‘Got sprayed with hot water. The indicator light on the dishwasher’s broken.’
Sanja stepped forward and opened the dishwasher door, turning her face away. An angry cloud of steam rolled into the air. She picked out the dishes gingerly and began stacking them on the counter. Sam muttered something under his breath and walked out of the kitchen with Nikki in tow. At the sound of the kitchen hands’ snickers, Nikki paused. She didn’t need to see if Sam was okay. Sam was fine. She took her place at the bar. ‘Bloody idiots,’ she muttered.
‘Who?’ Olive asked.
‘Those guys in the back.’
‘Don’t let them get to you. They’re just resentful,’ Olive reminded her.
‘Probably,’ Nikki said. ‘But sometimes I can see where they got the idea from – Sam hired me without any experience. It raises eyebrows doesn’t it?’
Olive shrugged. ‘He saw potential in you. Maybe he was attracted to you as well, but he tried to ask you out ages after you started working here and you said no. He hasn’t treated you any differently since.’
‘He has, actually. I used to be able to just chat and laugh with him but since then it’s just uncomfortable. It’s all Garry and Viktor’s fault.’ Secretly she blamed herself as well. Why did she have to go and compliment Sam?
‘Tell them off then,’ Olive said. ‘Go on. Put them in their place.’
For all of Nikki’s outrage, she squirmed at the thought of confronting those guys face to face. She was afraid of what they might say in response – you were asking for it. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to convince them that they were wrong. ‘It’s not such a big deal. I can just ignore them,’ Nikki said.
Olive raised an eyebrow but she said nothing. The doors swung open and a young man appeared in the doorway. Nikki didn’t have time to hide her pleased reaction. Olive followed her gaze to Jason as he made his way to the bar.
‘Who’s that?’
‘This guy I met the other day,’ Nikki mumbled, mouth curling into a smile. She busied herself suddenly, wiping down the gleaming countertop. ‘Oh hey,’ she said casually as Jason approached.
‘O’Reilly’s pub,’ he said. ‘There are about seventeen of them. This is my fourth try.’
‘I said “Shepherd’s Bush”, didn’t I?’ Nikki asked.
Jason considered this. ‘Possibly. I missed that.’
‘She didn’t give you the address?’ Olive asked. ‘I’m Olive, by the way. Nikki’s lady-in-waiting.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ Jason said. ‘This is really embarrassing, but I have to use the bathroom before I order anything.’
Nikki pointed out the toilets. ‘He’s cute,’ Olive commented once Jason was out of earshot.
‘You think so? I don’t know,’ Nikki said.
‘Bollocks. I saw the look on your face when he walked in. How did you meet?
‘At the temple, of all places. We were both taking smoke breaks in the same alleyway. I didn’t get a chance to ask him what he was doing in the temple in the first place.’
‘Praying, perhaps?’
‘It’s more of a giant social club. People show up to pay their respects for about two minutes and then they join their friends in the dining hall to eat free food and gossip. It’s hardly a spiritual place for the majority of young people.’
‘So maybe he was there to meet with friends.’
‘Ah,’ Nikki said. ‘That’s a problem. I don’t date guys who hang out at the temple. I mean, they live in this great big city where the world is at their doorstep and a gurdwara is their social stomping ground?’
Olive gave her a look. ‘You’re doing it again.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Being overly critical. Give the boy a chance. He went to every O’Reilly’s pub in London to find you. That’s keen isn’t it?’
‘Maybe a bit too keen,’ Nikki said.
‘Nikki,’ Olive sighed.
‘All right. I’m resisting him a little. I don’t know why.’
‘I’ve got a theory.’
‘Don’t tell me I’ve got residual issues with my father,’ Nikki warned. ‘You’ve tried that theory before, it only made me feel like shit.’
‘Not your dad, your mum. Jason’s the kind of boy your mum would want you to date. A nice Punjabi boy.’ There was a devious twitch in Olive’s smile.
‘Oh god, Olive. What if he was at the temple that day to check out marriage profiles?’ Nikki asked. ‘What if he had checked out Mindi’s? That’s – that’s incest of sorts.’
Olive hushed her as Jason approached the bar. There was an awkward silence between the three of them. The trivia announcer’s voice boomed across the pub.
‘What is the second most populated city in Mexico? For three points, the second most populated city in Mexico.’
‘Guadalajara,’ Jason said. He turned to Nikki. ‘Can I order a Guinness please?’
‘Oh, of course,’ Nikki said, springing into action. She noticed Olive studying Jason carefully.
‘Jason, can I ask a question to clarify something?’ Olive asked.
‘Sure.’
‘Why were you at the temple the day you met Nikki?’
Nikki froze, her hand wrapped around a glass. ‘Olive!’
‘Let’s just get it out of the way, shall we? And then I’ll get out of your way.’
‘You’ll have to excuse my friend,’ Nikki began but Olive held up her hand to stop her.
‘Let the man speak,’ Olive said.
Jason cleared his throat. ‘I was there to give thanks.’
‘Really?’ Nikki asked.
Jason nodded. ‘My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and the doctors just told her that she’s in remission. It was a fairly close call, so I wanted to have a little chat with God and let him know that I was grateful.’
Olive shot Nikki a smile and excused herself from the bar, taking her drink with her and disappearing into the crowd of trivia participants. ‘I’m sorry to hear about your mum,’ Nikki said. ‘That must have been hard.’
‘It was, but she’s better now. I have to admit, I don’t turn to religion often, especially not at the temple, but there was a familiar peace to it.’
‘My father died a couple of years ago. Heart attack,’ Nikki said.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Thanks,’ Nikki said. ‘It was very sudden. Happened in his sleep.’ She didn’t know why she was telling Jason this. Suddenly her face felt warm and she was glad for the pub’s dim lighting. ‘So have you got any family in London then?’ she asked.
‘A distant uncle and aunt. They live near the temple in Southall. Every time I visit, they insist that I move in with them. My aunt is really concerned that I have nobody to cook for me.’
‘Parents are like that,’ Nikki said. ‘My mother recited a whole list of terrible consequences that befell girls living on their own. Starvation was up there after rape and murder.’