“I can wait,” he said, smiling at her; smiling the way he would to a child, she thought suddenly. She watched him eat.
“Marjorie,” said a voice behind her.
“Yes, Mrs Merrin, I’m coming. I’ll be right with you. I was just cleaning this table.”
Mrs Merrin was tall and stout with a wide loose mouth which she could make look stern and harsh when she wanted to. She made it look that way now.
“Marjorie,” she said in a low voice, “you stop your hanging around and talking to the customers. I tell you I won’t stand for it.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs Merrin. I was just cleaning the table.” Mrs Merrin smiled warmly at Robert Holton and walked away.
“She’s an awful bitch,” said Marjorie Ventusa.
“What did she say?” asked Robert Holton. “I didn’t hear her.”
“She was just running off at the mouth, that’s all. She thought I was talking too much to you.”
One of her tables called for a check and she walked over quickly and put their used plates on her tray. Then she went back to the kitchen. More orders were ready for her. She loaded her tray and went back to work.