Five minutes later, Doreen and Eliza walked in and Queenie wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. ‘What am I gonna do, Aggie? As far as Albie knows my work friends know about our relationship.’

‘Well, you can’t exactly ignore ’em. Go over and, oops, they’re coming over ’ere.’

‘Good evening, Queenie. I thought you were staying in this evening,’ Doreen smirked.

‘Erm, I was. Then Aggie twisted my arm to go out, didn’t you, Aggs?’

‘Yes. I invited Queenie out with me and Terry.’

‘Ahh, that’s nice,’ Doreen’s tone was full of sarcasm and Queenie could tell she knew.

‘Go and snatch those two chairs, Eliza. You don’t mind us sitting with you, do you, Queenie?’ Doreen grinned.

‘No. Course not.’

‘Shuffle up then.’

‘I’ll get us a drink,’ said Eliza. She felt awkward and kind of wished she hadn’t offered to accompany Doreen now.

‘Just a single for me. Don’t get me a double like some people do,’ Doreen shouted out.

Feeling the bad vibes, Terry Marney couldn’t wait to get away from the table. ‘I’m going to have a chat with Mick the Fish. You coming to say hello to him, Aggie?’

‘No. I’ll stay with Queenie.’

Doreen sipped her drink while watching Albie try to catch Queenie’s eye. She was livid. She had truly thought of Queenie as one of her best friends.

Knowing the game was up, Queenie took a deep breath. ‘There’s something I need to tell you, Doreen. I wanted to tell you before now, but when you found out Jimmy was married, I didn’t know how to.’

‘Cut the bullshit, Queenie. I heard every word your loudmouth mate said in the shop earlier. Alfie, my arse. I hate fucking liars. My mum reckons they’re worse than thieves. You are a conniving, nasty little bitch and I do hope you have the decency to jack in your job as I never want to lay eyes on you again.’

Queenie was stunned. ‘It’s not my fault that Albie preferred me to you, is it? Perhaps if you hadn’t acted like a drunken tramp on New Year’s Eve, throwing yourself at him, things might have been different for you. That’s why I never told you. I knew you’d be jealous. As for my job, I ain’t going nowhere. You leave the shop.’

Eliza was horrified. People were looking. ‘Come on, Doreen. Let’s go.’

‘You evil little cow,’ Doreen shrieked, chucking her drink in Queenie’s face.

Spotting the fracas, Albie appeared by Queenie’s side. ‘What’s going on? You OK, my love?’

‘Yes, I’m fine thanks, Albie.’

‘Come on, Doreen. Let’s go,’ Eliza urged, grabbing her friend by the arm. Her dad would be furious if he heard about this. He liked Doreen, but didn’t approve of his daughter socializing with her outside of work. He said she was a common shiksa with a drink inside her.

Doreen stood up. ‘Albie Butler. The man who sells bootleg booze for a living. Oh yes, I’ve done my homework on you too, asked around. Good luck to the pair of you. You deserve one another.’