Break Out The Bubbly

by Rick Adams

  ‘What is it?’ she snapped.

  ‘I’d rather tell you in private,’ he said.

  ‘Tell me now.’

  He looked at me. ‘It’s the CCTV,’ he said, ‘it’s on the blink again.’

  ‘Well let it blink.’

  He straightened. ‘Do I need to remind you…’

  ‘Fine,’ she huffed, ‘Emily, go and get the bottles.’

  ‘But what about Matthew?’

  ‘What do you mean ‘get the bottles’?’ asked Adrian.

  ‘I’ve told her to retrieve them from your attic. It should be a simple job, though knowing her she’ll probably cock it up somehow.’

  ‘I’d rather I was there with her.’

  ‘You can rather all you like,’ she patronized him, ‘but that’s the way things are going to be. And I’m the Manager!’

  ‘Not for much longer,’ he said physically hustling her away.

  And she let him.

  I stopped for a moment behind them wondering about the nature of their relationship, then hurried into aisle five and came to a halt dead in my tracks.

  Ginger was talking to Matthew.

  No wait, he was remonstrating with her.

  And they hadn’t seen me.

  I ducked back to the corner of the aisle, and watched with interest.

  Ginger was certainly on the defensive.

  And Matthew was definitely telling her off, in no uncertain terms.

  Quickly, the exchange reached a pitch.

  Ginger slapped him in the face and stormed off towards me.

  I moved into the aisle so that they could both see me.

  Matthew blushed.

  But Ginger couldn’t give a stuff.

  She marched on towards me and without a backward glance said, ‘You can have him Tranter, the tosser!’

  I headed straight for him.

  ‘What on earth have you done to her?’ I asked full of delight.

  ‘Aren’t you angry with me still?’

  ‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘She hates you. What happened?’

  He smiled that wonderful smile of his. ‘I outfoxed her on the machine.’

  ‘This piece of junk?’ I said whacking it. ‘This is what came between you.’

  ‘A customer was involved too. That old lady who came in the boardroom earlier. She asked for our help, and was thrilled with my response.’

  ‘Is that all?’

  ‘Of course not. She told Ginger off for being short with me and ordering me around, then left. Ginger told me I should have stuck up for her, especially as we’re an item. I said she was presuming too much and that I’d never agreed to any of it in the first place. That’s when you stepped out.’

  I didn’t know whether to laugh or just jump on Matthew there and then.

  ‘Carol doesn’t want you to help me with the party preparations,’ I said. ‘She wants Ginger to help instead.’

  ‘That won’t work.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I have no intention of listening to Carol, or indeed of letting Ginger anywhere near our New Year’s Eve.’

  He smiled. ‘What’s our plan then?’

  ‘Well,’ I began.

  But then the door opened and Leafy Hollow walked out, with a look of absolute thunder spread across his face.

  ‘Come on Emily,’ he said, ‘let’s go get the champagne.’

  ‘It’s my lunch break,’ I said hurriedly.

  ‘You can get some food once we’re done.’

  I looked desperately at Matthew.

  Somehow, he already knew.

  As Leafy Hollow led me from the lottery kiosk, the call over the tannoy came:

  ‘Matthew Osgood, Matthew Osgood’

  And then lasciviously:

  ‘Report immediately to the Manager’s office’

  I turned round reluctantly.

  The lamb was already heading for the butcher’s knife.

  Chapter 9

  ADRIAN’S

  It was just past two when we crossed the road to Adrian’s.

  I knew, because I looked up at the town clock wondering why it suddenly seemed so dark outside.

  Wretched winter.

  In less than two hours, the sun would set, and I’d be no closer to sorting out preparations for the party tomorrow evening than I was this time yesterday afternoon.

  Leafy Hollow heard me

  ‘I was thinking of Sarah,’ I said unconvincingly.

  He stopped.

  Ha!

  He did feel guilty.

  He did own pity.

  He did have a soul.

  Then I suddenly realized he was searching in his pockets.

  I looked up through the shop door window.

  It was dark inside.

  ‘I’ve left my keys at Sheila’s,’ he said, handing me one nonetheless. ‘This will get you in so you can get started.’

  And with that, he was off, back across the road and into my workplace.

  What the hell was going on?

  How could he afford to have his shop closed whilst away on business, his business, over at ours?

  I had a sudden desperate thought.

  I looked up between the shops, then breathed a sigh of relief.

  For a moment, I thought I could see a bridge there, but it was simply a trick of my imagination.

  But I did feel uneasy, and as I unlocked the door to Adrian’s and entered the place, I was quickly overcome by the gloom and despondency hanging in the air.

  It was dark, but not pitch black, at least on this ground level.

  I moved through the murk, past the front till.

  To think I had walked by Marilyn all those times and thought so little of her, that she was morose, moribund, stuck in a dead end job.

  But having now spoken to her, and realized she was alive with more interest in her than any of the paying customers I’d ever encountered in my time in the retail business, well, I felt bad about my dismal ability to judge character.

  I moved on, finding the staircase to the next level.

  And within moments, I was in Leafy Hollow’s office.

  Here, too, I paused for reflection.

  He was a bastard.

  And yet, again, I was starting to see there was more to him than that foible, that he had manner and experience which fleshed him out into far more than the assumption I had first formed of him.

  Except this was the room in which he’d willfully hung out to dry an already hung out to dry Sarah.

  That was unforgiveable, wasn’t it?

  The complete lack of concern for another human being, and one in such obvious dire straits.

  Yet as soon as I’d made that summation, to the forefront of my mind came suddenly my own involvement in the matter.

  The replay of my words from Carol.

  My off-handedness when showing Matthew round first thing yesterday, my desire to impress him shouldering away what should have been my concern for her.

  And as that thought process continued, I heard someone say, as though right there with me in the darkness of Adrian’s,

  But the place has worked its bad magic on you, just like everyone else

  I spun round.

  I was alone, quite alone.

  Who the hell had just said that?

  I listened harder, but no sound came.

  And then I remembered the words.

  And as I stood there, rooted to the spot with terror, I heard footsteps above me, moving along the attic floor.

  Now, I was even more scared.

  Should I go up there, or get the heck out of the building?

  Who could it be?

  Sarah, perhaps.

  I mean, those were her words.

  As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I was sure of its validity.

  But then I doubted.

  She was still in hospital.

  It couldn’t be her.

  I panicked.

  And in the gloom of irrationality, I reached out for someone else.


  Carol.

  Calling Matthew to her office had been a decoy.

  She’d got round him and Leafy Hollow and me somehow, and got here first, to be up there with her precious champagne.

  There was a thump.

  Then silence.

  I waited.

  My curiosity began to get the better of me.

  But then the footsteps started again.

  I listened.

  And this time, I really did freeze.

  I could hear voices.

  Carol was speaking to someone.

  In the near total darkness, my sense of dread began to exacerbate the logicality of my imagination.

  It was Leafy Hollow.

  But how could he have circumvented the shop and got up there, unless, he’d used the bridge to cross over.

  But there was no bridge.

  Or was there?

  Oh come on Tranter, pull yourself together.

  There was no bridge.

  Or was there?

  Hadn’t I seen one?

  No, the darkness was muddling everything.

  I had to get out.

  Yet still the pair of them talked up there.

  I moved towards the stairwell.

  I reached the bottom step, and began to climb slowly.

  All the time, I heard them talking above me.

  And then they stopped.

  So I did too.

  Panic began to well within me.

  They’d heard my step.

  They were waiting.

  But it was only Leafy Hollow and Carol.

  They’d be on the back foot if I made an entrance.

  And what would they do anyway?

  I climbed to the stop of the staircase.

  A flashlight shone in my face.

  I told Carol to put it down.

  She did.

  Except the person holding the torch wasn’t Carol.

  ‘It’s alright,’ she said turning away, ‘it’s only Tranter.’

  ‘Hey,’ I called after her, ‘don’t dismiss me.’

  The torch shone in my eyes again. ‘Get back to your books, student. This is adult business.’

  The other figure was shrouded in the near darkness.

  ‘Who is that?’ I asked trying hard to make him out.

  I suddenly noticed that there were no boxes on the floor.

  In fact, there were small tables set out about the place, with, you had to be kidding me, a bottle of champagne and three flutes arranged on each one.

  Now Carol really had lost it.

  I strained my sight but she drew back.

  ‘Adrian,’ I called, suddenly unsure if it was my boss at all.

  The gloom swallowed my speech.

  And Ginger laughed at it.

  What the hell was going on?

  If that wasn’t Leafy Hollow, it must be Carol.

  Up here, in the near total night, with my nemesis, happily setting up a Mad Manager’s tea party with all the merchandise she’d been stealing from the start.

  She truly had lost it.

  I shook my head, even as Carol began to sink further into the shadows.

  I strode boldly into the attic.

  Ginger was shining the flashlight right in my eyes.

  I didn’t care, because my focus was beyond that, on Carol.

  I’d had enough.

  I was going to have it out with her, once and for all.

  I flung my hands to my eyes again.

  Ginger was still shining the flashlight straight at me.

  ‘Stop protecting her,’ I said, ‘she needs to be held accountable.’

  ‘You’re way off, Tranter,’ crowed my enemy back at me, ‘just drop it.’

  ‘No,’ I cried, advancing all the while, ‘you’re way off. Both of you. What the hell are you doing up here?’

  I was right in front of her, staring into the glare of her torch.

  And I could feel her breathing, heavily.

  ‘Just turn round Emily,’ she said softly, ‘and go back to Sheila’s.’

  Momentarily, I was thrown, but then I regained myself and smacked the torch out of her hand.

  It clattered to the floor.

  ‘What are you doing up here?’ I had at her again, my eyes flashing with spots. ‘We all know it’s you. Even you know we know it’s you. Why don’t we just get the champagne and take it back to the shop instead of continuing with this stupid game?’

  She said nothing.

  ‘Carol,’ I implored her.

  She moved from the darkness.

  ‘Carol,’ I said a little more warmly.

  My eyes adjusted finally to the gloom.

  ‘Tabatha,’ I gasped in amazement. ‘Tabatha,’ I mouthed this time dumbly, ‘what are you doing up here?’

  Even as I asked her, I thought back to the last time I’d seen her, on the bench yesterday when she’d charged me with finding out who the thief was, by watching, spying, playing detective.

  But she was here now, in the attic.

  She’d been made the Assistant Manager of Adrian’s.

  Except Leafy Hollow had denied he’d ever made the appointment.

  Yet here she was now, in the attic.

  She hated Ginger Starr, more so than any of us.

  Except here she was now, in the attic with her, playing prams and dollhouses with the stolen bottles and flutes.

  I couldn’t register any of it.

  ‘Tabatha,’ was all I managed again, and then the same question desperately once more, ‘what are you doing here?’

  ‘Helping you,’ she answered unconvincingly.

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘She’s charged you with the party.’

  ‘Yes. Ginger and me. But Matthew…’

  ‘We’re having it here,’ he said behind me.

  I spun round.

  There, in the light of the stairwell, stood a man.

  But it wasn’t Matthew.

  ‘Where is he?’ I pleaded. ‘Where is Matthew? Adrian.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry about him,’ he said moving into the room, ‘we’ve got a celebration to prepare for. Why don’t you give us a hand, now you’re here?’

  I made to run past him, wholly terrified now.

  ‘Emily,’ called Tabatha after me.

  I stopped, turned slowly, and studied her in the ghastly half-light.

  ‘Don’t you want to know what’s going on?’

  ‘It’s not you,’ I drawled at her, ‘you’re a phantom.’

  ‘Don’t be an idiot, Tranter,’ sighed Ginger, ‘we haven’t got time for this.’

  ‘It’s a ghost.’

  ‘No, it’s Tabatha.’

  ‘I heard you,’ I blustered, ‘downstairs. You spoke to me, in Sarah’s voice.

  ‘Get a hold of yourself, Emily.’

  I recoiled in horror.

  ‘Tabatha wouldn’t say that. You wouldn’t. Not Tabatha.’

  Ginger and Leafy Hollow were closing in on me

  ‘God, you’re all in it together.’

  Leafy Hollow reached out and took hold of my arm.

  ‘Get off me!’ I yelled pushing him away.

  I ran for the stairwell, tripped in the darkness, and fell full length down the stairs.

  I landed with a crash.

  But miraculously, I was fine.

  Except they were coming after me.

  All three of them, arms out front, like zombies.

  I pulled myself to my feet and ran all the way along the first floor and on down the stairs to the front of the shop.

  I yanked at the door but it was locked.

  Panicked, I turned.

  They were right there, the undead triumvirate racing towards me, their speech unintelligible in my troubled mind, their pleas and supplication none other than rabid curses and aggressive threats.

  And then I remembered the key.

  I still had it in my pocket.

  Quickly, I retrieved it, spun round, jammed it in th
e lock, turned hard, and suddenly I was out in the street racing back over to Sheila’s, the cold December afternoon air swiping at my face even as I looked up and noticed how dark it had suddenly become.

  How long had I been in there, I wondered, as I ran into the store, straight past Marilyn, on through the aisles and then to the lottery kiosk where Matthew was calmly serving a customer.

  His mother.

  And the exchange was heated.

  Once more, I hid myself but unlike before I could hear what Mrs. Osgood was saying because she was so loud.

  Matthew, though, I had to guess as to his responses.

  ‘You stole it,’ she accused him.

  He protested.

  ‘Yes you did,’ she baracked, ‘I had it on my wrist, I put it down, and when I returned from the bathroom it was gone. You are the only person who could possibly have taken it. Now, admit your guilt!’

  Matthew must have done so.

  ‘How could you, Matthew? It’s my favourite piece, you know it is, how dare you take it from me and cause me such concern.’

  Matthew’s head dropped.

  ‘Be a man,’ she swiped, ‘what would your father have thought of you?’

  His head stayed low.

  ‘What did you need it for anyway? Why did you take it?’

  His response was short.

  So was hers.

  She slapped him in the face.

  ‘That’s a lie. Now, tell me the truth.’

  I started from my position, but something kept me back.

  Matthew clutched his cheek.

  ‘Craven child,’ she scorned, ‘be honest for once.’

  His head dropped again.

  It was the same reaction I’d seen in him before.

  He must have mumbled something incoherent, because she told him to speak up, and again to be truthful.

  He was.

  ‘What do you mean? How could the bracelet do that?’

  Again, the truth.

  ‘No, it doesn’t.’

  He persisted.

  ‘Look,’ she said thrusting the tacky bling in his face, ‘there is no camera here. And why on earth would there ever needs be?’

  He asked for the jewelry.

  His mother withdrew her wrist.

  He protested.

  ‘Any more of such nonsense, Matthew, and I shall have to think seriously about having you referred again. Honestly, you’ve been spending too much time in this shop, with these people, especially that one who keeps sniffing round you like a carthorse.’

  That was it.

  I stood from my hiding place.