Chapter 3: Emma
Turning off the road down her private drive, Emma inhaled deeply. Her small cottage sat only a few hundred feet from a canal leading out to the bay so the scent of salt air was always present. Staring out the windshield at her house, she mentally ran through all of the things she needed to accomplish today.
Laundry was at the top of her list. The only downside to her cottage was that a washer and dryer were not included, meaning Emma needed to venture down the highway to one of the few laundromats. She had a key to the main house and the owner's children said she was always welcome to use the washer and dryer inside even if they were visiting, but she only did when no one else was around. The eldest brother, George, was currently spending the week at the house with his new girlfriend. Emma had met her last night when they arrived, her fancy car loaded with equally expensive suitcases.
With her pantry and fridge nearly bare, grocery shopping was equally as high on the list. Knowing she should complete the those two tasks first, she took another deep breath preparing herself for a few hours of her least favorite activities before climbing out of the bug and bounding up the steps to the cottage.
Once inside, the dishes in her sink and shoes piled up by the front door nagged her immediately. She wasn't one to procrastinate often, but found herself with an overwhelming desire to deep clean the cottage despite having more pressing chores to complete. She entered the kitchen grabbing her still charging phone off the counter and shot off a quick text to her boss at the restaurant saying that she would be there tomorrow. Looking at the time, she resigned herself to no more than three hours of deep cleaning before taking on her less favorite responsibilities.
Swiping her thumb across the phone, she pressed the music app and slid the volume all the way up. Not that she'd ever admit it to anyone, but Taylor Swift's 1989 album was perfect to blast and sing along to while cleaning. As Taylor crooned about classic styles Emma quickly washed and dried the dishes in the sink before moving to wipe down all of the counters. She followed it with scrubbing the sink, then she moved onto sweeping the floor, using the handle of the broom as a microphone to sing along.
By the time the last track on the album played, her living room and dining room had been straightened up and dusted, and her bathroom surfaces gleamed with a strong scent of lemon in the air. Pausing only to find some more upbeat music on her phone, she replaced the towels in the bathroom with her favorite waffle textured teal ones and switched out her gray sheets for a pristine white set. After making the bed, she gathered up all of the laundry into plastic baskets, sliding them across the wooden floor to her front door. Working backward, she mopped her way toward the front door, gathering the things she needed to take with her on the way. She tossed the laundry out onto the front step and made one final go of the mop across the foyer before shutting and locking the door behind her.
Emma was thrilled to find no one else at the laundromat. Pulling out a roll of quarters from her pocket, she quickly sorted her clothing from towels and bedding, filling up five of the washers at once.
Easing herself down into the hard plastic chair, she pulled a notepad from her bag and started on her grocery list. It was going to be an expensive trip. She had used the last of the paper towels, Lysol and Pine Sol during her cleaning spree earlier. Having waited so long to wash clothing, she depleted her supply of laundry detergent as well. Emma tapped the pen against the notepad, trying to figure out what she could eat for this week.
Lettuce
Carrots
Tomato
Cucumber
Green pepper
Onion
Canned tomatoes
Pasta
Cream
Ground beef
Chicken breast
Garlic bread
She scrawled down the list of ingredients. Emma wasn't much of a cook, but she could make a pretty decent meal of spaghetti and meatballs. She couldn't eat spaghetti and meatballs without a salad and the leftover veggies could make up a second meal, topped with a baked chicken breast. Mentally she ran through her pantry again, adding to the list.
Cereal
Milk
Bananas
Bread
Berries
Cheese
Chocolate chips
Paper towels
Laundry detergent
Pine sol
Lysol
Toothpaste
She dropped the pen on the pad. She planned to spend tomorrow morning being lazy and making a banana Nutella stuffed French toast she saw on the cooking channel last week, but now that she had to go into work, the French toast would just need to become dinner tonight. Deeming her list complete, she dropped the notepad back into her bag and pulled out a weathered paperback, fingers sliding to the dog eared page with ease.
Just as she emerged herself fully in the story, the loud buzzer of the washers sounded, indicating her items were ready to move over to the dryers. Dumping each load into the basket show made her way around washers to the row of dryers behind it, tossing each load in. Flopping down onto another uncomfortable chair, she continued to read until the buzzer of the dryers sounded. She quickly folded the items and made two trips hauling it all back out to her car. Emma briefly pondered if she should return home with her laundry before heading out to the grocery store. Her backseat was full with laundry and the trunk of the bug wasn't exactly spacious.
Checking her phone she realized it was already after two and decided to just hope for the best that her groceries could fit in the small car as well. As she expected, the grocery store was packed. During the summer the store increased their hours, opening at six in the morning and closing at midnight. Emma usually spent the entire summer shopping right after opening or right before close to avoid the summer crowds. Making her way down the crowded aisles she tossed the ingredients into the cart.
While standing in the six person deep check out line, she pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through social media, seeing if anything interesting was going on. The Chamber of Commerce had a post reminding visitors and residents about the laws for dogs on the beach. Emma snorted at the irony of it.
Finally it was her turn to check out. She quickly placed the items onto the belt and had her debit card in hand by the time the cashier gave her the total. It wasn't quite as much as she expected but was definitely more than her usual weekly budget. "I probably shouldn't tell you this," the cashier whispered conspiratorially, "but you can get a lot of cleaning supplies and household stuff on Amazon if you have a Prime account."
Emma nodded. "I don't have one, but I've been thinking about it. Thanks for the tip."
"No problem. I couldn't convince myself it was worth it to spend that kind of money each year just for a service, but ever since I did, now I order so much stuff from there it's more than worth it. And really amazing in the summer when you can just order something and have it show up in two days instead of braving the tourist traffic to go shopping." The cashier replied, putting the last bag into the cart.
"Yeah not dealing with tourist traffic probably covers the cost. Thanks again." Emma replied with a wave to the cashier.
Arriving back home she put away the groceries and then started on her third most hated task. Hanging up clean laundry. Washing and drying it, at least when she could do it in the main house wasn't so bad, but putting it away was torture. Most weeks she put off the task so long her dirty clothes for the week ended up piled up next to the clean ones still in the basket. With a mental shake, she put away the towels and bedding first since that was the easier, then finally moved onto putting away her clothing.
Aside from the crepe and hot chocolate this morning and a quarter of a Kind bar from the grocery store sample tray, Emma hadn't ate anything else. Flipping open her laptop, she brought up the stuffed french toast recipe.
Nearly a half hour later Emma had a plate full of banana nutella stuffed french toast with a side of crispy bacon. Settling down on her couch, she turned on the television and flipped through the channels, trying to find something to catch her interest while she ate.
Four hours later the interior design show marathon had ended, leaving Emma with an odd desire to shop. When she arrived in this town almost three years ago, she brought only two suitcases and three boxes with her. Knick knacks were not included.
The cottage came furnished with what Emma assumed were cast off pieces from the main house at one point in time. The front door opened to the living room which had a couch and reclining chair, one end table and a television stand complete with television and DVD player. A half wall separated the living room from the dining room which had a four person table and chairs that Emma almost never used. A coffee pot and microwave were the only small appliances in the kitchen, but it was enough. Emma was shocked enough to have a dishwasher. To the left of the living room was a small hallway. On the left side was her bedroom, facing the front of the cottage with its own en suite bathroom. The bedroom furniture was white, not really her style, but free furniture was free furniture. On the opposite side of the hall was another bathroom and the second bedroom. She never used either of the rooms, keeping both of the doors shut.
Although furnished, the cottage didn't come with everything one needed to live there. Four sets of mismatched plates and bowls, a random assortment of cutlery (six butter knives but only two forks) and one pot, one skillet and one glass baking dish sat forgotten in the cabinets until she took over the cottage. Slowly she started to purchase additional items, taking full advantage of the outlets and sales. Now she had a pretty decently stocked kitchen, more than she ever had before.
Last winter, Jeff had given her and Rachelle generous holiday bonuses. Rachelle, who had recently visited Emma's cottage for the first time and found it lacking personality, had dragged Emma to Home Goods, and shoved her down the aisles, tossing things from practically every shelf into the cart.
Emma protested the entire time, stating she didn't really need any of these items, but Rachelle was relentless. Ninety minutes and a few hundred dollars poorer, Emma was now the proud owner of two sets of sheets, two sets of bath towels, new bedding, a shower curtain, a toothbrush holder (really, the side of the sink was just fineā¦), a laundry basket, two candles and a picture to hang in the bedroom.
It was an odd feeling, having more than just the necessities. She made enough money to get by and allow herself some luxuries here and there. She was no longer counting the pennies in the cupholder of the Bug wondering how far she could make it until she ran out of gas. She wasn't sneaking into hotel rooms after the occupants who paid for it checked out, just so she could shower and wash her clothing in the sink. For the first time in her life, the cottage and this quaint coastal town felt like home.
Perching her laptop (where the rest of the holiday bonus went) on the arm of the couch she typed "Amazon" into the browser and began reading about the perks of a Prime account.
Not long later she had a ton of items in her cart, all eligible for Prime shipping, but she couldn't bring herself to commit just yet, even for the trial. With a sigh, she closed the laptop and headed off to bed.
-\-
Hot chocolate in her to-go cup, Emma backed out of her driveway and onto the road, heading toward the restaurant. She parked a couple of blocks over, not because there weren't any closer spots, but because she could finish off her hot chocolate before reaching the restaurant.
"Morning Emma!" David called as soon as she stepped inside. "Thanks so much for taking this shift. I owe ya."
"You could give me off not this coming Saturday but the next one. Then I could have a two-day weekend all to myself before the tourist come." Emma replied.
Rick nodded, typing into the computer at the hostess station. "You work every other week for Jeff, right?"
"Yeah, off today, obviously. Working next week." Emma replied.
"I can't do the one you want, but what if I give you off the second one after that? Mid-May. Two weeks before Memorial weekend." David asked.
"Really? That close to the holiday?" Emma didn't think he could spare the staff that late in the pre-season.
"Yeah, I'm starting the temporary help for the summer the first of May. They'll have two weekends under their belt." David answered.
"Then yeah, I'll take it. But you better not cut my hours and give them to the temps." Emma teased, knowing David always did everything in his power to give his year-round staff the hours they needed before scheduling for the temporary summer help.
"Don't tempt me." He teased back, typing something into the computer. "All scheduled. No changes, I promise."
"Thanks Dave." Emma replied, heading to the back to clock in and put on her apron.
The brunch shift went quickly, the bridal shower ending up being one of the easiest tables she ever waited on. Their only request was to keep the mimosas flowing, all choosing to eat from the buffet and even stacking up their dirty plates at the end of the table for Emma to quickly grab as she dropped off another tray full of the orange juice and champagne concoctions.
"Can you bring us a large trash bag, please?" One of the women, a bridesmaid Emma assumed, called out. "Kathryn is going to open gifts now."
Emma nodded, returning quickly with not just the requested trash bag, but a notepad and pen from the stockroom so someone could keep track of who bought what for the bride.
"Oh thank you, sweetie!" An older woman proclaimed. Emma assumed it was the mother of the bride. "You've been such a great server to us. Please sit down and have a slice of this pie my sister brought in while Kathryn opens her gifts."
Emma tried to decline, saying she had other tables to wait on, but the woman persisted. Finally, she gave in, sinking into a chair in the back of the room, slice of lemon cake with buttercream frosting in front of her.
She watched as the bride opened her gifts; household necessities mixed in with lingerie. When everything was finally open and the guests started to leave, Emma took away the trash bag full of discarded wrapping paper and bows and began cleaning up the room.
The older woman approached her again, two crisp hundred dollar bills in her hand. "Thank you. My daughter's shower was perfect."
Emma shook her head. "I can't take that kind of money from you. I was just doing my job. I'm glad you all had a good time."
"I insist." The older woman argued.
"Really, I can't. There was gratuity factored into the room rental." Emma explained.
The other woman frowned, stuffing one of the bills into her purse and holding out the other. "I refuse to leave you any less than this. You could easily have made this in tips in the two hours we took of your time. "
Emma finally relented and thanked the woman for the generous tip. It wasn't quite true, it was still too early in the season to make that kind of money in tips just yet.
She took the rest of the dirty dishes back to the kitchen, swiping a muffin from the pastry cart. She ate it in the break room, shoving her apron back into her small locker and pulling out her to-go cup and cell phone.
Waving to the cooks as she exited back through the kitchen, she made it out of the restaurant and down the steps before David called out to her. Turning around, she met him midway on the steps. He handed her a plain white envelope.
"What's this?" Emma asked, taking it from him.
"Bonus." David replied avoiding her eyes.
"Liar. You give end of summer bonuses not before summer bonuses." She replied, sliding her finger under the flap of the envelope to open it. She found a crisp hundred dollar bill inside. "I told her.."
"I know. She told me you refused the tip but then found me and said I absolutely had to give it to you." David explained.
"How would she even know? You could have just kept it." Emma asked.
"She was a convincing old woman. I wasn't asking questions. And I'd never take tip money from an employee!" David defended himself.
"I know! That's not what I meant. I just.." Emma trailed off.
"Just take the damn money Emma. The woman obviously thought you were an amazing server and wanted to reward you for it." David ran a hand through his hair, obviously frustrated with her.
"Fine."
"Fine." He echoed. "See ya Tuesday night."
Emma nodded, shoving the envelope into her back pocket and heading toward where she parked the bug. I guess this is a sign to just get the damn Prime account she thought.
