10. Going places – 1978
Ursula was in the kitchen making the drinks for the morning break when Andi came in and closed the door behind her. ‘Is your mum’s name Gillian?’
‘Yeah. Why?’
‘She’s on the phone to Cass.’
‘Do you know what they’re talking about?’
Andi shook her head. ‘Maybe it’s about the photos, because it sounds like your mum’s having a proper go at her. I just took the post in and heard Cass say your mum’s name, but after that she couldn’t get a word in. Quick, take her coffee down. See if you can catch any of it. I’ll do the others.’
Ursula grabbed the mug and shot downstairs to the back room that Cass used as an office.
Cass was at her desk facing the room’s only window which looked onto the wall of the building behind.
That was probably the reason she didn’t notice Ursula had come in.
That, and the fact that she was trying very hard to interrupt the person on the other end of the line: ‘Yes but… I know… But… Would you just let me… Yes, of course, but…’
Ursula stood in the middle of the room, not sure what to do next.
She’d got so caught up in the excitement that she’d forgotten she wasn’t Andi.
Andi would have stayed here, eavesdropping until the call ended, or until she was noticed, whichever came first, and then she would have reported everything back.
Ursula wasn’t gutsy or cheeky in that way.
She was too scared of pissing people off.
She coughed like a genteel old lady, polite and hardly noticeable.
It went unheard. The next one was a great hacking thing that sounded like she’d been smoking fifty a day for years.
Cass nearly jumped out of her skin. She swivelled her chair round and met Ursula’s hesitant gaze with red eyes that pierced her non-existent confidence and made her blurt out: ‘I brought your coffee.’
Cass signalled to the desk and put her hand over the receiver. ‘Go and mind the shop. And close the door behind you.’
It was another twenty minutes before the office door opened.
Cass took the stairs so fast that it made the only two customers look up.
It must have spooked them because they left straight away, leaving Ursula alone in the shop, trying to work out what her mum had said to make Cass’s eyes so red.
Andi had to be right. It could only be about what happened yesterday.
Because as she’d already worked out, it definitely wasn’t to bury the hatchet. Unless it was in Cass’s head.
The morning had been dead. There’d been a couple of sales.
One client had come in for a fitting, another for an alteration and that was it.
Aside from sticking her head out of the office door every now and then, Cass had pretty much left Ursula to look after the shop on her own.
When she came out to cover at lunchtime, she looked more like her usual self, but that was because she’d redone her make-up.
‘You and Andi can go together as it’s quiet.
Before you go, could you ask Wanda to come down when she’s got a minute? ’
The second they were out of the shop, Andi started on the questions. ‘So did you catch what they were saying?’
‘Not really but whatever it was, Cass was upset. Anyway, there’s something else I need to tell you. I’m going for a drink after work tomorrow with the man who helped me when I dropped the photos.’
‘I thought you said he was old.’
‘Not old exactly. Older. Only one drink though. It’s not like I fancy him or anything. I thought I should say yes, as he got me out of trouble.’
‘So long as he knows that’s the only reason, because he probably fancies the hell out of you.’
‘As if.’ Ursula laughed but she had a feeling Andi might be right again.
Fifteen minutes before their usual closing time, Cass locked the door and called a meeting in the sewing room. Ursula went upstairs and joined Andi and Wanda who were sitting at the table. She caught Andi’s eye and raised her eyebrows. Andi replied with a shrug.
Cass came in with those photos. Straight away, Ursula’s cheeks began to burn.
Within seconds, her face was so red you could have stopped traffic with it.
She couldn’t understand why the others hadn’t noticed.
But they were too absorbed in the photos that Cass was spreading out on the table.
All except the one of Ursula’s dad and his family.
God knows what she’d done with that but it wasn’t in the packet anymore.
Cass put the last photo down. ‘Take a good look at them, ladies. This is the next big thing.’
Wanda picked up a couple. ‘Nothing hard there. How long before you have the designs ready?’
‘Two weeks, then it’ll be flat out after that.
I’ve been thinking for a while the shop needs a new direction.
Now we have it. We’ll stay open while I finish off the new designs.
During that time, we need to move all of our existing orders off the books.
Then the shop will close for a revamp while we get the new collection ready. ’
‘That sounds like a lot of work,’ said Andi.
‘Yes, but you’ll have help. Ursula will be working up here from now on. I’ve arranged for someone to cover the busy times in the shop. I take it that’s okay with you, Ursula?’
‘Yes. I mean, absolutely,’ said Ursula, her face finally calming down.
‘You must follow Wanda’s directions to the letter, though. There’s no room for error.’
Ursula nodded. She was too stunned to do or say anything else. She stayed that way until they left the shop and Andi brought her back to earth with a loud whoop that turned the heads of people rushing to get home. ‘About time. Your mum must have really laid into her.’
Her mum was waiting at the station again. Ursula threw her arms around her, making her laugh. ‘It’s been a while since you’ve done that.’
She gave her mum a big sloppy kiss. ‘Thank you. I don’t know what you said to Cass but from now on I’m working upstairs.’
‘I just reminded her of her responsibilities as an aunt and a godmother.’
‘Oh I’d forgotten she was my godmother as well as my aunt.’
‘Hardly surprising. She’s not exactly covered herself in glory in either department.’
The morning alarm came on as usual but Ursula was already up and dressed, she was that excited. She even beat her mum into the kitchen which had to be a first. Her mum took the tea she’d made for her. ‘Somebody’s keen.’
‘That, Mother, is the understatement of the year.’
‘Yes well I know you’re in a rush to get started, but throwing your cereal down your front won’t get you there any faster.’
‘What? Oh damn.’ She wiped the milk and stray cornflakes off her poshest top.
Now she was going to have to wear her second poshest top.
She wouldn’t normally have worn either for work but she was going for that drink, and she’d assumed women who went for drinks with men in suits wore that kind of thing.
‘Oh, by the way, I’m going out after work so I won’t be coming straight home. ’
‘With Andi?’
‘No, Anton.’
Her mum raised her eyebrows. ‘Anton?’
‘Yeah. It was him that got me back to the shop after I saw the photos. It’s nothing. Just a quick drink. I’ll be home by eight at the latest.’
Ursula had had the best day so far during her short time at Talulah.
She’d spent the morning cutting out and tacking together a trouser suit under Wanda’s watchful eye and in the afternoon, she’d assisted with a client’s fitting.
Even though she’d only held pins and chalk, it was a thrill.
And then Wanda had stood back to check her changes and asked Ursula what she thought.
It was a small thing but it meant everything.
She stayed behind after closing to put on some fresh make-up and assure herself that her second poshest top looked fine.
It didn’t actually matter what she was wearing because she was absolutely buzzing and when you’re in that state of mind, nothing can go wrong.
Things were going her way at last. Who cared if her father was a nasty, cheating bastard?
Not her. Because he was nothing to her now and she wasn’t going to let him drag her down.
She was going places and nothing and nobody was going to stop her.
Anton was waiting for her on the corner of Ethel Street and New Street. His face lit up when he saw her. ‘You came. I was getting worried.’
‘Sorry. We were late finishing.’
He nodded. ‘Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go?’
She looked at him in his well-cut suit and considered the pubs she and Andi usually went to. She couldn’t imagine him in any of them. ‘No. You choose. I’m easy.’
‘I sometimes go to the Albany Hotel with my colleagues.’
‘Okay, let’s go there.’ She imagined how it would go down if she told Andi and Wanda they were her colleagues. He did have an odd way of talking.
The bar in the Albany Hotel wasn’t quite so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, but not far off.
There were some people in there, most of them dressed like Anton, but it was as if they were deliberately keeping their voices low in case the bar staff overheard them.
Anton steered her to a table that was furthest away from the bar, so maybe he didn’t want to be overheard either.
Her usual choice of drink was Bacardi and Coke or lager but she was afraid they’d make her look vulgar, so she chose white wine, remembering that had tasted nice when she’d had it with her mum at the Grecian.
Anton took the seat opposite her. She was glad that he hadn’t embarrassed her by sitting next to her or trying to hold her hand. ‘Tell me about yourself, Ursula.’
‘Not much to tell. I’m nineteen. I live with my mum. You know where I work.’
‘Talulah. Do you like it there?’
‘I like it more now that I’ve started making the clothes instead of selling them. I want to be a great dressmaker one day.’
‘Then we have something in common. I make things too. I’m an architect. I make buildings.’
‘I thought architects designed buildings. Isn’t it builders that make them?’
He smiled. ‘I think you are quite the pedant.’
‘Can I ask where you’re from?’
Anton took a sip of his drink. She hadn’t asked what it was but she thought it was whisky. ‘I’m from London.’
‘You don’t sound like a cockney.’
‘I’m not. I was born in London but I’ve spent most of my life in Sweden. My father is Swedish. I returned to London five years ago. I have lived in Birmingham for three years now.’
‘So how old are you?’
‘I’m twenty-eight.’
Yes, he was too old for her. Not just in years but all the other things that mattered.
He was probably married too. He wasn’t wearing a ring but that didn’t mean anything.
Her dad never wore a ring and look how slippery he was.
Besides, if she was going to achieve her dreams, she didn’t need a man getting in the way.
Especially one as sad and lost as Anton.
Because it was obvious that’s what he was.
He frowned. ‘That is a very interesting smile you have. It’s like a veil. I can’t begin to guess what’s behind it.’
‘Oh nothing really. I can only stay for one drink. My mum’s expecting me home by eight.’