The Second Chance Shoe Shop

by Marcie Steele

  Dan scrolled up the screen and showed her the tweet they were all referring to. It was from someone with the Twitter handle @Clarissapops. Riley looked at the avatar on the account and saw a photo of Clarissa.

  @RileyFlynn stole my man for publicity campaign. Don’t buy your shoes from Chandler’s Shoe Shop!

  ‘How the hell can everyone talk like that without knowing the facts?’ Riley questioned.

  ‘That’s social media for you,’ said Dan. ‘Happy or sad news, if they see it, every loony in the world can comment on it.’

  ‘But why would Clarissa try to sabotage the campaign?’

  ‘I don’t think she’s doing that deliberately.’ Dan continued to scroll through more tweets. ‘She seems as if she wants to get back at Ethan, through you. I hope Suzanne doesn’t see this, though. Clarissa’s bringing ill repute on the shop as well as you.’

  ‘Do you think it will blow over soon?’ Riley glanced at the Twitter feed again. ‘Things on social media don’t last long. Do they?’

  ‘Depends who it’s aimed at,’ Dan shrugged. ‘Loonies love to join in if someone else is being slagged off.’

  Riley gave him back his iPad. ‘We need to get retweeting and sharing some competition entries, take the attention off Clarissa’s tweet. Show some shoes – stay positive. Come on.’

  ‘Are you okay, Riley?’ asked Sadie as Riley came back onto the shop floor. ‘What was that woman talking about? It isn’t Ethan’s baby, is it?’

  ‘No. That was Ethan’s ex-girlfriend, though.’

  Sadie’s hand shot to her mouth. ‘Oh Riley, what a cow!’

  ‘I’m inclined to believe him over her,’ Riley sighed loudly. ‘Whatever’s happening, it will all blow over soon.’

  Sadie touched Riley’s forearm. ‘Keep your chin up. I think you may have found a good one in Ethan.’

  ‘I hope so.’ Despite the circumstances, Riley broke into a smile. ‘Because I really like him.’

  They shared a hug. Behind them, two young women walked in.

  ‘Can we enter the competition?’ said one of them, walking over to the till with a leaflet in her hand.

  ‘Of course you can,’ said Riley.

  ‘Are those the bags in the window?’ the other said. ‘They are well cool. I’m definitely buying one if I don’t win.’

  Riley suddenly found her faith again. This was the goodness in social media, right here. No matter what the likes of Clarissa did, there were a lot more good people.

  It had taken Suzanne an hour to hear about the trouble on Twitter and to come into the shop. Riley took her downstairs to the staffroom.

  ‘Just what the hell is going on?’ Suzanne barked. ‘It’s one thing for you to say this social media lark is good for publicity, but quite another thing when it starts bringing bad press to the shop. Who is’ – she peered at her phone – ‘“Clarissapops”? And why is she hell-bent on causing you misery?’

  ‘She’s my boyfriend’s ex.’ Riley cringed as she explained. It felt weird to call Ethan her boyfriend, and a little immature, but she couldn’t call him her partner yet. They hadn’t been together long enough for that.

  ‘And what has she got to do with Chandler’s?’ asked Suzanne.

  ‘Nothing at all. She used to go out with Ethan and has been harassing him over the past few months since they split up.’

  ‘From what I can see, it doesn’t look like they have split up at all. The woman is having a baby!’

  ‘It’s not his,’ said Riley. ‘She’s just being vindictive and trying to get him back. I’m ignoring all her comments, and concentrating on the positive things being shared. The favourite shoe competition is really working.’

  ‘And are sales improving?’

  ‘Yes, we’ve had more footfall since the video went live.’

  ‘That’s not what I asked.’

  Riley knew exactly what she meant. ‘I don’t think we can judge these things on a daily basis. Things will look better week by week, month by month if we have more time.’

  Suzanne shook her head.

  ‘What does Max think about all this?’ Riley decided to bring his name into the conversation. Max was beginning to feel like the elephant in the room, with Suzanne hardly mentioning him at all.

  Suzanne’s shoulders rose. ‘Max agrees with me, of course,’ she snapped.

  ‘When is he due home?’

  ‘He’s in Italy, on a six-week residential course. It hardly seemed worth him coming home at the weekend to go back on Sunday evenings, so he’s staying there until he’s finished.’

  ‘Which is . . . ?’

  ‘None of your business. Why are you asking?’

  ‘No reason in particular,’ Riley shrugged.

  ‘It was a last-minute opportunity.’ Suzanne glanced at her watch. ‘I must dash.’ She stared at Riley for a moment. ‘I trust I can leave you to sort out the mess with this Clarissapops?’

  Riley nodded, stifling a giggle at the face Suzanne pulled at Clarissa’s Twitter handle.

  ‘Good. I don’t wish to see Chandler’s’ name bandied about on social media, or anywhere else for that matter – not in a bad way. Any more nonsense like that and I will close the Twitter account.’

  ‘You can’t! What about the competition? We’ve worked so hard at it.’

  ‘You’ll just have to make sure the ex-girlfriend keeps her comments to herself then,’ Suzanne told her sharply. ‘You know I had my doubts about social media in the first place. I thought that you might have proved me wrong. But as far as I’m concerned, it seems to bring nothing but trouble.’

  Riley couldn’t agree more. ‘Before you leave, am I okay ordering in some more of those sandals? They’ve gone down a storm with the local students, and schoolgirls have been coming in with their mums too.’

  Suzanne paused. ‘I suppose so, if they’re selling.’

  ‘And the tote bags? Frank can’t make them quick enough. I know they don’t bring in much profit, but it’s about what else customers buy on top, isn’t it? We’ve actually got a waiting list and I can―’

  ‘Like I said, I’m putting the onus on you if anything goes wrong,’ Suzanne interrupted. ‘If this social media thing gets out of hand, I’ll be forced to close the shop before the three months are up.’

  When Ethan rang that afternoon asking if she wanted a lift home, Riley declined his offer. Throughout the day, the trolling had gathered momentum and she had been called every horrible name she knew, as well as some that she hadn’t come across before.

  How could everyone side with Clarissa? Was it because she was pregnant and all they saw was a helpless woman? Because, to Riley, Clarissa seemed far from helpless. She was very much in control.

  Ash drew Riley into her arms for a hug when they met at the bus station.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Ash told her. ‘I had no idea she was such a psycho. Did you?’

  Riley shook her head. ‘Ethan says she’s been unstable for some time now, at least two years.’

  Ash paused for a moment. ‘Do you believe he would lie to you?’

  ‘Of course I don’t.’

  ‘Then stop this right now – go online and dampen the fire. If you don’t respond to the accusations, you’ll look guilty. You don’t need to get involved with all the tittle-tattle, just say your piece and leave it at that.’

  ‘Won’t it make things worse?’ Riley asked.

  Ash shrugged. ‘It’s possible, but you still need to be seen to be trying to limit the damage. A baseball bat around the head might suffice.’

  Ash was trying to make her laugh, but Riley wasn’t in the mood. She sat on the bus, head hung low, desperate to see Ethan but not wanting to incite the trolls again. The internet made everyone a target. Everywhere you went people could film you or photograph you and it could be online within seconds, around the world in the same. Riley had marvelled at the speed with which the competition had grown legs, but now she could see the darker side of things too. And the story Clarissa was spreading wasn�
��t even true.

  How was Riley going to quell the rumours?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Sadie put down her wine glass and wiped the tears falling from her eyes, but it was no use. For some reason, she couldn’t stop thinking about the night she and Ross met. She had been eighteen and carefree, out with her work colleague in the local nightclub. It had been called Tiffany’s and was in the building that Rembrandt’s now occupied. It was before she had started work at Chandler’s, long before she knew Riley and Dan. She and Lucy had been on the dance floor, energetically flinging their arms around, and had accidentally bumped into a group of men standing at the side. One of them had been Ross.

  Sadie had paired up with him for a good kissing session, they’d fixed a date for the next evening, and their life as a couple began. Lucy had eventually married a man from Liverpool and had moved away. She and Sadie kept in touch with the odd text every now and then. Sadie and Ross were married three years after they met, just after her twenty-first birthday. They’d spent fifteen fabulous years together before the illness had taken him away.

  She logged on to Grieve Together to see if Tanya was around. There was a message waiting for her.

  Tanya: I’m so glad I’m online. You sound so upset. I wish I could give you a hug. I’m here if you want to rant.

  Clara: At least I have poppet to help me through it all. Although even that is bittersweet as we had been trying for another baby for a while.

  Sadie paused. She hadn’t told anyone that before. She and Ross had been keen to have another child, but now she was glad that they hadn’t. It was one thing to have one child, an independent six-year-old who looked after herself more and more each day, but to throw a baby into the mix as well would have made things more than twice as hard. Of course, Christine didn’t mind looking after Esther, as she could have the day to herself while she was at school, but a baby would have been another matter. Maybe then Sadie would have had to give up her job completely and be a stay-at-home mum until they were both at school.

  Tanya: Oh, no! That’s so sad to hear.

  Clara: Yes, when they found out that he had cancer, everything stopped. It sounds selfish but I’m glad now that we didn’t have another baby. I don’t know how I would have coped with two children to look after.

  Tanya: Do you have family to help with poppet? It must be hard to do it all by yourself.

  Clara: Yes, Ross’s parents are great. I’m very lucky, really, as my own parents live out of the area.

  Tanya: It’s good to hear that you have people to confide in. Although I find it’s better to chat to people who don’t know you, sometimes. Look at how we’ve bonded.

  Clara: You’re right. I can’t confide in either of them. My mother-in-law often gets upset when we talk about him. Besides, there’s too much personal stuff. And imagine if they thought I wasn’t getting over his death and that I am taking advantage of them!

  Tanya: I’m sure they wouldn’t think that. I expect they just want to help as much as they can. And being around poppet might help them both, too. Until you’re ready to be with anyone else, welcome their help!

  Clara: I don’t want to find anyone else.

  Tanya: Of course you do! You’re too young to stay on your own for long.

  Clara: I’m hardly marriage material: a single parent with a six-year-old. And no one can take the place of poppet’s daddy, can they?

  Tanya: Of course not. I wasn’t suggesting that.

  Clara: And would I even want that? Ross told me to find someone else to love.

  Sadie recalled what Ross had said to her on the morning before he’d died. ‘Find yourself someone else, another top man.’ He’d tried to laugh at his own attempt at a joke. ‘Don’t be on your own, and don’t feel guilty – someone else needs to love you as much as I do.’

  Clara: I can’t do that yet.

  Tanya: I understand. It’s hard to think of the future when it’s all so raw, but you will get there one day.

  Sadie closed the laptop. She knew in time that she would have to try – to give Esther a good upbringing as part of a family. Maybe she might meet someone else who had children?

  Would she cope with stepchildren? She couldn’t see why not. She would have liked more children, but she wanted them to be hers and Ross’s.

  More tears fell. Her mind was so mixed up. How would she get past the anniversary of his death? The first year without him. She still hadn’t decided what to do to mark the day. She could either go somewhere with Esther on their own, or involve everyone else.

  Was it something she had to do solely with their daughter, or did she need to include family and friends? After all, they’d known him just as well, and they would be grieving too. She wasn’t the only one who had loved Ross and been left with a huge hole in her life. She could tell that Cooper was feeling it – coming round here, thinking he had to look after her because he had promised Ross that he would.

  That was another thing she felt guilty about, especially after her outburst before the flash mob. One day, Cooper would have a family of his own, rather than trying to look out for her and Esther. She had been lucky that he was unattached. No girlfriend would let him spend all the time with her that he did at the moment without being jealous. She wouldn’t understand why they had such a close bond.

  Sadie reached for her wine again. Talking to Tanya had made her feel a little better about the tears she had shed.

  She tried to settle down and watch the television. Maybe catching up on Coronation Street would make her forget her own worries for a while, if she concentrated on someone else’s.

  She scoffed. If only it were that simple.

  Dan had hardly been able to contain himself at work that day. Despite his misgivings about Sarah, he had decided to meet her again. And now that the initial shock had worn off, he found himself looking forward to seeing her that evening.

  It had been like seeing a ghost when she had walked into the restaurant, and there was no denying that his heart had pounded when she smiled at him, sitting so close. She had kissed him at the end of the evening, before giving him a lift home. It had been a nervous kiss at first, tentative, daring even. Then they’d both relaxed into it, and it seemed as if they had never been apart. They’d pressed their bodies together, as good a fit as before. Breathless, they’d then pulled apart and gone their separate ways.

  Yet, for some reason, he hadn’t been able to share his happiness with Riley and Sadie. Dan supposed it was a case of ‘once bitten, twice shy’. Getting back together with her would make him look like a fool. He didn’t want to chance it yet. He’d tell them when he was more comfortable with it himself.

  He was a few minutes late when he pushed open the door to the busy bar and, glancing around quickly, was glad to see that Sarah was already there. She waved as he made his way over to her. There were two drinks already on the table.

  ‘How are you?’ He leaned over to kiss her, the familiar scent of her cloaking him.

  ‘I’m good, thanks.’ She smiled, taking his hand in hers. ‘How’s your day been?’

  ‘Hectic!’ Dan grinned. ‘I’m not getting trolled as the fat dancer, though, thank goodness. It’s Riley I’m worried about. She’s still getting the odd nasty comment, but we’re trying to keep everything positive by tweeting about the competition. There are some great photos of shoes coming through. Here, let me show you some.’

  Dan got out his phone and scrolled through some of the competition entries, showing Sarah a few local celebrities who had joined in with the hashtag.

  ‘It all went a bit wild after Urban Angels joined in,’ Dan explained. ‘It’s been really busy in the shop, but it’s been great fun too. Everywhere I go, people start singing “Happy”. I get stopped in the High Street all the time.’

  ‘You’re a celebrity!’ Sarah’s laugh was friendly. ‘I can’t believe you, of all people, did that dance.’

  ‘Why ever not?’

  ‘You never wanted to dance whenever we we
nt anywhere.’

  ‘That’s because I didn’t realise I could dance.’ He took a sip of his drink. ‘I’ve been thinking about taking classes. Serena, the dance instructor from the flash mob, has mentioned that I could join one of her regular groups. I thought it might help me to shift this too.’ He prodded his protruding stomach. ‘It’s a great way of keeping fit.’

  ‘Nonsense.’ Sarah put a hand on his chest. ‘I, for one, like you just the way you are.’

  An hour later, they were still chatting but the mood had changed. There was a feeling of anticipation, a sense of urgency and the desire to be alone. Dan was the first to bring it up.

  ‘It’s busy in here, isn’t it?’ he said, glancing around the room. There were a few groups of people milling about the bar and most tables were full, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.

  ‘We could always have a coffee back at the flat?’ Sarah suggested.

  ‘I thought you’d never ask.’ Dan knocked back the last of his drink and stood up.

  As Sarah parked her car outside his old home, a feeling of déjà vu washed over him. The last time he’d been to their old flat was to collect the rest of his belongings after he’d moved in with his parents, after Sarah had confessed to cheating. Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he got out of the car. Now wasn’t the time to think about the past. He didn’t want anything to spoil the evening.

  He held open the communal front door for Sarah to walk through first. Walking behind her up the two flights of stairs, he began to get excited. But stepping into the flat was a little weird, almost like being a stranger in his own home yet feeling as if he’d never been away.

  The flat was exactly as he had left it. Nothing had moved. He sat down on the large leather corner settee they’d bought to create more space in the living room, glancing around at the wallpaper and paintings they’d hung together. There was even a photo of the two of them, taken in London last year, on the side unit.