Page 38 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
Daisy pressed her lips together. ‘Can I just ask you something?’
Lawrence tilted his head. ‘Is it relevant?’ he asked.
She stared out of the window as the train began to pull from the station. ‘To me it is, yes. You see, you seem to be under the impression that today is just about extracting as much information about me as you can, thinking that this will give you everything you need to create the perfect gift. But today should work both ways, Lawrence; it’s also an opportunity for me to get to know you. After all, if you’re successful in winning this competition, I might be working for you, and I need to be sure that I’d want to. It’s my future at stake here too.’
‘Yes, yes, but it’s hardly the same thing, is it? Your future, working in the shop, against mine running the company. The stakes are somewhat higher in my case.’
‘Are they?’ she argued. ‘Are you sure about that? Because from where I’m sitting, they’re exactly the same. This is important to me too, and it might help you if you stopped to consider why that might be the case instead of just assuming that running a business is more important than working in one. Just in case you don’t end up in charge.’
He stared at her. ‘But I have to gain control of the business.’
‘Why?’
His jaw was working.
‘Because it’s my birthright, Daisy. I don’t expect you to understand about such things, but I’m the head of this family and I was made that way a long time ago when my father died. I’ve carried that weight, this responsibility, most of my adult life and, as such, it’s only right that Buchanans comes to me…’ He broke off, pouting slightly. ‘I was promised it.’ He shook his head. ‘Look, that hardly matters now, my father died a long time ago.’ He gave her a puzzled look. ‘And I don’t see what that has to do with anything.’
Daisy held his look for a moment. ‘Probably everything.’ But she smiled. ‘All I’m saying is that I’d be very grateful if you could do me the courtesy of remembering that, while you’re interrogating me, underneath is a person who could also stand to lose a great deal when this competition finally comes to an end.’
He gave the slightest of nods, acknowledging her point. ‘Although I have to say that’s another thing I don’t understand…’ He broke off as an announcement came over the train’s tannoy, before continuing. ‘… Why you’ve been involved in all this in the first place. It’s not as if you have any final say in the matter…’
His eyes narrowed as he inhaled a sharp breath. ‘Oh, I get it…’ he said, slowly. ‘Of course, this is all a bloody set-up, isn’t it? Youarechoosing who wins, that’s exactly what this is all about! For God’s sake, you and Mother have been as thick as thieves all these years, I knew there must be more to it than she was telling us.’
Lawrence’s face had twisted into a sneer while he was talking and Daisy could feel herself growing hotter and hotter. ‘It’s not like that at all,’ she whispered.
‘I might as well bloody give up now, because we all know who’s going to win, don’t we? Bertie-charm-the-birds-out-the-trees-Buchanan – enjoy your day out with him, did you?’
Daisy felt tears sting her eyes. ‘At least he was nice to me, and didn’t accuse me of cheating. And if you must know, yes, we did have a nice day out, but that in no way means he is any more or less likely to win than either you or Kit. In fact, he even asked me if he could take me to a jeweller’s and just point out what I liked, but I told him I couldn’t do that. Apart from not being fair, it also wouldn’t give him any clue about why a particular piece was the perfect gift for me. And no, I wasn’t about to tell him that either.’ She fished a tissue out of her bag. ‘The difference is that Bertie just accepted what I told him instead of becoming utterly obnoxious. And he’s just as scared of losing as you are.’
‘Bertie? Scared? What on earth could Bertie possibly have to worry about? He’s never had to take responsibility for anything his whole life.’
‘Maybe he’s never been allowed to, Lawrence, with you ruling the roost. So for your information he’s really worried about what he’s going to do if you get control of the company because he’s under no illusion that you’ll give him a job. And in his words, he’s fit for nothing. I think that’s a pretty big admission to make, so don’t you dare laugh at him.’
She was about to say something else when there was a hiss and swish from the end of the carriage and a uniformed steward moved along the aisle towards them.
‘Good morning, Sir, Madam, and welcome aboard.’ He nodded deferentially. ‘Breakfast will be served shortly but, in the meantime, if you’d care for some refreshment, we have a range of beverages on offer.’
The man wore a broad smile, looking backwards and forwards between the two of them, seemingly unaware of the dispute he had just interrupted. His manner was so overtly cheerful that it burst the bubble of Daisy’s anger in an instant. She was mortified. She had no right to speak to Lawrence like that and, apart from anything else, he would never give her a job if she kept picking fights with him.
She shot Lawrence a look, expecting to see irritation still written across his face. Instead, like her, it seemed that the arrival of someone else into their space had rather taken the wind out of his sails and he was struggling to rearrange his face into a smile.
‘How about you, Madam, what can I get you?’
It was on the tip of Daisy’s tongue to answer with an automatic ‘Tea please’ but then she had a sudden thought. ‘Do you have any hot chocolate?’ she asked.
‘Yes, indeed. Always popular on cold mornings.’ The steward smiled again. ‘And would you like it with the addition of some cream and marshmallows?’
‘Oh, yes please, that would be lovely.’ And to her surprise the thought of itwasquite lovely.
‘And for Sir?’
‘Just coffee please. Black.’
‘Excellent, right away. And if you’d like to take a look at the card on the table, we’ll soon be serving from the breakfast menu. If you’d care to make your choices I will be back shortly to take your orders.’
The steward nodded, smiled and slipped away, leaving Daisy looking nervously at Lawrence. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I should never—’
Lawrence held up a hand. ‘Please… I ought to apologise. Perhaps I’ve been approaching this in an… inconsiderate manner. I can see how it could have come across as unfeeling and maybe we ought to start again. We could be in for rather a long day otherwise.’
