The water and five minutes in the sun helped, and fortunately Penny was ahead of herself in terms of kitchen prep so, as long as it was a quiet service, she knew she’d have time to nap before dinner. She definitely felt delicate, though, and so it was with a wince that she heard the gravel of the car park being flung into the air as somebody spun around and into a parking bay at a speed about twenty times higher than they should. Two more cars followed behind.

‘What the hell …?’ she said, under her breath, glancing out the window. ‘Who the hell are these guys, Manuela? Have you seen them? All the sports cars in the car park?’

‘The boys,’ said Manuela, rolling her eyes. ‘A big group of them – maybe every three or four months. They come, they drink, and then they drive home.’

‘They drink and drive?’

Manuela nodded.

‘But they also spend a lot.’

‘Figures,’ said Penny, craning her neck to try and see them better. ‘I should say something. They can’t drive that fast! They could honest-to-god kill somebody! Urgh!’

‘Idiots,’ said Manuela.

Later, Charlie said a table out front wanted to meet the chef. It had happened a few times since her arrival, though it still surprised Penny that guests could be so kind as to tell her they’d enjoyed her food face to face.

When the kitchen ran well it was like a ballet – her and Manuela working in harmony to create the dishes, Paul on the pastry section and Ollie in the pot-wash. It was true teamwork, and those shifts, where Penny truly occupied herself in the moment, were her happiest, and it was often reflected in the food. Those were the shifts where people requested to shake her hand, asking after her uncle and her future plans for the place. Those were the days she felt like she belonged. Today, though, had not been one of those days. Her hangover meant Penny had felt agitated and irritable. She’d snapped at Manuela and at Paul. Everything felt like too much work, and on those days the veneer of positivity she’d adopted – that she was okay being there, that she didn’t miss Bridges that much, that it was only for a year anyway – came crashing down. She’d tried to get out of going out front and speaking to the customers who’d requested her but Charlie said the group were insistent, and it was then Penny understood it was the group of men who drove their fancy cars and drank too much for a lunch and were stupid enough to drive home afterwards.

‘Oh god,’ she said to Charlie. ‘Let the record show I tried to fight you on this, so if I now end up fighting one of these fools that’s my get-out-of-jail-free card, okay?’