“I need to tell you…” Mollie hesitated for a moment but Nora smiled at her encouragingly. “Well, I’ve come to hand in my notice.” She paused to see if the kindly woman sat opposite would react but instead she just nodded as if inviting her to continue, clearly understanding that there was more to the story than one of her top employees just getting tired of her work. In something close to a stream of consciousness monologue, Mollie blurted out the whole story, starting with the conversation at the party on Saturday and ending with the confirmation email.

“I see.” Nora nodded when it seemed that the younger woman had finished. She said nothing for a moment but made a few clicks at the computer on her own desk. “Very nice!” She nodded approvingly. “It seems they’re in for a treat!” I was only then that Mollie realised Nora had accessed her profile on the company’s system. Those set to private would not show up in a general search but they were not difficult to access, you just had to know what you were looking for to be able to find them. Mollie could not help smiling although she could also feel her cheeks getting warm, knowing that her boss was looking at pictures of her naked body and not only liking what she saw but agreeing that she would be excellent meat! “So is that a letter for me you have there?” she asked, looking at the envelope on the desk. Mollie nodded and silently slid it towards her. Nora smiled, opened it and read quietly for a moment.

“Tell me, dear,” she asked when she was done, “when exactly is this party?” Mollie told her the date. “Well on here it says your last day with us will be the day before that. I’d like to change that, if I may?”

“Well, yeah I guess.” Mollie replied, a little puzzled. “But I don’t want to leave too much earlier. I’d rather be busy right up until… you know!”

“Oh no, dear!” Nora assured her. “I wasn’t thinking of letting you go early! I was just thinking that such a premium piggy needs one of my best people supervising her cooking. So I’d like to extend your employment to cover the Saturday too. I know there will be a limit to how much you can do practically on the day but I’d still like you to be my lead for this party. Do everything you normally do with the organising and I’m sure you can make sure that your pre-roasting prep is done properly. You did a great job of your evaluation after all!” Mollie found herself smiling proudly once more. “Oh don’t worry,” Nora winked, “we’ll pay you for the full day, of course!” Mollie giggled. This was something she had not actually thought about. She supposed her parents were still her next of kin, they were her emergency contacts on her employee file after all, so they should get her final wages, plus the purchase price of her meat. That would certainly be a nice windfall for them, she thought. Perhaps they could enjoy an extra holiday this year on her, maybe go away for Christmas as they had often dreamed of doing!

“Yes,” she smiled, “that’s fine! I’ll add this party to my portfolio for the month. Can I ask…?” she hesitated, wondering if they question would be impolite but Nora nodded at her encouragingly, inviting her to ask. “Well, if I may, it’s just…” She sought for the right words. “You don’t seem very surprised by this! Did someone tip you off?”

“Oh no, dear!” Nora chuckled. “I had no idea what you were going to say to me when you walked in just now but really,” she leaned forward conspiratorially and chuckled a little, “you don’t think this is the first time I’ve had this conversation, do you? You know how they say nearly two thirds of the Sidney’s dancers end up on the menu one way or the other? There’s something about a job like this that constantly exposes you to lovely piggies going cheerfully to their harvest that, well, it makes a person reflect about their own place in the world, not to mention the food chain!” She grinned and Mollie giggled. “So don’t worry,” she smiled, “I know the drill for occasions such as this! I’ll email you the purchase form and the final salary reassignment paperwork, just get it filled out when you have a minute, shouldn’t take too long! Now,” she steepled her fingers with her elbows resting on the desk and looked a little more serious, “I take it you’ve not told any of your colleagues yet?” Mollie shook her head then remembered.

“Only Lydia!” she corrected quickly. “She helped me take the photos so she knows that it was a possibility although I’ve not actually told her its been finalised yet.”

“Well it’s up to you of course,” Nora smiled, “but you should probably tell people before word gets out. That way, you control the narrative and there won’t be a lot of silly, speculative gossip!” Mollie nodded, understanding. “Now,” Nora glanced at the clock on the wall, “you have a tour group coming in a bit, don’t you? You’d better go have your lunch otherwise you might be tempted to snack on one of them!” Mollie giggled, standing up and thinking how nice it would be to have either Jessica or Marcia to for lunch or as a mid-afternoon snack, then thanked Nora again and went to tell her two young friends the good news.


To be continued...