Page 64 of Wrapped Up at the Vintage Dress Shop
‘We still ordering a curry?’ Anita asked as Phoebe stood up and winced as her feet protested. ‘’Cause I’m feeling more in the mood for some Korean fried chicken.’
‘Are you not seeing Miles or Charles?’ Phoebe asked. The thought of Korean fried chicken was quite appetising. She’d have to look on Deliveroo to see if there was somewhere close that delivered though the drivers never wanted to come down to the canal path so Phoebe always had to loiter on the street and wait for them.
‘We are strong independent women who don’t see our boyfriends every night,’ Sophy said from the depths of the back of the shop where she was collecting her bag and coat.
‘Also, Miles has gone up to Glasgow to do some location scouting and Charles is staying overnight in Dorset as he has an estate sale first thing tomorrow,’ Cress explained. She smiled faintly. ‘But yes, also we are strong independent women and Anita is between partners . . .’
‘Is it my fault that the men of London can’t recognise a good thing when they see it?’ Anita asked as she did a little shimmy.
‘While I am terminally single,’ Bea complained. ‘I can’t even remember the last time I swiped right.’
‘What about you, Pheebs? Are you seeing anyone?’ Anita asked, her eyes alight not with mischief this time but with curiosity. ‘Your life outside the shop is a bit of a mystery.’
Which was just how Phoebe liked it. For one agonising moment, her eyes met Cress, who was the only one who’d known about her and Freddy back when there was something to know. Usually Cress told Sophy everything and since their argument, Phoebe wasn’t sure if Cress had kept the secret that she’d begged her to keep. Cress shook her head and rolled her eyes a little as if to say that she was offended that Phoebe would even think that she’d betrayed that confidence.
‘There’s nothing much to tell,’ Phoebe said with a forced sort of lightness. ‘No man. I just go home and catalogue my vintage dresses.’
‘I’ve asked once, I’m going to ask again,’ Anita said as Sophy emerged with not just her coat but Phoebe’s too and even Coco’s. Phoebe shot her a grateful smile. ‘Your house is on fire. You can only rescue one thing. Is it Coco Chanel or your favourite vintage dress?’
Her favourite vintage dress was worth a good couple of thousand pounds but to Phoebe it was much more precious than just its monetary value. And maybe Coco Chanel might be able to rescue herself . . .
‘Seriously, Phoebe, do you have to think about it? Of course it would be Coco,’ Bea exclaimed. ‘By the way, are you planning to set the alarm before we leave?’
‘Oh God, yes! Thank you for reminding me.’
By the time Phoebe had set the alarm, she’d have expected the four women to have dispersed, but they were standing outside the shop in a huddle, talking in fierce whispers.
‘Haven’t you got homes to go to?’ Phoebe said with the same forced jollity from before.
Sophy separated herself from the huddle and with a swift glance back at her three colleagues tilted her chin in Phoebe’s direction. ‘Bea’s coming back to ours too.’ She paused. ‘If you haven’t got plans then you and Coco are welcome to join us.’
Immediately, reflexively, Phoebe opened her mouth to decline the invitation but then she shut it.
There was no good reason not to accept. Unless they were just asking her to be polite?
Except Anita never did anything just to be polite and what was the alternative anyway?
She’d go home, still mildly hungover, and she wouldn’t eat delicious fried chicken but brood and be miserable. It was no way to spend a Saturday evening.
So, Phoebe nodded. ‘Yes, Coco and I would love to.’
Chapter Twenty-Five
Anita and Sophy lived in Hackney. During the walk up Chalk Farm Road to catch the bus from Camden, Phoebe almost cried off. Her shoes were pinching and simply putting one foot in front of the other was agony.
Then Bea tucked an arm into hers, which helped, and as soon as they finally reached the stop, the bus came and they were able to squeeze on.
It wasn’t until they went past the stop where Phoebe had got off a week before to visit Birdy that she noticed that Anita and Sophy were getting a bit twitchy. They were sitting behind Phoebe and Bea and having a fierce whispered conversation until eventually Sophy tapped Phoebe on the shoulder.
Phoebe turned around, half dreading being given her marching orders, which actually would have been very rude. ‘Pheebs, Anita and I have another flatmate,’ Sophy announced with some trepidation. ‘Please, don’t be funny about this.’
‘You’re allowed to have other flatmates,’ Phoebe said exasperatedly because really, she wasn’tthatbad. ‘There’s no law against it.’
‘He works in a vintage shop in Shoreditch,’ Anita revealed.
‘Antik,’ Phoebe said with a very slight lip curl because it was a ridiculous name and also . . .
‘That’s the one and he says that you’ve had several run-ins with his boss before,’ Anita said. ‘But that’s not George’s fault.’
