‘He already paid me. I get worried he might forget otherwise. Or sometimes I get overwhelmed if there’s lots of balloons or other things that squeak and Nana has to pick me up early and then I’m too upset to get my money so he always pays me before.’
Wilf had stopped folding napkins and started to wring his hands. He was blinking furiously, like he had a nervous tick.
‘How about I go and ask him for it now?’
‘It’s rude to ask people for money. What if he gets cross again and decides not to let me have it?’
‘Wilf, did you notice that I have the same hair colour as Isaac, the same eyes and freckles?’
He gave a frantic nod, his narrow chest heaving.
‘That’s because he’s my twin. He won’t mind at all if I go and explain that he forgot. He understands why you need to get paid in advance, doesn’t he?’
Another nod, accompanied with a faint moan.
‘Give me two minutes. I promise, Isaac can’t say no to me. That’s why he let me have this job.’
‘I don’t understand why he said I could have a pay rise and then he went without giving it to me!’
Connie appeared next to him, face creased in concern.
‘Here, look.’ I took my purse out of my bag and to my relief was able to count out four pounds eighty in change. ‘You take this, and Isaac can pay me back later.’
Wilf looked at the money for a moment, his blinking starting to ease.
‘How about I look after it for you?’ Connie asked, a picture of soothing calm. ‘I can put it with the rest of your pay, here, in my side pocket.’
As Connie continued to reassure her son, I went to find my brother, who it turned out was slumped on a chair in his office, staring at his laptop screensaver.
‘Hey, bro. I thought I might find you slaving away up here.’
‘Is everything okay?’ he asked, sounding as though he really didn’t care either way.
‘Wilf was upset because you left without giving him his extra money.’
Isaac’s face plummeted. ‘I forgot. Is he okay? Was Connie able to calm him down?’
‘It’s fine. You now owe me one rocky road sundae at the Crooked Arrow.’
‘Damn. Sorry. He struggles with dysregulation if things don’t go as they should. He’s autistic.’
‘Yeah, I’d gathered as much.’
‘Is Connie okay?’
‘Do you mean is she mad at you?’
Isaac gave a slight shrug as I carried on.
‘Not about you suddenly running off, I don’t think, no. I can’t say if she’s mad or not about all the times you’ve snapped at her, or said something weirdly unreasonable. What the hell is going on with that?’
He sat up, shrugging his shoulders as if his shirt collar was suddenly too tight. ‘You’re not used to seeing me as a boss, that’s all. I can’t be mates with everyone here. Not when people’s big days are at stake.’
‘Isaac, I’ve seen what kind of boss you are during the past four hours. You’re great. Approachable and encouraging. Then whenever Connie’s around you turn into a total grouch.’
He closed his eyes for a moment, head drooping. I’d genuinely never seen him looking so dejected.
‘She’s the one you talked about, isn’t she? The single lady.’
