
The next morning, Hannah was
up bright and early to go to her record store. As she skipped down the
corridor, she saw a huge queue of people.
�What are you queuing for?�
She asked the woman at the back of the queue.
�The restaurant,� the woman replied.
�It�s got a massive waiting list.� She looked at
Hannah suspiciously. �NO queue jumping.� She added, quickly.
Hannah started to follow the
queue up the corridor.
�I didn�t know there was another restaurant in this corridor�� she muttered. The
queue seemed to go on for ages and it took her a good ten minutes to reach the
beginning of it. When she finally got there she nearly fell over in shock. It
was HER restaurant they were queuing for.
She was just coming to terms
with this exciting discovery when she registered who the guy heading the queue
was.
�GRANT?!�
�Hi.� He said, cheerily.
�What are you doing here?�
�I�I fancied another one of
those gorgeous curries.� He admitted.
�At 8�o�clock in the
morning?!� Hannah exclaimed.
�Yeah�� Grant looked shifty.
�So, where did all THEY come
from?� Hannah asked, pointing to the queue.
�I�I may have told a few
friends�� Grant said.
�Oh my God. I�ve got to open
up! We�ll make a fortune! I�ve got to get Jess!� Hannah poked her nose through
the letterbox and yelled: �JAMIE!"
Jamie, who had fallen asleep
on the cooker and had singed part of his face looked up.
��Eh?�
�Get the cooker going! I�m
going to get Jess!�
Hannah pulled her nose out of the
letterbox and ran down the corridor. �JESS! JESS!!� She screamed, panting, outside
Kurt�s house.
A window on the bottom floor opened up
and Kurt poked his head out. �She�s asleep!�
�Well wake her up!� Hannah insisted.
�But she�s sleeping!�
Hannah stopped. �Hang on a minute � Jess
never sleeps in. She�s usually the first one
awake!�
Kurt frowned. �I haven�t
heard or seen her come out of my bedroom yet.�
�JESS!�
Hannah threw a brick through the upstairs window.
�Go AWAY!
I�m rummaging!� Jess�s voice sounded.
�Through what?� Hannah called back.
�Drawers and cupboards.�
Jess said quietly. There was the sound of a door opening, then running down the
stairs and Jess emerged out of Kurt�s house fully dressed. �See you later,
Kurt!� Jess called.
�Oh, wait! I made you some lunch�� Kurt ran out with a saucepan
in his hand.
�Sorry, no time, bye!� Jess shut the door
behind her and turned to Hannah. �What do YOU want? I hope it�s something
good otherwise I�ll be angry I
passed up the offer of lunch.� She growled.
�Ah, shut up.� Hannah said, randomly.
�You won�t believe how popular our restaurant has
become!!�
�What
restaurant?� Jess had completely forgotten.
�You remember � Jamie Oliver
the chef, and so on?� Hannah reminded her.
�Oh�yeah.� Jess said,
vaguely.
�Well, LOOK!� Hannah and Jess turned a corner to
see a long winding queue that was snaking backwards and forwards and round
lamp-posts in the street.
�They�re blocking the
entrance to my book shop!� Jess ran and shooed the people in the queue away
from the front of her store, who ran off and quickly formed it elsewhere.
�NO!�
Hannah grabbed her by the sleeve. �Let�s go and make a fortune in the
restaurant!�
�But Andy Serkis is doing a
book signing tod-"
�NO!� Hannah dragged her
indoors. �Now put a pinny on and start serving.�
�Oh, arse.� Jess grabbed an apron and went into the kitchen.
�Jamie, what are we serving today?�
Jamie opened the fridge.
There was an onion and half a carrot inside.
��onion and carrot soup�?�
He suggested.
�Cool.� Jess went back into
the dining area.
�What can I get you?� Hannah
was asking Grant.
�Curry?�
�None left, sorry.�
�Oh.�
�You could have soup.�
Hannah suggested.
�No, it�s just not the
same�� Grant sniffed. He got up. �I�ll see you later.� He left.
�Noooooo! Come back!�
Hannah frowned. �Shite."
�40 soups, please, Jamie.�
Jess called through the hatch to the kitchen. Jamie looked at his onion and
half carrot.
�O-K�"
Jess was just about to take
more orders when Hannah came over to her.
�Grant�s GONE!�
�Yeah�?�
�Well�he shouldn�t be gone!�
�Well, he is.�
�Damn you and your
manipulative language skills.� Hannah stomped off.
Jess turned and looked at
the restaurant, packed full of people.
�Hello?"
�What?� She turned to Jamie
who was calling through the hatch.
�We�ve run out of food!�
�You�re the chef,� Jess said. �I
have no idea what that means.�
�No food means no meals!�
Jamie cried. (No, literally; the stress had become too much for him to cope
with).
�Well, rustle something up!�
Jess walked off.
�But-� Jamie sniffed. He
picked up the phone. �Hello? Nearest Sainsbury�s To Space? Yes, I�d like to
order some food��
10 minutes later, Jess and
Hannah were both really busy with serving.
There was the sudden sound
of a doorbell. This was most unusual as the restaurant didn�t have one. Jess
walked over to the front door and opened it up.
Outside there was a rather
battered-looking Sainsbury�s van.
�I�ve brought you your
shopping for Mr Jamie Oliver MBE.� A man in a Sainsbury�s cap announced.
�No thank you, I only shop at
Waitrose.� Jess shut the door.
�Please, Miss! I travelled
10,000 miles!� The man called through the letter box.
�Bog off, commoner.� Jess
poked a stick through the letterbox and succeeded in nearly gauging his eye
out.
She stomped back into the
restaurant.
�Food?� Jamie asked,
hopefully, poking his head out the kitchen door.
�Nope.� Jess replied. �Work
with what you�ve got.�
Jamie let out a sob of
despair and went back into the kitchen to scrape things out from under the cooker.
| << BACK TO CHAPTER FIVE | ON TO CHAPTER SEVEN >> |
� Jess and
Hannah 2003-2004
(Yes, that's right, it took us 18 months)