by Tara Ford
“No. Have you got more then?”
“Well, one more. It’s just that I need to deliver them in the morning and I was wondering how we were going to do it.”
“Do you want me to do them?” said Tasha, as she added different sized brown envelope packs to the other end of the shelf.
“Would you mind?” Jenny added, “How would you be able to do them though, if you don’t drive?”
“I’ve got a bike – I could use that.”
“Well that’s great, Tasha, but what if it’s pouring down, like it was this morning.”
“That’s not a problem, I’ve got a wetsuit…”
“A what?” Jenny blasted out, before she burst into a ridiculous cackle. “I suppose you’re going to tell me you’ve got flippers and a snorkel too.”
Tasha looked at her oddly and nodded her head. “Yes. I have.” She then returned to the stacking of the envelope packs, nonchalantly.
“Sorry… Tasha, I didn’t mean to say that. You do make me laugh sometimes.” Jenny placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, as a young Mum with a pushchair, entered the shop.
Leaving Tasha to finish filling the stationery shelves, Jenny went behind the counter and tried to gather her compos mentis, if she ever had one in the first place, and refrain from outbursts of giggling to herself.
After the young Mum had gone, Tasha came scuttling over to the counter. “I was joking about the wetsuit… well, I do have one but I meant that I could wear a waterproof suit. I’ve got a jacket and trousers.”
“Look, Tasha, I really don’t expect you to have to do a mini paper round each morning that you’re here. It’s just that if I did it, I’d have to leave you on your own in the shop. I’m not sure that I want to leave that responsibility with you.” Jenny paused and then quickly added, “It’s not that I don’t think you’re capable, Tasha…”
“No, I would much rather do the papers than stay in the shop on my own.”
“Ok, well I am considering getting someone in to do the papers – problem is that the round isn’t big enough to entice any youngsters to do it yet.”
“I’m happy to do it for now then, Jenny.”
“Great – thanks Tasha. Err… just out of curiosity… why do you have a wetsuit?”
“Oh, it’s just one of my funny outfits,” said Tasha, shyly and walked away as another two people entered the shop. And one of them was dear old Marj.
All at once there was a rush of people, mostly Mums with buggies, who filled the shop with chitter and chatter and their toddlers, whose squeals and cries resonated around the shelving units. Tasha looked across from the stationery shelves, with raised eyebrows.
Shrugging her shoulders, Jenny mouthed, “We’re on a roll.” She grinned widely and excitedly, then braced herself for the onslaught of customers, who were nearly all from the nursery.
As the first woman approached the counter, laden with milk, bread and several packets of sweets and crisps, she dumped the pile of items on the top and huffed as she withdrew her purse from her bag.
Two other Mums joined the growing queue and could be heard moaning about the unexpected rise in the nursery’s fees.
Jenny tried to work as fast as she could on the till. She then collected the money, bagged the items and gave out any change due. The sudden influx of customers was a little unnerving and quite unexpected. As the queue began to stretch down the back aisle, Jenny politely greeted each person with a warm smile and a ‘hello’, knowing full well that all eyes were upon her.
“Tasha, could you come and help bag-up please,” Jenny called out, fearing that the people at the back of the queue may become impatient. She was exhilarated by the number of people waiting to be served but had to remain professional and contain her excitement as one after another, they bought goods from her new shop.
Tasha joined Jenny behind the counter and quickly bagged up each item, once Jenny had keyed the amount into the till. Between them both, they soon had the queue under control, while yet more people entered the shop.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jenny just caught a glimpse of Marj, hobbling out of the shop, with a pack of turquoise toilet rolls tucked under her arm. Jenny shot another glance at her as she passed by the window. The odd thing was that Jenny hadn’t served her. Marj had simply taken them.
“Did you see that?” whispered Jenny, between customers.
“What?” breathed Tasha, as another woman approached the counter.
“Marj… she just left the shop… she took some toilet rolls.”
“No, I didn’t see her,” said Tasha and grinned, sheepishly. “She was in here a minute ago though.”
“Hmm,” muttered Jenny and continued to serve one customer after another as the surge of nursery Mums continued for another five minutes or so.
Jenny sighed and rested her chin on her hand. The rush of customers earlier in the afternoon had not equated to a massive increase in takings. She guessed that the bad weather, earlier, had something to do with it. The shop had been very quiet while the rain lashed against the window panes during the morning and it had been practically dead during the evening. Hopefully that would change as soon as the lights were fitted.
Thump…
Here we go again, thought Jenny as she rubbed her forehead hard and screwed her eyes up tight.
Thump, thump, thump, thump… thump, thump.
A moment later, one of the light panels at the front of the shop went out. Great, Jenny thought and flicked off her computer. She’d had enough for today and wanted to get home as quickly as possible.
Thump, thump, thump.
She grabbed her coat and bag and switched off the back lights. She was ten minutes ahead of herself.
Thump, thump.
Reaching the front of the shop, Jenny made a mental note of which light panel had gone out, set the alarm and switched the front lights off. She then followed the ‘thumps’ to the front door and left.
Thump, thump, thump.
Chapter 13
Peering into the freezer, notepad in hand, Jenny checked the contents. She shuffled the tubs of ice-cream and undamaged cheesecakes to the front of the unit, for easier access. The idea of putting up a sign, asking for assistance, had been a good one but she’d completely forgotten to do it yesterday. Having made the sign on her computer earlier, and printed it off, Jenny now stuck it above the chest freezer, on the back wall. The sign was bold and bright and she decided that it would suffice. Should anyone else end up inside the unit, it would be their own fault. Wouldn’t it?
Checking her watch, Jenny noticed the minute hand had drifted past seven o’clock by two minutes. She wandered down the shop to the front door and turned the key in the lock. Thump… thump… thump, thump, thump. Jenny rolled her eyes and shook her head. What on earth was the man doing upstairs? She had a good mind to go and confront him, even if he was a bit peculiar. Maybe he was hopping – he did have a limp when she met him for the first time. Wasn’t it all a bit extreme though? And why did it only happen early in the mornings and late in the evenings. That was something else that she had forgotten to do – ask the girls if they’d heard any thumping noises from above, during the day.
Drawn from her muse, Jenny listened to the rattle of one of the rings, attached to the underneath of the window, outside. She could see a little silvery-grey head of curls bobbing up and down outside and immediately, she knew it was Dolly – back for her daily bout of criticism and sneering.
“Morning Dolly,” said Jenny chirpily. She was not going to be beaten down by a cantankerous old woman.
“Good morning dear. Am I the first person in this morning?”
“Err… yes you are – why do you ask?”
“I just wondered why you haven’t put your paper display board out on the pavement yet.”
“Oh, I didn’t realise…”
“It’s down there,” said Dolly, peering, narrow-eyed and pointing down the first aisle. “Very dangerous – somebody could trip over
it.”
Jenny had already moved round the counter and was heading straight to the first aisle, “I’ve been open for approximately four minutes, Dolly. I would have moved it…”
“I only mentioned it, dear, because other folk may think you’re shut if they can’t see the newspaper board outside.”
“Fair point,” said Jenny as she picked up the board, carried it down the aisle, side-stepped around Dolly, and took it out through the front door.
Wilbur was sat patiently under the window and stared at Jenny, wide-eyed, as his little tail wagged frantically.
“So, Dolly, what can I get you? Do you need a paper?” asked Jenny as she returned through the door.
“Oh no, thank you… I’m going into town today. I like to get my main shopping on Fridays. I always pick my paper up at the supermarket.”
“Oh, I see.” Jenny didn’t ‘see’ at all but she had to keep calm and grin through it. “So what brings you here this morning?”
“I popped in to see how you are doing, my dear. I do like to be supportive to the local stores.”
“Really?” said Jenny, questioningly.
“Ooh yes indeed. So many independent stores are dying out these days, dear.”
“Yes, I know.” Jenny sighed. “Dolly, don’t you think that you would help me by buying your paper here, at least?” Just as Jenny had asked the crucial question, Stuart (or his dog was called Stuart) walked in.
“Morning Dolly,” he bellowed, before turning to smile and nod his head at Jenny.
“Good morning George, how are you?” said Dolly and at that instant, Jenny knew that the man’s dog was called Stuart.
“I see we have rings to tie the dogs up,” George exclaimed. “Darn quick service… and not something that our retail giants would ever consider doing. Well done to you.”
Jenny smiled and nodded, “Thank you… and thank you for your support too.”
Returning to her spot behind the counter, Jenny watched and listened as J’s Convenience Store, slowly but surely, turned into an OAP, dog-walker’s community centre, just as it had two days ago. The elderly residents of the area obviously didn’t like rainy mornings, hence their absence yesterday… except for Dolly of course. There seemed to be no stopping her.
Tasha hadn’t heard a thing and had given Jenny a rather peculiar look when she asked her about the strange noises, coming from the flat above.
Pondering over some of the unusual events of the last few days, Jenny sat in the seclusion of her office, while Tasha worked on the till. Today her dad and brother would be coming to fit the exterior lighting and Jenny wondered for a moment if the lights would really make a difference to the footfall in the evenings. She really hoped so.
A rap at the door brought Jenny back to the here and now. “Come in,” she said, “you don’t need to knock on the door, Tasha.”
“I didn’t know whether you’d be asleep or something,” whispered Tasha, her head squeezed into the small opening she’d made. “There’s a man here to see you. Do you want me to send him down?”
“Who is it?”
“Oh, I don’t know… shall I go and ask him?”
“No, no – that’s fine, tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”
Tasha grinned and mouthed ‘ok’ before closing the door.
Jenny heaved a sigh and pulled herself out of the chair. Her enthusiasm was waning and a steadily thriving irritation of her lacklustre attitude was really beginning to vex. She had no idea why she felt like this and may have expected these feelings to surface after maybe a month or so – but not after just a few days.
Walking up the aisle, towards the counter, she could see that Tasha was busy serving several people. Looking around the front of the shop, Jenny couldn’t distinguish which man, if any, was waiting to talk to her. She halted by the end of the counter for a moment and watched Tasha use the till at quite a speed already, considering she’d only been using it for four days.
“Good morning,” said a man’s voice, directly behind Jenny.
Almost leaping into the air in fright, she turned sharply.
“Oh my goodness – you made me jump.” Jenny held her hand to her chest. “Sneaking up behind me were you?”
“I’ve just been checking the contents of your freezer,” said Aaron, smiling warmly. “Have you got any unusual, frozen meats for sale? Something like leg-of-old-lady or stocking-rump-steak?”
Jenny laughed and once again looked up into Aaron’s eyes and was mesmerized. “No, nothing – it’s been relatively boring in comparison, since you were here last.”
“Ah, so no sign of that poor, old lady… err… what was her name?”
“Marj…”
“Oh yes, Marj. So you haven’t seen her since?”
“Oh yes, she’s been in. She is ok, if that’s what you were wondering.”
“Well that’s good to know.” Aaron let out a puff of air, signifying his relief.
“She came in yesterday – stole a pack of toilet rolls. I couldn’t believe it.”
“Oh, that’s not good. Didn’t you try and stop her?” Aaron seemed quite concerned.
“No, we were too busy at the time. She just walked out, quite innocently, while we had a rush on.”
“Ah, I see,” said Aaron. “Hopefully she’ll be back and you can have a word with her. Anyway, I was just passing and thought I’d drop a card off to you.”
“Oh, great – thanks.” Jenny took the business card from Aaron and peered down at it. “You know, I thought you said your name was Frey the other day, but what with everything that happened, I forgot to ask you.”
“What?” said Aaron, shuffling his feet from side to side.
“Do you know someone called Alex… Alex Frey?” Jenny twiddled the card in her hand, unable to tear her eyes away from his. They were like mystical, deep black holes and seemed to draw her in deeper and deeper, the more she stared into them.
Aaron laughed nervously, “Err, yes, I do know her,” he replied, swaying from one foot to the other. “In fact, I know her pretty well – she’s my mum.”
“Oh, really – well, I don’t know her that well, I just know of her. I mean, well, I used to work in the wholesalers. She was our biggest customer. She owns a shop – right?”
Aaron nodded his head, “Yes, she does. What a small world it is.”
Jenny agreed with him, “Yes it is. I only know her to pass the time of day with. So I take it that your dad is Graham? Is it Graham – no Grant?”
“Yep, that’s him.” Aaron laughed again. “I can’t go anywhere without someone knowing them.”
The last customer had been served and Tasha looked across to Jenny, raised her eyebrows and smiled. “Shall I make a coffee Jenny?”
“Yes, that would be good, thanks, Tasha,” Jenny grinned and then turned to Aaron. “Would you like a quick coffee? It’s the least I can do after your help the other day.”
“Sure, why not,” said Aaron. “Maybe, if I’m here long enough, we could accost Marj when she comes in – start a toilet roll amnesty or something.”
Both Aaron and Jenny laughed aloud again. This was becoming the norm for them.
Tasha walked off, oblivious to the in-house jokes, and headed down to the staff room with a dirty mug in hand.
“Oh no – son of Alex Frey – have you told your mum what happened here the other day?”
Aaron shook his head, “No I haven’t… but that’s not to say that I won’t. Would she know who you are?”
“I’m not sure. I used to help her out sometimes when she needed a large quantity of stock. I helped her and your dad to load up their van a couple of times. I was the manager for several years, so I didn’t often work on the checkouts.” Jenny felt a little more relaxed now and as long as she didn’t look too deep, she was sure that she wouldn’t get sucked into those watery brown holes that were evenly spaced under Aaron’s eyebrows. If she did, she feared that there would be no turning back. She’d be hooked.
Th
e front door opened and Jenny instinctively edged round the counter. Stepping through the doorway was Dayna.
“Is it that time already?” said Jenny, glancing up at the clock on the wall. Momentarily, she couldn’t understand how it had got to 11.55am so soon. Time certainly flew by, in the confines of the shop, and if she had been feeling melancholic earlier, it had certainly evaporated into a pool of excitement since Aaron had wished her a ‘good morning’. Although there were only five minutes left, it definitely was a good morning now.
“Certainly is – you been busy then?” Dayna nodded to Aaron. “Hello again,” she said and grinned. “Have we got another body in the freezer?”
Jenny rolled her eyes and tutted, “No, Day, Aaron came to drop a business card in,” said Jenny, holding up the small, beautifully crafted, card in her hand, as if she needed to prove why Aaron was there.
Dayna smirked and then walked off to the staff room.
“How many people do you have working here?” asked Aaron.
“Only those two – can’t afford any more at the moment.”
“So have you finished now then?”
“No… oh no, Tasha finishes in two hours.” Jenny added, “There is a cross-over period at this time. That way I get a two hour lunch break. Well, it’s not even a break as such, as I use the time to do paperwork or go to the bank or the wholesalers, if I need to.”
“Very busy then…”
“Yes, it’s hard work – I practically live here.” Jenny laughed off her last statement, knowing full well that she practically did and would do for some time to come.
Tasha called from the other end of the shop, “Where do you want these Jenny?”
“Do you want your coffee down in the office,” said Jenny, looking into Aaron’s eyes again, “We’d be out of the way of customers…”
“Yes sure.”
“Well, that way, you can tell me all about these EPOS systems of yours and how they work,” said Jenny, waving the card in the air.
