Novel

We host a lot of U3A groups.
They come in all shapes and sizes. Small history groups; large gardening groups; groups of mainly men; groups of mainly women; groups of mainly couples; groups from all over the UK.
At lunchtime we served a group of 16 who hadn't come far. They were from Bromsgrove and they preordered their lunches, arrived on time, were very complimentary and went off to enjoy their tour of the church and crypt.
Then half of them came back for tea and cake. It started to rain and they pretty much had the place to themselves. And they were wonderfully loud. They laughed. A lot. Either one of them was doing stand-up or they'd all been drinking.
As they were having their cake (and eating it) an older gentleman came in. I thought he might be either blind or partially sighted as he fumbled with his change and pushed it across the counter to pay for his tea.
I was wrong.
As I left for the day I noticed him sitting outside, holding his umbrella above his head reading a book.