Page 75 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane
Everyone began to chat excitedly, so whilst Katy took down the poster and lit the fire, Ryan brought down the ingredients from the upstairs apartment, along with a few bottles of wine and some soft drinks left over from Bob’s birthday party. Then he began to make the dough in the tiny kitchen beyond the waiting room.
Everyone chipped in to help with the pouring of the drinks and taking orders as to what the children, who it had been decided would be served first, would like on their pizzas from the short menu given by Ryan.
From the cooker, Ryan removed the grill shelf and managed to wrangle it into place inside the hole in the chimney. Then, once the fire was stoked up with more wood, he placed the raw pizza onto a frying pan that he had found in the kitchen and began to heat it up.
The open hole did make it a little bit smoky in the room, so someone cracked open a window, despite the wind outside, just to let the air clear.
Soon, the delicious smell of pizza was wafting around the waiting room. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to cook, so Ryan slid the first pizza onto a chopping board to slice up before Katy handed them out. Soon, they had a routine going where Katy would place the order and Ryan would quickly add the toppings. An hour later, everyone had eaten pizza and was feeling much warmer and happier.
Katy was impressed by the happy feeling in the room. It felt a like a real community where people took care of each other. If the power cut had happened in her apartment, she would have just hunkered down to wait it out. But here she was able to talk to people that she hadn’t met before.
Soon afterwards, they received the news that the road from the car park was clear and so everyone began to make their way back home after thanking Katy and Ryan for the food and shelter.
Joe and Harriet offered to walk Bob and Eddie home, and once they were alone, Katy and Ryan could finally relax and enjoy a slice of pizza for themselves.
‘Better than any delivery takeout I’ve ever had,’ she told him, licking her lips after the first mouthful. It was absolutely delicious.
He smiled. ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to admit, I haven’t made pizza for years.’
‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘You’re obviously good at it.’
He chewed on a mouthful for a moment before speaking. ‘I think I thought it was a bit clichéd, to be honest. You know, man cooks in Italy therefore it must be pizza.’
‘A lot of people expressed interest in the station tonight, as well as asking about the coffee shop and its opening hours.’ She smiled at him. ‘Maybe there’s hope after all.’
‘If enough people come,’ he replied.
‘Well, your pizza was popular enough.’ Suddenly Katy’s mind began to whirr with an idea. ‘Look, maybe it doesn’t have to be for one night only.’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked.
‘I mean, everyone really enjoyed their wood-fired pizzas tonight. Perhaps we could have a pizza collection service from here,’ she began. ‘Or what about a pizza restaurant!’
Ryan blanched and immediately shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘I do,’ she told him. ‘I reckon it’ll be a huge success.’
He gave her a smile despite his pale face. ‘That’s because you know nothing about food.’
‘And everything about business,’ she reminded him.
‘But do you really think there’s money in pizza?’ he asked, looking concerned.
‘I think it might be worth looking into,’ she told him.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to discuss a restaurant at the moment. But maybe you’re right about the pizza delivery.’
‘Of course I’m right,’ she told him. ‘I’m never wrong.’
He laughed, his handsome face lighting up. ‘Yeah, I’d forgotten,’ he said, rolling his eyes. But he was still smiling as he looked at her, his eyes dark in the soft light.
‘My pizza would be free though, right?’ she said. ‘Because I thought up the idea?’
He suddenly leaned forward with a smile. ‘For you? Business Partner? Sure.’
‘Business partner?’ she murmured, suddenly finding that he was so close that she could see his thick eyelashes.
‘Well, it was all your idea,’ he replied.
