The Hummingbird

Delilah walked into the room, back in her casual clothing, along with Isabella. “Who was that?” She asked, tugging at her sleeve.

“My foreign husband,” Vivian deadpanned, before shooting a grin at Delilah. “Tristan called, she’s bringing Estella along with her.”

“Who?” Delilah tried to remember if she recognized the names but ended up shrugging it off, “I’ll leave you to it then.” Turning to Isabella, Harley, Adam and Blake she asked, “Who’s hungry? Wanna grab lunch at Hearth Haven?” The four nodded their heads and Delilah turned to flash Vivian a smile, “Catch you later,” she said, waving as she left the Hummingbird.

“Right,” Vivian mumbled to herself as the door clicked shut, sweeping into action as she needed to keep her mind and hands occupied. Being nervous was not an option with this inspection, as the Hummingbird needed to pass to be able to open itself to guests. Cleaning would keep her mind from anticipating things that could go wrong.

As she brushed a small cloth over the reception desk, a polite cough startled her. Dropping the cloth, Vivian turned around to see Tristan’s tall form supporting Estella’s slightly hunched form. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t hear you come in,” Vivian laughed, trying to play off her nervousness.

“That’s one thing you should do, put a bell on the door,” Tristan said, slipping into professionalism straight away, “You’ll hear anyone come in then.”

“You got it,” Vivian agreed, moving to lock the door to stop any unwanted visitors coming in during the inspection. “How are you Estella?” she asked, moving past her to lead them through the Hummingbird.

“Oh I’m alright, thank you Vivian, I’m a little sad that I had to close my stall though,” Estella stated, a small sad smile on her face.

Tristan rolled her eyes. “ Yes mother, we all know the story. Now, I’ll be getting on with my job if you don’t mind.”

Vivian simply gave a kind smile to Estella, reassuring her silently, before leading them through into the cafe area. “As you can see, we’ve already taken care of smoke detectors and sprinklers, as well an evacuation plan.”

“Do you have a Fire Warden?” Tristan asked.

Vivian nodded, “That would be Delilah. She’s front of house, so it makes sense,” she elaborated.

Tristan gave a curt nod, before asking, “Fire extinguishers?”

“We’ve ordered them, just waiting for them to come in from the big city,” Vivian replied. “We’ve got three going in the kitchen, two behind the counter in the cafe, and small ones going into each room. First Aid kits in every room, and multiple kits in the cafe area.”

“You’re certainly onto it,” Estella exclaimed, “Who have you got as members of staff?”

“I’ll have the list for you next week, when we finalize the details,” Vivian said to Tristan, before turning to Estella. “We’ve brought in Isabella Radcliffe as a waitress, and Harley Grey as baker’s apprentice.”

Tristan smiled, “Sounds good. Email the list to me, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Estella frowned. “No receptionist? Surely you’ll be too busy with baking to do it yourself.”

“You’re right,” Vivian answered in shock, “and I know Delilah won’t be able to either, she’ll be running the cafe out in front or going over the business.” She smiled placidly, “Guess we’ll have to put another call-out in the newspaper.”

“Oh, no need to do that dear!” Estella laughed, moving forward to lay a hand on Vivian’s arm. “You’ve found your receptionist.”

“Mother,” Tristan sighed, “I’m sure Vivian has a much more suitable person in mind.”

“No, I’m sure Delilah would love to have you on board!” Vivian grinned. “We need some more elderly wisdom in this place, I can’t carry it all,” she said, drawing small laughs from the mother and daughter.

After a few more minutes of Tristan looking around in the rooms that were fully done up, and Vivian sorting out when Estella would be able to work, Tristan turned to Vivian. “I’ve noticed one thing that needs to be fixed.”

“Oh?” Vivian said, drawing an eyebrow up.

“The powerpoints,” Tristan gestured to one, “they should be covered in case of little ones wandering around. And the cupboards, get some child locks. We don’t want any injuries.”

“No, you’re right,” Vivian nodded, “I’ll order them straight away.”

“Alright, I think that’s about it. Sort out the child-proofing, put a gate on the stairs, and you can open up. If you’ve got guests coming in, as long as they don’t have children, you can have them here. Email me when you’ve done it, and I’ll come confirm it, and sign you off for all guests,” Tristan said, moving through the corridor to the reception area.

“Well done dearie!” Estella whispered, “I’m very impressed with what you and Miss Lemay have done with the place. I remember playing here as a girl with Carol, and to see it up and running again gives me is so nostalgic.”

“Mother, I can hear you. Come on, I’ve got to get back to the station, I don’t have time to wait for you to finish reminiscing,” Tristan said firmly, unlocking the door and standing to the side, waiting for her mother.

“I’ll get in contact with you about the receptionist job,” Vivian smiled, patting Estella’s hand and then standing by the door as they moved off to their car.