Taking a Chance on Love

by Joan Jonker

  Joan, who was trying to make an impression on Bobby, was cut to the quick. ‘Don’t you be picking on me or I’ll thump yer one!’

  David grinned. ‘Who would yer get to lift yer up?’

  Their father intervened. ‘That’s it! I’ve got a headache trying to listen to everyone at once. Now let’s see if I’ve got it straight.’ Bill smiled to himself at what he was going to say. ‘I’ve heard Amelia’s story, and Ginny’s. Bobby I’ve only heard bits of, and would be grateful for a bit of hush so I can hear it in full. As for you, Joan, all we got when we were having our dinner was your voice complaining about the smell of rubber in Dunlop’s. Now seeing as it’s a rubber factory, it would be strange if it smelt of fish, don’t yer think?’

  Dot sighed and raised her brows to Beth before saying, ‘Bill, they’re making enough noise without you adding your twopennyworth. And I bet you were just as excited after your first day at work as yer daughter is today. After all, it is a turning point in her life.’

  Joan grinned cheekily at the father she adored. ‘That’s put you in yer place, Dad. This is a day for the young ones, not an old fogey.’

  ‘Ay, that’s enough cheek out of yer,’ Dot said. ‘Yer dad’s only a year older than me, so if ye’re calling him an old fogey, ye’re calling me one, too! Just watch yer lip, young lady, or I’ll be giving yer a thick one.’

  ‘While ye’re still in one piece,’ Ginny said to her friend, ‘shall we make our way down to see Mrs Bailey?’

  Beth nodded at her daughter. ‘That’s a good idea, sunshine, before it gets too late. I don’t want yer knocking on her door at all hours.’

  ‘Yeah, okay.’ Joan was willing. ‘Are yer coming, Amelia and Bobby?’

  ‘Our kid can go with yer, but I’ll stay and talk to David,’ Bobby said. ‘Tell me mam I won’t be long, half-an-hour or so.’

  Beth noticed Joan’s smile drop, and thought, Oh, aye, she’s got her eye on him. Fourteen and probably noticing boys for the first time. She sighed, thinking that in another couple of years Ginny would probably be courting. Children seemed to grow up quicker these days than when she was a girl. Still, as long as Ginny found herself a good lad, one that would look after her, that’s all they could ask for. ‘Go on, poppy off to see Mrs Bailey. But mind yer don’t overstay yer welcome, and remember she’s not a slip of a girl any more so behave yerselves.’

  Ginny had a job getting Joan to leave the Baileys; she knew her friend was hanging back waiting for Bobby to come home. In the end she said, ‘I’m going whether you are or not. It’s nearly ten o’clock and me mam said I hadn’t got to stay too long.’

  ‘Ten o’clock’s early! We’re not schoolchildren any more, we’re working girls. My mam won’t mind me staying until this time.’

  ‘Well, you please yerself, but I’m going.’ Ginny pulled a face at Hannah. ‘Yer’ll have to throw her out if yer want to get rid of her, Mrs Bailey.’

  It was Claire who answered. ‘I’m sure it won’t come to that. But if it was Amelia who was out at this time of night, I’d be worried. Particularly with it being such a dark night and the street lamp outside seems to be broken.’

  ‘I wouldn’t stay out until this time on a dark night,’ Amelia said. ‘In the summer perhaps, when the nights are light, but not when it’s pitch black.’

  ‘Oh, I’ll come with yer,’ Joan said, knowing when she was outvoted. ‘Yer’ll only call me for everything if I don’t.’

  Ginny gave Hannah a kiss. ‘Yer look a lot better now yer’ve got yer family with yer. But as ye’re my friend, I’ll still keep coming down to see yer.’

  ‘I want yer to, sweetheart,’ Hannah told her. ‘I want to know how ye’re getting on at work, and all about yer friends. In fact, I’m a nosy old so-and-so, and I want to know everything that happens in yer life. So ye’re always welcome here.’

  Claire showed them to the door and Ginny was just stepping down on to the pavement when Bobby bumped into her. ‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she said, ‘I didn’t see yer.’

  ‘I didn’t see you either.’ Bobby was wishing he could rub the toe she’d trodden on. ‘It’s hopeless having a streetlamp that doesn’t work.’ He glanced up the road. ‘I’ll walk back with yer, to make sure yer get home safe. Take an arm each.’

  Joan was in her applecart. Clinging on tightly to his arm, she started to chatter and didn’t stop until they reached Ginny’s house. A gaslamp further up the street gave some light, and they could see Bobby smiling when he withdrew his arms and said, ‘There yer are, girls, home safe and sound.’

  ‘Ay, I’m not home,’ Joan said. ‘Yer should do the job proper and take me to my door.’

  Ginny was embarrassed. ‘Don’t act daft, it’s only a few steps.’

  ‘If ye’re worried about anyone running off with yer,’ Bobby said, while thinking anyone who ran off with Joan would regret it very quickly unless they were stone deaf, ‘I’ll stand here until yer get inside yer door.’

  There was nothing Joan could do but walk to her own front door and knock. When it was opened by her mam, she waved to the two figures standing a few yards away before disappearing inside. But she wasn’t in the best of moods. At the back of her mind she knew she’d spoilt things by talking too much and showing off, but she wasn’t going to blame herself for Bobby’s lack of interest so she ignored what that little voice in her head was saying, and told herself it was Ginny’s fault for being so smarmy and goody-goody.

  Beth and Andy were having their last cup of tea of the day when Ginny walked in. Joey was in bed and everywhere was quiet. ‘How was Hannah, sunshine?’

  ‘She’s fine, Mam! I think she’s getting well looked after ’cos she looks tons better than she did before her family came.’ Ginny hung her coat up before making her way towards a fire that had been banked down for the night but was still giving out warmth. ‘Did yer mean it when yer said I should ask Marie to come round one night?’

  ‘Of course I did! That’s if yer want to, of course?’

  ‘Oh, yeah, it would be great! Yer won’t half like her, she’s very funny and is always laughing. She reminds me of Joan, they’re both good at impersonating people.’ Ginny remembered something and began to laugh. ‘How about this, for instance? Marie wants to get a job behind the counter eventually, but it’s her arithmetic that’s letting her down. Anyway, she said she’s going to get her dad to set her some sums every night. And when I asked if her dad was good at sums, she answered, “He’s bound to be, at his age, isn’t he?” And when I said his age didn’t mean he’d be good at sums, she said she’d get the woman next door to double check them.’

  ‘I’ll look forward to meeting her,’ Beth said. ‘She sounds like a tonic.’

  ‘She is! As I said, she reminds me of Joan, but she’s got a bit more on top.’

  ‘The trouble with Joan is, she gets her mouth going before her brain,’ Andy said. ‘But she’s a good kid, for all that.’

  ‘Yeah, I know, and she’ll always be me best mate. I’ll have to ask her in if Marie comes or she’ll feel left out. And I was wondering whether I should ask Amelia, ’cos she hasn’t had time to make friends with anyone yet.’

  ‘That would be nice, sunshine, I’m sure she’d be made up. It was thoughtful of yer to think of her, but then I shouldn’t expect any less from yer, should I?’

  ‘Right, I’ll ask Marie tomorrow and see what night is best for her. But I’m going up to bed now ’cos I feel worn out.’

  ‘I’ve kept the cosy on the pot to keep the tea warm for yer, sunshine. Don’t yer want a cuppa before yer go to bed?’

  Andy shuffled to the edge of his chair. ‘I’ll pour yer one out, sweetheart. Let yer old dad spoil yer this once. It isn’t often a man’s daughter starts her first job.’

  ‘No, thanks, Dad, I’m not fussy about one. I’m so tired it’s taking me all me time to keep me eyes open. It must be all the excitement, learning everything on the counter and the prices and meeting new people, me head is spinning. So I’m going
to have an early night and in the morning I’ll be fresh to start another day.’ Ginny gave her mother a hug and a kiss, and then kissed her dad. ‘Goodnight and God bless.’

  ‘Goodnight and God bless, sunshine.’

  ‘Goodnight and God bless, sweetheart.’

  When they heard the footsteps climbing the stairs, Beth looked across at her husband. ‘We’ve got a good one there, sunshine.’

  Andy nodded. ‘Aye, we certainly have, love, we certainly have.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  They were sitting on the tram the next morning when Marie brought a small notebook from her bag. She waved it in Ginny’s face and laughingly said, ‘I didn’t trust me dad, me mam, or the woman next door. But I do trust you ’cos I’ve seen yer in action.’

  Ginny took the notebook from her and opened it up. There were three pages with sums on, but she quickly noticed that they were easy sums, not likely to test the mind of anyone but a child. ‘I see yer got them all right. Or were yer parents being kind to yer?’

  ‘Well, if they were, they didn’t know they were being kind to me. They wouldn’t have been backward in coming forward if they’d thought I’d done any of them wrong. Yer see, they know how much I want a job behind the counter so they wouldn’t be soft with me.’

  ‘I’ll run over them quickly, shall I?’ Knowing Marie wouldn’t keep quiet while she did this, she added, ‘While you look out of the window at the scenery.’

  There was a deep chuckle. ‘Listening to you, anyone would think I talk too much.’

  ‘I only know one person who talks more than you and that’s my friend Joan. Her mouth is never still. Anyway, feast yer eyes on the shops, or the people hurrying to catch a tram to take them to work.’

  ‘I don’t know whether this has skipped yer notice, Ginny, but since we’ve got on this tram you’ve done twice as much talking as me.’

  ‘I was just beginning to notice that so if yer’ll let me concentrate I’ll get on with these sums.’ It was only about five minutes later that Ginny was handing the book back. ‘They’re all right, kid, but ask yer dad to make them a bit harder for yer. And I’ll do my bit to help by giving yer some sums to do in yer head. That’s what yer have to be able to do behind a counter, Marie. There’s pads there which yer can use, but it’s easier if yer can add up in yer head. There’s nothing over sixpence in the shop, so we’re not talking in pounds. A customer might buy three or four things and altogether they’ll only come to a shilling. So it’s not hard by any means.’

  ‘Not hard to you, perhaps, but very hard to someone who’s thick.’

  ‘You are not thick, Marie! If ye’re going to think that about yerself, yer’ll never get a job as a shop assistant. Look, say a woman comes in to buy four buttons at tuppence each. Then she asks for two yards of ribbon at three pence a yard. Now how much would that come to?’

  Marie’s tongue came out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated. ‘That’s eightpence for the buttons, and sixpence for the ribbon.’ She used her fingers to add the sixpence to the eightpence. ‘I get to one shilling and tuppence.’

  ‘And that’s right! Now it wasn’t so hard, was it?’

  Marie’s bottom did a dance on the wooden bench seat. ‘That’s great! Can yer give me another one to do?’

  Ginny shook her head. ‘We get off the stop after this, but we’ll do it again tomorrow. And there’s something I want to ask yer. Would yer like to come round to ours one night and meet me mam and dad? I’ve told them about yer and they’d like yer to come. I’ll get me friend Joan to come in as well. Would yer like that?’

  ‘Oh, yeah, that would be the gear! It’s only a ten-minute walk from ours to yours. And can we make it tomorrow night? With it being Wednesday, our half day, I’ll have plenty of time to make meself look presentable then.’

  Ginny grinned. The more she was with Marie, the more she liked her. ‘That’s settled then. And tell yer mam not to worry about yer walking home on yer own in the dark, me and me kid brother will walk with yer.’

  As soon as they stepped off the tram, Ginny’s tummy began to turn over. The thought of having to face Miss Landers wasn’t a pleasant prospect. But she said nothing to Marie. The least said, soonest mended. After they’d hung up their bags and coats, she forced a smile to her face. ‘I’ll see yer in the canteen at break time.’

  Miss Landers was checking the counter when Ginny arrived, and although she looked up, she didn’t smile or pass the time of day. And it continued like that for the next hour and a half. The only time the senior assistant spoke, or barked would be a better word, was when she was serving and ordered Ginny to tidy the reels of cotton and ribbons in the front of the counter. Or if there were no customers, she would accuse the girl of deliberately getting under her feet.

  Ginny was beginning to think the woman she was working with wasn’t right in the head. There was no sense in the orders she gave, and certainly no reason because Ginny made sure the counter always looked immaculate. But nothing she did found favour with her senior who was bitter and twisted. It was a great relief when the time came for her morning break. After that, she could look forward to her senior’s dinner break when Miss Sutherland took over. So while she sat and enjoyed her cup of tea, laughing at the things Marie came out with, Ginny kept the nice things in the front of her mind and the nasty things at bay.

  While she was walking through the store, back to the haberdashery counter, she made a resolution. She would get on with her work and ignore Miss Landers, as she herself was being ignored. If the woman didn’t want to be friendly, then that’s how it would be.

  There was a customer being served when Ginny got back so she walked through to stand behind the counter. She made sure she kept well away from her senior, but she’d have had to be deaf not to hear what was going on. The customer was buying several things, and without even thinking what she was doing, Ginny was adding the prices up in her head. Her very presence seemed to annoy Frances Landers who turned and stared unblinkingly at her until Ginny dropped her gaze. ‘Get round to the front and tidy the reels of cotton. And the knitting needles need straightening,’ she ordered her assistant.

  The customer had been served, paid over two shillings and fourpence and had the receipt in her hand. She gazed from the hard face of the woman behind the counter to the young girl who stood by looking very uncomfortable. ‘Was there any need for that?’ the woman asked, feeling quite angry that anyone so young should be belittled in front of a customer. ‘Were you never taught to say “please” and “thank you”? Anyone with your attitude should not be allowed to work with the public.’ With that she walked away with her nose in the air, and Ginny felt like running after her and giving her a hug. She did watch her for a few seconds. When she turned back, there was no sign of her senior.

  Filled with curiosity, Ginny murmured, ‘Where the heck has she got to?’ Then she walked behind the counter and was amazed to find the woman bent double, as she had been the day before. ‘Have yer caught yer stocking again?’

  Miss Landers sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, her face contorted with anger. ‘Don’t you ever dare sneak up on me like that again! And don’t pry into my affairs, you cheeky little madam, I’ve a good mind to report you.’

  Ginny was completely bewildered by the attack and the look of sheer dislike on her superior’s twisted face. ‘I only asked if yer’d snagged yer stocking again, there’s no harm in that. I certainly wasn’t prying.’ Then the girl’s pride overcame her fear. ‘Anyway I think it might be a good idea if yer do report me. They’re bound to ask to hear my side of what happened. So shall I go and ask Miss Halliday to come down?’

  She watched the transformation come over the other woman in amazement. No one would believe her if she described it, they’d have to see it for themselves. The face of the woman before her was no longer contorted in anger but grimacing in what was supposed to pass for a smile. Shivering inside, Ginny told herself it was like one of the masks she’d seen hanging up in the sw
eetshop on the corner of her street. They were grotesque, bought by children to frighten their friends.

  ‘I didn’t mean to bawl at you, it’s just that I got out of bed on the wrong side this morning. You’ll have to learn not to take things to heart because I don’t really mean to upset you,’ Miss Landers cajoled.

  But Ginny wasn’t prepared to be treated like a skivvy whenever this woman felt like venting her anger on someone. If she had to come in to this every day, being miserable and humiliated, she’d be better off working somewhere else. And all because of this woman who she would swear had a screw loose.

  Being too young to deal properly with the situation, Ginny stood lost for words. Then her eyes lighted on Miss Sutherland, who was talking and laughing with Helen on the next counter. What a difference it would make if she’d been put with someone who was easy to get on with. Then she took heart from the knowledge that it wouldn’t be long now before Miss Sutherland took over for the dinner break. Perhaps she could have a word with her about the way Miss Landers was treating her. And she could ask was she the only one the woman had taken a dislike to? Surely she must have had other juniors working with her, how had she treated them?

  Ginny couldn’t bring herself to speak, so she stayed silent and walked to the front of the counter. She’d stay there, even if she had to keep moving things that didn’t need moving, anything to keep a distance between her and her senior until Miss Sutherland came to take over. But it shouldn’t be like this, it just wasn’t right. She’d looked forward so much to starting work, and here she was, more miserable than she’d ever been in her life. Never in that short time had she come into contact with anyone who was so hostile to her. Who openly showed their dislike, even hatred, of her. And she didn’t see how she could cope with it day after day. Her life wouldn’t be worth living. Yes, she’d have a word with Miss Sutherland, that was the best thing. She’d advise Ginny on what to do.

  ‘I’m coming!’ Dorothy Sutherland waved to the senior assistant from the next counter then groaned under her breath. ‘Just look at the state of her, Helen, she looks like a bull ready to charge. Honest, she gives me the willies. Anyway, I’d better get up there before she starts frothing at the mouth. I’ll see you later.’