by Tara Ford
“It’s ok. I am a bit of a mess. I do apologise. I was passing and thought I’d nip in quickly.” The woman looked down at her boots. “I tapped most of it off, before I came in.”
“Yes, I know. I saw you.” Jenny was beginning to warm to the woman, even with the smell.
“We’ve been digging out part of the perimeter of the field we use. New fences going in. Guess I’ve got a bit clogged up with mud and horse-shit today.”
Jenny let out a short burst of laughter and then composed herself, so as to look professional. “So, about your mum, how can I help you?”
“Well, I’ve had problems like this before. She has recently been diagnosed with the early onset of Alzheimer’s.”
“Ok,” Jenny looked down, respectfully. “We had worried that that might be the case. She’s been using the shop quite a lot since we opened and there have been a couple of times that we’ve had a slight problem with her.”
“Oh, what sort of problems?”
“Well, she gets a little muddled sometimes. It’s like the toilet rolls – she thinks that they are free.”
“Ah, I was going to talk to you about toilet rolls. She has so many packs stuffed down by the side of her toilet.” The woman leant back in the chair, looking far more relaxed. “She told me that you gave them to her for free. I take it that’s not true then?”
“Somehow, I knew you were going to say that.” Jenny huffed. “No, it’s not true. I’m afraid that your mum has got very muddled about the toilet rolls.”
“Thought as much.”
“I’ve been trying to catch up with her each time she comes in, but I haven’t managed to talk to her yet. Something else always seems to come up.” The overripe manure smell had become less offensive. Jenny wondered if she was just getting used to it. She was beginning to like this odd-looking woman whose grubby wax jacket seemed to crinkle and crunch, every time she moved or spoke.
“She’s crafty.”
“Crafty?” Jenny frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She’s like a cunning cat.” The woman crossed one heavily laden leg, over the other, resulting in a small lump of grassy mud falling from her boot. Peering down, she picked up the piece of earth. “Oh, sorry – I’m drying out a bit.” Popping the mud into her pocket, she continued. “Mum’s playing on the diagnosis.”
Intrigued, Jenny leant over the side of her desk and propped up her chin with a hand. “How do you mean?”
“Well, she’s always been the same but now she’s had the news from her doctor, she’s got worse.”
“Sorry, I don’t understand what you mean. Got worse?”
“Yes –she’s having us all on. She’s pretending that she doesn’t know what she’s doing.” The woman paused for a moment. “But most of the time she does know.” The woman looked up with watery eyes. “I just don’t know what to do with her…” Pulling a tissue from her pocket, the little cluster of dried soil flew out and landed on the floor in front of Jenny’s feet. The woman blew her nose, noisily, folded the damp tissue over and shoved it back in her pocket.
Reaching down, Jenny cringed as she picked up the nugget of mud and immediately threw it in the waste paper bin, under her desk. “Look – I can see that this is a real problem for you but I’m not sure what I can do to help.”
“Please… do not let her buy into your shop.”
“What?” Jenny threw herself back in her chair, picked a pen up from the desk and began chewing the end of it.
“Tell me it’s not true…”
“I’m sure it’s not true.”
“Has she told you how much money she has in the bank?”
“No – not at all.” Jenny’s heart began to beat a little faster. Was she going to be accused of stealing Marj’s money?
“Well, she’s told me that you’ve been open only a few weeks…”
“Yes, that’s right. I have.”
“She said that you’re struggling. You don’t have enough customers.”
“Well…” Jenny shuffled in her seat, uncomfortably. “Yes. That is true as well. I’m not sure how your mum knows that though.”
“That’s what I mean – she’s actually very clever. I fear that this Alzheimer’s will assist her in being quite dangerous. She’s like a little Gangster Granny.”
“Really?” Jenny wondered just how dangerous an old lady, who was losing her marbles, could really be. “How do you mean?”
“She said that you allow her to use your staffroom…”
“Well, no actually. That’s all a mix up too.”
“And you’ve asked her to answer the phone for you…”
“Again, that is all a bit of a muddle.” Jenny rolled her eyes. “I’m beginning to see what you mean about your mum. We were busy one day and the phone rang… I did not ask your mum to answer it. I’m afraid that she took it upon herself to answer my phone. Ok… she was in here at the time… but that was only because I needed to talk to her about the toilet rolls.”
The woman nodded her head agreeably. “I see…”
“I do hope so. Look, I am more than happy to do anything I can to help you out. I think your mum is a dear old lady… and I have to say… you’ve got to see the funny side to this – she’s quite a character, isn’t she?”
The woman harrumphed. “She also told me that your husband wants her to help run the shop.”
“Ok – I’m getting it,” said Jenny, holding her hands up. “Firstly, can I assure you that I do not have a husband. Secondly, I have never asked her to do any sort of job in this shop… and thirdly, we do not allow anyone, who is not a member of staff, to go into our staffroom.”
“Ok, so why has my mum been to the bank to organize the withdrawal of £15,000 in just over a week’s time?”
Jenny’s mouth dropped open. “I have absolutely no idea.”
The likeability of this woman was faltering. It seemed to Jenny, that one minute she was forewarning her and the next she was accusing her. “Why do you think?” asked Jenny, tentatively.
“The man who you claim, is not your husband. Is he called Aaron?”
“Yes…”
“Well he has asked my mum to buy into the shop – to help get you off the ground.”
Stunned, Jenny sat silently for a moment. “I can’t believe that that could be true.”
“I’ve been to the bank and checked. She has arranged for the withdrawal, in cash, next Wednesday. The manager, who I have come to know well, said that she is buying a share of a shop. He tried to stop her arranging it but at the end of the day, it’s her money and she can do whatever she wants with it – well, up until now.”
“Oh my God… I don’t believe this.”
“Is there something going on behind your back that you don’t know about?”
Jenny thought about it for a moment. No, there is no way that this could be happening – is there? “Look, to be honest with you, I hardly know Aaron. I met him a couple of weeks ago and your mum has got it into her head that he is my husband. I just don’t know what to say about all of this.” Jenny rubbed her hand across her forehead and sighed.
“Why is this man hanging around your shop then?”
“He’s not,” Jenny replied, suddenly feeling guilty that he would be turning up soon to take her to lunch. Thoughts drifted in to her head… the kisses… the cuddles… the beautiful passion of it all. Had she been misled? “Look, he has fitted a couple of new tills for me, that’s all.” Jenny remembered how Aaron had been left in the staffroom with Marj once, but she couldn’t think of any other time that this supposed business deal could have happened. It had to be a lie… didn’t it? “Like you keep telling me, your mum has Alzheimer’s, could this just be in her head?”
“I’m not sure. She’s adamant that she is buying part of this shop. Usually there is a glint in her eye that tells me if she is pulling a fast one – like with the toilet rolls – I can tell that she is playing on that.”
“Really? Well…I just don’t know what
to say. As far as I am concerned, none of this is true and I would certainly not be taking any money from your mum for this shop.” Jenny fought off the compelling urge to run out of the shop screaming wildly, all the way down Millen Road. A bubbling in her stomach was eagerly waiting to surface as tears. It was all becoming too much. Jenny’s tone lowered. “I’ll talk to Aaron about this today. He’ll be in later.” Jenny looked down at her watch… Aaron would be here in less than half an hour. She had to get rid of this woman before he arrived. Whatever might have gone on or not gone on, Jenny wanted to get out – she needed some fresh air. Even if it was with a villainous man. He couldn’t be though, surely. She needed to talk to him, away from the shop.
“I’m applying to the court for ‘Power of Attorney’. Mum’s just going to get worse.” The woman grabbed her tissue again and wiped under her nose. “Until that’s in place, can we exchange contact details? She’s fixated with this shop and also with that man, Aaron.”
“Yes, of course we can. If there is anything that I can do further, please let me know.” Jenny took a notepad from her desk and used the half-chewed pen which had suffered most of her anguish, during the conversation. “I’ll give you a call later and let you know what Aaron says, too,” she added.
The woman nodded and gave a weak smile before reciting her name and phone number.
“Thank you for coming in today,” said Jenny. “I will give you a call later.” Opening the front door, courteously, Jenny said goodbye and stood in the doorway, absorbing the warm rays of sunshine. There were ten minutes left before both Aaron and Dayna turned up. She just had to hang on until then.
“Are you ok?” asked Tasha. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Yes… I will be when I get my lunch break.”
Tasha puffed out a chuckle. “Thought the smell from that woman had made you sick… by the look of you.”
“It nearly did. You get used to it though.” Jenny moved away from the door as a man walked towards the shop. As she approached the counter, she looked down at the empty nursery crate. “They’ve been then?”
“Oh… no. I’ve put all of the stuff back, Jenny. I was going to tell you about that but that muddy woman was here.”
“Why haven’t they collected it?”
Tasha looked down. “They’ve cancelled it.”
“Oh, why’s that? They’re open today, aren’t they?”
Tasha nodded and continued to look at the floor, intensely.
“Tasha, what’s going on?” Jenny’s pulse began to race again. Now what?
“They’ve… well… err… they’ve cancelled the order completely.”
“Why?” Jenny’s eyes glared but she tried desperately not to direct them at Tasha. “Why have they cancelled?”
The man who had been walking towards the shop, came in.
Tasha lowered her voice. “Andrea said that her boss has told her not to order from here anymore.”
“Why?” The option to run down the road screaming, like a raving lunatic, was looking more favourable, by the second.
“Andrea said that you attacked her boss…”
“What?” Jenny gawked. “Her boss?” She paused. “That woman – the tall one – Tracey?”
Tasha nodded her head with each word that Jenny spluttered out.
“I don’t frigging well believe it…” Placing a hand to her mouth, Jenny turned round and looked for the man who was in the shop.
At the far end of the aisle, the man was perusing the information on the back of a frozen ‘Meal for One’ box.
“What exactly did she say?”
Tasha looked worried, “Andrea was… err… well… she was quite nasty…”
“Yes, go on.”
“She said that her boss had told her you were…”
“Tasha, please, just come out with it and tell me exactly what she said.” Jenny fidgeted from one foot to the other.
“She said that you’re a psychotic, money-grabbing, bitch.”
Jenny’s heart sank. Tears pricked. The time was approaching 12 o’clock. She had to get out. Get away. Before she burst. Before she broke. “That’s over £300 a week we’ve lost.” Drawing a deep breath, she let out a huge sigh. “This all stems from that bloody woman, Marj.”
Tasha began to chew on her nails.
Looking up at the clock again, Jenny willed the small hand to move faster. “I’m going out for lunch in a minute, can you open the awning please? The remote is under there,” said Jenny pointing a finger, under the counter. “I’ll go and get my coat…”
Half way down the aisle, Jenny heard the front door open behind her. It was Dayna. Jenny couldn’t look her in the eye for more than a second or two. That would have been the end of her steadfast persona. “I’m going out for lunch, Day. I’ll be back at two,” she shouted along the aisle. Snatching her coat from the staffroom, Jenny proceeded back up the shop. Dayna stood by the counter, looking perplexed. Jenny darted her eyes towards Tasha. “Can you run through the till with Dayna, please? I really need to go.”
Tasha nodded and smiled cheerlessly.
“I’ll see you both later,” said Jenny, before scooting out of the front door.
Darting round the corner of the shop, out of sight of the girls, Jenny watched Aaron’s car pull into the side road, right on time. Waving her hand, she flagged him down, opened the passenger door and jumped in. “Let’s go – please.”
Aaron looked at her with a startled expression.
“Please – get me out of here – quick!”
Chapter 24
Aaron’s shocked expression made Jenny laugh. She laughed some more. And some more. She laughed uncontrollably. Then she cried.
Driving away, Aaron’s abilities to control the car, peer curiously at Jenny, cup her hand in his and keep calm, were admirable. The look on his face told a different story. Speechless, he frowned in puzzlement. Thrown completely by Jenny’s sudden outburst of tears, Aaron could only look on as he steered the car away.
“I’m sorry,” Jenny sniffled. “Have you got a tissue?”
Aaron pointed to the glove compartment. “There might be some in there.”
Opening the door, Jenny searched around but found nothing. She sniffed and then wiped her nose on her sleeve. “You must think I do this all the time.”
“Do what?” asked Aaron, driving along slower than the road would dictate.
“Every time I see you… well, something happens, doesn’t it.”
"Something else has happened?”
“Everything has happened… I think I’m losing it.”
“No you’re not. We’ve got two hours haven’t we?”
“Yeah,” Jenny replied nonchalantly. Wiping the tears from her face, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, through pursed lips.
“We’ll talk it all through… that’s if you want to tell me.”
“Ok.”
“Do you want to go to the café by the harbour again?”
“Yes.” Jenny sighed, “That would be nice.” Sniffing again, she managed to grasp her composure. “Just get me way from this crazy place.”
Pressing his foot on the pedal, Aaron sped up and swiftly left Millen Road and its residents behind.
The glistening sun lit up the picturesque view of the harbour and the sea beyond, just as it had the first time she was here. And every time she’d been here in her dreams. Jenny was calmed by the serenity of it all. This was just what she needed right now. Although it was a bit too chilly to sit outside today, the view from inside was just as spectacular.
Aaron stood at the counter ordering two pulled pork ciabattas and two large choco lattes.
Peering out of the window, Jenny felt the tears prick at her eyes again. She couldn’t cry again. Not now.
“Right, what’s been going on then?” asked Aaron, joining her at the table. “You said something about Marj and the nursery but it was all a bit jumbled up.” Aaron smiled warmly and took one of Jenny’s hands. “I w
ant to help you. I care about you… and your shop.”
The last three words made Jenny sit up straight, ‘and your shop’. Was it true, what Marj’s daughter had told her? “How much do you care about my shop?” she asked, suspiciously.
“What do you mean?” Aaron looked stumped.
“Well… how much do you care about it? What does it mean to you?”
“I’m not sure where you’re going with this, Jenny. I care enough to want you to succeed – if that’s what you mean?”
“And what would you do to ensure that I succeed?” Jenny replied, bluntly.
Aaron let go of Jenny’s hand and leant back in his chair. “Jenny, could you tell me what has happened this morning?” He moved forward and propped his chin up on the table. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“I’m just asking a simple question. What would you do to ensure that I succeed?”
“Ok, I’ll be honest…” Aaron hesitated. “The way I feel about you right now, I’d probably do anything within my power to make sure that you succeed…”
“Like what?”
“Well, like fit an EPOS system into your shop… for free.” Aaron sat up straight. The frown on his face suggested that he was a little peeved by Jenny’s abrupt questioning.
“Anything else?”
“Can’t think of anything yet,” Aaron replied.
“What about money?”
“What about it?”
“Would you invest money in my shop?”
“Whoa – steady on,” Aaron let out a short laugh. “Is that a theoretical question or a request?”
“Or anyone else’s money, for that matter?”
“You’ve lost me.” Aaron stretched his arms across the table and beckoned her to give him her hand. “Just tell me what’s happened today.”
Her hands cupped inside Aaron’s, Jenny’s eyes filled up again. “It’s all madness… Everyone’s crazy.” Tears began to fall from her cheeks.
“Tell me everything – I want to help you,” said Aaron, softly. He squeezed her hands, gently, and then offered her a serviette. “We’ve got over an hour and a half. Take your time.”
