Page 51 of The Vintage Dress Shop in Primrose Hill
‘I suppose that is one way of looking at it. I bet you’re not even allowed to stick up a satellite dish,’ Sophy said without thinking, while next to her she couldfeelCharles shaking with laughter.
He was still laughing when they drove off, whiffy second-hand clothes in the boot because Sophy had been very firm about that.
‘It was just like something out ofAntiques Roadshow,’ Sophy said. ‘The only thing that would have been better was if that lady with the Alice band had confessed that they used to use the vase as a doorstop.’
‘I love it when that happens,’ Charles said. ‘We did pick a good afternoon to attend an auction. I’ve rarely seen a sale like that even at the big London houses, so you’ve really got something to dine out on.’
Right on cue, Sophy’s stomach let out an almighty rumble. ‘You can’t take me anywhere.’
‘On the contrary, you can hobnob with anyone, even viscountesses.’
‘I thought she was a marchioness!’ Sophy peered at the clock on the Mercedes’ dashboard. It was coming up for five. ‘What time did you book the restaurant for?’
Charles had booked them in for six. It was only a short drive away, but they decided that if their table wasn’t ready they could get a drink at the bar and eke out some peanuts.
On a weekend full of beautiful sights and stunning scenery, the restaurant was picture-perfect too, repurposed from an old watermill, with thatched roof and a wishing well out front. The late-afternoon sun glinted off the ripples of the pond and, despite the earlystart, it was a perfect end to a perfect day.
They were seated almost immediately. Though Charles said that he was only going to have one drink because he was driving, he ordered a bottle of Sancerre because Sophy couldn’t drink red after an incident with a bottle of Pinot Noir and a dodgy Thai takeaway. Not that she went into details with Charles.
Even though they’d spent a whole twenty-four hours with each other, bar sleeping, they hadn’t run out of things to say. Despite the edge of nerves that Sophy got around him, even after so many outings together, Charles was still so easy to talk to and so easy to be around.
She couldn’t tell him how she felt – what would be the use? but in the pause between the shared vegetarian charcuterie plate they’d had as a starter and their mains arriving, Sophy had to say something.
‘I’ll miss this… you… hanging out with you when I go to Australia,’ she said a little sadly and with what she felt was great daring.
Charles’s face was turned to the side so she couldn’t read his expression. ‘What was your departure date again?’ he asked in a voice that was equally expressionless.
‘According to my countdown, it’s exactly four and a half months today that it’s my grandparents’ golden anniversary,’ Sophy announced and, as she did, she felt the familiar fizz in her stomach that was split evenly into thirds: excitement, anticipation and terror. ‘Do you know what? I really haven’t saved up as much money as I planned to.’
‘Four and a half months isn’t a very long time,’ Charles pointed out, turning to face her so she could see that he looked faintly disapproving at her lack of organisational skills.
‘It’s ages away. Eighteen weeks. A third of a year…’
‘And do you have to get a visa? How long does that take?’ Charles still looked like he thought Sophy was being very flighty on the whole topic of emigration, savings, long-term planning.
‘I don’t need a visa. I’m eligible for dual citizenship but I’m waiting on Johnno to sort out some paperwork. Hopefully they can process my application quite quickly, once he’s managed to unearth his birth certificate. I was texting him reminders every other day but I think I might have to start doing that daily,’ she added. Sophy wasn’t looking forward to putting the pressure on Johnno, who’d probably do one of his famous disappearing acts. Also she’d have saved up a lot more if she didn’t keep taking so many Ubers and being persuaded to buy dresses with her staff discount.
‘So you are planning to stay in Australia for ever?’ Charles asked as the server arrived with their Sunday roasts.
Sophy didn’t answer at first, grateful that there was a flurry of activity as their side dishes, from roast potatoes to cauliflower cheese and braised red cabbage, were placed on the table. Once their feast was laid out before them, Charles made no move to pick up his knife and fork and start eating.
‘I was just asking… so the move to Australia is a permanent one then?’
‘For ever… permanent,’ Sophy echoed. ‘They’re such big, final words, aren’t they?’
She didn’t know why she was prevaricating when she was one hundred per cent excited about making such a huge change in her life. Shake herself out of a rut. Explore new places, new things, connect with the family that she’d never met. Eventually settle down in Sydney, where she’d already know Radha, and welcome all the opportunities that might come her way.
‘Do you still want to go to Australia?’ Charles persevered, though Sophy wished that he’d drop it because they were having such a nice timeand she’d much rather live in the moment with him than discuss her forever, permanent plans, which absolutely didn’t include him. She only had another four and a half months with Charles; this funny, handsome man who’d taken her under his wing and had become her friend. Though hopefully he didn’t know that Sophy’s feelings were more lustful than platonic.
‘Of course I do, but there’s a lot of logistics involved and I don’t want to be thinking of filling in citizenship forms and how many thousands of pounds I’m meant to have saved up. Let’s talk about more cheery things,’ she said with an edge of desperation to her voice. ‘Tell me a funny story about a client. Your most demanding client. I bet you’ve had a few.’
Charles took the hint that Sophy was drawing a line under all talk of Australia and launched into an amusing anecdote about a businessman who wanted a ring for his mistress and, although Charles had told him ‘repeatedly’ that he didn’t deal in precious stones, the man insisted on biting every ring that Charles showed him to test the authenticity of the stone.
‘I didn’t have the heart or the energy to tell him that the reason why people bite jewellery is to see if it’s real gold. It’s a soft metal so tradition states that you can leave teeth marks in it, but I much prefer going by the hallmark.’ Charles arched his eyebrow. ‘Far more hygienic.’
He had many more stories all ready to go and Sophy countered with tales about the absolutely unbelievable things that people did in shop changing rooms. Though not at The Vintage Dress Shop, she was happy to note.
The conversation was light-hearted, but it seemed to Sophy that the atmosphere between them had been strained ever since the topic of Australia came up and their usual effortless banter was now taking a lot of work.
