Having the children to help was  of no use to me, as at nine sharp, the two girls took off their pinnies, and giving me a good show of them being two wee angels by smiling like two wee angels, they hastily left the kitchen! Young Gary was still at the sink scrubbing away, and on my telling him that it was time to leave, he said yes, he knew, but will finish the pans for me. What a sweety! When he finished I made him a nice helping of chips and cheese to take home!
The orders still streamed in, and without Gary to scrub the frying pans, and a lot of steaks, gammon steaks, burgers and chops being ordered, I lost my temper completely, took off my pinny, and stalked into the pub, where it was absolutely buzzing, and told Tony that if that flattop is not back in the kitchen in five minutes, he could do the meals himself!I was so furious that the tears rolled down my cheeks, and people tried to calm me down, by offering to buy me drinks, but I was in no state to calm down, as my poor nerves were in a bad state!
One of the local women, Fiona, asked me what was wrong, and on telling her that I am alone in the kitchen, with loads of of orders, and not having even somebody to do the dishes, or scrub the pans, she was horrified, and came back with me to the kitchen, where she stayed for the rest of the night, scrubbing, filling the dishwasher, and doing salads for me! Bless her!
I was absolutely drained when at last all the meals were done, and the kitchen cleaned, and fell into my bed without showering, and lay for ages worrying about getting up at six again, with my body so tired and my legs cramping from the long hours.
I made up my mind that if the flattop wasn't back the next day, I would leave. If I couldn't find another job, I would go to the islands for a week or two, then go home.
When Tony came in, halfway through breakfast, I was cold and untalkative, so after ordering himself a breakfast, he disappeared quickly back to the bar. I was not giving up on my demand that the flattop came back, or I was leaving, and I could see that he was a worried man, cooks not readily available in the rural villages. I started wondering about what he could have done with the flattop!
When I took his breakfast to the bar, I asked in a chilly voice what he intended to do, and he told me that Theresa had taken the flattop away, and that she was very vague about its where-abouts, but would see if she can find it, and bring it back! What utter nonsense, and when Theresa came in, I demanded to know where the thing was, and she went all red, and told me that it was none of my bussiness, as Tony had given it to her.
I was slowly getting behind the working of this lady's brain, as so far a lot of things have disappeared, and on asking about it, it was always the same answer, that he had given it to Theresa! So I believe that she convinced Tony that stuff wasn't needed, and then she took it.