‘Who put you in charge? Annie says cheekily as she turns back to face Eddie.
‘Nobody darling, but someone has to make sure the VIPs are looked after properly,’ he quips, before strutting off towards a group of middle-aged women arriving through the revolving door at the main entrance.
‘What’s gotten into him?’ Annie says, once Eddie is out of earshot.
‘I think he’s just extra busy, with Tom being away,’ I say, diplomatically.
‘Well, he’s not the only one missing him, eh?’ Annie elbows me gently and I laugh.
‘Uh oh, here they come. No time for standing around chatting,’ I say, as the group of women head towards us. Ciaran, one of the waiters from Sam’s café appears with a tray of canapés, which the women devour within a few seconds.
‘Oooh, don’t mind if I do,’ a women with purple spiky hair says loudly to her mate while eyeing up Ciaran’s bottom as he weaves through the now bustling crowd. Certainly an improvement on the last event we did like this – the autumn/winter sale preview, only nineteen people turned up and we sold just over a thousand pounds worth of stock. Dismal.
A stunningly attractive younger woman wearing a floaty butterfly-patterned Missoni mini dress appears at my counter in a puff of Clive Christian. She has long butter-blonde hair and is carrying the limited edition Dior top handle bag that Annie and I spotted in Elle magazine last month – costs a bomb and there’s, like, a ten year waiting list or whatever. Although this one has a sparkly gold jewelled key chain dangling from the handle. Nice touch, and I haven’t seen one like it before. Oh wow! I’m guessing this woman is from one of the yachts moored up in the new Mulberry Marina, and I’m sure she’s never shopped at Carrington’s before because I would definitely remember her special bag and sparkly key chain. Things are definitely looking up.
‘How may I help you this evening?’ I beam, making sure my eyes crinkle at the corners, just as Mrs Grace taught me back in the day when I started as a Saturday girl. She used to say there was nothing more off-putting to a customer wanting to splash the cash than a moody-looking sales assistant. Make them glow! That was her motto.
‘I’d love to have a look at the Anya bags please – that sunshine-yellow Seymour over there.’ The woman waves a beautifully-manicured hand across the floor and I’m impressed: she obviously knows her handbags. She dumps the Dior on the counter in anticipation.
‘Certainly. A good choice,’ I say, as Annie leaps into action and bombs over to retrieve it before returning to hover nearby and drool over the Dior bag. Luckily, she manages to refrain from actually stroking it.
‘It’s part of the sale preview, right?’ the woman asks, her stunning emerald eyes widening.
‘It sure is. And it’s half price.’ I lift the tag to show her.
‘Even better, I do love a bargain,’ she smiles conspiratorially, leaning into me and lowering her voice.
‘Oh me too, and this handbag is divine. See the detailing here,’ I open the bag to show her the iconic monogrammed interior with trademark tasselled zip pocket.
‘Can I try it on?
‘Please do.’ I lead her over to the long mirror.
‘Oooh, it’s gorgeous.’ Pushing the bag into the crook of her elbow, she twists and turns, admiring the view. ‘Would you mind trying it on please, so I can see what it looks like?’
‘Sure.’ She hands me the bag and I’m standing in front of her with it in my elbow when someone bellows from over by the floor-to-ceiling window display:
‘What on earth are you doing?’ An older woman with an Italian accent and long black hair swept severely from her surgically-enhanced face comes striding towards us. She’s wearing a navy Gucci trouser suit over a white ruffle-necked blouse and has a ruby-topped cane in one hand and a miniature quivering furchild with a pink diamante collar around its neck in the other, which she hands to a man in a chauffeur’s uniform. The man stands awkwardly, holding the yapping dog at arms length. Blimey, she must be important – I didn’t think dogs were allowed instore.
‘Oh Mother, there you are. Isn’t this handbag divine?’ I hand the bag back to the girl and she puts it on her arm, stroking the soft textured leather lovingly.
‘Is it a sale item?’ she demands, ignoring her daughter’s question. The chauffeur surreptitiously rolls his eye before wandering towards an exit.
‘Yes, and such a bargain.’ The mother slaps a palm to her chest – so dramatically, anyone would think she’d been shot through the heart with a poison dart.
‘Take it off! Take it off your arm at once,’ she hisses, her black kohl-lidded eyes amphibian-like as they scan the store.
‘Will you wrap it please?’ The girl hands the bag back to me, ignoring her mother.
‘Um, yes, of course,’ I hesitate, before heading towards my counter. God, I really hope this doesn’t turn into a scene. The last time we had an incident like this, a mother–daughter spat over what constituted ‘a sensible school bag’, I had to call security when the teenage girl had a hissy fit and ended up hurling a ‘boring black rucksack’ into the window display – I think she wanted the Juicy Couture neon pink cross-body bag instead.
‘Stop right there,’ the mother demands, making me jump. And I do as I’m told. ‘My daughter does not need to purchase sale items,’ she says, barely able to bring herself to say the actual word. Hmm, so why would you come to a SALE preview evening then? I open my mouth, unsure of what to say, but luckily, Eddie appears just in the nick of time, having dumped the clipboard and changed into a dapper grey suit complete with waistcoat. Very debonair.
‘Countesssssss … there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you,’ he says in an extra camp voice.
‘Oh Paola, pleeeeease …’ the Countess purrs, before extending her free hand for Eddie to shake or kiss or whatever – he plumps for a kind of two-handed clasp before leaning in to do three alternating air kisses either side of her head.
‘Certainly, Paola. Enchanted.’ And I swear Eddie almost does a little courtesy in reverence. I stare, mesmerised and bemused at the schmooze coming from his mouth – I’ve seen Eddie fawn before, but never as sycophantically as this. ‘And my sincere apologies for not being at your car door to greet you as discussed. Maybe you’d like a flute before we show you our finest collection.’ Eddie flaps a hand wildly and a waiter with a silver tray of pink bubbly materialises immediately next to the Countess. She downs a glass in one before helping herself to another.
‘Yes, the finest. That’s what we want, and definitely no sale items for Adrianna,’ the Countess replies, tossing a glare in our direction.
‘Please, here’s my credit card.’ Ignoring her mother, Adrianna offers me a black Amex.
‘I’m so sorry, we don’t take American Express,’ I cringe, willing my cheeks to stop flaming. I’m going to talk to Tom, because if Carrington’s is to attract this calibre of customer – glamouratti and royalty – then we really need to up our game …
‘No problem, I have cash.’ Adrianna pulls a bundle of notes from her purse instead.
‘I said NO! Sale items are for people who can’t afford to pay full price. It would be mean of us to deprive them …’ the Countess says, adopting a mock-concerned voice now.
The woman with the purple spiky hair is within earshot and quickly elbows her mate before muttering ‘flaming cheek’ under her breath. The Countess necks another flute, oblivious to the commotion she’s causing and goes to shoo Adrianna away from the counter with her cane before toppling slightly. Oh my God, Paola is trollied!
‘Mother, please. You’re embarrassing me.’
‘Ha! You need no help from me where that’s concerned. No wonder Mr Carrington chose your sister over you. Yes, Lucia knows how to behave properly.’
Whaaaat?
What’s she going on about?
A weird icy feeling trickles down my back. The Countess drains another flute and stumbles as she leans in towards Eddie. He takes her empty glass and places it on the tray, bu
t just as the waiter heads off, the Countess grabs another flute. I busy myself by processing the payment and gift-wrapping the handbag, desperately trying to ignore the now panicky swirl in the pit of my stomach.
‘Do you know Mr Carrington?’ the Countess slurs in Eddie’s face.
‘Yes, I do. I’m his personal assistant.’
‘Ah, that’s right. I spoke to you on the telephone. You know, my other daughter, Lucia,’ she pauses to cast a disparaging glance towards my counter where Adrianna is waiting patiently for me to finish, ‘soon she will be Mrs Carrington. And such a delightful couple they make. Two extraordinarily exquisite creatures together, can you imagine how perfect their babies will be?’ Eddie flashes me a look before placing a hand on the Countess’s arm.
‘Delightful, I’m sure. Perhaps you’d be more comfortable in our personal shopping suite,’ Eddie suggests, attempting to steer the Countess away from the gathering crowd.
‘Yes I would.’ She follows Eddie towards the lift, and then stops abruptly. ‘Maximillian! What have you done with my little Maxi? Help me. My dog has been stolen,’ she shrieks to the whole shop floor. Thankfully, the chauffeur reappears quickly and calm is restored with little Maxi leaping into his mistress’s arms and licking her actual face all over. Yuk!
I hand the Carrington’s carrier bag to Adrianna – desperately wishing my trembling hands weren’t quite so obvious.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she says, quietly. ‘My mother gets a little … animated at times.’ That’s one way of putting it I suppose. I smile politely, wishing I were anywhere but here right now. ‘She can’t help herself, I suppose. We’ve known the Carrington family for generations and she’s always had it in mind that Lucia and Tom would end up together so when Tom invited Lucia to meet him in Milan to …’ Adrianna’s mobile rings. ‘Oh, will you excuse me please?’ I nod and force a smile in response. She looks at the screen before switching the phone off. ‘They can wait. Yes, where was I?’
‘Lucia?’ I just about manage.
‘Oh yes, Lucia is truly stunning,’ she explains, rolling her eyes nonchalantly. ‘Makes me feel positively ugly. She’s always been Mother’s favourite.’ Adrianna laughs as if it’s a mere detail, a family joke almost, but oh my God, if Lucia makes Adrianna feel ugly then I might as well shove a sack over my head right now and be done with it because from where I’m standing, she’s drop-dead gorgeous. ‘Thank you so much for this.’ She swings the carrier bag in the air. ‘A true bargain.’
And after slipping the limited edition Dior bag back into the crook of arm, she follows the Countess towards the personal shopping suite while I place both hands on the counter to calm myself, silently praying that the tears stinging in my eyes don’t actually spill out on to my cheeks.
Chapter Six
Crushed!
That’s the only way to describe how I feel this morning. And exhausted. I hardly slept last night after letting my mind spiral, going over and over everything that’s happened with Tom. I even switched on the lamp on my nightstand at around 3am – a particularly low point – to read back through our email exchange. Nothing. No clues. Everything points to him being one hundred percent interested in me, so then why am I now convinced that our long distance flirtation is just a dalliance because he’s bored? A distraction. Light entertainment to ease his hectic schedule while he waits for Lucia to join him in Milan …
I should have known it was too good to be true – that I was punching above my weight with Tom. Mrs Grace even warned me to watch my back, but I didn’t, I let my heart do a running bodyslam, unable to get him out of my head from that first moment he appeared before me … And it all makes sense now, because he still hasn’t replied to my last email, sent yesterday afternoon, and he’s usually right there, inboxing me just a few minutes later.
‘Cheer up babe.’ It’s Annie, with a bag of Haribo strawbs in her hand. ‘Take them and go hide in the alcove,’ she says, on seeing my face.
‘I’m fine. Honestly,’ I lie. ‘It’s not as if we were actually dating or anything …’
‘Hmm, well if sweets won’t make you smile, then this will.’ Annie stashes the strawbs under the counter and pulls out her mobile.
‘What is it?’
‘Only that obscenely expensive limited edition Dior handbag.’
‘You took a picture?’
‘Sure did, when that Countess was carrying on. Nobody noticed, and then I tweeted it – my mentions have gone mental,’ she laughs.
‘Let me see.’ Annie hands me her phone and sure enough, her mentions and retweets are stratospheric.
‘See what happens when you mention Italian royalty. And I must have at least twenty new followers – fashionistas, designers, journalists and stuff, they can’t get enough of that handbag …’ She tosses her hair back and is just about to stuff a Marc Jacobs tote with paper in preparation for replenishing the shelves after last night’s bumper sale, when Jodie from HR appears in front of us with Denise from Home Electricals standing next to her.
‘Georgie and Annie, you’re wanted upstairs immediately,’ Jodie orders, sounding like a robot.
‘But why?’ Annie asks.
‘All will be explained, you must go right away. Denise will cover your section, Georgie – with my help if she gets a sudden rush.’ Denise beams and instantly reaches across our counter to take the stuffing from Annie, while Jodie tentatively positions herself near the till with a look that suggests she’d rather be naked on the bandstand singing a Rihanna song complete with raunchy dance moves than have to serve an actual customer.
‘Well, I’m not going anywhere until I know what’s going on. I know my rights,’ Annie says, folding her arms and sticking her bottom lip out.
‘Come on, let’s just go and find out what this is all about,’ I say, wanting to get it over with. The sooner we go, the sooner I can escape to the café for a caffeine and cake hit while I go over in my head everything that’s happened with Tom for the trillionth time.
We arrive on the executive floor, and Amy, the HR manager and queen of the poker face and dead-eye look, is waiting for us just inside the security door. She presses the chrome keypad on the wall to let us in.
‘Just tell the truth, then apologise, and I’m sure everything will be fine,’ Amy says, marching us down the long corridor and through an anteroom outside Tom’s office. I discretely wipe the sweat from my hands on the sides of my trousers and attempt to bouf up my hair – what if Tom is in there, come back early to sort out this problem? And I didn’t even bother with my Velcro rollers last night, I was that hacked off. I don’t want to see him under these circumstances, not when I’ve obviously done something wrong … Why else would Annie and I have been summoned to the executive floor without explanation? Amy looks as if she’s about to combust with anxiety, she’s twitching that much. And after finding out about Lucia, I don’t even know where I stand with Tom, if anywhere at all. Talk about awks!
The door to Tom’s office opens.
‘Here they are! The saboteurs!’
The Countess is in the middle of the room pointing her cane at Annie and me. Adrianna is standing in the corner by Tom’s desk with her head bowed, dabbing her eyes with a tissue, and Eddie is sitting in an armchair with a notebook and pen. He glances up and when the others aren’t looking, he very subtly gives me an oh shiiiiiit look in solidarity.
‘Sack them! I demand they be fired immediately.’ The Countess strides towards us. ‘Which one of you is it?’ Annie and I stare at her, goggle-eyed and speechless. A nauseous feeling swirls in the pit of my stomach – Tom is going to hate me now, the Countess is a personal family friend after all.
‘Err, I’m not sure we know what this is about,’ I venture, praying it isn’t about Annie’s stupid tweet, and wishing Amy would step up and manage this nightmare situation, but instead she’s chewing the skin around her left thumb.
‘Gypsy Tart! Which one of you? Own up this instance.’ Oh God!
‘It’s me.’ Anni
e steps forward boldly. ‘My Twitter name. It’s just a laugh, I’m a Traveller you see—’ she tries to explain, but the Countess cuts her off.
‘I don’t care what you are. I only care that you have destroyed my daughter’s career. Ruined everything.’
Adriana sobs loudly and I instinctively step towards her.
‘Please don’t cry,’ I say quietly. ‘We’re really—’
‘Not her!’ The Countess spits. ‘My other daughter. The talented one.’ There’s another sob from Adrianna and I sooo want to thump her mother. Instead I cough before taking control.
‘Can somebody please explain what the problem is here? Amy?’ I turn to her, and she reluctantly pipes up, her neck all blotchy.
‘It seems that the picture you tweeted, Annie, has caused quite a stir.’
‘A stir?’ The Countess butts in. ‘It’s a little more than a stir, it’s a catastrophe. You showed Lucia’s exclusive piece to the whole world.’ She waves her free hand in the air dramatically. ‘There are already fakes to buy online.’
I’m fed up with this charade. Annie hasn’t done anything wrong. OK, she shouldn’t have mentioned names when tweeting about the Dior bag, but since when was it a crime to share a picture of a gorge handbag? And demanding we be sacked for it, well … Just as I open my mouth to protest, the door swings open.
OH MY GOD.
‘What’s going on?’ It’s Tom. And he looks even hotter than our last FaceTime call. His real tan is now a dark, rich toffee colour, and his hair is a little longer, the curls messier than before. I quickly close my mouth on realising that it’s still hanging open. My stomach flips and my pulse races but the feeling quickly evaporates when a woman who looks as if she’s just sauntered in from an exclusive Vogue photo-shoot, and without the need for airbrushing, glides in behind Tom. She’s about six foot tall with big glossy hair that hangs in waves down her back.
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