Page 36 of Wrapped Up at the Vintage Dress Shop
‘These are fantastic and oh my God, learn how to take a compliment,’ she said lightly so it was very hard to take offence, though Phoebe tried. ‘Just you wait until you hear about my ideas for Christmas. How are you at drawing Santa Claus?’
‘Is that a joke?’ Phoebe asked. ‘Please say that it’s a joke.’
‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ Sophy threatened as she stuck a bat on the front of the display unit that housed their costume jewellery.
‘Is this a stealth way of getting me to quit?’ Phoebe demanded, but it was without any of her usual fire and ice.
They both knew that there was no way Sophy could ever sneak a single decorative image of Father Christmas into the shop, not while Phoebe had breath in her body, and instead they were sharing a joke. As colleagues.
Which was very unlike them and quite unsettling.
Chapter Fifteen
There was enough time between the shop closing and the party starting that Phoebe was able to go back toThe Sheilato get ready.
First of all she put Coco Chanel in the most adorable witch’s outfit. Complete with a little pointy hat in between her ears and a little black tulle skirt. There were many things that Coco Chanel refused to tolerate – non-organic dog food, any dogs bigger or barkier than herself, people having the audacity to go past her on a skateboard – but she loved dressing up.
Phoebe, on the other hand, was not a big fan of dressing up. Or rather when you had such a distinctive everyday look, getting dressed up was just something you did every morning. Plus, she had a fear of looking costume-y. It was showing off by any other name.
Eventually she decided to wear a slightly spookier version of what she usually wore. A 1930s black silk crêpe dress with a starburst spider web and a spider crawling across one of the shoulders.
Then it was a short bus ride to Charles’s beautiful flat with its art deco lines on the top floor of a mansion block in Bloomsbury. Although it was still comparatively early and the invite had said that things wouldn’t properly get going until ‘witching hour’, the party was in full flow as Phoebe climbed up the many flights of stairs that led to what Charles called ‘his garret’.
Packed into said garret were ghosts and gargoyles, witches and warlocks and, some people really hadn’t understood the assignment, even a Barbie and Ken.
With Coco Chanel tucked firmly under her arm so she couldn’t be trampled underfoot, Phoebe squeezed her way through the hall and into Charles’s living room where she found him and Sophy in the tiny alcove that was the kitchen.
Charles was as impeccable as ever in black tie with tailcoat and spats. His Halloween concession was a pair of vampire fangs, while Sophy was in her favourite black velvet, Fortuny-inspired vintage dress, which Phoebe had seen on many occasions. To be fair to Sophy, she looked amazing in it, especially now that she was wearing the right size bra thanks to Phoebe, and she was also accessorising with fangs.
Their Halloween outfits met with her approval. However, the plastic cauldron on the worktop got a dubious look from Phoebe.
‘Halloween punch?’ Sophy asked, holding up a glass of dayglo green liquid.
‘I’ll pass,’ Phoebe decided.
‘Gin and tonic instead?’ Charles was already busying himself by plopping ice cubes into a glass while Phoebe tried to remain upright with a death hold on Coco as the crowd swelled around her. ‘No lime, only lemon, I’m afraid.’
‘Lemon will be fine.’
Although they’d reached an uneasy understanding in the shop that day, Phoebe didn’t really know what to say to Sophy now. If it had been just Charles, they could have talked quite happily for hours about vintage dresses and costume jewellery and the estate sales that Charles was planning to visit.
Out of work hours, Charles was now usually accompanied by Sophy. They were one of those couples who couldn’t seem to function as two separate people anymore, because they’d thrown everything into their relationship.
‘Happy Halloween,’ said a familiar voice behind Phoebe and she didn’t even have room to turn around but craned her neck to see Miles wearing a black T-shirt adorned with a life-size ribcage on it while Cress was behind him wearing a black vintage dress with a novelty print of Mexican Day of the Dead masks scattered all over it.
‘You’re not wearing the dress we talked about?’ Phoebe said, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
Cress shook her head. ‘I wasn’t feeling brave enough for a red dress with a faux ermine trim.’
Miles put his arm around Cress and kissed the top of her head. ‘But you looked absolutely gorgeous in it, sweetheart.’
Cress and Miles were a relatively new couple. They’d barely been seeing each other for longer than a month or so but they also seemed to be joined at the hip.
‘Don’t let love make you weak,’Mildred had always warned her, usually when Phoebe was pining over Jason Mullins, a boy from school who would later do five years for armed robbery.‘Most times, it just turns out to be infatuation and you’re left with a broken heart. Worse, you’ve completely forgotten the capable person you were before they toyed with you and turned you into a simpering fool.’
So, once she had a gin and tonic clutched in her hand, Phoebe was happy to back away from the four of them.
She slowly made her way out of the flat to a little flight of steps, which led up to a service hatch. Phoebe had to climb over a pair of canoodling wizards but it was quieter and she could finally put Coco Chanel down and adjust her little witch’s hat, which had been knocked askew.
