Page 21 of Will You Stay Another Day?
Lili glared and the two others laughed.
‘It might be Dylan. He’s just an… acquaintance.’
Meg gave her a long hard look. ‘You slept with him!’
‘Meg! We’re still at work. Show some respect,’ said Tommo, and he leant forwards. ‘Let’s go to the pub instead, and then all bets are off.’
‘Where did you meet him? How long ago?’ Meg demanded.
‘Don’t hold back,’ said Tommo. ‘I’ve lost my husband, Meg’s girlfriend is still haunting her…’
‘It’s ghosting,’ Meg whispered.
‘We need to live vicariously through our boss.’ Tommo gave a mischievous, irresistible grin that, Lili begrudgingly concluded, must have been the thing that had attracted Joe.
‘Okay, okay. Later.’ Lili hurried downstairs. Meg and Tommo followed and busied themselves with tidying the shelves, even though it was gone clocking off time now, and in any case, everything was already perfectly symmetrical and alphabetical. Tommo prided himself on making sure Ware & Care in Mevagissey was the tidiest charity shop in Cornwall.
Gosh.
There he was.
Apart from him, and her two colleagues, the shop was empty. With Dylan around, she had a feeling it would have seemed that way, even if there had been other customers.
This was… really annoying. Her plan had been to cut all ties.
‘Dylan, how are you? This is a surprise.’
He leant forwards and kissed her cheek. Was that a snigger from behind the clothes rail? He pulled a sock out of his pocket, like a magician revealing the answer to a puzzle.
‘Pairs shouldn’t be separated, be those from the animal kingdom or wardrobe,’ he said and pointed to a pair of salt and pepper shakers in the shape of avocados. ‘Or even from a charity shop.’
‘Like Mario and Luigi,’ she suggested.
He paused. ‘Yes, even Mario and Luigi. I was passing, a bit of business.’ He looked around the shop. ‘Nice place.’
‘I’m about to lock up,’ she said and turned to her friends who’d given up any pretence of working now. ‘Dylan, please meet my colleagues, Tommo and Meg.’
‘Great to meet you, pal,’ said Tommo, and he punched him on the arm before adjusting his glasses. ‘Wow. Feel those muscles. You’d have no problem steering a trawler.’ He gave a nervous laugh and swayed from side to side.
Meg pointed to Dylan’s wrist. ‘Love the friendship bracelet,’ she stuttered and stared at him, as if he were on the page of one of her celebrity magazines. Meg didn’t get lost for words. Not ever.
Lili had seen the bracelet last Friday but not given it much attention. Now she could see the beads on the front spelled out the word ‘twat’.
‘My brother gave it to me,’ he said. ‘Don’t think he believed I’d actually wear it.’
Tommo punched Dylan’s arm again and snorted.
‘Excuse me, Dylan, I won’t be a minute. Tommo, Meg, I’ve forgotten something about a new pricing policy and mustn’t forget to tell you. Could I have a minute?’ She jerked her head and the three of them went upstairs and stood in the stockroom.
‘What is wrong with you two?’ she hissed.
The pair of them looked sheepish.
‘Don’t often get a rockstar in Mevagissey,’ said Tommo. ‘Certainly not a Cornish one.’
‘Well, he is half Italian.’
Oh Jesus. Lili shouldn’t have let that slip. Due to the wonderstruck looks on their faces, she ordered them to stay put and she went downstairs again.
