20 for hackle please!
20. things you said that I wasn’t supposed to hear
Ada peered into one of her many tea tins and realized that she was nearly out of PG Tips. Checking the time, she decided she had enough time to go downstairs and rectify this situation.
As she rummaged around the tea closet, voices floated in from the main kitchen.
“Great Mary Berry, what on earth happened to your frosting, Hecate?”
“What do you mean, what happened to it?”
“It’s black, that’s what I mean.”
“Do I tell you how to do your job, Maria?”
“No, but I thought you were making a cake for Ada.”
Ada froze, one hand stretched out to the shelf.
“I am,” Hecate replied calmly.
“Well then…” Maria sounded a bit flummoxed.
“Well what?”
“Well, birthday cakes aren’t usually frosted with black frosting now are they?”
“Aren’t they?”
“No.”
There was a long silence, and Ada went back to peering at the shelf. Surely there was some PG Tips here somewhere. Perhaps behind the Twinings?
“Well, what color are they usually frosted then?”
“White, pink, light brown, dark brown, blue, yellow. Almost anything really. Except black.”
“Oh. Are you certain?”
“Oi, which one of us is the professional chef?”
“Well, there’s not time to change it now,” Hecate sighed. “But perhaps…”
“Yes, I think that will do. Brings a bit of color into it.”
“Do you think she’ll like it?”
“Of course she will. You made it didn’t you? Sure, it’s a bit…unusual, but it’s the thought that counts. Believe me, Ada will be over the moon about this.”
“I can’t tell her I made this for her.”
“Of course you can.”
“It’s too…” Hecate trailed off and Ada wished desperately that she could see her face.
“She thinks very highly of you, you know,” Maria said in a gentler tone than Ada had ever heard her use.
“Well, now that that’s done, I have other things to attend to,” Hecate said briskly.
“I’ll make sure the girls don’t get into this.”
“They had better not.”
Ada carefully pulled the pantry door mostly closed, just in time to hear the click of Hecate’s heels as she walked away.
Then quite suddenly the door opened, and there was Maria muttering “I’ve no idea what we’re going to do with those two- Ada!”
Ada made a noise halfway between a yelp and a squeak, and Maria clutched at her apron.
“Maria! I was just looking for-“ and her mind completely blanked. “Tea. PG Tips. I’m out.”
“Right. It’s on the second shelf, there wasn’t room for it with the rest.”
“Thanks,” Ada said, turned around, grabbed a box, and transferred out.
“Mary Berry never has to deal with this,” Maria muttered. “If they don’t get this sorted soon I’ll lock ‘em in a closet myself until they do.”
