Christmas at the Dog & Duck

by Jill Steeples

  Thinking about it, there were a dozen other terrifying options for the pub, but perhaps it was better not to even contemplate those. ‘We’re just going to have to stay positive and hope to goodness that whoever buys the pub loves it as much as we do and wants to keep it just as it is.’

  Eric sucked on his lips, before a wry smile appeared. ‘That’s what I love about you, Ellie. Your sunny nature and your ability to look on the bright side of every situation.’

  ‘I try!’ Just then the distinctive sound of glass shattering across the old stone floor followed by an almighty cheer resonated from the snug bar. ‘Uh-oh, the natives are getting restless, I’d better go and see what’s happened.’

  Grabbing the dustpan and brush from the under stairs cupboard, I went back into the bar and proceeded to sweep up the remains of a broken beer jug, to a chorus of encouragement from the revellers. The guy who had been so fascinated by my plaits just a little while earlier joined me on the floor, on all-fours.

  ‘Please be careful,’ I told him. ‘There’s glass everywhere. Why don’t you go back to your friends? I’ll have this all cleared up in a moment.’

  ‘But I’d like to help, Heidi. Here…’ He shuffled forwards on his hands and knees, reaching for a shard of glass. ‘Oh fuck! Ouch. Shit. Ooh look, it’s bleeding.’

  Typical! I thought I’d managed to sweep up all the glass, but there’d been one remaining piece and my new friend had only gone and found it and embedded it into his hand.

  ‘Oh dear. Come on,’ I said, offering him a hand up so he could get up off the floor. ‘Let’s get you cleaned up.’

  He grabbed hold of my arm with his good hand, and held his other hand up in the air, all the time dripping blood down his arm and across the floor.

  ‘Are you going to take me home with you?’ he asked, as I led him through the bar, carefully avoiding the other customers so as not to splatter them with blood.

  ‘No,’ I laughed, ‘I’m taking you to the kitchen so we can get that finger cleaned up and get a plaster on it.’

  ‘Oh, that’s a shame.’

  ‘Everything all right?’ Eric asked, meeting us halfway, a look of concern on his face.

  ‘Yep, fine. Just a little accident. Nothing that can’t be sorted. I’m just taking…’ I stopped and turned to look at my drunken charge, who was actually being very compliant. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Kirk.’

  ‘I’m just taking Kirk to get his finger sorted.’

  Eric nodded and went on his way, checking on the other customers, a relieved smile on his face.

  In the kitchen I ran Kirk’s finger under the tap and wrapped some kitchen roll around it to stem the bleeding. Then I found a plaster from the first-aid tin and placed it gently over the cut.

  ‘Thank you, Heidi,’ he said, gratitude shining in his glazed eyes as he looked down at his finger and then back at me. Honestly, the way he was looking at me, adoringly, you would have thought I’d just performed major life-saving surgery. Not just stuck a plaster round his finger. ‘You’re lovely you are, do you know that?’

  ‘All part of the service,’ I said with a smile, placing my hand in the small of his back and guiding him through the pub back towards his friends. Nurse, friend, confidante – I was all things to all people in my role as barmaid.

  My gaze swept around the bar. Some customers were making moves to leave but there was still a huge swell of people enjoying the festivities. It was going to be a late night, I knew. Once we shut the door on the last customer, then I could look forward to sitting down at long last, taking the weight off my feet and rewarding myself with a long cool glass of beer. Still, that was a long way off yet, I realized, glancing at my watch.

  With Kirk patched up and reunited with his friends, I picked up where I left off, collecting glasses and giving the tables a wipe down.

  It was only then that I spotted Max Golding standing at the bar. As I looked up, cloth in hand, he acknowledged me with a slight incline of his head and that distinctive half smile of his that made his dark brown eyes flicker with mischief. He must have only just turned up or else I would have noticed him before. Max wasn’t the blending into the background type. His presence very much demanded attention. Or maybe that was just the effect he had on me. Or rather the effect he used to have on me. I’d been trying my best to put Max out of my mind, but it wasn’t easy, he had a habit of seeping into my thoughts unbidden. Still I was determined to treat him just like any other customer - one that was probably worth avoiding at the moment.

  Thankfully tonight we were very busy so I could almost forget he was there. Almost. Trouble was, every time I looked up, he was looking over at me. Or perhaps it was me looking across at him. Oh God. That was it. There was me thinking, hoping, that he was taking surreptitious glances at me when actually it was wishful thinking on my part. What was wrong with me? Taking sneaky peeks thinking he wouldn’t notice, when all the time he was observing me, that wry amused expression on his face. Get a grip, Ellie. Before you make a complete and utter fool of yourself.

  I disappeared behind the bar, out of sight of Max, hopeful that he would leave just as quickly as he’d arrived. I shuddered, annoyed at myself for letting Max get under my skin in such a way, darkening my previous light-hearted mood. Grrr. That man was seriously beginning to annoy me. Why couldn’t he just get out of my head and leave me alone.

  ‘Heidi!’ Kirk’s plaintive call echoed to the rafters of the pub. ‘Heidi! I’m going home now.’

  Smiling, I lifted the bar and wandered out to the front to see Kirk and his group of mates getting ready to leave. Kirk’s face lit up when he saw me.

  ‘Thank you lovely, Heidi lady, for such a brilliant night and for looking after me, like.’ He held up his finger proudly, before enveloping me in a bear hug.

  ‘That’s all right,’ I said, laughing, extracting myself from his hold. ‘I’m glad you had such a good evening.’

  ‘Aw, it was great.’ He leaned into my side, almost losing his balance as he did so, grabbing on to my arm to steady himself. He giggled. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like to go out with me sometime for a drink, like?’

  ‘Thanks, Kirk, but I’m taken for. Remember.’ I placed my hands on my shoulders to firm his balance. ‘You have a safe journey home.’

  ‘I will, lovely Heidi. What’s your proper name?’

  ‘You know what? I like Heidi. You can call me Heidi,’ I said laughing.

  ‘Yeah, that’s what I thought it was,’ he said, as though it was the funniest thing in the world. From his pocket he pulled out a note of paper. ‘Look if you ever change your mind about that drink, then phone me. I promise you we’ll have the best bloody time ever.’ He popped the scrap of paper with a sprawled telephone number on it into the pocket of my apron and gave me a gentle squeeze on my arm and a cheeky kiss too.

  ‘Right mate, that’s enough now. Time for you to go on your way, I think.’

  I span round, startled by the familiar voice, even more startled to see Max standing far too close to Kirk, his body almost touching the other man’s, his eyebrows drawn tight together and his face as dark as thunder.

  Nineteen

  ‘Max!’

  ‘Uh-oh.’ Kirk’s head rolled on his neck, he narrowed his eyes and looked up at Max, and then at me, his face a picture of confusion. ‘Is this your boyfriend then, Heidi?’

  ‘What? No.’ I turned to Max, hoping he was about to explain exactly what he thought he was doing, because I had no idea whatsoever. Why was he wading into something that had absolutely nothing to do with him? ‘What’s the problem, Max?’ I said sharply.

  ‘This guy. He’s the problem. He’s been hounding you all night.’ He towered over Kirk and I had the impression if he even so much as blew on Kirk then my drunken friend would probably topple over in front of me. Instead, Max said, ‘Just leave the girl alone. Can’t you tell she’s not interested?’

  Kirk’s brow furrowed and his bottom lip jutted out. ‘Sorry, He
idi, have I been a pain. I’m sorry.’ He scratched his head. ‘I… well, I’m sorry if I’ve been out of order.’

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ I said, glaring at Max.

  Buoyed by my support, Kirk rallied and addressed Max directly. ‘If you’re not her boyfriend then, who are you? Do you own the place or something?’

  ‘No.’ I jumped in, realizing this situation could quickly get out of hand if I didn’t put a stop to it fast. ‘Max is a customer. He was probably just looking out for me, but there was no need. You haven’t been a pain at all. It’s been lovely meeting you.’

  Crikey, compared to some of the customers we had through the doors, Kirk was a sweetheart. Definitely the worse for wear, yes, a bit cheeky too, but harmless enough. He’d just been enjoying himself. Where was the harm in that? There’d been no need for Max to be so heavy-handed with him.

  ‘You’re all right, you are, Heidi,’ said Kirk, marginally appeased. ‘You,’ he said, stabbing a finger at Max’s chest, ‘need to learn some manners. And you’d better watch out because she’s got a boyfriend. A big geezer by all accounts. He won’t be best pleased to hear you’ve been ordering her about.’

  I bit on my lip to stop a smile from spreading across my face. I liked the way my imaginary boyfriend was growing in stature by the minute. I half expected him to waltz through the door and come to my rescue any moment now.

  Max’s eyebrows lifted, his pupils growing large, as he looked at me as though asking for an explanation.

  ‘And another thing…’ Kirk had found his voice and was intent on giving Max the benefit of his advice. ‘If she ever breaks up with the big geezer boyfriend, she’s going out with me for a drink, so you, matey boy, can do a hike.’

  ‘Right, come on Kirk, the minibus is about to leave,’ I said, bundling him out through the front door, anxious to avoid any further confrontation. The cool night air was a welcome distraction from the intense and heady atmosphere inside the pub and I took a moment to gather myself. ‘Don’t worry about that guy back there,’ I told Kirk. ‘He can be a bit of an idiot at times.’

  ‘Yeah, a proper knobhead, if you ask me.’

  As I waved Kirk, his friends and the minibus into the night, I couldn’t help agreeing with Kirk’s concise assessment of Max’s character; a proper knobhead indeed.

  *

  With the minibus crew gone, the pub had cleared out to a level that was much more manageable. I had hoped to go to the kitchen in search of a bit of reflective drying up time, but as soon as I’d walked back through the front door, Max was there, lying in wait for me.

  ‘Ellie?’

  I felt my skin bristle. I didn’t want to deal with this right now. Didn’t even know what ‘this’ was, only knowing that Max had been way out of order. I was still working and the way I felt at the moment I couldn’t trust myself not to give Max a piece of mind. ‘Yes?’ I span round, a core of anger deep down inside, pulling me up tall, my head raised defiantly.

  ‘Oh please, don’t look at me like that. I’m sorry. Look he was hassling you. Every time I looked up he had his grubby hands over you. I thought I was helping out.’

  ‘Well you weren’t.’ I pulled him to one side, away from the prying eyes of the remaining customers. ‘And what makes you think I need your help? This is my job. A job I’ve been doing on and off for years now. I’ve dealt with more lairy customers in my time than you’ll ever know. If I can’t handle the likes of Kirk then I shouldn’t be doing this job.’

  ‘He was a drunken fool.’

  ‘Yes, well he spoke very highly of you too.’

  Max grimaced, looking suitably contrite. He raked a hand through his hair, and I wished he hadn’t. Wished my body didn’t respond to his every movement in a way my head had no part in. ‘Sorry, Ellie.’ He reached for my arm with his hand, his touch causing our eyes to lock together. I took a step backwards, away from his overwhelming presence. ‘I got it wrong,’ he admitted. ‘I shouldn’t have interfered. It was just seeing him, all over you like that, I…’

  ‘Look forget it,’ I said, not wanting to drag this out any more than necessary. ‘Apology accepted.’ Easier that way or else I might say something I’d end up regretting.

  Eric came up beside us, the large set of keys jangling in his hand, to lock the front door. ‘Hope you two will be staying for a late one. First chance I’ve had all night to have a proper drink.’

  ‘Yeah, sure.’ Max glanced at his watch, and then briefly towards me, as if asking my permission.

  I shrugged and gave a smile. Whatever my personal feelings towards Max, and they seemed to veer from one extreme to the other – he fascinated me, annoyed me, intrigued and dismayed me in equal measure – I certainly didn’t want there to be any bad feeling between us or to drag Eric and the pub into our petty disagreements.

  ‘I’ll just go and finish up in the kitchen.’

  ‘No you won’t, young lady,’ said Eric, putting a firm arm around my shoulder. ‘It’s all done. And you have worked your butt off all evening. Go and sit down. I’ll bring you a beer over.’

  I didn’t need telling twice. The lock-ins weren’t a regular occurrence at the pub, but on nights like tonight, special occasions, when no one wanted the party atmosphere to end, Eric would invite a select few customers and the bar staff to stay behind to enjoy a few extra bevies.

  All the bar staff were there, Dan, Andy and Rich, and lots of our lovely locals including Johnny and Polly, Bill, Tony and Dave, and Max now too, sitting on a stool up against the bar. I didn’t want to talk or even look at him, best for both our sakes to keep some distance between us.

  I slumped down in Noel’s rocking chair, my favourite spot in the entire pub, and pulled off my apron and kicked off my shoes, weariness immediately enveloping my body. It was always the same. All the time I was busy working I ran on adrenaline, not noticing the hours rushing by, feeding off the animated atmosphere within the pub, but as soon as I sat down and relaxed for a moment, that’s when tiredness hit me. I sighed, stretching my legs out in front of me. Every part of my body ached.

  ‘Here you go, darling. Not sure how we would have managed without you tonight.’ Eric handed me a beer and my hands clasped around the ice-cold glass as though it was a lifeline.

  ‘Aw, it was such fun. Weren’t the band brilliant? They went down really well with the customers. There was an awful lot of thigh-slapping going on.’

  ‘That probably had something to do with the number of pints we sold tonight.’ Eric chuckled. ‘There was an awful moment when I thought we might actually run out of beer. Can you imagine what a disaster that would have been? Thankfully it didn’t come to that, but it was a close run thing. There’s going to be plenty of sore heads in the village tomorrow, that’s for sure.’

  ‘You’d have had a riot on your hands if the beer had run out,’ said Tony, who’d had more than his fair share over the course of the evening. ‘A one-man riot, at least.’ He laughed.

  Eric settled himself on a stool behind the bar and downed half of his pint of beer. He licked his lips and smiled. Satisfaction was evident on his face as he sat back and relaxed, content in the knowledge he’d put on another great evening for the locals, one that would be talked about for years to come, I didn’t doubt.

  ‘I’m going to miss all this,’ he said reflectively, his gaze travelling around the pub. We all looked at him, our light-hearted mood suddenly sombre. ‘You know,’ he said, trying to recover the situation, ‘when I do eventually leave here.’

  ‘Nah, it’s not really going to happen, is it?’ said Dave, shaking his head.

  It was common knowledge now that the pub was up for sale, but I think everyone was in denial that such an integral part of our community would move into the hands of someone new, someone we didn’t know.

  ‘’Fraid so. I’ve only got two months left on my contract, so I’ll be out of here before Christmas. What happens after that is anyone’s guess. The pub’s been sold by all accounts, but what the new owners have
in mind for the place I don’t know.’

  ‘They might want to keep you on though?’ asked Dave.

  ‘Well if they do, they’re keeping shtum about it.’

  ‘Don’t worry Eric,’ said Tony. ‘We’ll boycott the pub if they put someone else in charge.’

  ‘Hear, hear!’

  Eric gave a wry smile. ‘I appreciate the support, but, you know, every pub has its day and maybe it’s the right time for the Dog and Duck to have a change at the helm.’

  ‘No!’ came the collective cry.

  ‘Well at least we know it’s not going to be a chain-restaurant which is a relief,’ I said, looking at Max. He’d been as interested as anyone in the future of the pub, but tonight he was lost in his own thoughts, nursing his beer. Probably thinking about his earlier behaviour and what a fool he’d made of himself.

  ‘Not a restaurant, but it could still be any number of things. They might change it into a shop or a tearoom or a private house even,’ said Johnny, looking directly at Max.

  Max looked up and shrugged.

  ‘Come on folks,’ said Eric, ‘there’s no point in all this surmising. What will be will be? And all the time we’ve got this place then we must celebrate that fact. Who’s having another pint?’

  *

  I’d had a couple of drinks and now I was ready for my bed, before I fell asleep, right there, in Noel’s old chair. I stood up and collected my jacket from the hook behind the door. The others were just hitting their stride and were clearly in for a heavy session, but my stamina wasn’t up to that. I said my goodbyes and headed for the front door. Max quickly followed me.

  ‘Let me walk you home?’

  ‘No, there’s no need,’ I said, turning to look at him. ‘Stay and enjoy the party. I would, but I’m completely knackered.’

  ‘I was going to head home too. Besides, you shouldn’t be walking alone at this time of night. You don’t know what kind of weirdos are lurking outside.’

  ‘Oh for goodness sake.’ I pulled my jacket over my shoulders and stepped outside. ‘You clearly have a very low opinion of me if you think I’m so helpless that I can’t handle a lively customer or walk home on my own. Really, Max, I grew up in this village. I’ve walked home late at night more times than I care to remember and managed to survive so far. I’m really not the helpless creature you think I am.’