Chapter 9
9
The following day was quite productive and much better than I thought it was going to be. I’d had a chat with Mum the night before and she told me that she’d found Dad quite annoying when she met him and then decided to ignore that side of his personality and they’d become friends.
Being friends with Dennis didn’t sound totally horrendous. Maybe we could work together after all if we put our differences aside. Also, I had an idea up my sleeve that might change how he felt about beach cleaning and hoped to put my plan into action over the next few days.
‘Morning, Nancy.’ He breezed in, leaving a cloud of Hugo Boss aftershave behind him. I would like to say it wasn’t my favourite but the fact I knew exactly what that fragrance was probably explained how much I loved it. ‘Shall I pop myself over in the window seat?’
There were only two seats there and he didn’t wait for my answer before heading over. How did he manage to sit in the one that was my favourite? The one where I had the best view of the bay one way and the harbour the other. I breathed deeply. There were two chairs after all. I could sit in the other one. It was not a big deal. Was it?
‘Coffee, Dennis?’ I held up the pot, which I’d been keeping warm on the counter. Most people I knew had these new-fangled machines that were overcomplicated and I preferred my very basic filter coffee machine. ‘Fairtrade of course.’
‘I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you. Yes please, milk and half a sugar please. It smells amazing I have to say.’
What did smell amazing was the very masculine musky spicy aftershave that wafted my way as I plonked his coffee on the table next to where he’d set up his computer. I noticed that he had certainly made himself quite at home. Dennis clearly had style and liked expensive clothes. Today he was wearing a pair of dark navy jeans and a white Ralph Lauren polo-shirt. As I looked at his feet, which looked huge, by the way, I noticed he was wearing a pair of Prada trainers.
Telling myself to say something sensible before I started thinking about what people said about a man with big feet, I blurted out the next thing that came into my head.
‘They do say that if you are selling a house, you should always have a pot of coffee on the go. I was rather hoping that the same extended to a bookshop and that people would want to stay if it smelt nice in here. That’s why I always have a scented candle on the go too.’
‘It’s a good idea. Though I was going to ask if you knew how much you’d spent on candles since you’ve opened.’
I could feel my eyes about to roll as I looked over his shoulder and he pointed to a figure on the screen.
‘That’s never right.’
‘I’m afraid it is.’
My voice became very high pitched.
‘Twelve hundred pounds on candles? Really? In six months. That’s impossible.’
He shook his head. ‘Sadly not.’
‘Bloody hell, Dennis!’
‘Money literally going up in smoke. I’m sure the ones you light and sell are lovely but… I think we can definitely make a difference here.’
‘I’ve always wanted to make candles but never got round to it. The ones I buy are very expensive but they are eco-friendly with no synthetic fragrances and they use soy wax. That’s why they cost so much I suppose. I wonder how long they would take me to make.’
‘At the moment, you are using three a week which at twenty pounds is costing you ￡60 a week. Times that by the twenty weeks you’ve been open and that’s your twelve hundred pounds. How about one of the first things you do is source some cheaper ones? That would cut costs initially and then you could research making your own. What do you think?’
I smiled. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so hard after all.
‘You’d obviously have to look at where you would make them, what the legalities are, the costs of the ingredients, bottles, etc.’
Oh, maybe this idea didn’t sound so appealing after all. I was sure he could see my interest waning and he quickly continued before I could speak.
‘How about if you did make your own, you asked people to bring back the glass candle jars and you would give them an amount off their next purchase? That way, you are encouraging them to spend more with you, but you are giving them a discount at the same time and it fits in with your ethos of recycling.’
That sounded like a great idea but I didn’t want to let him know he’d won me over that easily.
I shrugged.
‘It could work I suppose,’ I said as nonchalantly as I could, secretly thinking what a fabulous idea it was and why I’d never thought of it myself. It resonated with me on every score. Maybe he was the bloody genius that Vi kept telling me about after all.
He looked away but not before I saw his lips twitch, not quite a full-on smirk, but a smidgeon of one.
‘Maybe I need a nice new notebook to write these things down in. I’ve got some gorgeous ones over there.’
‘Those really expensive ones that you sell, you mean?’
‘Yes, that shelf over there.’ I pointed to the side of the counter.
‘Great idea. Or you could just use this A4 lined pad that I’ve brought you and let the customers spend their money buying the posh stuff?’
He tilted his head, not waiting for an answer as he passed over the very dull-looking hardback book. While I was thinking that I couldn’t possibly write in such a plain notebook and would have to source some pretty stickers to add all over the cover, he mumbled, ‘I did take the liberty of buying you one of these though.’
He handed me a pack in which there was a four-coloured ballpoint pen. At first, I thought this was one of those we used to have at school, but while this one was similar, the ink was in pastel colours: pink, green, blue and purple. I raised an eyebrow at him.
‘Well, I saw that you were writing in different colours yesterday so thought I’d get you one of those. You might have a crappy old book, but at least you can jazz it up a bit with funky-coloured writing.’
I couldn’t have been more surprised.
‘Right, let’s get on. Are you going to write about the candles? Don’t forget to list all the jobs you need to do so you don’t forget anything.’
‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’
‘God, yes!’ He licked his lips, while locking his eyes onto mine and that funny fluttering feeling came back in my belly.
Maybe I was too.
As I locked the door at the end of the day, shattered, I reflected on what I’d learned about Dennis so far. He talked about colleagues but not about friends, so I wondered whether he had many. When I asked him what he loved doing in his spare time, he looked at me like I’d got two heads. He told me he didn’t get much spare time but when he did, he liked to analyse the stock market and read self-development and business books. When I offered to give him a discount, in exchange for all the help he was giving me, he shook his head and told me that every time I offered a discount to a customer, it meant less money in my till. When I tried to explain that customer loyalty and repeat business could come from it, he tried to tell me that my first loyalty was to myself and keeping my shop trading.
He had opened my eyes up to how much I had my head in the clouds, loving the feeling of running my own bookshop and trusting that everything would work out OK when I could take more control over my destiny and make this a viable long-term business.
‘I think I’m finally learning. What an idiot I was to open a shop without knowing all this stuff.’
‘Not at all. You only know what you know. We’ve only just touched the surface,’ he stated as he packed up his belongings, ‘but it’s great to see that there’s loads we can do to turn this around into a profitable proposition. This is what I’m brilliant at. This is why I’m paid an absolute fortune to teach people like you. See you tomorrow.’
Just as I was starting to warm to him again, he came up with this cocky sentence.
An idea popped into my brain and I only faltered slightly, before speaking up.
‘What are you doing tonight, Dennis?’
He looked at me for longer than I thought totally necessary, and raised a querying eyebrow before saying that he was just planning a night in with his nan. Crikey, I hope he didn’t think I was asking him out on a date.
‘Fancy meeting me back here for an hour later? I have something I’d like to show you.’
Another raised eyebrow and a moment’s hesitation made me backtrack.
‘Don’t worry. It was just a thought.’
‘Are you going to give me any more information? I like to know all the facts before making an informed decision.’
A loud sigh escaped me.
‘Have you ever considered that you need more spontaneity in your life?’
‘Have you ever considered you might need less?’
We stared each other down, before we both gave in and laughed at the same time.
‘Oh, what the hell. Why not? How’s that for spontaneity?’
‘Impressive.’
He grinned and I thought the similarity and mannerisms between Ryan and real-life Dennis was uncanny.
‘What time do you want me?’
Gosh it was getting hot.
‘Six o’clock OK?’ I squeaked.
‘Yep. It’s not like I’ve got offers left, right and centre. See you then.’
We were moving two steps forward and one step back.
It would be interesting to see how tonight went.