Page 11 of The Happy Hour
‘I’ll check,’ Wendy said. ‘A selection box if she has them?’
‘Yes please.’ Jess went to get her purse, but Wendy waved her away.
‘We’ll sort it out later.’
Once she’d gone, Jess set about tidying the already pristine counter, her actions dictated by restlessness. Wendy had hired a shoplifter, Lola was days away from charming Jess’s colleagues with her larger-than-life presence, and she had agreed to meet a man – basically a stranger, and one who upset her calm equilibrium – for a second time. It was as if there’d been some kind of rip in the space–time continuum and everything had been turned on its head.
She went into the storeroom to put the kettle on, hoping tea and a muffin would make her feel more at ease.
‘Hello?’ The voice was familiar, and Jess returned to the shop floor to find one of their regular customers hovering in the doorway.
‘Hey, Felicity,’ Jess said. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m very well, thank you.’ The other woman was, Jess guessed, in her sixties, but still had beautiful skin and a perfectly coiffed grey bob, her blue eyes bright. She was wearing a silk blouse, cream with a bold pink flower pattern, and a long grey skirt and matching jacket. Jess had gathered from previous discussions that she lived in a large house close to Greenwich Park, which she shared with three cats but no other humans, and she was constantly on the lookout for elegant items to fill it with.
‘Anything take your fancy today?’ Jess asked. ‘Other than the usual?’
Ever since she had worked in the shop, there had been a large oval mirror with an intricate gilt frame on one wall, and Felicity always gave it a longing look. She had bought plenty of other things, and it was a mystery to Jess what temptation the mirror held and why Felicity had never given into it.
She tried to imagine the room in which the older woman might place it: a hallway with black-and-white diamond tiles on the floor, where she could check her evening ensemble before a night of dancing and champagne; or in her bedroom, so she could perform her daily skincare routine, which would include Crème De La Mer; or in a separate, private dressing room, because even though she was in her sixties, she still treated herself to delicate undergarments – tasteful teddies and slips in shades called oyster and blush.
Felicity glanced at the mirror, then at Jess, and let out a tinkling laugh. ‘I’m not quitetherewith the mirror yet,’ she admitted. ‘But I am considering this.’ She ran her hand over the smooth globe of a water feature that wasn’t turned on but, from the label Jess had put up, copying the words directly from the brochure, would provide a gentle, meditative sound once it had water running through it.
‘That’s a very popular piece,’ Jess said, because she’d sold one last week. ‘Especially with summer on the way. If you have a pond, the moving water helps keep mosquitos and midges away.’
‘I don’t have a pond,’ Felicity said, ‘but I am considering one.’
‘Are you remodelling your garden?’ Jess had spent far too much time daydreaming about what Felicity’s beautiful house might look like. The garden, of course, would be tranquil, with the mature trees of Greenwich Park adding another layer of green beyond an elegant, red-brick wall.
‘Potentially,’ Felicity said. ‘If I were to order this, would you provide a delivery service?’
‘Uhm.’ Other than the large mirror and the taller vases lining the wall below the window, the water feature was the only substantial item they sold; all the others were easy to take away in tote bags or strong carriers. They hadn’t had to consider delivery before – the customer who bought the water feature last week had taken it out to his van, which was apparently parked around the corner.
‘I’m only a five-minute walk away, but I couldn’t manage it by myself.’ Felicity held out her slender arms to demonstrate.
‘Of course not.’ Jess frowned when she noticed the cuff of the other woman’s sleeve was frayed. Had she caught it on a wall on her walk here? She didn’t know what she could offer without asking Wendy, so she walked around the counter, bent her knees and tipped the water feature, sliding her fingers under the plinth. When she lifted it, she found it wasn’t as heavy as she had expected.
‘Is shoplifting contagious?’
Jess almost dropped it on her fingers. She lowered it gently, smiling when she saw that Wendy had returned with a selection box and two large takeaway cups.
‘I was seeing how heavy it was,’ she explained. ‘I think it’s made of resin, rather than stone.’
‘Goodness, of course it is,’ Wendy said. ‘Stone would be impossibly heavy, especially as we can’t offer delivery. Hello, Felicity.’
‘That’s what I was wondering about,’ Felicity said. ‘Whether Jess would be able to deliver this to my house, if I bought it.’
‘She’d walk it round for you, as you’re one of our best customers.’ Wendy put the cups on the counter. ‘Wouldn’t you, Jess?’
Jess held back her frustrated sigh. Hadn’t Wendyjustsaid they couldn’t offer delivery? But she probablycouldwalk it round, with only a couple of rest stops, as long as Felicity wasn’t exaggerating about how close her house was to the park. ‘Of course,’ she said, because she couldn’t exactly complain about being loaned out in front of the customer in question.
‘Wonderful.’ Felicity clasped her hands together. ‘It’ll make such a difference to the patio. And aren’t these adorable?’ She plucked one of the hares off its shelf. It was the most disturbing one, in Jess’s opinion, with its front paws raised in what was perhaps supposed to be a coquettish gesture, but to her looked grasping.
‘They’re lovely,’ she said, and Wendy’s amused glance told her she hadn’t sounded remotely sincere. ‘Though I do prefer our glass ornaments. What do you think of these?’ She showed Felicity the paperweights with swirling colour patterns and bubbles inside, some twinkling with suspended glitter. Felicity seemed charmed, even though she must have examined them on her previous visits.
Once she’d left, saying she’d be back in a few days to arrange payment and delivery of the water feature, Wendy passed Jess a hot chocolate and opened the selection box.
Jess took a strawberry cream mini-muffin.
