The Second Chance Shoe Shop

by Marcie Steele

  ‘Oh, did you?’ Riley was pleased. ‘Well, if you ever fancy coming into the shop, I’m sure I can give you a discount.’

  ‘Oh, no,’ the woman said, as she began to walk away, ‘the shoes are far too expensive and old-fashioned for me.’

  ‘Yes, I can see that.’ Riley looked down at her feet. ‘Your shoes are amazing!’

  ‘Thanks, I got them in Manchester.’

  ‘I know you might think this is crazy, but could I photograph them to add to our Twitter account? I’m trying to drum up business and what better way than to show off fabulous shoes like those?’

  ‘But I didn’t get them from your shop.’

  ‘That doesn’t matter. I can think of some way round that.’

  The woman turned to the side and put out her right foot. ‘Go on, then. If you add my name to the tweet, then I can retweet it for you.’

  ‘Great!’ Riley took out her phone and snapped at the woman’s foot a few times. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Marsha.’ She looked slightly embarrassed as she tucked her long blonde hair behind her ears. ‘My Twitter name is RizzlesticksM’

  Riley smiled.

  ‘I know, I know. I thought it would be funny at the time, but now I kinda like it.’

  Riley stuck out her hand. ‘Well, thank you so much. Lovely to meet you, RizzlesticksM. That’s a great tote too, if I might say so.’

  ‘Thanks very much! My friend designed it for me.’

  ‘Did she?’

  ‘He did.’ Marsha took the bag off her shoulder and held it up so that Riley could see it better. The image was of a young woman standing in front of an easel as she put colour to her own painting. The attention to detail was incredible. ‘We’re both studying fashion and design at Hedworth FE College,’ Marsha added. ‘Frank’s always designing new ones. I have several of them.’

  A thought popped into Riley’s mind. ‘Do you think he would be interested in selling them at our shop? We could perhaps showcase them in the window.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, do you have his contact details? An email, maybe?’

  Marsha nodded. ‘I do, as a matter of fact . . .’

  Chapter Nine

  Ash flopped down next to Riley on the settee. Riley’s head was down as she wrote frantically in a notepad.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  Riley looked up momentarily. ‘You know our shoes aren’t fashionable enough,’ she said, ‘and Suzanne thinks we can sell anything, but we can’t? I might have come up with an idea.’

  Riley told Ash about stopping Marsha, taking a photo of her shoe and being shown the tote bag. She had emailed Frank and he was coming into the shop the following day.

  ‘Wouldn’t it be great if a fashion and design student put a display of their bags in the window?’ Riley said, excitement clear in her voice. ‘Especially if that person has a local connection, and then went on to make it big later on?’

  ‘I think it would be a great idea, full stop,’ Ash agreed. ‘I’m sick of getting moaned at because people have to pay five pence for a carrier bag. Totes are going to be all the rage, you mark my word. All it needs is someone to come along with something snappy that everyone wants and we’ll all be buying them. I just wish I could design one!’

  ‘I was thinking he could work on a sale or return basis. If I made it sound irresistible, the chance to showcase the bags in our shop, he and Marsha might invite all their friends to Chandler’s. I don’t know − I’m just thinking aloud. We could do a display, in the shop and in the window.’

  ‘And you could take a small cut if you sold any?’

  ‘Yes. Do you think it would bring people into the shop?’

  Ash sat forward. ‘It’s a great idea.’

  ‘I have been known to have them.’ Riley brushed her hair away from her face in dramatic style.

  ‘But won’t all that take time to set up?’ said Ash. ‘I don’t want to put a downer on things, but you don’t have long to run this stupid competition.’

  ‘You’re right.’ Riley sighed again. ‘What we need is something as well as the bags. A gimmick that will bring people into the shop.’ She sat forward again to speak but changed her mind.

  ‘What?’ said Ash.

  ‘What about sharing photos of shoes on Twitter? I could take a photo each day. Maybe I could do a roving reporter type thing, and everyone who gets a photo taken of their shoes goes into a prize draw. They could have a bag designed!’

  ‘I doubt you’d get any money from Suzanne towards a competition.’

  ‘There’s a couple of ways round that. Either we could have a fee to enter, say a pound a photo − which goes to a local charity. That might shame her into giving something to us. Or me, Sadie and Dan could chip in. If we split a prize three ways, it won’t be too much then. Do you think one hundred pounds will be enough?’

  Ash nodded. ‘And it’s something that you could do really easily, too. But if you want to go the whole hog and create a media campaign, why don’t you do something like a video and upload it to YouTube? Or a flash mob?’

  ‘A flash mob?’ Riley frowned. ‘You mean like a group of dancers coming out of the crowd?’

  ‘Yes. You could do it one Saturday afternoon when the High Street is busy. You remember Serena, who used to work with me in Jazz? She owns her own dance studio now. She might be willing to help you.’

  Riley’s mind went into overdrive as Ash continued.

  ‘At the end of the dance, you could give out leaflets about the competition. Anyone who tweets a photo of their favourite shoes to Chandler’s Twitter feed―’

  ‘Including a hashtag,’ Riley broke in.

  Ash nodded. ‘They can all be entered into a draw for a hundred pounds’ worth of vouchers to spend in the shop, or to go towards designing your own bag.’

  Riley’s eyes widened. ‘Brilliant. Everyone loves showing off their shoes!’ Then she came back to reality. ‘But how do we get a flash mob going?’

  ‘Serena could help you with a dance. And’ – Ash was getting excited now – ‘if you were in it too, that would mean even more publicity.’

  Riley drew her head back in surprise. ‘I can’t dance to save my life! It would take me years to learn a routine.’ She grinned at the thought. ‘But I do have some great moves.’

  Ash laughed. ‘Imagine if you had a few thousand hits, Riles? How much publicity it would bring to the shop. Especially if you run it with a competition. We could all tweet the video too, get more interest for your Twitter account.’

  ‘Any interest on social media would be good.’ Riley had checked the Chandler’s accounts earlier on. ‘Since I created the account, we’ve had twenty-seven new followers on Twitter − and some of those look dodgy − and only a handful of retweets.’

  ‘What about Facebook?’

  ‘Not much better. I wish I had something to advertise on there, though. So, this way, we could use a certain hashtag. How about ‘put your #bestshoeforward, RT and follow?’ That kind of thing might increase our followers quickly. Plus, if people share it, they will see a shoe and snap in an instant to join in!’

  ‘People love doing selfies − we can invent the shoe-ies,’ said Ash.

  Riley laughed. ‘I like that, although I’m still not sure about being involved in a flash mob. Knowing me, I’d fall flat on my face!’

  ‘That would look good, too,’ Ash laughed, reaching for her phone. ‘Let me send a message to Serena. I bet she’ll be able to persuade some of the kids to join in. If we can get a group to do it for you, you could walk on at the last minute and hand out the leaflets. It’s perfect.’

  Riley pondered. It did seem mad, even if they could get a dance group to join in at such short notice. But she had to admit, it might be fun.

  ‘Imagine doing something in the High Street, stopping everyone in their tracks on a Saturday afternoon, having them all snapping photos to join in the competition,’ Ash added. ‘Maybe Ethan could help out with the filming?’ />
  At the mention of his name, Riley’s stomach flipped again. But although the thought of Ethan was a happy one, she didn’t have time to think about anything other than the shop. She looked up to see Ash staring at her expectantly.

  ‘It will take a lot of sorting out,’ she said.

  ‘You’re the queen of organisation!’ Ash grabbed Riley’s notepad and held it in the air. ‘It’s perfect, and it will be so much fun! I might join in too. They always look so brilliant when you watch them back.’

  ‘It couldn’t cost us much, though.’ As ever, Riley was the practical one. ‘Wouldn’t the dancers need to be paid?’

  ‘I doubt it. Serena could use a well-rehearsed routine. Do you think Sadie and Dan would join in too?’

  ‘Yes, I reckon they might.’ It really was a mad idea, and it could easily backfire, especially if Suzanne got to hear about it before it happened. But if there was a chance − even the slightest chance − that it might work, they had to give it a go. She nodded at Ash.

  ‘Okay, let’s look into it.’

  ‘Great! Now can we talk about Ethan? I’m dying to know how you’re getting on.’

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Riley pouted. ‘You haven’t even told me wonder boy’s name. I’m beginning to suspect that you’ve made him up.’

  ‘I haven’t!’ Ash shook her head. ‘It’s just early days yet. His name is Warwick.’

  ‘Warwick? That sounds . . . young.’

  Ash threw a cushion at her and stood up. She walked across the room on her tiptoes, hips swaying, bottom sticking out, shoulders held high. She swivelled as a model would do and walked the few paces back to Riley, her right hand sticking up.

  ‘This is what you need to be concentrating on,’ she said, keeping her face straight until they both burst into laughter.

  Sadie stretched out her arms and yawned. She lifted her head up off the pillow. The room was fairly light as she glanced at the clock beside her. With a groan, she sat up quickly. She flicked the switch on and off but there was no power. Unexpected tears dropped down her face. This was all she needed after another night tossing and turning.

  She checked her watch and shot out of bed.

  ‘Damn,’ she cursed. It was 8:30 a.m., the alarm hadn’t gone off and for some reason Esther had slept through, too. Most mornings Sadie would find her awake in her room, reading a book or playing on her tablet. Christine and Paul had treated her to one for Christmas. Esther loved taking photos and putting them into folders. She was getting quite good at it – although, when Esther wasn’t looking, Sadie had removed a few dodgy ones of herself that her daughter had taken.

  ‘Esther.’ She went into her room quickly. ‘Come on, poppet. The alarm didn’t go off and we’re late.’

  Esther’s eyes opened. Just like her mum, she stretched her arms above her head and then sat up. ‘Is it a school day, Mummy?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, it is.’ Sadie raced across to the wardrobe and took out a clean school uniform, laying it on the bottom of her bed. ‘Get dressed quickly.’

  ‘Why isn’t the electric on?’ Esther wanted to know.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Sadie replied patiently. ‘I’ll have to ring Cooper to see if he can sort it out for us.’

  ‘Yippee! Can Cooper take me to school?’

  ‘No, poppet. He has to go to work.’

  ‘But he is his own boss. That’s what he tells you, doesn’t he, Mummy?’

  Sadie raised her eyes to the ceiling. It was exactly what Cooper kept telling her. When she worried that she was taking up too much of his time whenever she asked him to do anything for her, he would say he could work as he chose. She didn’t want to rely on him too much but this was one of those occasions when she had to ask for help. She missed her dad as much as Ross when there was something she couldn’t sort out for herself. And she certainly couldn’t afford to get an electrician out. There would be an astronomical emergency call-out charge, and what if it was something as simple as a blown fuse, that she could fix herself if she knew how? Cooper would show her what to do if the problem was easy to solve, in case it happened again.

  Tears pricked her eyes − would she always feel this helpless?

  By the time Cooper’s van pulled up outside the house, Sadie had managed to get in touch with Riley and explain that she would be late, praying that Suzanne wouldn’t choose this morning to do a spot check, as she often did. It seemed that the electric had been off for a few hours. If Cooper could get it back on soon, everything in the freezer might possibly be safe.

  Esther was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal. Sadie was putting together a sandwich for her lunch box as Cooper knocked on the back door and came in.

  ‘You rang, madam?’ he spoke with a cheerful tone. Too cheerfully, for Sadie. Honestly, wasn’t the man ever miserable? Pushing her self-pity to one side, she greeted him with a smile.

  ‘Cooper!’ shouted Esther as she spotted him, getting down from the table and running at his legs. She hugged his waist as best she could before running back to the table to finish her breakfast. ‘We’re very late!’ she shouted.

  Sadie rolled her eyes. ‘If I needed kiddie power to run the house, I would be quids in,’ she exclaimed.

  ‘I’ll just go and check the fuse box, see if anything has tripped.’ Cooper jerked a thumb over his shoulder. ‘It’s outside on the wall, isn’t it?’

  Sadie nodded, following him. ‘I need to know what to do if it’s just as simple as a blown fuse,’ she told him. ‘I don’t want to trouble you all the time.’

  ‘It’s no trouble,’ Cooper gave a sigh.

  ‘Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just have to be prepared to do things on my own. So it’s useful to learn.’

  ‘I don’t mind helping you out.’ He grinned. ‘They don’t call me Super Cooper for nothing.’

  ‘They don’t call you Super Cooper at all,’ Sadie couldn’t help but smirk.

  A few minutes later, Cooper had indeed located a blown fuse. The circuit had tripped, and once he’d flicked it back on again they went around the kitchen testing appliances. When Sadie flicked on the kettle, the electricity went off again. She picked it up to discover water around its base.

  ‘The kettle’s leaking,’ she explained.

  ‘I always said you make a dodgy cuppa,’ Cooper joked. ‘I can get you a new one this afternoon and drop it off later, if you like?’

  ‘I can get one from town,’ said Sadie, not wanting to put him to any more trouble than necessary. ‘A bloody kettle.’ She shook her head. ‘Thanks, Cooper.’

  ‘That’s what friends are for,’ Cooper grinned. ‘Now, as I can’t have a cuppa, can I scrounge a piece of toast? And then I can give you a lift and drop Esther off at school on the way. Deal?’

  ‘You’ll make someone a fantastic husband,’ she smiled, giving his arm a squeeze. ‘And, as you know, I can make a mean Sunday roast but other than that I’m hopeless at cooking. So, would you like your toast half burnt or burnt completely?’

  ‘Wow, I can hardly resist either, but half burnt sounds good.’ He pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with Esther. ‘What are you doing at school today, do you know?’

  As she turned away at the intimacy of the scene, Sadie held in tears. Ross used to sit and talk to Esther for hours.

  ‘Mummy, can Cooper come for tea tonight?’

  Sadie swivelled round to face them. ‘Of course he can.’

  ‘I’m actually busy, sorry,’ Cooper replied. ‘Maybe tomorrow?’

  Sadie nodded. Although she was secretly disappointed in not having any adult company, she didn’t want Esther latching onto him any more than she already had. Cooper would eventually find a woman he loved and have a family of his own. She didn’t want Esther getting too attached, mistaking his friendship for a father’s affection.

  She never wanted Cooper to feel obliged to come round all the time either. She had to learn to stand on her own two feet, no matter how hard that turned out to be.


  Chapter Ten

  At ten o’clock, Riley took an unofficial break, hoping that Suzanne, the praying mantis, wouldn’t come by for a spot check and find her missing. If she did, Sadie and Dan had been told to say that she’d had to rush to the doctor’s.

  It had been a month since their competition had started and yet things were still slow. She took a bus out of the town centre and, only fifteen minutes later, was crossing the road towards Petrani’s Insurance Brokers, as Ash had instructed her. Above the brokers’ office, she could see large letters on skew-whiff coloured posters spelling out the name Streetwise. Serena’s dance studio was on the first floor.

  She pushed on a door and went into a small reception area with a row of chairs to one side and a desk against the far wall. Sat behind it was a thin young woman who didn’t look old enough to have a job, her thick dark hair hiding most of her pretty face until she looked up. Her name badge said Rhianna.

  ‘Hi, I’m looking for Serena,’ said Riley.

  ‘Hi, yes, she’s expecting you.’ Rhianna glanced at her watch. ‘Her class is due to finish in a few minutes. Do you want to go up?’ She pointed towards a staircase.

  As she went upstairs Riley heard faint music, and imagined herself flying around the room like Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. Laughing to herself at the ridiculous image, she heard a thud, thud, the beat getting louder as she levelled with the first floor. She could hear a woman shouting ‘Five, six, seven, eight. Good work, Jessica! And again. Two, three, four, and change!’

  There was a narrow corridor ahead. On the left side, along its length, was a window at waist height, and she stood for a moment, entranced by what she saw. A group of children, she reckoned no more than six years old, were running around the room dressed as elephants. It was the cutest thing she had seen in ages and it brought a lump to her throat. One young boy, seemingly unfazed by the fact that he was in the minority, was racing round the room chasing the girls with his arm made out to be a trunk. Riley smiled when she saw him being chastised by the tutor.