Taking a Chance on Love

by Joan Jonker

  Ginny shook her head. ‘No, Miss, I don’t see her do it every day. Perhaps twice a week. But I can’t speak for the times I’m on me break.’

  ‘I believe you hadn’t been working here more than a day or so when a customer complained to Miss Landers about the rude way she addressed you and has since asked that the complaint be recorded. Is that true?’

  ‘Yes, Miss, the customer comes in a couple of times a week. Her name’s Miss Meadows and she works in Henderson’s.’

  The three women exchanged glances before Miss Ormsby asked, ‘Why didn’t you complain yourself about the way you were being treated, Virginia?’

  ‘I was only new here, Miss, and I didn’t want to cause no trouble. Besides, who would believe me against her?’

  A member of the canteen staff arrived then with a tray set with four cups and saucers, sugar, milk and a plate of biscuits. ‘Miss Halliday, will you do the honours, please?’

  ‘Hadn’t I better be getting back to work, Miss Ormsby? I’m sure Miss Landers will be wondering what’s going on. And she’s bound to ask me what yer wanted me for.’

  ‘You won’t be going back on the haberdashery counter, Virginia, we’re moving you elsewhere. No one will think that unusual. It is our policy to move junior staff around from time to time so they get used to working on every counter in the shop. We will be putting another assistant on with Miss Landers to monitor the situation. But I must ask that once you leave this room, you will not utter one word to anyone, except your parents, about what has been said. Not even your best friend.’ Sarah Ormsby tilted her head. ‘Are you still friends with Marie Whittaker?’

  ‘Oh, yes, Miss, we’re good mates. We travel to work together every day.’ Ginny’s eyes regained their brightness as she spoke of her friend. ‘She’s been doing homework every night, getting her father to set her some sums, and on the tram coming to work I give her sums to add up in her head. She can add up as good as me now, but she still keeps at it. Yer see, she’s determined to be a counter assistant one of these days, like me.’

  Miss Halliday had scarcely spoken since the interview began, but beforehand she had mentioned to Miss Ormsby that she was afraid the junior who’d left after working with Frances Landers a very short time, Joyce Connor, may have experienced a similar situation as Virginia, and had given in her notice rather than report the woman. It took guts on the part of a fourteen-year-old to do what Virginia Porter had, and a lot of integrity. Mary Halliday now smiled across at her. ‘Marie is very popular in the stock room. A very pleasant, happy girl who is not afraid of work.’

  ‘And you say her ambition is to work behind a counter, then, Virginia?’ Miss Ormsby swivelled her chair from side to side. ‘Does she not like working in the stock room?’

  ‘Oh, she never said that, Miss, she gets on well with all of them. But everyone has a dream of something we’d like to happen in our lives, and Marie’s is to serve behind the counter.’

  ‘That is something we will look into at a later date. Right now we have to decide where best to put you.’

  Mary Halliday tapped the end of her pencil on her teeth and pondered for a short while. Then she said, ‘In my opinion the best and easiest solution would be to put Virginia with Miss Sutherland, and Helen Bleasedale on haberdashery. We would gain nothing but a repeat of what we have now if a very young junior is put with Miss Landers. It would certainly be unfair to the junior. In Helen Bleasedale you have the perfect person. She is still regarded as a junior because of her age, but she is as capable as any senior in the store. She is also very reliable, honest and trustworthy.’

  ‘And how do you explain the move to her?’ Sarah Ormsby asked. ‘She’s bound to be curious, and even a little put out if she’s happy where she is.’

  ‘Somewhere along the line we have to trust someone. We can’t sort the problem out ourselves unless a thorough stocktaking is done, and then if it is found that there are discrepancies, we would have to involve the police. I’m sure that is not something we would be happy about. My suggestion would be to confide in Helen and ask her to be watchful for any wrongdoing. Virginia kept it a secret, and I’m sure we could trust Helen to do the same.’

  ‘I agree!’ Sarah Ormsby decided quickly. The last thing she wanted was bad publicity for the store because she was the one who would have to explain to the Managing Director. ‘Let’s do it now. Miss Halliday, I would like you to take Virginia down to Miss Sutherland’s counter, stopping on the way to explain to Miss Landers that juniors are being moved around. Then ask Helen to accompany you back here.’

  Ginny saw this as a sign of dismissal and got to her feet. ‘I’m sorry for causing yer any trouble, I didn’t mean to. But it was that or packing the job in and I wouldn’t want to do that because I like working here.’

  ‘I think you have behaved in a very responsible manner, Virginia, and you can tell your parents I said they have raised a daughter they can be proud of. Now, please go with Miss Halliday, but remember it is important you do not discuss this meeting with anyone.’

  Ginny followed close on Miss Halliday’s heels as she walked down the aisle looking neither left nor right. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Frances Landers raise her hand as though to stop them to ask why her junior wasn’t coming back behind the counter. But Ginny found that even though her tummy was churning over, her mind was clearing with relief that she had been believed and she wasn’t going to lose her job. She didn’t have to worry what Miss Landers thought, because the woman couldn’t hurt her any more.

  Dorothy Sutherland welcomed Ginny with a wide smile and a pat of encouragement. But when Helen was asked to accompany the supervisor, she looked perplexed. For once she forgot and broke the rule regarding the use of first names. ‘Ginny won’t be staying here for good, will she?’

  ‘Come with me, Miss Bleasedale, and everything will be explained to you. There is absolutely no need to feel apprehensive.’ Without allowing time for any further questions, the supervisor nodded to indicate that Helen should follow her. And after a quick surprised look at the woman she’d worked with for over three years, the girl did as she was bidden.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Four weeks passed, and what happy weeks they were for Ginny! Instead of criticism there was praise; instead of sharp words and dark looks there was laughter. Dorothy Sutherland was a dream to work for, and coming through the doors of Woolworth’s each day was a pleasure. Ginny hadn’t spoken one word to Frances Landers since the day she’d been taken off haberdashery, and although she met Helen in the canteen on most days, not a word was mentioned about her former senior. Of course Ginny was curious about whether Helen had noticed anything untoward happening on haberdashery, but she never asked. She did wonder, though, if Miss Landers had been forced to mend her ways with the arrival of an older assistant who wasn’t likely to be intimidated by her.

  It was on the Tuesday of Ginny’s fifth week on purses and wallets that the bubble burst, but it was done so quietly and efficiently no one in the shop sensed anything amiss. Only the supervisor, Miss Halliday, and the senior management were aware of what had been happening, and how they were going to deal with the matter. Oh, and Helen knew, of course, because she was part of it. It turned out she’d had cause to suspect Miss Landers of being a thief in her first week on the counter, but although she passed on her suspicions to Miss Halliday, she had no proof. So she became more vigilant and watchful. Soon a pattern began to present itself. It was every Tuesday and Thursday, and always in the morning, just before dinner break. If a customer bought goods which amounted to sixpence, the senior assistant would press the silver coin into her left palm while opening the till with her right hand. Then, almost in one movement, she would pretend to throw the coin into the till while quickly closing the drawer. She would wait until Helen was serving, therefore not watching what she was doing, and then the coin would be slipped into Miss Landers’ shoe. It was done so brazenly, Helen felt like confronting her there and then, but she’d had strict i
nstructions she must not do that.

  Miss Ormsby decided after four weeks, with a record of times and dates, it was time to act. They still had no proof, but Helen had been so eagle-eyed she would swear that when the senior left the counter to go for her lunch she would first visit the cloakroom for her handbag and purse. The sixpences would be put with the rest of her money and no one could prove she had stolen them. But Helen was so angry that someone she was working with would steal from their bosses, she’d thought of a way to catch her. This was passed on to Miss Halliday, who advised Miss Ormsby and Miss Harper. And so the scene was set.

  So while Ginny was humming to herself as she helped a customer to choose a navy blue purse which was nearest in colour to the handbag she was carrying, a drama was taking place near by. The beginning of the end for the woman who had made her life a misery.

  Mary Halliday stood in the aisle, her eyes focused on Helen Bleasedale as she waited for the signal. When she saw the assistant put a hand to the crown of her head, the supervisor hurried to the cloakroom door, passed on the signal then waited. Inside, near to where Frances Landers hung her bag and coat, stood Miss Ormsby and Miss Harper.

  Miss Halliday inclined her head in acknowledgement of Frances Landers’ smile, then waited a few seconds before following her. The senior counter assistant had been making an extra shilling a week by thieving for such a long time, and getting away with it, she’d become complacent. She didn’t think there was anything afoot when she saw the two women from Personnel. But when Mary Halliday caught up with her and took her by the arm, alarm bells started to ring. They were just three or four pegs away from where her coat and bag were hanging, and she would have walked on if the grip on her arm hadn’t tightened and brought her to a standstill.

  Sarah Ormsby, her face expressionless, stood in front of her. ‘Miss Landers, would you accompany us to the office, please?’

  Her bag and safety so near, this wasn’t to the woman’s liking. ‘Will it not wait until after I’ve had my lunch, Miss Ormsby? I’m feeling quite hungry.’

  ‘No, it will not wait. I have asked you to accompany us, now I am ordering you to. Follow me if you will.’

  ‘I would like a handkerchief from my handbag, can I bring it with me?’

  ‘No, you cannot!’ Sarah Ormsby’s voice was abrupt. If any doubt had been lingering in her head about whether the senior assistant was guilty of pilfering, it had now gone. ‘I want this matter dealt with as quickly as possible.’

  As soon as the four women were in the office, and Miss Harper had closed the door, the Head of Personnel asked, ‘Miss Landers, would you kindly remove your shoes, please? Both of them.’

  A consummate actress, the senior assistant feigned surprise. She realised she could be in serious trouble, but she wasn’t going to let them see. After all, they couldn’t be sure she had money in her shoe, so if she bluffed it out she might just get away with it. Without proof, they didn’t have a leg to stand on. Nobody could have seen her slipping the sixpence into her shoe because she was always very careful. ‘Why do you want me to take my shoes off? I’d be very embarrassed if I did, because I’ve got holes in the toes of my stockings.’

  Sarah Ormsby was losing patience. This certainly wasn’t a job she enjoyed doing, but it had to be done. ‘If you don’t take them off, Miss Landers, I’ll have no alternative but to bring in the police. Surely you don’t want that?’

  ‘But I don’t understand why? It seems ridiculous to me when I haven’t done anything and you haven’t given me a reason.’

  ‘Then you have nothing to fear by removing your shoes. By doing so, you will save yourself the humiliation of being searched by the police.’

  Frances Landers didn’t show any sign of fear or remorse, but she did show her rising temper. She didn’t see herself as being in the wrong. In her twisted mind, she was the victim and these women were the persecutors. She lifted her right foot and kicked the shoe off with such force it sailed through the air and landed on the far side of the office. She waggled her foot, saying with a sneer, ‘There you are, a hole in my stocking as I said there was. Now are you satisfied?’

  ‘We will stop this nonsense right now, and you will act your age or suffer the consequences. I’ll have your other shoe, without the temper.’

  The quick change in Frances Landers’ mood brought raised eye-brows from the two Personnel Officers, but to Mary Halliday it brought concern because over the years she’d had more dealings with the counter assistant as she worked on the shop floor every day. There’d always been a little voice nagging at the back of her head that told her there was something strange about the woman, but she didn’t mention it to her superiors because there was no proof, and she didn’t want to be the cause of anyone losing their job. Now she was wishing she’d given a hint over the years so Miss Ormsby was fully aware of the nature of the person she was dealing with and could handle the situation with care. So while Mary listened and watched, she kept herself alert, ready to act quickly should it become necessary.

  ‘You can take my word for it, Miss Ormsby, there is nothing in my shoe. If some mischief-maker has been spreading malicious rumours about me, then I can assure you they are untrue. I would never steal from anyone, I am a very honest person. Bring the culprit here now and get them to repeat what they said to my face. I bet they wouldn’t dare, ’cos they know it’s not true. So can I go for my lunch now?’

  There came a deep sigh from the Personnel Officer. If the woman had been showing signs of fear, or of being upset, she would know how to deal with her and even feel pity for her. But on the bold face before her there was no sign of fear, just a hardness that prompted the question, where do we go from here? ‘No one has been spreading lies about you, no one knows you are in this office or why. You must have realised you would be caught out one day. The takings on your counter do not tally with the amount of stock you have, and although we have allowed for some thieving by customers, it couldn’t possibly account for the shortfall. You would have been brought to book long before this, if we had had the proof.’

  Miss Landers pursed her lips and nodded her head knowingly. ‘It’ll be that Miss Porter. I knew from the minute I set eyes on her that she couldn’t be trusted. It’s her you should be talking to so send for her and let me go and get my lunch.’ She started to cross the room to where her shoe had landed, but spun around when she heard what Miss Ormsby was saying.

  ‘Miss Porter cannot be blamed for this, there were discrepancies long before she came to work with you. I would say you have been stealing from the till consistently for the last few years and I am quite sure that in your left shoe you have secreted a sixpence. So, you either take your shoe off and settle this matter with as little fuss as possible or I’ll have no alternative but to send for the police. And if I have to resort to that, you will find yourself being escorted from the premises by a constable, with everyone in the shop looking on.’

  With her eyes almost popping out of her head, her nostrils flaring and a roar of rage coming from deep within her, Frances Landers stretched out her arms to grab hold of the Personnel Officer. But Mary Halliday stepped in between the two women. ‘Now, Frances,’ she said, soothingly, ‘this is no way to behave. Come and sit down and let’s talk about this sensibly.’ Her eyes sent a message to Sarah Ormsby asking for co-operation. ‘Perhaps Miss Harper could have a cup of tea sent up from the canteen? Would you like that to calm your nerves, Frances?’

  The answer came in the form of a grunt, so while they waited for the tea to arrive, Mary Halliday kept talking calmly to the woman whose eyes were darting around like a wild animal’s looking for a way of escape. But finally the supervisor’s coaxing voice seemed to be getting through and Sarah Ormsby walked around the desk to sit down. She didn’t interrupt or interfere as Mary seemed to be getting closer to the woman than she ever could.

  ‘Can I put my shoe on now, and go for my lunch? I’m very hungry.’

  ‘Why are you pretending to be stupid, Frances
, when we both know you are far from it?’

  ‘How d’you mean? Of course I’m not stupid.’

  ‘Then why are you acting as though you are? You know, and I know, that there is a silver sixpence in your shoe, so why pretend? The truth is, Frances, you’ve been found out and there’s no point in denying it.’ The door opened then and Miss Harper came through with a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits. ‘Ah, here’s the tea. Now drink it up while we’re talking, and you’ll feel a lot better.’

  The cup was meekly lifted from the saucer and a quiet voice asked, ‘Can I eat these biscuits, ’cos I’m starving?’

  Mary Halliday nodded. Whether she was going to be able to pull this off, she had no idea. But if she didn’t, it would mean bringing the police in and she wouldn’t wish that humiliation on her worst enemy. ‘Slip your shoe off, Frances, please. You know it’s going to happen eventually so why prolong the agony? Once you’ve done that, Miss Ormsby will explain to you what your position is.’

  ‘I’ll get the push, won’t I?’

  Mary glanced at the Personnel Officer and waited for her nod before saying, ‘Yes, you will be dismissed, Frances, but I think you knew that the minute you were brought into this office. If you co-operate, at least you’ll be able to walk through the shop without a police officer holding your arm.’

  The cup was returned to the saucer and Frances bent down to remove her shoe. She placed it on the desk then picked up the cup again. All resistance seemed to have gone from her but there was still no word of apology or sign of remorse so it was difficult for the watching women to feel any sympathy. ‘What will happen now?’

  ‘I will have your cards ready this afternoon,’ Sarah Ormsby said, ‘and your wage packet will include this week’s wages and your week in hand. That will save you from ever having to return to the shop. None of the staff will be told the reason for your leaving, but if you wish to save face, you can tell one of the counter staff on your way out that you’ve been offered the chance of a job nearer home. That, however, is entirely up to you.’