Her friend seemed happy enough, though once the cafeteria was up and running she had confessed to Polly that much as she enjoyed the job and the challenge of creating something out of nothing, so to speak, it was not the same as it had been when she and Caitlin had started Cathy’s Place.‘We were working for ourselves, truly believing that we were building a little empire, and would go on to greater things: a proper restaurant, perhaps management so we could start up other businesses,’ she had said rather shyly, when she and Polly had discussed how she felt about her new job. ‘Both Caitlin and I wanted to go home as successful business people … it sounds daft now, when I say it aloud, and I wouldn’t say it to anyone but you, Poll, but we both wanted to prove ourselves and set our – our people back on their heels. Working for a wage, even quite a good one, isn’t the same, somehow. Oh, I’m not grumbling. I’ll be eternally grateful to you, Poll, for getting me that first crucial interview, and to Ralph for listening to me and then either adopting my ideas or saying that they wouldn’t do, only saying it so nicely that only a fool would have taken offence.’At the time, Polly had smiled to herself.
