CHAPTER TWO
I looked at Marguerite, bewildered. What had I done wrong now? ‘I... I thought we offered drinks when customers came in?’
‘Yes. We do. But we’re doing a stocktake for the first hour today, remember? The shop isn’t supposed to open until ten-thirty.’
‘Ah.’ I swallowed. Marguerite had mentioned it to me yesterday as I left, but I’d been so anxious about opening up promptly this morning, it had completely slipped my mind. ‘I’m so sorry. Shall I...’ I glanced back uncertainly. ‘I guess I’d better see to them and then lock up?’
She gave a curt nod. ‘And you’d better hope that no one else comes in while you’re doing that. Because we have Lady Arabella Mountjoy coming in for her appointment at eleven, which no doubt you’ll have forgotten all about.’
‘No. Of course. I mean, yes.’ Marguerite had been talking for the past few days about what an honour it was that Lady Arabella had chosen to visit her modest emporium, so there was no way I would ever have forgotten about that!
‘Good. Well, don’t just stand there, girl...’ She flicked her hand at me and went back to her laptop.
I was dismissed.
Gritting my teeth and feeling as small as a slug – a shamefully incompetent slug – I somehow managed to produce a smile for our customers as I re-entered the shop with a tray containing two glasses of Bucks Fizz. But I couldn’t help feeling downhearted. Was it going to be like this every day? Maybe Marguerite’s sharp tongue would be less in evidence once I started to get the hang of how everything worked here?
‘We’ve been in practically every wedding dress shop in Surrey,’ beamed Maddy, the bride-to-be, taking her glass off the tray. ‘Thank you. Cheers! I was going to get my dress made for me by a friend of my mum’s but she’s had to go into hospital to have a knee operation and the recovery time is literally months. So I’ve been trying to find my perfect “off-the-peg” dream dress instead.’
I smiled. ‘Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place.’
‘So many gorgeous dresses in here,’ sighed Ellie, taking a sip of her drink. ‘Your only problem, Maddy, will be choosing between them.’
‘Would you like to try some on? What style were you thinking of?’ I asked.
Maddy looked confused. ‘That’s the problem. I can’t decide what would suit me best.’
‘Well, how about you pick a few and we’ll...’
I was interrupted by Marguerite emerging from the back room and walking swiftly towards us, a determined look on her face that made my heart sink. She gave Maddy and Ellie a brief smile and murmured, ‘Can I have a word, Annalise?’
‘Yes. Yes, of course.’ I turned to the customers. ‘Sorry, I’ll just be a moment.’
Following Marguerite into the back, still carrying the tray, my heart was beating fast wondering if I was going to be fired for doing something else wrong. It was obviously serious judging by the high colour in my boss’s cheeks. I’d noticed her right eye sometimes twitched a little when she was stressed. Right now, it seemed to have taken on a life of its own. This really couldn’t be good.
She closed the door. ‘Lady Arabella is on her way!’ she said in an urgent whisper. ‘So we need to clear the shop .’
‘Clear the shop?’
‘Yes. Get rid of those two out there. We can’t have a lady sharing space with... well, commoners . Especially commoners wearing scruffy jeans and sweatshirts .’ Her voice rose as she spoke, ending in an almost hysterical screech.
‘Wasn’t Lady Arabella’s appointment at eleven o’clock?’ I asked, feeling slightly worried about her twitchy right eye, which seemed to be leaping all over the place.
She took a breath and blew it out, clearly trying to hang onto her temper. ‘She wants to come now, Annalise, and you don’t say no to such a prestigious client !’
‘Right. It’s just that I’ve already told the customer she can try some dresses on? Perhaps I could see to her while you look after Lady Arabella?’
She gave me a murderous look. ‘As I’ve already said, I do not want riff raff in my shop when a member of the nobility is coming in. They’ll have to come back.’ Her voice was dangerously low. If I didn’t say the right thing now, I feared her head might actually explode.
So I nodded. ‘Fine. I’ll tell them.’
Marguerite sighed. ‘You’ll learn how to spot their kind.’ She flicked her hand in the direction of the shop. ‘If you work here long enough, that is. Which at the moment seems highly doubtful.’
I gulped. ‘Spot them?’
‘Yes, well, you can tell just by looking at them, in their cheap clothes and nose rings, that they’ll never be able to afford our prices. They’ll try some dresses on for amusement then they’ll go and buy an off-the-peg from some bargain basement shop. Whereas Lady Arabella ...’ She crossed her hands over her heart and smiled up at the heavens. ‘Well, imagine what a boost it will be for my business when a titled dignitary finds the dress of her dreams in my humble little shop.’
I hesitated, feeling terrible about having to go out onto the shop floor and tell the girls that – despite not having a nose ring between them – they basically weren’t important enough and would have to leave.
‘Go on, then. Get out there and tell them you made a mistake opening up,’ ordered Marguerite. ‘Which you did.’ She whisked into the little bathroom with her make-up bag and slammed the door shut.
I did as I was told, and went back onto the shop floor. Maddy and Ellie were admiring a slinky ivory silk dress with a plunge back as I walked over to join them.
‘This is gorgeous, Maddy,’ Ellie was saying. ‘You should try it on.’ She smiled at me. ‘Don’t you think she’d look amazing in it, with her hair piled up?’
I agreed that she would. But my smile slipped a little as, over Ellie’s shoulder, I suddenly spotted a sleek black car drawing up and parking right outside the shop. A man in a peaked cap was opening a rear door and my heart sank. I’d hoped I might have ten minutes, at least, with my customers, but it looked as if Lady Arabella had arrived.
‘The thing is,’ I began. ‘I made a silly mistake and opened the shop when I really shouldn’t have. You see, we have an important... well, I just shouldn’t have opened up. But please do finish your drinks before you go.’ I could feel my face flushing beetroot red with awkwardness. Leaning close, I whispered, ‘I’m so sorry about this. It’s my first week in the job so I’m still getting the hang of things.’
Marguerite appeared at that moment. ‘Is there a problem, Annalise?’ she demanded.
‘No, not at all. The clients were just finishing their drinks.’
She gave a curt nod in their direction, fluffed her hair and hurried to the window where Lady Arabella was alighting from the car.
Maddy gave Marguerite a dark look, swigged her drink back and plonked her empty glass back on the tray I was holding.
‘No need to apologise,’ Ellie murmured to me with a sympathetic smile. She took a sip and popped the rest on the tray. ‘First weeks in new jobs are always tricky.’ Her eyes swivelled briefly to Marguerite.
I returned her smile feeling mightily relieved that they didn’t seem to be too annoyed.
I walked with them to the door and held it open, but Marguerite grabbed my arm and hissed, ‘You, Annalise, are proving to be a distinct liability .’
I saw Maddy’s shocked look back as they walked out. And then Lady Arabella herself was approaching the shop. Dressed in cream Chanel, her dark hair fell in beautiful, manicured swirls over her slim shoulders and she even smelled expensive.
‘Lady Arabella! How lovely to see you,’ called Marguerite in a sugary voice. Smile fixed in place, she grabbed my arm again and held it in a vice-like grip. ‘Take that tray away and make yourself scarce while I see to Lady Arabella,’ she hissed.
As the client stepped into the shop, I felt Marguerite give me an impatient little shove. It knocked me off balance and I stumbled a little.
What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion.
The tray I was carrying wobbled alarmingly. I tried to steady it, but it was too late, and as I watched in horror, Ellie’s almost full glass of Bucks Fizz toppled – spilling its entire contents over Lady Arabella’s perfect cream jacket...