Boys, Blues and Shoes

by Cindy Jefferies

  “Ellie! I didn’t know you were coming in today. Is it the holidays already? How are you?” She abandoned what she was doing and gave Ellie a big hug. “I’ll put the kettle on. You get the biscuit tin out.”

  Ellie frowned. “I don’t have time, sorry. There’s a panic up in the office because the agency has let them down again over a replacement receptionist, and Angel has given me this huge list of things to do, and Zone One are coming in tomorrow, and—”

  Sophie laughed, and held up her hands in protest. “So! A normal day in the Editorial Department then.”

  Ellie leaned against the table. “True. And,” she said with a grin, “Zone One is the best boy band ever, and Al is my favourite. I can’t wait to meet him! I have to keep telling myself not to think about it or I won’t get anything done. But most of the jobs are away from the office, so no one will notice, will they, if I can’t help thinking about him a bit?” She laughed. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a totally lost cause. But yes, I ought to get on. Like I said, I don’t have time to waste.”

  Sophie picked up the sack again and finished emptying it out onto the desk. “And I bet one of the jobs was to collect the post. If so, I’d better finish sorting it for you.”

  “So why aren’t you delivering it like you used to?” asked Ellie, looking around for the post trolley.

  “Oh, it’s just while I’m waiting for a new trolley,” said Sophie. “Something to do with health and safety. I’m really missing my delivery round to all the offices. Instead I get a steady stream of people grumbling about having to come and collect their own post!”

  “Well I won’t grumble,” said Ellie with a grin. “And I’ll quickly help you finish sorting. I’ve got to take the post up before I can do anything else, so I might as well.”

  Together they soon had all the post sorted. There wasn’t too much for Heart’s editorial team for once.

  “Are there any things on your list that I could help with?” said Sophie, as she slotted a last handful of letters into a box belonging to the marketing team for Heart’s big sister magazine, Soul, which was in the same building. “Sometimes I have a few quiet minutes, once all the post goes upstairs and before new letters and parcels start coming down for me to frank. It would be nice to get out for a breath of air.”

  Ellie paused. “Well there’s Angel’s dry-cleaning. It needs picking up from Shah’s, just along the road. I don’t have the ticket though. Maybe Piano’s got it.”

  “Well if you can get me the ticket fairly soon, I could nip out and do that for you.”

  Ellie grinned. “Thanks so much. As a reward, do you want me to direct Zone One to the post room once they’ve been into the office tomorrow?”

  Sophie laughed. “No thanks! You can keep them. They’re not really my kind of thing. Besides, what would Flynn think?”

  Ellie giggled. She knew very well that Sophie wasn’t into boy bands. “Flynn would think you’d gone totally bonkers, wasting your time chatting to the members of Zone One.”

  “Exactly.”

  Ellie picked up the office post. “Thanks, Soph. See you later!”

  Ellie hurried back to the office and handed Piano the post. “Do you have Angel’s dry-cleaning ticket?”

  Piano handed it to Ellie without a word, but as Ellie made her way towards Francesca with her post, Piano called her back. “By the way, as you’re here, Angel said we could have proper coffee again. I hope you can remember our usual order?”

  Ellie stared at her. It wasn’t far to the coffee shop, where their usual order came from, but Angel and the others drank a lot of coffee – she’d be going backwards and forwards to the shop all day. It looked as if the list was going to grow even longer before she’d had a chance to tick any jobs off at all.

  “Here!” added Piano. “You can take these to Francesca and Angel while you’re around.”

  Ellie dropped the couple of letters Piano had handed her onto Francesca’s desk and took the rest through to Angel.

  “Where’s my coffee?” said Angel, without thanking Ellie for the post.

  “I’m just going to get it,” said Ellie with a sigh.

  She dropped the dry-cleaning ticket off with Sophie and hurried out of the building. It seemed such a waste to send out for coffee when there was a perfectly good drinks vending machine in the office. But the staff all despised the machine, and only used it in a dire emergency. Ellie decided that while she was collecting coffee for them she might as well have one herself too. The coffee was very good, and she could drink it while she was finding out about collecting the shoes. She’d never been to a shoe designer’s before. Would she get to meet the designer himself? What would he be like? And also, would she love his shoes?

  But there was a surprise waiting for Ellie back in the office. Francesca told her that she wouldn’t be collecting the shoes today.

  “Why not?” said Ellie, feeling rather bewildered. “Aren’t they needed here for the shoot tomorrow?”

  “Yes, they are,” said Francesca. “But apparently Jacob Frou prefers not to let his shoes out of his sight overnight whenever possible. His assistant muttered something about insurance, but he does rather have a name for being a bit of an eccentric. It actually doesn’t matter at all, but we must make sure you collect them in good time tomorrow.”

  “I doubt he’ll let you collect them,” said Piano balefully, looking down her nose at Ellie. “He’ll think you’re far too young and irresponsible.”

  “I was a bit worried about that,” Francesca said calmly. “So I did tell him it would be you, Ellie. And actually he sounded charmed. So long as you take ID with you he said he’d be quite happy for you to accompany the shoes back to us in the morning.” She frowned slightly as she looked at Ellie. “Do you know his shoes?”

  Ellie shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  Piano rolled her eyes, but Francesca looked understanding. “This is his first collection for young people, so it’s not surprising. I’ve always adored his previous styles.” She sighed. “I’d love to catch a glimpse of his workshop and meet him. I expect you’ll get to do both, Ellie, you lucky thing!”

  For the rest of the day, Ellie worked really hard to get as many jobs done as possible. Between unpacking and hanging up some clothes for Angel to inspect, fetching coffee, and taking Ferdinand for two short walks – for which he was obviously very grateful – she spent ages typing up bits and pieces for the magazine. There was a backlog of readers’ letters to type up, ready for the letters page, and there was going to be a feature on readers’ pets, so Ellie had to extract and type up interesting snippets from those letters too.

  It all took ages, especially as she had to scan in some of the pictures readers had sent to accompany the information. She felt very lucky to be allowed to choose the featured pets, although she knew that Piano or Francesca would cast an eye over the piece before it was passed for publication. Ellie didn’t have to actually write anything – the page was going to be like a notice board, with photos pinned up alongside sticky notes with the comments on. Once she had done her bit, and her choices had been passed, the items would be sent to the Design Department. They would turn it all into one of Heart’s bright and interesting pages.

  Just as she thought she’d finished, Piano threw a spanner in the works. “Don’t forget to provide us with some extras, so when we reject some of your choices we’ve got others to look at.”

  “Okay. How many do you want?”

  Piano tapped her crimson fingernail against her teeth, which set Ellie’s teeth on edge. “About six ought to do it.”

  “Six! Francesca only wanted me to choose twelve altogether.”

  Piano stopped tapping her teeth and curled her lip. “Well then. Six will give us plenty of choice, won’t it?”

  As Piano sauntered back to her desk, Ellie glanced at her watch. She would have to hurry if she didn’t want to work late, but she was determined not to leave finishing the job until tomorrow. She wanted to be see
n as efficient and dedicated; and that meant staying until the job was done. And to be honest, it was no great hardship. It was fun sifting through and picking out all the most adorable cats and dogs – not forgetting the guinea pigs and hamsters. She’d even come across a picture of someone’s stick insects. She hadn’t been sure about including it, but at least it was unusual – and it was to hand, so now she most definitely would!

  “Isn’t it time you went home?” said Francesca at last.

  Ellie uploaded the last picture and logged out of the system. “I’m just off,” she said. “I’ve finished the pet thing, and done all the readers’ letters too.”

  “Well done,” said Francesca, looking pleased. “You’ve made a real difference today. I’m so glad you’re back.”

  As soon as she got home, Ellie powered up her computer, and went online. Her friend Hannah was online too, so they had a good chat.

  Zone One! You’re going to actually meet them – you lucky thing!

  Probably not for very long though, said Ellie. We’re sooo busy. But Francesca said she’ll do her best to make sure we have a few minutes with them.

  We? said Hannah.

  Apparently Piano loves them too, said Ellie.

  Well don’t let her ease you out, said Hannah. You’ve got exactly the same right as her to drool over them.

  Ellie giggled. I don’t think Piano does drooling.

  I bet she will over Zone One! said Hannah.

  Talking to Hannah made Ellie even more excited about meeting the boys. It was the chance of a lifetime to spend time with her fave band. None of her friends at school could boast of being so lucky. Ellie decided that she would ask the boys for their autographs. In fact… Do you have their first CD? she asked Hannah. Or do you just have it as a download?

  Both! said Hannah. I had to have the CD as well because of their picture on the front.

  Me too, said Ellie. Well if you bring it round I’ll take it to work with me in the morning and see if I can get them to sign it. I’m going to take mine. You’ll have to promise to love me for ever though!

  !!!****!!! said Hannah. Yes please!!! I’ll be round in ten minutes!

  Okay, Ellie replied, but Hannah had already signed off.

  In just a few minutes the doorbell rang, and Hannah was on the doorstep, clutching the CD. “You will be utterly, my very best friend for the rest of my life if you do this,” she told Ellie.

  “I’ll do my best,” laughed Ellie. “Now come in. You can help me decide what to wear.”

  In the morning, Ellie managed to catch an earlier bus, so she was at work in good time. Even so, both Francesca and Piano were ahead of her. Piano was wearing the highest heels Ellie had ever seen, and her hair had been put up, with wispy tendrils artfully arranged around her face. It looked as if she’d spent hours at the hairdresser’s. As soon as she caught sight of Ellie, Piano rolled her eyes and pursed her heavily lipglossed mouth.

  Ellie felt sure that Piano would never admit to having made a special effort to impress the Zone One band members, but it was obvious to Ellie that she had. Ellie longed to say something about the way they both looked. If Piano had been friendly they could have chatted about how much effort they’d both made to give a good impression, but she knew that Piano would never want to be any sort of friend to her. In spite of that, Ellie simply couldn’t bring herself to say nothing about how exciting it was going to be meeting their favourite band. She pulled her CD out of her bag and waved it gaily at Piano.

  “I’m all ready!” she said.

  Piano rolled her eyes again. “You’re not going to make a fool of yourself, are you?” she said. “You can’t ask guests for autographs. Angel will be furious if you hassle them. The last thing they’ll want is to be hounded by fans.”

  “Well you’re a fan too!” snapped Ellie, feeling very cross. How dare Piano act so superior? Ellie marched to her desk and plonked herself down in her seat. But as she stuffed the CD back into her bag she began to wonder. Was it bad manners to ask people for their autographs? Would Angel be angry if she did? Didn’t famous people expect it? She sighed. Trust Piano to make things complicated. But she didn’t have time to brood. Francesca, who was looking even more harassed than yesterday, was coming over.

  “Don’t get too settled,” she said. “There’ll be a cab coming for you soon. The main reception will ring up when it’s here and Piano will give you a shout. All you have to do is go to Jacob Frou, collect the shoes and come back in the same cab. It’s all arranged. Which is more than I can say for some things,” she added under her breath.

  “Will the cabbie have the address?” asked Ellie.

  “Yes, of course. All you have to do is be in it, and look after the shoes on the way back. Now be ready. There’s not much time.” She hurried away, and Ellie closed her laptop, which she had just opened. It seemed weird to have to look after a load of shoes while they were in transit. What harm could they come to? The world of fashion and magazines could sometimes seem very different from real life, but that was what made it so exciting.

  While she waited for the cab, Ellie checked the contents of her bag. Tissues, money, lipgloss, her CD and Hannah’s, and her father’s old notebook. The phone hadn’t rung, so the cab couldn’t be here yet. Maybe if she opened her laptop again and signed in that would make the cab arrive.

  But the minutes ticked by, and still there was no sign of the cab. She watched as Joe Eagle, the photographer, turned up with his cameras. After a few minutes the Art Director came in too. She and Joe spoke for a few minutes and then they both went into Angel’s office. Ellie felt awkward, as if it was her fault that the cab wasn’t here. She was just about to go and ask Piano if it would be a good idea to phone the cab company again when Francesca came hurrying out of Angel’s office with Joe and the Art Director in tow.

  “Ellie! Why are you still here?”

  Ellie stood up. “The cab hasn’t come. I was just wondering if we ought to ring them again.”

  “Well of course we should! Piano should have done it before now. Piano!”

  “What’s the problem?” asked Joe.

  Francesca explained while Piano rang the cab company. “They say they’ve been very busy but they should have one available in about twenty minutes,” said Piano with one hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. “Inefficient lot!”

  “Look, don’t worry,” said Joe sympathetically. “I can take Ellie over if you like. I know where Jacob Frou is – I did a job over there some time ago, and I’ve got to pick up a lens from the camera shop nearby.”

  Francesca looked relieved. “That’s a brilliant offer, Joe,” she said. Then she looked at Ellie. “Is that all right with you? You’ll be quite safe with Joe. He’ll look after you.”

  “That’s fine,” said Ellie. She liked Joe, and it would be much more fun chatting to someone she knew instead of spending the journey with no one except the cab driver to talk to.

  In no time she was downstairs, and getting into a smart red sports car. She’d never been in a car with such low seats. It felt as if she was almost sitting on the road, separated from it only by the luxurious black leather upholstery. She felt very glamorous as they pulled out into the road, with the engine giving a throaty roar. Joe was a great driver, and Ellie settled back to enjoy having a ride in such a cool car.

  “How do you fit your family in?” she asked, as the thought suddenly occurred to her.

  Joe laughed. “Not in this car!” he said. “My wife has a people carrier that she drives during the week. At weekends, when I take over some of the ferrying around, we swap over. I couldn’t get the kids’ bikes in the back of this!”

  Ellie looked behind her. There was just about space for his cameras, but not a lot more.

  “So how are you enjoying learning about being a journalist at Heart?” said Joe, manoeuvring the car down a narrow alley.

  “It’s great being part of things,” said Ellie enthusiastically. “I’m very lucky – especially today, with Zone O
ne coming in!”

  Joe laughed. “Famous people are always interesting to meet,” he said. “And I’ve certainly met a few in my time – though I started off very much like you, running errands.”

  “Really?” said Ellie, wondering how long it took to get from office junior to being the owner of a smart car like Joe’s.

  “I can remember spending a couple of years in my first job lugging camera equipment around for my boss and hardly taking a photograph of my own. Still, it’s all valuable experience.”

  “So who have you met?” asked Ellie.

  For the next few minutes Joe told Ellie about all the celebrities he’d photographed. It seemed an impossibly glamorous life to Ellie, although it seemed it was just a job to Joe. Even so, it was one he obviously loved.

  “Here we are,” he said after a few more minutes, pulling out of the traffic towards the kerb. “Your destination, Ellie. Jacob Frou.”

  In her haste, Ellie was already opening the door before Joe had quite stopped.

  “Careful!” He braked hard, just before the door hit a lamp post.

  “Sorry. Sorry!” Ellie was mortified.

  Joe shook his head. “You’re as bad as my kids. No patience. Never mind, no harm done. I’ll just go and park the car, nip over to get my new lens, and meet you back here.”

  Ellie rang the bell by the door Joe had pointed out. There was very little to show that this was the premises of one of the most famous shoe designers in the world. The only hint was the modest JF in gold lettering on the door. A voice crackled in her ear.

  “Jacob Frou. Who is this, please?”

  Ellie spoke into the entryphone. “I’m Ellie Ixos from Heart magazine. I’ve come to collect some shoes for a photo shoot this afternoon.”

  “Come on up.”

  The door buzzed and unlatched. Ellie pushed her way in and went up the steep stairs in front of her. At the top was another door. Ellie couldn’t decide if she was supposed to knock or just go straight in. As no one answered her knock, she opened the door to find a large, light, airy room filled with an explosion of colours.