand sum of his wooing efforts. It didn’t occur to him that not all girls
need the boy to pay, particularly if they know his circumstances.

Natalie and he muddled along quite well as the bakery became
busier. People were already starting to do their Christmas shopping, and the
radio churned out the same songs as it did every year. Unsurprisingly Natalie,
a jolly sort, Jacob thought, had the radio tuned constantly to stations playing
Christmas songs. She was clearly a festive sort of person. Jacob had never
enjoyed Christmas much. Christmas was for families and a time for them to spend
it together. Well, that was the general idea, but that concept appeared to have
passed his family by.

For a Wednesday, when many shops in the town closed for a
half day, the bakery café was hearteningly full. The cold snap helped, as those
who had braved the shops instead of ordering everything online entered the shop
frozen stiff. Jacob had heard varying reports on the weather.

‘A hard frost this morning, wasn’t it?’
‘I had to scrape my car windscreen today for the first time this year.’ ‘I’ll
need to dig out my gloves.’ ‘Must buy a new winter coat.’ ‘The sunshine’s
deceptive, isn’t it?’ ‘Weather forecast said it might be below zero overnight.’
‘Think I’ll be wearing my thermals tonight.’

The bakery fortunately was a haven for those seeking refuge
from the cold, with its ovens constantly emitting heat, as well as the café
section being centrally heated.

At twelve thirty, the door tinkled once more and a familiar
face appeared. Sophie.

Jacob grinned and said, ‘Ah, so she didn’t eat you alive
then?’

Returning his smile, Sophie said, moving her hair back from
her face, where the wind had blown it, ‘Nope, I got away with it. I think she
was distracted with too many other things. I did, however, display the spare
chocolate éclair on my desk to wind her up, and she was practically salivating
and giving me evils every time she walked past.’

‘Sounds like you’ve got the measure of her,’ Jacob laughed,
his face lighting up.

Natalie looked on, the corners of her mouth twitching. Jacob
had told her when they were closing up yesterday about Sophie’s evil boss.

‘So what can I get you today?’ asked Jacob.

‘I’m going to have some of that Rocky Road and the usual
carrot cake for The Ice Queen.’

‘Does she think she’ll be able to see in the dark if she
consumes it in vast quantities?’ said Jacob, as he used tongs to lift out a
slice of Rocky Road.

‘I don’t know about see in the dark, but she definitely
seems to have eyes in the back of her head,’ was Sophie’s witty comeback. ‘See
you’re busy again. Enjoying it?’

‘Yes,’ Jacob said, ‘We’ve had a right good mix of people in
and today everyone’s trying to get out of the cold.’

‘No wonder. It’s brass monkeys out there,’ Sophie shivered.
‘Tell you what, stuff Meredith. It’s
my
lunch hour.
Can I have a latte, please? I’m going to grab a table and read my book for half
an hour. You don’t mind do you, if I eat my sandwich here? I know I didn’t buy
it here...’ she tailed off.

Jacob, unsure, cast a glance at Natalie, who nodded that it
was fine. They didn’t sell sandwiches anyway and Sophie was still a paying
customer.

‘Sure, grab a seat. I’ll bring your coffee and cake over,’
Jacob replied, as he placed the carrot cake in a bag and handed it to her.

‘Thanks a lot,’ and Sophie ensconced herself in the corner
table near the window, which had just been vacated by an elderly couple. She
took out her e-reader and powered it up.

A few minutes later, Jacob brought her order and would have
stopped to chat, but a queue was forming again.

What a nice girl

Jacob had served at least a dozen customers one after the
other. He stopped to draw breath and wiped sweat from his brow with a handkerchief.
Working in a bakery, he was discovering, was hard work and it was hot, even on
the coldest day of the year so far. The ovens weren’t so far away and the
proximity to the coffee machines meant he was constantly boiling.He happened to glance up just as a girl came in, taking off her floppy velvet plum-coloured hat as she did so.

Jacob was struck dumb. She had a perfect rosebud mouth,
heart shaped face and porcelain skin, truly peaches and cream. Her hair
cascaded down her back over her plum trench coat and he stood transfixed, as
she pulled off her gloves. The girl gazed around as if she had never been there
before. Perhaps she hadn’t, thought Jacob, who clearly wasn’t in much of a
position to know. Noticing him smiling at her, she made her way towards the
counter.

‘Hi. Can I have a pot of tea, please, Earl Grey, if you have
it, and,’ she cast her eye across the selection of cakes and pastries, and came
up with, ‘A slice of that chocolate fudge cake. Does it come with cream?’

‘I can put some cream on it,’ Jacob said.

‘That would be great, thanks.’

Jacob signalled that he would bring it over and the girl
went to grab a seat.

As she sat down, she spied a woman sitting at the table next
to her, wearing a fabulous pair of black patent riding boots.

I must get a new pair
, thought
Rebecca.
Wonder who’ll buy them for me now; certainly not
Ethan
. She removed a newspaper from her bag, flipped to the Lettings
page and began to read.

‘Loch Rd. Modern luxury 2 bedroom
unfurnished flat in the popular Winstanton area. Station ten minutes walk away.
£500pcm.’

‘Grange Avenue. Set in a lovely, quiet,
residential and family area of Winstanton, this 2 bedroom unfurnished cottage
apartment offers fantastic living accommodation. Unfurnished. Available now. 
£500pcm.’

‘Knap Lane. Spacious first floor
apartment, available unfurnished and comprising of spacious and bright lounge
with balcony, newly fitted kitchen, 3 double bedrooms...’
Rebecca
stopped reading that one. She didn’t need three bedrooms, there would only be
her. Possibly there would always only be her. Sighing, she picked up a pen and
tapped it against her lips as she read on,

‘Barn Crescent. Offered to the market in
good internal condition, this particularly spacious two bedroom ex local
authority flat located in the Winstanton area...’
Rebecca peered at the
photo - ugh! She couldn’t bring herself to live there. And why was everything
at the top end of her budget? Five hundred pounds a month. She flicked through
a few pages, glancing solely at prices before finally noticing a couple which
were a little cheaper.

‘Unfurnished, modern second floor flat in
popular residential area, close to local amenities and transport routes.
Internally this property is in walk-in condition throughout and comprises
lounge with dining area, modern kitchen, 2 double bedrooms and bathroom with
shower. Further benefits include electric storage heating, double glazing,
secure door entry system and parking. £395 pcm. Viewing is recommended.’

Now that sounds more like it
,
Rebecca thought, although she pulled a face at the prospect of storage heaters.
She and Ethan had replaced the storage heaters in their flat with gas ones and
a new boiler, at considerable expense, as the storage heaters practically ate
money. At least the double glazing would help keep the heating bills down. With
energy costs constantly on the increase and some of the big six having just raised
their prices by eight percent, it was important to make savings where possible.
Listen to her, she sounded as if she was about eighty. That’s what this split
with Ethan had reduced her to; someone who talked, or thought, about the price
of gas and electricity. £395.
What was wrong with the flat?
she wondered. It hadn’t even occurred to her that in the twenty-first century a
rented flat could come without a shower; it didn’t bear thinking about. She
liked a bath as much as the next person, for a good long soak, in a cloud of
foamy bubbles, but not for the ten minutes she had in her rush to get out the
door every morning.

The secure door entry system was a big plus, as Rebecca was
terrified of being burgled; it had happened to her years ago when she had lived
in a ground floor flat and an intruder had broken in during the night. She had
disturbed him by getting up to go to the toilet. Fortunately they hadn’t come
face to face and the next morning it had become clear that he had escaped
through the living room window. When Ethan and she had been together, she had
felt so much safer in the knowledge he would be there every night and gradually
the fear had left her, but now it had returned. She had still insisted on an
alarm when she moved in with him. Rental properties, at least flats, were
unlikely to have burglar alarms.

Unbeknownst to Rebecca, as she perused the newspaper, Jacob
whilst bustling around preparing her latte and cake, couldn’t take his eyes off
her. He knew he had a queue of customers to deal with, but somehow he needed to
find out if this girl came in regularly, or if this was his one chance. Did he
look presentable? Would it be bad business practice for him to ask for her
number? All this ran through his head as he added the swirl to her latte and
the cream to her cake.

‘Be with you in just a second,’ he said to the next person
in line.

‘I’ll get it,’ Natalie said, materialising behind him.

Phew
, thought Jacob. That would
give him some breathing space. He weaved his way around the tables, smiled at
Sophie, who happened to glance up from her book just then, and set Rebecca’s
order in front of her.

‘There you go. Can I get you anything else? Sugar, perhaps?’

‘No, I’m fine, thanks.’

She’s sweet enough
, thought Jacob,
catching himself just in time from voicing that.

Going for the brave approach, he dived in. ‘I haven’t seen
you in here before.’

Clearly thinking he would have already been halfway back to
the counter, Rebecca looked up from the property ads, frowned slightly and
said, ‘That’s because today’s my first visit.’

‘Ah...’ Jacob was stuck for what to say next, but managed to
stammer out, ‘Well, don’t make it your last,’ and gave her what he hoped was
his least scary, non-stalkerish smile.

‘I won’t,’ she smiled at him, then returned her attention to
her newspaper.

What a beautiful girl, well spoken, too,
but such sad eyes
. Jacob wondered what was going on in her life that was
making her so sad.

Sophie, at the next table, had observed this exchange with interest. When she left ten minutes later, she said, ‘Bye, Jacob. See you tomorrow.’

‘Bye, Sophie, say hi to Cruella for me.’