Chapter Forty
HOW DID IT GO??????????????????
It’s been an hour since I sent the message. I should’ve heard something by now. A horrible feeling is creeping over me. What if Sonali said no? There’s no way, is there? She wouldn’t have said no – it can’t be that.
So why haven’t I heard?
I should’ve added more question marks. Hold on.
??????????????????????????????????????????????????
Nothing. Myfanwy’s not been online and I remain unread. I’m sure they’re probably just too busy yay-ing and probably having lovely celebratory sex or something. But Myfe promised me she’d take a two-second loo break after the proposal to let me know how it went. And she hasn’t.
Oh god, this is too tense. I need to distract myself. I stare at the store door, willing a customer with a complicated ring-related question to walk through.
For the first time in ages, I’m back in the original store, working here instead of the new location, covering for Toni who’s flat-hunting – and it is so nice. I feel like I’ve come home.
Celeste hasn’t said much, but I think she’s finally realizing the accessories range and expansion were a mistake. I know the new place has been making no money at all, despite my best efforts. The trouble is, so few people come in, and those that do would always take one look around at the empty white walls, and leave again.
But I don’t understand Myfanwy not messaging me with the biggest news of her life! AAARGH!
Celeste sweeps in from the back office. She’s been making a big effort to be in store lately. I have a feeling it’s on the advice of her team as the internet continues to mock her failing expansion. Admittedly, her presence has brought some celebrity oglers in, but they don’t tend to buy stuff.
On cue, two customers walk through the door and I stand to attention. I can tell right away that these two are just window-shopping and won’t want to be bothered.
‘Can I help at all?’ Celeste shrieks across the room and when the couple look up, I realize that – for the first time in my living memory – recognition doesn’t light up in their eyes.
They don’t know who she is!
‘No thanks,’ the man mutters and I see the woman glance at the door, already planning an exit.
Celeste takes no notice, sweeping over and waving in my direction. ‘My darling Ginny here will help you, she’s an expert in our entire, personally curated range.’ They look blank as I awkwardly shuffle towards them, feeling like a child in the playground being forced to play with the new kid. ‘No reality star accessories in here,’ Celeste twinkles, choosing not to notice their discomfort. ‘Just hand-selected, tasteful items from our family-run business.’ She gives me a tiny shove, and I land at their feet.
‘Was there, er, something specific you were looking for?’ I enquire politely, knowing full well they will be out of here in moments.
‘Not really,’ the man mumbles. ‘Just looking…’
‘We have to get going actually, we…’ The woman gestures towards the door, and I step back, giving her space.
‘Of course,’ I say as warmly as possible. I clock her body language, relaxing as she realizes there won’t be a hard sell. ‘Oh wow, that’s stunning!’ Her eye catches something in one of the cases and she moves towards it. ‘Look, Gerry!’ She waves the man over and he reluctantly joins her, glancing longingly at the door again. ‘My grandmother always wore something just like that!’ She beams at me, adding unnecessarily, ‘My grandmother on my mother’s side. Maisie was her name – she was so glamorous! We used to go over for Sunday lunch and Grandma would always be dressed to the nines! She wore a brooch exactly like that!’ She jabs smeary fingers at the glass case. ‘I was always obsessed with it. My sisters and I used to fight over who would get it when she died, but then my aunt swooped in and nabbed it. I think one of my cousins has probably sold it off by now.’ She gives me a dark look. ‘Bunch of money-grabbers, that side of the family. One of them went to prison, you know?’ She nods pointedly at me like I should be horrified. ‘I think it was for a pyramid scheme thing but still.’
‘This is a piece from our vintage selection,’ I tell her nicely, vaguely aware that another customer has arrived behind us. Toni’s off today, viewing flats with Shawn, so it’s just me and Celeste. God, she might actually have to serve someone herself – imagine. ‘Would you like to have a proper look?’ I offer and the woman nods, almost salivating. I unlock the case and tenderly retrieve the brooch, holding it carefully with a handkerchief. Laying it gingerly on the case, the woman leans in, nose practically touching the brooch.
‘It’s beautiful!’ she breathes.
It is actually. It’s a Victorian art-deco 15 carat gold bird brooch. Two swallows made from seed pearl face one another mid-flight. They look like they might crash into each other but that’s what I like about it. We’re all mid-flight, trying not to crash into each other, aren’t we?
‘Can I touch it?’ the woman asks respectfully and I nod.
‘Of course!’
She picks it up and sighs happily. ‘It really is exactly like Grandma’s,’ she tells Gerry, who stands just behind, hopping from foot to foot. He looks like a man who knew he shouldn’t have come into an expensive jewellery store without a plan. ‘Is it mad to get it? I really love it!’ She turns to Gerry, with a look I’ve seen on many-a-face over the years. She is in love.
‘I don’t think it’s a good idea!’ Gerry says in a panic and I discreetly move away, giving them a moment to fight it out.
As I do so, I spot a familiar face talking to Celeste. It’s Joey! The customer I helped with a proposal to his partner Hannah a few months ago. How lovely to see him again.
Except… I study their body language for a second, suddenly feeling a little concerned. He looks very intense, talking in animated tones to my mother, who in turn, wears a serious expression.
What could he be saying? Not complaining, surely? I worked so hard to make sure he had the most amazing experience buying his engagement ring and helping him plan the ultimate proposal, Zach and I even personally dropping off the ring at the hotel! My heart starts beating too fast.
‘We want it!’ The oversharing woman and poor Gerry are back, argument won and lost.
I escort them to the pay point, carefully wrap up the brooch in tissue paper, placing it in its original antique box, all the while trying not to side-eye the conversation taking place across the room.
What could they be talking about?
A bead of cold sweat runs down the middle of my back as I take payment and listen to the woman talk about how she’s going to wear the brooch every day and how that will show Shona from across the road who thinks she’s so amazing with her great aunt’s pin. She’s still talking to Gerry about ‘that bitch’ Shona as I wave them off.
Not wanting to seem too worried, I give Celeste and Joey another few seconds before casually making my way across to them. Somehow I don’t scream WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Which, I’m sure everyone would agree, shows an incredible level of self-control.
‘Joey!’ I greet him warmly, my delight at seeing him genuine. Unless he’s complaining about me. ‘So wonderful to see you.’
‘Hi Ginny!’ he grins and I can immediately see everything is fine. He’s not angry or upset with me. There is only joy radiating from him. ‘I was just passing and popped in to say hi and another huge thank you for everything you did. My fiancée – love saying that! – said I had to come in and’ – he pauses, trying to remember – ‘give you, er, mad props.’ He hesitates again. ‘I think that was what she said. She’s American, did I mention that? Sometimes I don’t understand a word.’ He laughs. ‘But then she says the same about me. She still looks at me in horror and bafflement when I say I’m knackered.’ He smiles brightly at Celeste. ‘We’re like chalk and cheese – which is another saying she doesn’t understand – but it works. We’re so happy.’ He gives me a pointed look. ‘And a lot of that recent happiness is down to you, Ginny.’ He nods at Celeste. ‘I was just telling your mum how incredibly helpful you’ve been. You need to be better at boasting at work, Ginny! She had no idea how much you’d been involved in every step of the proposal.’ He shakes his head in wonder at Celeste. ‘Honestly, she was invaluable, talking me through everything, talking me down a few times when I was really freaking out. She and the designer Zach even came to the hotel undercover to deliver the ring! Never mind selling me a ring, Ginny’s been like an emotional support worker!’
I blush a deep red and shake my head instinctively. ‘Stop it! You did the hard part! I’m just so glad it went well and you’re happy.’
We beam at each other happily for another moment before he notices the clock on the wall.
‘Whoops, I’m late, better get going!’ He reaches to give me a hug and, unprofessional as it probably is, I hug him back, my whole body vibrating with pride and osmosis-love.
As the door shuts behind him, I turn to find Celeste looking at me with wonder.
‘You—’ she begins but the bell at the door sounds again, distracting us.
I scream when I see who it is.
‘MYFANWY! SONALI!’ I leap elk-like across the store to sweep them up in my arms. I don’t need to hear what happened. If Joey was radiating happiness, these two are uranium blissful. The three of us cuddle for a minute, laughing then crying.
Behind us, Celeste sounds bewildered. ‘What’s going on?’ she calls and the three of us pull apart, drying faces on sleeves. Sonali laughs and throws her hands up. Every single finger has a different ring, each with a silly, romantic, gorgeous meaning behind it. And right there, in the midst of them, is the beautiful, classic Celeste’s Stones – Walliams’s collaboration ring.
Celeste gasps and joins us, grabbing Sonali’s hands roughly to inspect each one. ‘This is absurd!’ she says in an awed voice, as we all giggle.
‘I’m assuming it was a yes then?’ I grin and Myfanwy nods, unable to speak just yet.
Sonali finds the words faster. ‘It was so romantic, Ginny, I can’t even tell you.’ She gasps. ‘Actually I don’t need to tell you, do I? Myfe told me how much you helped her.’ She side-eyes her new fiancée. ‘And she told me that you stopped her doing it in front of a bunch of people. God, thank you so much. I’m really relieved she didn’t do that. It was so much more special with just the two of us.’
Myfanwy and I smile at each other as I feel Celeste’s eyes on me.
‘Tell me everything!’ I demand, though Myfanwy and I had gone through every detail, minute by minute, over and over, beforehand. I can see from Myfe’s face that it all went according to plan.
‘So we met up for what I thought was a very quick lunch break for me, since Myfe’s on Easter half term,’ Sonali begins excitedly. ‘But instead of heading to grab a coffee outside my office, Myfe had a car ready. An Uber Black, if you can believe that outrageous spending. I’m like, “Where the hell are we going? Babe, you know I only have half an hour!” And she’s like, “Actually babe, you have the rest of the day off. I’ve arranged it with your boss because I have a surprise for you.” And I know it sounds stupid but I honestly never thought it could be this. I thought maybe she had a late birthday present for me. I was just excited I had the afternoon off!’
She laughs, looking over with adoring eyes at Myfanwy, who at last manages to speak. ‘So I took her back to ours, where I’d laid out a blanket and plates. Seconds later – honestly the timing was absolutely perfect, Gin – the door went and it was our takeaway!’
‘She’d got my favourite food!’ Sonali squeaks.
Myfanwy snorts. ‘We both know we’re shit at cooking but I wanted it to be a special lunch.’
‘I was so happy – it was the nicest burger I’ve ever had from there!’
Myfanwy shrugs. ‘Well, I did tell them it was a proposal lunch, so they’d better make sure it was good.’
‘No wonder they were so on time at your door!’ Celeste comments beside me, delighting in the story.
‘So then, I went behind the sofa and pulled out this tray of boxes—’
‘I couldn’t even speak when I saw them,’ Sonali interjects breathlessly. ‘I suddenly knew this was a big moment.’
Myfanwy smiles misty-eyed as she continues in a low voice. ‘And she opened them one by one, as I said my speech, explaining each memory that each ring represented.’
‘I was crying from about four words in!’ Sonali rolls her eyes at herself.
‘And we finished with that one.’ Myfanwy nods at Sonali’s ring finger and Sonali brandishes it.
‘We sourced the stones and metal, but Zach designed it,’ I tell Celeste as an aside and she nods, her eyes faraway and her chin trembling with emotion.
‘And you said yes right away?’ Celeste confirms eagerly.
‘Of course!’ Sonali laughs, as if it’s the silliest question in the world. Which it is of course. Who wouldn’t marry Myfanwy?
‘And we’re not done yet,’ my best friend says suddenly.
‘We’re not?’ Sonali looks at Myfanwy in surprise.
‘Nope!’ Myfe is loving this. ‘And we better get going because we’re now off to do an escape room—’
‘OH MY GOD!’ Sonali shrieks, because she loooooves escape rooms.
‘And then I’ve booked us in at The Shard for the evening!’ Sonali screams even louder at this because she’s wanted to go up The Shard for literally years. ‘And we’re meeting both our parents there to celebrate together.’ At this, Sonali tries to howl with joy, but it turns into big, gulpy, happy tears instead.
‘That is just so perfect,’ she finally gets out in a whisper.
‘And I didn’t tell you earlier,’ Myfanwy adds tearfully, ‘but you also have tomorrow off work, too, so you can get really, really drunk tonight.’
‘Oh my god,’ Sonali is finished. ‘I love you so much, I can’t wait to marry you.’
They leave, both sobbing and joyful after many more happy hugs, and I head to the bathroom to clean myself up. When I return, Celeste calls to me from the office where she is sitting, staring at the computer screen.
‘I haven’t checked our Facebook page in years,’ she comments, not looking away from the screen. ‘And wow…’ She lets out a low whistle. ‘The reviews for our in-store service are just…’ She looks up at last, staring at me like she’s seeing me for the first time. ‘They’re just off the charts brilliant. There are so many long, rambling, embarrassingly gushy posts about how wonderful our personal service is. And they almost all name you. Every one of them. I started wondering after that man – what was his name?’
‘Joey,’ I fill in, something beginning to creep over me.
‘When Joey came in and said all those things. And then Myfanwy said you helped her plan everything for her proposal, too. You have a real talent for helping people find not just the right ring, but the right way to present it.’
‘Well,’ I begin eagerly. ‘That’s why I suggested that engagement concierge idea ages ago. It’s pretty much what I do already, and so many people love it and need it. I think our customers would really enjoy it.’
She looks thoughtful and I jump on the opportunity to push her – to push myself.
‘I know it could work,’ I say firmly. ‘It already is working! What’s the harm in giving it a try? I could write up a mission statement and some wording for the website. We could do a soft launch to trial it; we don’t even have to publicize it initially. Just give it a chance. Give me a chance, Mum.’
She stares at me for a few seconds. ‘It could work,’ she says at last. ‘But I think it’s too soon after the accessories disaster.’ She sighs. ‘I’m shutting the second store and I’ve ended our arrangement with the reality star. We need to let things settle down for a while, then I’ll maybe talk to my publicist about the engagement concierge concept.’
I give her the smallest of nods. It’s a no. So much for advocating for myself.
Reading my mind, she adds, ‘It’s not a no.’
But of course it is.
At least it’s a nicer no this time.