Leila arrived just as Minnie and Beverley were pulling ingredients together into a giant ball of pastry on the central steel countertop.
‘What’s happening? Why are you baking?’ Leila said, turning her head sharply between Alan, Beverley and Minnie.
‘Beverley burnt the pies,’ said Alan, hopping up and down on one foot.
‘For fuck’s sake, Beverley!’ Leila said, slamming her palm down onto the countertop. Alan jumped in alarm. Beverley let out a quivering sob and closed her eyes.
‘Hey, hey, it’s OK, she’s having a bad day,’ said Minnie, rubbing Beverley on the back with a floury hand. ‘We’re making more, it’s fine,’ Minnie said, giving Leila a wide-eyed stare.
‘It’s not fine,’ Leila sighed, ‘I spent all New Year’s Eve prepping those pies. And you,’ Leila jabbed a finger at Minnie, ‘what happened to you yesterday? I was ringing on your doorbell for ages, Little Miss Migraine bullshit.’
‘I don’t like Leila when she’s angry,’ said Alan, hunching his shoulders and settling his features into a childlike scowl.
‘Rainbow Bright’s got attitude today,’ said Fleur, appearing at the kitchen door.
‘What happened yesterday?’ asked Alan.
‘Happy Birthday by the way, Minnie,’ said Beverley, sniffing back tears. ‘Did you get to do anything nice?’
‘She did not do anything nice,’ said Leila, leaning both hands on the countertop. ‘She hid in her flat pretending to have a migraine, standing up her best friend.’
‘I wasn’t pretending, I did have a migraine,’ Minnie said, pounding her other fist into the dough with a satisfying ‘thunk’.
‘Ooh, I love it when my work mums fight!’ Fleur sang from the doorway, pumping both hands in the air like a cheerleader.
‘It’s not very mature, is it Minnie?’ said Leila, ignoring Fleur. ‘This fear of the first of January is getting ridiculous.’
‘It’s not ridiculous, and I did have a migraine, OK?’ Minnie said, picking up the pile of dough and smashing it down onto the countertop. No one spoke. The thwack of the pastry against stainless steel reverberated around the room.
‘Intermission! I’ll put some music on,’ said Fleur, turning back to the reception area in a swish of white hair.
Leila pulled on an apron and gazed mournfully at the line of burnt pies, which Beverley had moved to the sideboards at the far end of the kitchen.
‘I suppose we can’t even salvage the fillings?’ she sighed, ‘Come on then, Bev, help me put these out of their misery.’
Ten minutes later, with the spoilt pies in the bin and the smell of burnt pastry still lingering in the air, everyone was in a more relaxed mood. They had a good production line going, with Alan and Minnie shaping pastry into new tins, while Beverley and Leila decapitated the burnt ones and disposed of their charred remains. Fleur had curated an uplifting nineties playlist and they were all, bar Alan, singing along to ‘Lady Marmalade’ as they worked. If Fleur was good at something, it was finding the right soundtrack to improve the collective mood.
‘So has Name Stealer been in touch yet?’ Leila asked as she and Minnie crossed paths at the sink. Leila was thawing, but Minnie knew she wasn’t yet forgiven for standing her up.
‘Who’s Name Stealer?’ asked Bev.
‘On New Year’s Eve, Minnie met this guy who was born in the same hospital as her at exactly the same time,’ Leila explained. ‘Isn’t that freaky?’
‘Well one minute earlier than me, if we’re being precise,’ said Minnie.
‘Minnie’s mum wanted to call her Quinn, but this dude’s mum stole her idea, so Minnie ended up Minnie instead,’ Leila explained.
‘Quinn Cooper,’ Fleur sounded the words out loud, ‘great name; Minnie Cooper is terrible. No offence.’
Minnie had run out of ingredients to pound so started rolling with a vengeance instead. Fleur turned the music down and placed a final pin into her hair. While the others had been working, Fleur had been crafting herself an elaborate hairstyle with neat fish plaits wrapping around each side of her head. She looked like a character from Game of Thrones.
‘It’s very romantic,’ said Leila, ‘Minnie and her name nemesis, reunited after thirty years – love twins separated at birth, destined to find each other again despite the odds.’
She clutched a hand to her chest for dramatic effect. Everyone laughed, except Minnie.
‘What the hell’s a love twin? That’s not a thing,’ Minnie said, shaking her head. Behind her frown she was pleased; Leila teasing her meant she was forgiven.
‘That could so be a thing, like two Geminis getting together,’ said Fleur. ‘Did you give him your number?’
Dating was one of Fleur’s favourite topics of conversation. She was a connoisseur of every dating app out there. She said she was learning to code so she could set up her own horoscope-themed dating app.
‘I said he could find me online if he wanted to,’ Minnie said with an air of cultivated ambivalence. ‘I’m sure he won’t, why would he, he’s got a girlfriend … ’ Then after a pause she added, ‘And I’ve got a boyfriend. What are you doing with my phone?’ Minnie looked over to see Leila scrolling through her phone.
‘You changed your Facebook profile picture,’ said Leila, giving Minnie a sly grin. ‘Why would you do that? You never even go on Facebook.’
‘Well new year, new photo. I’m allowed to change my photo if I want to.’ Minnie blushed and turned her back to the room, hiding her face in the fridge as she pretended to look for something.
‘This isn’t a new photo, this is four years old. She’s changed it to one of her in India looking tanned and sexy,’ said Leila, showing the phone to Fleur.
‘Give that to me,’ said Minnie, turning around and striding across the kitchen with her hand outstretched.
‘You do look good in that photo,’ said Fleur, nodding approvingly. ‘If you want me to set you up an online dating profile, you should use that one. You look young, thin and a little bit stupid – guys like that.’
‘Thanks Fleur, but I am very happy with Greg,’ Minnie said huffily. She took the phone, purposely didn’t check it for messages, and placed it firmly into her apron pocket. Then she went back to busying herself lining tins. The others all stood watching her. ‘Come on guys, stop dicking around, we’ve got serious time pressure here if no one noticed. There are forty orders to be made, baked and delivered today, and if we don’t get them out, we don’t get paid, and if we don’t get paid, none of us will have jobs tomorrow, OK, so can we just … ’
Everyone was quiet. Beverley dropped a tin and it clanged to the floor, rattling around and around on the hard cream tiles. Minnie’s phone pinged loudly in her pocket. She caught Leila’s eye and then turned her back on the room as she checked it. She had a notification on Messenger from Quinn Hamilton. She clicked it open.
‘Minnie, I’m hoping this is you – the first of January girl. Can you call me? There’s something I’d like to discuss. Quinn.’ Then he’d linked his number in the message.