Page 28 of The Winter We Met
‘Hello,’ I said.
‘Jess. Glad I caught you. I’m hoping you wouldn’t mind working through your lunch today.’
‘Oh. Actually, I’ve arranged to meet a friend.’
‘Can you cancel?’
‘It’s a little difficult as my friend is coming all the way from London especially.’
She sighed. ‘I see, fair enough. It’s just I passed the shop early this morning. I actually went on my speed-walk for once. The new window display…’
‘Do you like it?’ I asked eagerly. ‘Seb and I worked late last night to finish it.’
She paused. ‘I’m sorry, Jess. It still needs a bit of work. It’s too much like one we made last year. The key to good business is continuing to innovate. Some customers will visit the shop year in, year out, throughout their kids’ childhoods. They won’t be pulled into the shop by something that seems over-familiar.’
‘Right…’
‘It’s okay to make mistakes, you’re still learning but… be a little bolder. You could… I don’t know… do a food one with those plastic Christmas grocery kits and perhaps order in some gingerbread men stickers for the front window, or…’
My self-confidence dwindled as she continued brainstorming.
‘If I’m to expand the business I need you to not be afraid of taking initiative. That’s what makes a good manager. You need to put your own stamp on the place, Jess. Be brave.’
I nodded down the phone. She must have sensed it.
‘Right. Well I’ll leave you to it and drop in, in a couple of days to see what you’ve come up with. Enjoy your lunch but, what with the festive season upon us, it might be useful if you didn’t make any more formal arrangements during working hours that can’t be changed at the last minute. You know I’m all for being flexible with staff’s hours, but we just need to be careful until we’re through the January sales.’
I put down the receiver and rubbed my forehead, excited by the challenge but not wanting to disappoint again. I smiled as a leopard-print buggy was wheeled in. After receiving a nod of approval from the mother who wore a stylish pair of sunglasses, I offered the toddler a chocolate lollipop in the shape of a reindeer. One of the toy suppliers had given us a jarful as a freebie for stocking their light-up plastic reindeer. Following a prompt from mum the boy said ‘Fank koo’. I put the jar back on the glass counter, by the till, and then crouched down and took off the purple and green foil wrapper. Chubby fingers grabbed the white stick and pushed the chocolate between grinning lips. He told me his name was Ben. I always asked the children what they were called. It gave the shop a personal touch. Ben and I were clearly kindred spirits when it came to anything made with cocoa.
I stood up and stared around the store, as sunrays poured in. We’d been blessed with another gorgeous winter’s day, with frost twinkling on the pavement early this morning.
‘Seb, could you refresh the pocket money counter this afternoon?’ I asked. ‘The last of those leftover Halloween stationery items aren’t going to sell now. It’s time to swap them to fit with the rest of the Christmas stock.’ Now that the euphoria of deciding that Willow Court’s party would go ahead had subsided I needed to be mindful of how I’d juggle organising that, along the extra hours that would be needed to keep Under the Tree ship-shape at this busy time.
‘I’ll get onto it straight after lunch. Fancy eating together? Angela must have called in really early this morning and dropped off doughnuts. She left a note saying she’d provide a weekly Friday sugar hit during the coming demanding weeks.’
‘Much as I’d love to see you stuff your face with the sugar you swore off on Monday…’
‘It’s been a stressful week,’ he said airily. Then his face became serious for a moment. ‘Although in comparison to your gran… how is Alice doing? Any luck with finding her a new pad?’
‘We’re just sifting through all the possibilities. The warden, Lynn, is asking around and reckons personal recommendations are best. The local mobile hairdresser goes into all the homes. Lynn is going to ask her opinion. She’ll have a bird’s eye view of the things that really matter like how caring staff are and the employee turnover in each place, plus how much one-to-one attention residents are given and whether they are truly treated like individuals. We’ll get there,’ I said, hoping by telling myself that it would come true.
‘If there’s anything I can do…’
‘Just keep me laughing in your own inimitable way.’ I smiled. ‘We’ll have to share a sugar hit another day.’
‘Well, it won’t stop me gorging. I’ll pump it off at the gym and am going super healthy next week, for sure. Tim and I have just bought a juicer and I’ve joined a new exercise class.’
‘What’s your latest obsession?’ Seb followed all the new fitness trends. Last year was cycling karaoke and laughter yoga. This year, so far, he’d taken twerk classes and—
‘Bondage zumba,’ he said, with a straight face. ‘The strips of theraband are really good for working pecs and glutes.’
‘Sounds like something out of a Jackie Collins story.’ Seb was a massive fan and had shed tears when she’d passed away, before embarking on a marathon re-read of every one of her thirty-two novels.
‘Go on… just one wee doughnut won’t harm…’
‘Sorry, I’ve got a date. I mean, a meeting with a friend,’ I added hastily.
Seb led me into the reading corner. Its busiest time was early morning, after the school run when parents with toddlers came in. Then it would fill up again after three, if older children wanted to relax with books and spend their pocket money in the shop – especially on their pay day, Friday.
