LOGINMr. and Mrs. Drake watched her attentively the whole evening, nodding to each other from time to time in delight when they saw how inconspicuous, friendly, and diligent Gina was at work. After the guests had left the pub at curfew and Mr. Drake had locked the front door, Gina helped Francis wash the glasses.
Suddenly a bright flash of lightning illuminated the room from outside and almost at the same time a loud clap of thunder made the glasses on the shelf clink. Gina winced and touched her chest. "My God, that was loud!" She looked at Francis, who had previously been silent washing the glasses. She wanted to start a conversation with him somehow, but she couldn't think of what to say. She took heart and smiled at him. "Sorry, you're probably used to that, but I was really scared."
Francis shook his head slowly. Another lightning and thunder.
"Please excuse the question, but can't you speak?"
Then he turned his head to her and looked directly at her for the first time. Two bright blue eyes shone towards her and Gina was shocked at the sudden transformation that seemed to be going on with Francis, who had previously appeared so mouse-gray. His ash-blond hair got a golden sheen, his skin, which had previously also appeared almost gray to her, suddenly took on a strong, sun-tanned tone and he straightened up so that the gray mouse suddenly became a strong young man. Gina noticed how dizzy she was and grabbed the counter with one hand. Was she dreaming that right now or was that reality? But what came next, she really hadn't expected.
"I can do it, but I shouldn't talk too much." He spoke these words in a quiet, pleasant voice that wasn't really noticeable, but gave Gina the feeling that all the lamps in the room were suddenly shining twice as brightly .
Careful, Gina! What is happening to you here? She said to herself. She took a deep breath. "OK!
Of course , as you like. "And much quieter, she added, with a downcast gaze:" Although that is a pity, with your voice! " From the door, Mr. Drake interrupted her, unexpectedly rude:" Don't talk so much, just do your work! ”This time his voice hadn't sounded like a friendly, older gentleman and Gina looked down, ducked her head and grabbed the towel. Mr. Drake disappeared back into the kitchen and Gina looked intimidated at Francis from below.
He nodded at her with a smile and, although she wasn't looking directly at him, she could feel that he liked her words. Then he turned away from her to the tap and started polishing again. And again she could watch the enormous transformation that was going on in his exterior. He seemed to shrink back and become more inconspicuous. Gina was so confused that she worked on the last glasses in silence. She hung up the towel to dry, said goodbye to Francis with a nod, and disappeared into the kitchen.
Mr. and Mrs. Drake sat at the only kitchen table with a beer and a sherry and waved them in. Mrs. Drake immediately spoke up: “You did well, child! I think you will fit in very well here. Would you like a sherry after work? ”
Gina shook her head, still a little dazed. At the moment she was so confused that she just wanted to be left alone.
"No thank you. Better not today, I'm very tired. I think I'd rather lie down now. Can I take a bottle of water upstairs? "
" Of course! "Replied Paul Drake, getting up." I'm sorry if that sounded a bit grumpy, but we once had a waitress, so you had to be constantly behind that she was doing her job. I probably overreacted a bit. "He handed her a bottle, nodded again friendly and said:" Then a good first night in your new home! "
Throughout the house ...... it had become much more homely. Every evening the candles were lit, the pile of wood for the fireplace in the dining room was enlarged to drive away the increasing cold and the coal stove for the dining room was heated by Francis. It got comfortably warm in the whole house. More and more guests ordered a punch or hot grog instead of the evening beer and the spicy scents contributed to a pleasant pre-Christmas mood for everyone.In addition, the Drakes made their young employees more and more like family, and Gina was much less worried that she would not survive the probationary period.However, with the best will in the world, she did not succeed in catching Francis in an unobserved minute. Mrs. Drake persisted in isolating her son from the outside world and from Gina.In contrast to her, the long-established guests were used to his silence, at any rate during the whole time
It was her curiosity ...... which long after this surprising discovery prevented Gina from calming down and being able to go to sleep. She sat in front of the fireplace with her large glass of beer, in which she had almost lost all interest in, stared musingly into the flames and tried to be clear about the consequences of her discoveries.First, she told herself, there seems to be some secret in this house. Although I'm not sure yet whether it's about gambling addiction, as the allegations claim, or something completely different. She put her glass brusquely on the little table, pushed the covers off her knees and began to pace up and down in front of her bed, driven by inner restlessness.Second, Francis knows about it, but he has nothing to do with it directly, otherwise he wouldn't be watching through the hole in the wall, but would probably be there.Thirdly, it seems that this thing always happens
She could see the shock on his face that he had done something he had been forbidden He stood there with his eyes fixed on the street again, offering such a picture of despair that Gina had to hold back so as not to hug him, he looked with his maybe twenty-five ninety years like a little five-year-old boy caught doing something."I won't say anything!" She whispered. And as if they had made a pact, a faint smile stole onto his face. Then he turned around abruptly, continued his work and Gina stepped through the side door into the house.It was meanwhile dinner time, when Gina had kicked the dirt off her feet and opened the kitchen door. Mrs. Drake whirled around between her pots and pans again and only hastily offered Gina a plate of soup, which she gladly accepted and carried upstairs.Once there, she did exactly what she had planned: she sat down in front of the blazing fire, spooned her soup and thought, trying to be aware of what had happened in the past wee
For a few days Gina's life passed ...... back to normal. From Thursday on she did the tasks entrusted to her with a lot of commitment, as always, the guests also felt how much she enjoyed her work and she had to let one or the other rude joke slip on her. She served food and drinks, took care of the biggest orders, cleaned the tables and benches, and was available for a short chat for each of the guests. She felt so at home here, as if she'd been working here forever, even though she'd only been here a week.The only thing that continued to bother her was her relationship with Francis. When they worked together in the evening, Francis was again inconspicuous and reserved, as she had known him on the first day. He avoided eye contact with her and silently tapped the drinks or washed the glasses. Outside of this time, she didn't see him at all and ultimately didn't know which of the two she thought was worse. She longe
Everything Gina did this afternoon ...... heard it made her think. She sat on the bench in the Bürgerpark for a while before the moisture penetrated her coat and became cool. But already in this short time she realized that the Reverend had evaded her question. Why is everyone suggesting that there are illegal games of chance in the nine-armed Kraken, and when you ask them specifically, they don't give a correct answer? She got up energetically, stamped her feet on the ground a few times, whether out of sudden anger or because of her cold feet, she didn't care at the moment. She vowed that she would be very careful for the next few days to see if any prohibited things happened in the nine-armed octopus.But now she first had to deal with the present. Her new home at the harbor was still hidden deep in the fog, while her current location was a much friendlier sight. And since she was in no hurry, she decided to g
At the moment Gina wasn't quite clear what she was doing that simple sentence should say. "That's right, I'm new to town." Then she turned back to the book to signal to the librarian that she would now like to continue reading. But it wasn't that easy.“I've already heard that they should have a new waitress in the nine-armed Kraken. That’s you, then? ”Gina swallowed once to dispel the growing annoyance at the continued disturbance. "Yes, that's right!" She turned around with a big smile. “It's a nice pub. Have you been there before? ”The librarian, whose name was marked with Mrs. Foster on a small plaque on her chest, wrinkled her nose and said with a pointed mouth,“ I certainly won't go in there! Only drunkards and gamblers hang around there, that's definitely not the right place for a decent woman! ”Gina lost her smile at this cheeky insinuation. “Well, thank God I can contradict you. We have many gues