‘Yes, thank you.’ I smile warmly.
‘My name is Angelina and I’m your waitress today. Would you like to sit by the window?’
‘That will be fine.’ I follow Angelina through the diner and scan the area as I go. It’s big and must have at least seventy covers. The walls are white and with the big windows, the whole place has a light and airy feel. I sit down at the table and Angelina passes me a menu and runs through the specials. I order a glass of juice and Angelina leaves me to peruse the menu. She comes back a few minutes later with a glass and juice bottle balanced on a circular tray.
‘So are you here on vacation?’ asks Angelina as she takes the bottle opener from her apron pocket and flips the lid.
‘Kind of,’ I say, delighted with this opening that I didn’t even have to try for. ‘I’m actually trying to find a friend of a friend. Last I heard she worked here.’ I smile again at Angelina and she looks expectantly. ‘Martha Munroe. Does she still work here?’
‘Martha? Well, no. She hasn’t worked here for about a month.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame,’ I say, hoping I look disappointed. ‘You don’t know how I can get hold of her, do you?’
‘You can’t. No one can. She’s gone off travelling with her friend.’
‘Really? Who’s that?’ And then seeing Angelina look at me suspiciously, I add, ‘I wonder if it might be someone I know.’
‘Alice Kendrick. You know her?’
‘Is that the girl who Martha lived with?’
‘That’s right,’ says Angelina, and I can almost see her lower her guard again. ‘Although, it beats me why Martha would want to go travelling with Alice. Not after what happened between those two girls.’
‘Which was?’ I prompt when it appears Angelina isn’t going to continue.
‘I don’t know if I really should be talking about them,’ says Angelina. ‘It’s kinda bad to speak behind their backs.’
‘But I am a friend of Martha’s. Did they have some kind of disagreement?’ I’m hedging my bets, but I feel I can’t let this opportunity slip by.
‘You could say that.’
Chapter 20
I look expectantly at Angelina, willing her to get on with it. She settles herself into the seat opposite me and leans forward, her hands clasped together in front of her.
‘Martha has always been such a good friend to Alice, right from the very first time Alice came into the diner. Alice had that look about her, the sort that said how sad and alone she was. Martha spotted it straight away,’ says Angelina. ‘You know why?’
I shake my head. ‘No, go on.’
‘Martha had once been just like that, alone and sad. Martha didn’t tell everyone but she confided in me about the things she had to endure at home. Her mother was none too good to her; she didn’t have a father either. Martha just wasn’t loved. She was a burden to her family.’
‘And she saw this in Alice?’
‘Yep. Martha recognised that in Alice. Martha really felt for that Kendrick girl. She went and talked to her. Each time Alice came in, Martha would always make time for her. Soon they became real good friends.’
‘So what happened between them?’ I ask.
‘The stepmother. She didn’t like Martha from the word go. Thought Martha was a bad influence on Alice. She didn’t like it that Alice now had a life and was going out and meeting people her own age and all that.’ Angelina takes a furtive glance around the diner. ‘I can’t stop long or I’ll get in trouble from my manager.’
‘Okay, so just quickly, how come Martha and Alice fell out but still ended up going travelling together?’
‘Alice was a quiet girl and totally under the thumb from her dad and stepmom. Martha used to encourage Alice to stick up for herself. After Alice’s father died, she asked Martha to move in. Martha was being kicked out of her home and had nowhere to go, Alice was lonely and really relied on Martha’s friendship, so it seemed like the perfect solution. Of course, Roma wasn’t happy about it. To cut a long story short, Martha and Roma had an argument about Martha’s influence on Alice, which then put a strain on Martha and Alice.’
‘They fell out over it?’
‘Yeah. Martha was all set to move out, said she couldn’t live in the same house as Roma.’ Angelina is enjoying retelling the events.
‘So, what happened next?’ Considering Angelina is worried about her boss, she’s not exactly rushing herself.
‘Well, they argued. Alice begged Martha to stay and rowed with her stepmom, but in the end, it was Alice’s house, so evil stepmom didn’t have a choice. As it happened, she had to move back to Jacksonville and didn’t want Alice anyway.’
‘And now the girls have gone travelling?’
‘Yeah. Martha left a note on the manager’s desk that she quit. Sent me a text message to say she and Alice were travelling round Europe and that was that. I haven’t heard from her since. She never even replied to my messages.’