The Second Chance Shoe Shop

by Marcie Steele

  ‘I wish it was just that.’ She paused. ‘Oh, Dan. I’ve made a terrible mistake.’ Sadie quickly told him what had happened the night before.

  ‘Wow. I’m shocked,’ he said afterwards. ‘Although I can understand why Christine did it – grief is a terrible thing and affects people in different ways – but she shouldn’t have been so deceitful. How were things this morning when you dropped Esther off?’

  ‘A bit icy, but okay. I don’t really have any choice but to visit her.’

  ‘Maybe it will get easier in time. She’ll obviously be really embarrassed.’

  ‘It’s Cooper I’m worried about.’

  Dan sniggered.

  Sadie glared at him.

  ‘Well, it is funny, when you think about it.’

  ‘It’s not! You should have seen his face.’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll be fine, once you’ve spoken to him. Oh, come here, you.’ Dan gave her a hug when he saw her shoulders droop again. ‘Cooper will understand. It wasn’t your fault.’

  ‘But I accused him of having feelings for me!’

  ‘He’s a big boy. Besides, he’s known you too long. It’d be like sleeping with your sister!’

  ‘That’s what he said.’ Sadie couldn’t help but smile.

  ‘Things will be okay, you’ll see.’ Dan got out his iPad. ‘Have you checked the shop’s Twitter feed this morning? Now that the competition is due to close, there have been tons of photos coming in, but I wanted to see how Riley was faring.’

  ‘There’s nothing except the same garbage. Although there are a lot of people supporting Riley since she tweeted the photo of Clarissa. Clarissa seems to be putting in her two pennies’ worth to keep the hatred going, but it looks to be dying down.’

  ‘She really is an evil bitch.’ Dan poured water into two mugs. ‘And Ethan seems so nice, I don’t know what he saw in her.’

  ‘She made him not trust Riley, though. How could he do that?’

  ‘They were both hurt by other people. I wonder if they’ll get back together again after all this has blown over?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘People should be honest with each other from the start, don’t you think?’

  ‘I’m a fine one to ask about that!’ cried Sadie. ‘But these are other people interfering to break Riley and Ethan up.’

  ‘I assume you two have far more to do than chat,’ Suzanne interrupted, coming into the staffroom. ‘Dan, make me a coffee, please. Two sugars, no milk, and make it strong.’

  ‘Lace it with arsenic, more like,’ Dan muttered under his breath so only Sadie could hear. Sadie stifled a giggle.

  ‘Sorry, did you say something?’ Suzanne glared at him.

  Dan shook his head, an innocent look on his face.

  ‘Well, chop-chop, the two of you.’ She turned to leave. ‘We have a shop to open!’

  Sadie followed behind her, pulling mock-Karate moves with her hands.

  ‘Don’t be long,’ she said to Dan. ‘I won’t be held responsible for my actions if I’m left alone with her for too long.’

  ‘Have you seen this?’ Riley said as soon as Ash had opened her front door. She marched in, holding up her phone.

  ‘I’ve only just got up. I worked late last night, so I don’t need to be in until eleven.’ Ash followed her through into the living room, where she was pacing up and down. ‘What is it?’

  ‘A job advert. I’ve just seen it online on the Hedworth News. It’s my bloody job.’

  ‘No way!’ Ash gasped. ‘Let me see.’

  Riley handed her phone to her, her hand shaking.

  ‘I knew Suzanne was angry, but I thought she’d calm down after a few days, especially when Sadie told me she was struggling to run the shop. I thought she’d ask me back, but oh no, she’s gone and advertised my position!’

  Ash moved her to the settee and pushed her down.

  ‘All I wanted was to save our jobs and keep the shop open,’ Riley continued. ‘I never expected Suzanne to bring in someone else to do my job.’

  ‘She must be pretty pissed off to do that,’ Ash said. ‘The advert says the closing date is next Friday. You should put an application in under someone else’s name and turn up for the interview.’

  ‘What’s the use in that?’ Riley shook her head. She was never setting foot in Chandler’s again.

  ‘Well, I for one would like to see the look on her face when you turn up and tell her where to stick her poxy job.’

  ‘Not funny, Ash.’ Riley folded her arms. ‘I should have stuck up for myself when Suzanne fired me. Good manners are a sign of weakness – I read that in a magazine a while ago. Well, this is definitely a sign of that. I’ve done everything I can to save the shop, to help my friends, and what do I get in return? I get fired.’

  ‘It’s not your fault all this happened.’

  ‘No, but it is Clarissa’s. If she hadn’t started all this, it might not have got out of hand and my job wouldn’t have been advertised in the paper.’

  ‘Why do you think Clarissa did it?’ asked Ash, sitting down next to her. ‘She couldn’t have done it just to get back at Ethan. And if she was trying to split you up to get him back for herself, then that was pointless too.’

  ‘I don’t know, but I wish I had some dirt on her. I’d spread it like wildfire and let her know how much it hurts.’

  ‘No, you wouldn’t.’

  ‘Yes, I would.’

  ‘But you’re not like that, are you?’

  ‘I did send that stupid tweet, though. I guess that sparked it all up again.’

  ‘You’re only human. We can only take so much.’

  ‘More’s the pity.’ Riley sighed. ‘I need to grow some balls.’

  ‘Riley Flynn.’ Ash shuffled over and gave her a hug. ‘You’re perfect as you are. Clarissa’s just jealous of everything you represent, and everything you have. Imagine being alone to bring up a baby, consumed by the green-eyed monster, and with no partner to support you. Imagine what that must feel like.’

  ‘I don’t want to,’ said Riley. ‘I’m too busy feeling sorry for myself to even think what she must be going through.’

  ‘Pregnancy hormones – they must be worse than normal ones, right?’

  ‘Oh, yuck. Have we got that to look forward to as well? How I love being a woman!’

  ‘Well, at least we’re always right about everything,’ Ash grinned.

  ‘Hmm, most of the time,’ Riley replied. ‘I still don’t know what to do about everything,’ she added.

  ‘I know, but you still have me to worry about you and take care of you. And we will always have coffee and cake.’

  ‘And wine.’

  ‘And cake.’

  ‘And more wine and more cake.’

  ‘And chocolate.’

  ‘And cake.’

  Riley smiled at her friend, who was trying to cheer her up. If only life was that simple. She had given her heart to Ethan. And she wasn’t sure how to get it back.

  Even though Suzanne was struggling to run the shop, Chandler’s had opened on its first day without Riley, and the next one too. Even without Riley being there, Dan and Sadie knew the daily routine. But today they were having a delivery of stock, something that Riley usually took care of. They helped to put it away, but it was Riley who checked it off and made sure nothing was missing.

  ‘Have you counted those trainers?’ Sadie pointed to several boxes piled at the back of room.

  Dan turned to her with a shrug. ‘I can’t remember. Have you?’

  ‘Well, according to this list, we should have fifteen pairs and I got twenty-two at the last count.’

  ‘Oh, bloody hell!’ Dan pressed a hand to his temple. ‘We’ll have to start again.’

  ‘We’ll be here all day at this rate.’

  ‘How long will it take you to move all these boxes?’ Suzanne cried as she stood behind the till twenty minutes later. ‘I’m sick of seeing them.’

  ‘A long time, while customers are com
ing in and out as well,’ said Dan, rushing over to someone who had walked in.

  ‘Sadie, can you input these invoices into the computer system?’ Suzanne thrust a few papers into her hands.

  But Sadie gave them back to her. ‘I can help put the stock away, but it was Riley that did all the paperwork. I wouldn’t know where to start.’

  ‘It can’t be that hard,’ Suzanne protested. ‘I’ll do it myself.’ She disappeared downstairs only to return moments later. ‘Do you have a password to get into the computer system? I can’t seem to find anything on the desk or in the drawers.’

  Sadie shook her head. ‘Riley is very careful about passwords and doesn’t write them down in case we get a break-in and someone hacks into everything.’

  Suzanne raised her eyebrows. ‘This is a shoe shop, not a government department or a bank.’

  ‘Have you any idea how old that computer is, and how easily someone could swipe all the business’s money if they got into it? Riley has done her best with things. She’s always thought about what’s right for the shop.’

  ‘Ring her and get the password,’ insisted Suzanne, ‘and then I’ll reset it.’

  ‘Sorry, I have a customer to serve.’ Sadie walked past Suzanne to a woman who was holding up a shoe. ‘Would you like me to see if we have that in your size?’

  Suzanne turned on her heel and stormed off down the stairs again.

  ‘Let’s hope she stays down there this time,’ muttered Dan.

  An hour later, after everyone had fallen over the boxes a few times, Dan mentioned to Suzanne that they needed to be moved. ‘I’ll take them downstairs and put them out of the way until we can deal with them. They’re a trip hazard. The last thing we want is for someone to sue you for negligence.’

  ‘Stop being so melodramatic,’ Suzanne pooh-poohed. ‘But if you want to shift them, be my guest.’

  ‘Oh, I have a customer to serve first.’

  Dan went to waltz off but Suzanne grabbed his arm.

  ‘I’ll do the serving, you shift those boxes.’

  By the time another hour had passed, and Suzanne had been sworn at by a toddler, had a drink thrown over her feet, been harassed by an old man who wanted something for nothing, and had to throw out several teenagers who had come in to shelter from the rain, she sat down on a leather cube. Slipping off her shoes, she groaned as she rubbed at her toes.

  ‘How do you do this every day?’ she asked Dan and Sadie. ‘My feet are killing me, my back is aching, my head is throbbing from all the stress, and it isn’t even the end of my first week.’

  ‘Not to worry,’ said Sadie. ‘It’s lunchtime soon – half an hour break will do you good.’

  Before Suzanne could protest, a man came in wheeling a trolley full of cardboard boxes.

  ‘Where do you want this order, love?’ the delivery driver asked her.

  ‘I’m the manager,’ she retorted. ‘Dan, sort this man out.’

  ‘Is it like this every day?’ she asked once he’d gone.

  ‘Pretty much,’ said Dan. ‘We can do our jobs without thinking, but we need Riley to do the rest. She keeps everything running smoothly. You should never have fired her.’

  ‘She lost her job because she was incompetent. And I can’t trust you two to run the shop.’

  ‘You mean you’re coming to work here full-time?’ Dan couldn’t keep the horror from his voice.’

  ‘Me?’ Suzanne laughed. ‘I’m only staying until I get someone else to do it. There’s an advert for a manager in the Hedworth News today.’

  ‘What?’ Sadie glared at Suzanne.

  Dan folded his arms. ‘I don’t want to work here unless Riley is here too.’

  ‘Maybe you’d like to join Riley as she looks for another job,’ Suzanne warned.

  Dan nodded. ‘I think I would. I can’t work with you. You’re a self-centred underachiever who has been handed this business on a plate. We love Chandler’s, but you’re going to ruin it.’

  ‘I beg your pardon.’

  ‘Dan!’ said Sadie.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Dan said, ‘but if Riley isn’t here then I’m not staying either. It’s not going to be the same.’

  ‘I’m not staying if you two aren’t here,’ said Sadie.

  ‘You can’t threaten me!’ cried Suzanne.

  ‘No one is threatening you,’ said Dan. He went to fetch his and Sadie’s coats. ‘Come on, Sadie. Let’s go.’

  ‘You can’t just leave!’ Suzanne shouted after them. ‘Wait!’

  ‘We can and we are,’ said Dan. ‘We’re both due an afternoon off anyway, because we both worked Sunday, so consider this the hours in lieu that you owe us. You’ll have to run the shop by yourself.’

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Riley had been shocked when Sadie and Dan turned up at her flat. Even more so when they told her that they had walked out of Chandler’s.

  ‘It just isn’t on, Riley,’ said Dan as he flopped down next to her on the sofa.

  ‘But it’s your livelihood,’ Riley protested. ‘You can’t just walk out and have no job or no money to fall back on.’ She stared at Sadie. ‘Nor you!’

  ‘The shop’s going to close anyway,’ Dan replied. ‘It won’t stay open if she has anything to do with it.’

  But Riley still wasn’t happy. ‘Look, I get the sentiment, you guys, but honestly, you must go in tomorrow. Don’t let Suzanne get the better of you. You don’t want her saying you walked out when she needed you most.’

  ‘But she sacked you!’ Sadie was outraged. ‘I can’t be loyal to her.’

  ‘She sacked me,’ said Riley. ‘I can live with that, but not putting you two out of work as well.’

  ‘Can you live with it?’ Dan shook his head. ‘You shouldn’t. It was her fault we had to do all this flash mob, viral, Twitter stuff. If it wasn’t for that, you’d still have a job and you’d―’

  ‘Still be lonely and on my own.’

  A silence dropped on the room.

  ‘Has Ethan still not been in touch?’ Sadie broke in.

  ‘Yes, he’s sent me a few messages but I don’t want to talk to him. I hurt him, and he hurt me, but it doesn’t mean we can start over again. There were too many obstacles in the way. It wasn’t all about bad timing. So . . . I’m thinking of moving away from Hedworth and going somewhere like Manchester.’

  ‘Manchester!’ Dan and Sadie said in unison.

  ‘Yes, but I really want to finish this competition first,’ said Riley, not wanting to be drawn into a discussion. ‘Are you two willing to sort out the entries, if I keep it going on social media until the closing date this Friday?’

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Dan.

  ‘Yes. It’s no one’s fault but my own that I’ve been sacked. I don’t want to let people down.’

  Riley let Dan and Sadie out and then flopped back onto the settee again. She needed to keep busy. Someone had to sort out the competition entries. Despite her setback, she couldn’t let her colleagues down. Finishing off the competition would give them some great press. Maybe she could email Kim to see if she would run it in the paper. If nothing else, it would be something to put on her CV. She got out her notepad to make a list of things to do.

  ‘Poor Riley,’ said Sadie, as she and Dan left the building. ‘I can’t believe everything has turned out like this. I couldn’t bear it if she moved away.’

  ‘Me neither,’ Dan agreed. ‘She’s always been there for us, yet no one seems to look after her. And now everyone knows about the life of Riley.’

  Sadie put a hand on his arm and stopped him as they walked across the car park.

  ‘Do you think we should do some sort of social media campaign? Maybe we could get Riley her job back?’ she said, all breathless now that she had thought of a way to help.

  ‘She won’t want to come back,’ Dan said, shaking his head.

  ‘But we need her back. We need to show Suzanne just how good Riley is. Then she won’t leave for Manchester.’

  ‘I can’t t
hink of anything worse than going back to Chandler’s, but I know you’re right.’ Dan shuddered. ‘That is, if we still have jobs tomorrow.’

  ‘Riley’s right. Suzanne can’t close the shop now – not until the competition is over. There would be outrage, after all the entries.’

  Dan sighed. ‘We’re nothing without Riley, are we, Sadie?’

  ‘No, and neither is Chandler’s. Do you have Ethan’s mobile number?’

  ‘No, but I have his email address on something that Riley forwarded to me.’ Dan got out his phone. ‘Yes, here it is.’

  ‘I’m going to email him this evening.’ Sadie wrote the address down. ‘Let’s meet at work in the morning, and see what the situation is with our jobs first. We did walk out, after all. Oh!’

  ‘What’s up?’

  ‘I’ve had a text message from Cooper.’ Sadie passed her phone to Dan.

  Stung a bit, I must admit. Want me to grab a bottle of wine and we can chat about it tonight?

  Sadie was back at home after collecting Esther from Christine’s. She’d told Christine that she hadn’t been feeling too well, so had finished work early. It was easy for the lie to roll off her tongue, and even though she felt guilty when she saw Christine’s over-friendly smile drop, she couldn’t tell her the real reason.

  Christine had obviously assumed that it was because of what had happened the night before, but Sadie couldn’t think about that at the moment. Even though Cooper would be calling later, and it would have to be addressed then, her thoughts were with Riley.

  While Esther was playing, Sadie got out her laptop and logged on to Twitter. She checked out the tweets that Riley was still getting on Chandler’s feed, and the ones that she was able to see on Riley’s feed. Some of them were vicious, but many were in support of what she had done. #giveRileyabreak was a hashtag she noticed quite a few times.

  Riley had seemed so resigned that afternoon, as if all the fight had gone out of her. Sadie was so used to seeing her with a smile on her face, no matter what, so used to her having an answer to any problem.

  She thought about their friendship. How Riley had always been there for her. She had been more than a manager to her for a long time, and yet Sadie had never been there for Riley, not really. Of course she had seen their friendship growing as they’d worked together longer, and had valued every minute of it. But she hadn’t seen it as so one-sided until now.