“Nah, at lunch.”

“And what do you think of this, Alice? Someone so young being allowed in an overage club? On a school night?” She stopped mopping.

Alice shrugged her broom. “If the kid wants to do it and it doesn’t hurt anyone, why not let them do it?”

“Yeah T, lighten up, you’re only young once.” Having finished swinging her legs on the counter top, Jamie leapt down for emphasis, her eyes betraying the lack of sleep.

A bellow from beyond the kitchen was felt through each girl, stopping them in their tracks. “Will you lot shut up out there? You know I’m trying to catch up on the Cosby Show!”

Jamie’s dead eyes flickered excitedly. “Oh, oh Martha! Is this the one where Theo finds the dead body?” She made a hasty exit towards the direction of the large woman’s roar.

“So what are we doing this weekend, coz I won’t be young for much longer.” Alice batted her eyelids sweetly at Tina. Tina shook her head disapprovingly, taking a glance at her watch.

“You might as well go on your break now that Jamie’s here. I’m off in half an hour and you and Jamie are closing. I think you lot can handle it.” She returned to the dirty floor that was beckoning for attention.

“Sure we can. Say, where’s that other girl that was sposed to be starting with us?”

“Martha said she had rescheduled the meeting for this afternoon. More fresh meat to play with.” Tina smiled at the tiles. Bopping up and down on the spot uncomfortably, Alice dug her hands into her back pockets. Upon realising that Tina had said all she was going to, Alice stuck a 180 towards the kitchen.

“Hey Alice?”

“Yup?”

“I’m free Saturday night if you wanna do something.”

“Cool Tina. Cool, we’ll- Oh *****,” she slapped her forehead. “I have to open with Jamie on Sunday morning.”

Tina, still bent over the mop, looked up devilishly from under her eyes, blonde strands of hair sticking to her face.

“I know.”

********************

The highlight of Tina’s last thirty minutes was when “The Locomotion” came blaring through the radio. Spinning through the swinging door, Jamie jived candidly in front of the caf’s regular customers for a few moments before requesting money for an encore. As they clapped, Tina shoved her back into the kitchen where Alice was chomping on a carrot.