Friday arrived and was moderately busy. After lunch, Mollie kept an eye on the clock as as made sure everything was ready for the on-site party the next day where Megan would be roasted. She was fairly sure the parents would not be asking her to go naked too this time but one could never be sure! With the help of Doug, she had got the large iron cooking pot, with its disguised gas-fed integrated burner outside and given it a hose down. She was looking forward to showing the little girls and had also set up one of the rustic spits, the frame that could be used for a live buffet and a couple of skull-topped poles where “prisoners” could be displayed before being cooked if that was something the hosts or the volunteer meat found a fun idea.

The arrangement had been that the mother of one of the girls, she wasn’t entirely sure which, would be bringing them by after school and she had thought it would be a nice idea for them to be able to meet Carl and Lydia too. Lydia was there working anyway but she had called Carl and he had been more than happy to pop by. At around twenty to four she was dealing with emails in the office when she got a message from reception that one of her visitors had arrived so she went out and found Carl sat there in shorts which showed off his toned, swimmer’s legs and a v-necked T-shirt. It looked like he hadn’t shaved, although clearly his beard did not grow exceptionally fast, and Mollie was pleased to see that he had taken her suggestion to help with characterisation.

“Carl?” she smiled and gave a little wave to get his attention. “Nice to see you again. Thanks for coming in.” He stood and set his magazine down. There were not many others in the waiting room, just a young woman on her own and a pair of teens, a boy of about fourteen and a girl of about sixteen who looked like siblings, none of whom were anything to do with any of her jobs.

“Thanks for inviting me.” he smiled. “Sorry about the scruff.” he rubbed his chin apologetically. “I’m trying to grow it out like you said but it’s slow work.”

“Don’t worry.” Mollie smiled reassuringly. “There’s a good couple of weeks to go yet. Although,” she added with a cheeky grin, “I do hope you’ve been keeping up the shaving elsewhere?”

“Oh yes!” He blushed a little. “Smooth as a…” he struggled to think of a simile. “As a tomato, I guess, from the neck down!”

“Glad to hear it!” Mollie couldn’t help giggling but Carl did not seem offended. “Are you signed in?” She asked Carl but looked over at the receptionist who nodded, answering for him. “Great!” Mollie smiled. “Follow me!” She led him through the door and down the corridor. “We’ve got everything set up outside,” she explained, “but I’ll wait to show you until the girls arrive. Today is mostly about the four of you getting to know each other so nobody feels shy or awkward at the party but I figured it would be fun for all of you to see how you’re going to cook, especially as we’ll be using our themed equipment.

“Should I undress now?” Carl asked when they reached Inspection Room 2.

“No, let’s get the introductions out of the way first.” Mollie suggested. “I don’t really know anything about these girls, other than that they’re seven years old, super cute and desperate to cook. Let’s ease them into it a bit. I think you did meet Lydia where you were here before? Tall, blonde, legs for days?” Carl nodded, blushing a little again. “Well she’s the rest of the menu so she’ll be in too but she’s helping out in the kitchen at the moment. Can I get you anything to drink? We’ve got hot drinks or Red Bull or Coke or I can see what else…”

“Coke would be lovely, please.” Carl smiled politely.

“Coming right up!” Mollie smiled. “Back in a minute!” Rather the going straight to the vending machine, she went into the kitchen where three of the ovens were currently occupied and Lydia was just finishing up washing a pretty fifteen year old brunette who was about to be butchered and parted out. “Sorry to interrupt,” she smiled as Lydia finished rinsing the girl off and took down the hood of her plastic suit, “but our guests are arriving so as soon as you’re done here, come through to room two.”

“Will do!” Lydia smiled. “I think we’re pretty much done here anyway.”

“Ooh, guests?” the meat-girl she had been washing grinned. “Anyone exciting?”

“The rest of the menu I’ll be cooking with on my big day!” Lydia informed her proudly. “I’m going to be a live buffet!”

“Very nice!” the soon to be butchered piggy congratulated her as Mollie silently clocked her words, pleased to see that her enthusiasm for her chosen method had not waned and she still seemed willing to go ahead as planned. Going to the vending machine, Mollie got a Coke for Carl and bottled waters for herself and Lydia. The girls would probably want something too but she could arrange that once they arrived. In her experience, they would likely be impatient to get on with things and only want to sit around with drinks once the exciting part was over. She was sat making small-talk with Carl when Lydia came in. Carl immediately stood up to greet her and the awkward dance of whether they should hug or shake hands began. “Oh for goodness sake!” Mollie laughed. “Just hug each other! Heck, have a smooch! You’re going to be cooking together, getting digested in the same bellies and pooped out as one! That’s practically like getting married!” Giggling, Lydia hugged the boy who was, give or take a month or so, the same age as her then daringly put her hands on his firm rump and pulled him in, pressing her lips to his. Carl’s eyes went wide behind his glasses as he returned the embrace in a far more gentlemanly fashion. “See?” Mollie teased. “That wasn’t so bad, was it? Carl, Lydia. Lydia, Carl.” Now they did shake hands, both blushing a little then sat down and Lydia joined in the conversation until, dead on four o’clock, Mollie’s phone buzzed with a message from reception that the girls had arrived.

To Mollie’s surprise, when she went out to collect them, there woman was accompanied not by two girls but by four! From her colouring it was easy to deduce that she was the mother of the long-haired brunette but it occurred to Mollie in that instant that she had no idea which was Tara and which was Poppy. The other girls both had long, dark hair too and were dressed in the uniform of one of the local secondary schools. Mollie prided herself on being quite good at assessing ages, especially of potential meat, and she reckoned these other girls to be eleven or twelve and fourteen.

“Tara and Poppy?” she called out. The younger girls, in their matching if rather dishevelled junior school uniforms looked out at her with broad grins and bounced to their feet. “I’m Mollie.” she told them with a warm smile. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to tell me who’s who as your Grandma just sent me a picture of the two of you.”

“I’m Tara.” the blonde explained.

“And I’m Poppy.” clarified the brunette. “This is my mum.”

“Sheila.” the woman held out her hand to shake Mollie’s. “I hope it’s okay I brought the others along? They were curious to see the place and it felt safer than leaving them to their own devices at home! They’ve promised not to get in the way.”

“It’s no problem at all.” Mollie assured them, wondering to herself with no small level of amusement what the older girls would think of Carl and how he would feel baring all in front of them. “I assume you two have names too?” The girls giggled a little and introduced themselves as Selena and Natasha. “Great!” Mollie grinned. “Follow me!” She led them down the corridor to Inspection Room 2 and knocked on the door, not because she needed permission to enter but because she was well aware that she had left a pair of seventeen year olds alone in there and wanted to give some degree of warning before coming back in, especially with a group of children. It seemed she needn’t have worried, however, as when she opened the door, the pair were just as she had left them, sat chatting over their cold drinks. Carl once again stood up to greet the new-comers and immediately blushed as he made eye-contact with Natasha who smiled coyly at him, her own cheeks a little pink.

“So,” Mollie smiled once all the introductions had been made, “this is what we’re planning for the party. Lydia’s going to be a live buffet, do you know what that is?” The smaller girls shook their heads. “It means she’s going to be stood next to a grill and people can just cut off the bits they want and cook them. Sound fun?” The girls nodded emphatically. “Great! And Carl is going to be a spit-roast.”

“So’s Tasha!” Poppy informed her conversationally. “At her school fair.”

“Oh I see!” Mollie grinned, looking the fourteen year old up and down once more and concluding, even with her loose-fitting school uniform on, she looked like an idea roaster.

“That’s actually how this all started.” Sheila explained with an affectionate smile. “When Natasha came home and said she’d been picked, Poppy got obsessed with the idea of cooking too so we suggested doing something nice for Grandma’s birthday then she sold Tara on the idea too and, well, here we are!” Mollie noticed that Selena looked a little put out. She did not intend saying anything but then Poppy stepped forward, took her hand and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper that was nowhere near as soft or quiet as she thought it was.

“Selena volunteered too,” she explained, “but they didn’t want her because they said she’s too thin.”

“Not every girl is a natural spit-roaster!” Mollie reminded her. “And some of us fill out later. You should have seen me when I was ten, I looked like a little ginger Twiglet and look at me now!” She gestured to her own rather voluptuous body. “By the time you’re your sister’s age I’m sure you’ll make a lovely roast or, if you’re feeling impatient, the stew pot is easily big enough for three!”

“It is?” Selena asked, brightening a little. “I guess it would be…” she paused for a moment. “Doesn’t hurt to take a look, right?”

“It certainly doesn’t!” Mollie agreed with a grin. “And speaking of having a look, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be inspecting two little piglets, so come on,” she grinned at them, “let’s see what we’re working with!”


To be continued...