Chapter 6
6
Dora unlocked the shop door and stepped inside her tiny world of bliss. She smiled whenever she first walked inside, it was hard not to. She loved her little slice of heaven. She placed the flowers George had bought for her on the side. She didn’t really stock any of the flowers that were bunched together, there wasn’t much call for them in the bouquets she made, but they were very pretty. She did stock tiny herb plants – rosemary, lavender, bay and mint were her most popular sellers. But not in October, in fact she wasn’t even sure that forget-me-nots and periwinkles were in season. She went out the back into the tiniest kitchen in London and filled the kettle, thinking Katie would no doubt need a large mug of tea to get her in the mood to pay attention. Dora took two mugs out of the small pine cupboard and placed them on the draining board. The bells above the door tinkled.
‘Blimey, this is early for a Sunday. I hope you’ve got the kettle on, Dora.’
Dora turned, took three steps and held up the large mug that Katie used whenever she came to the shop, waving it in the air.
‘Your wish is my command, thank you for coming.’
Katie looked as effortlessly beautiful as always. Her honey-coloured hair was in a high ponytail and she was wearing jeans, a black polo neck and a pair of Gucci trainers, teamed with simple gold hooped earrings. She crossed the room and gave her a brief hug. They had met at college, Dora taking art classes and Katie business skills, both of them bonding over a love of horror movies and cheese salad baguettes.
‘You’re my friend, if you need help then I’m here for you. Although I’m not sure our friendship will survive you leaving me in charge of your shop for a few weeks.’
Dora laughed. ‘I’m sure it will, what’s the worst that could happen?’
‘Let’s not even think about it, just promise me you’ll still speak to me when you come home.’
‘I promise, honestly, you’ll be fab. I have no weddings and if anyone needs funeral flowers you can tell them to go to Ivy she’d been this way since college.
‘I’m sorry, we can’t. Another time perhaps.’
Katie turned to stare at Dora, then turned back. ‘I’m not busy, I’d love to, but I completely understand if it’s Dora you’re trying to ask out even though you’re doing a terrible job at it.’
He laughed then; a deep laugh that sounded so familiar.
‘Well, that would be lovely, and no, I’m really not asking anyone out. This is just me being a gentleman. Dora, maybe another time.’
He winked at Katie and held out his hand. Katie practically tore the apron off over her head and threw it on the counter as she crossed towards him. Taking her hand, he led her to the door, leaving Dora feeling as if she shouldn’t let her friend go on her own with him. Katie blew her a kiss with a huge grin on her face.
‘See you tomorrow, Dora.’
Dora nodded, not sure what was going on but feeling as if she was sending her friend away to be eaten by a great white shark. George turned back to look at Dora and winked at her, then they were gone. Dora rushed to the window and peered out. They were walking down the alley, George’s arm linked through Katie’s as if they were old friends. Part of her wanted to rush after them and join them. What if he asked Katie about her? Katie couldn’t hold her own water – after a couple of glasses of wine, she’d probably tell him everything about Dora including her bra size and her last disastrous boyfriend. She didn’t like the feeling of not knowing what they were going to talk about, especially if it involved Katie telling him Dora’s darkest secrets.
Grabbing her coat, she tugged on her hat, picked up the flowers George had bought her earlier to show Lenny and locked the shop. She could just make out their shapes as they were about to turn the corner and Dora did something she had never in her life done before, she followed them. She knew the Italian place he was talking about, why hadn’t he said he was taking them to Marco’s? They’d be lucky to get a table at this time of day anyway, it was always packed with the teatime rush. She hurried after them, wondering if she should tell them she’d changed her mind. But did she really want to sit and make polite conversation for the next couple of hours?
When she reached the narrow side street where Marco’s was situated, she peered around the corner like some undercover cop or private investigator. She’d expected to see them queuing to get a table but they were nowhere to be found. Now she was torn. Did she walk past and check they were inside, maybe join them, or did she go home? She had to check he’d taken Katie where he said he would, so she strolled past the busy bistro and there they were, sitting at the bar waiting for a table, a carafe of house wine in front of them. George was sitting particularly close to Katie; in fact, his knee was pressing against hers and Katie had her hand on his thigh. Dora carried on walking, deciding to leave them to it. What kind of man behaved that way when their girlfriend wasn’t even buried? What a creep, she would tell Katie tomorrow… And then she stopped herself. Tell her what? Katie was a grown woman just like her, she could do whatever the hell she pleased. This was nothing to do with Dora, if George wanted to flirt with her best friend there wasn’t much she could do about it, was there? So why did she have a feeling that something was wrong?