by Tara Ford
“I don’t want to go out with your dentist…” Jenny giggled.
“No, silly. Aaron. He’s back tomorrow, isn’t he?”
“Oh yes, he is,” said Jenny, wide-eyed. “I’d forgotten about that.”
“How can you forget, Jen?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had time to think about it. Hardly going to see him am I?”
“Why?” Dayna continued to admire her figure in the mirror, turning from one side to the other and kicking a high-heeled foot out behind her.
“I’m working until ten tomorrow night.”
“Ah, damn – forgot about that. Saturday then…”
“Dayna, just to remind you, I work until ten on Saturdays too.”
“Rubbish! You really need to get someone else in, Jen… and soon. It’ll kill you.”
Jenny nodded her head in agreement. “Slowly, I’d imagine.”
Not heard anything yet. He smiled when I gave it to him though – woohoo! Day xx
Fingers crossed then. How did Xaylan get on? Jen xx
Goes back in two weeks… afternoon, don’t worry! Night sweetie xx
Goodnight, Day, and thanks for just being you. Love tired Jen xx
Chapter 29
Aaron – thought Jenny, the very moment she woke up. He’ll be back from Germany today. A flutter of excitement filled her tummy as she laid in her warm bed and tried to picture his face. He was tall, lean and good-looking. His deep brown eyes captivated her every time she looked into them. He was a great kisser. Sensual and soft. He smelt good and his arms around her felt good too.
Glancing over at the clock, Jenny froze as the time dawned on her. Six minutes past six. How had she slept through the alarm, or in fact, switched it over to snooze on at least two occasions? In under 45 minutes time she had to be ready, in the shop, having done the papers, sorted out Jordan’s pile ready for him to deliver, listened to the thumpity-thumps travelling backwards and forwards along the ceiling and opened the shop ready for the irritating Dolly’s of the world. Oh no, Jenny breathed as she shot out of the bed and headed straight for the bathroom.
Jordan was helpful. In fact, Jordan was a lifesaver. No, Jordan’s school was the saving grace. Inset days are really handy when the owner of the shop that you do deliveries for, hasn’t got a clue what she’s doing.
Jenny sighed. “Thank you Jordan – I don’t know what I would have done without your help.”
“Ah – no worries,” he replied, politely. “Got an Inset, so it’s no prob.”
“I must have turned the alarm off in my sleep, this morning. Not like me to oversleep. You’re my savior.”
Jenny had turned up at 6.50am, ten minutes before the shop was due to open. If it hadn’t been for Jordan, she would not have managed to get the papers brought in from the shed, sort them into their piles for displaying, got the A-frame loaded up with the ‘Today’s News’ sheets and then sorted out Jordan’s papers.
Jordan gave a little embarrassed laugh. “No worries. I’ll get off now and deliver these.” He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “See you tomorrow.” With a cheeky smile and a wave, as always, Jordan was gone, quicker than Usain Bolt.
“Would you be happy for just one of us to work at lunchtimes?” Dayna asked, the moment she walked in.
“What do you mean?”
“Well… Are you ok if just me or Tasha work, while you’re on lunch?”
Jenny looked oddly at her friend. “Why?”
“Just wondering if you’d be ok with it?”
“I’d be ok with you working on your own… but, like we’ve said before, Tasha is very young. Why would you work on your own? I don’t get it…”
“So, if I worked on my own at lunchtimes, you’d be ok with that?”
“Yes but…” Normally Jenny could make out what Dayna was thinking but this time she didn’t have a clue. “…why would Tasha not work at lunchtimes?”
“I’ll reveal all later.”
“Ok,” said Jenny, unsure of what she might be letting herself in for.
“At lunchtime. When Tasha turns up – we’ll explain.”
Jenny nodded her head slowly as she mulled over the possibilities. She had no idea what they were up to.
Tasha strolled in at ten to twelve, wearing a big smile, tracksuit bottoms and trainers, which were not her usual attire for work.
“You been jogging?” asked Jenny, jokingly.
“Naah…” Tasha replied and blushed. “Where’s Dayna?”
“Just nipped down to the staffroom.”
“Oh, ok,” she said, shyly and shot off down the aisle.
As the clock reached twelve, Jenny’s tummy rumbled, signaling lunchtime. She hadn’t heard from Aaron yet and wondered whether he would call, text or just turn up at the shop, unannounced. Checking the mirror above, she could see that there were no people in the shop so she wandered down the aisle to the staffroom. As she approached the room, the door slammed shut.
“Wait there a minute, Jen,” came Dayna’s voice from behind the door.
Muffled giggles and whispering could be heard coming from the staffroom and Jenny puzzled over what they might be doing in there. She desperately hoped that this wasn’t another one of Dayna’s daft ideas… she always had plenty of them to share.
“What are you two doing in there?” Jenny laughed, nervously. “I’m getting worried now…”
“Just a minute, Jen. Go up to the counter, we’ll be up there in a sec,” called Dayna, before giggling.
“Ok, but don’t be long – this is my lunch break you know.”
“We know,” called both girls, in unison, before they started to laugh again.
“Oh… Jen?”
“Yes?”
“You’ve got to go with this… ok?”
“Err… ok… I think.” Jenny hesitated. “Err… what am I agreeing to, exactly?”
“Hang on a minute,” called Dayna, over the sound of strange rustling noises. “And you have to agree with what we say…”
“Yes… ok. I’m going up to the counter now – hurry up.”
“Be there in two ticks,” Dayna replied in a strange sort of muffled way.
Jenny walked behind the counter and stared out of the window. The road was void of traffic and pedestrians were scarce. She wondered how long, if ever, it would take for the shop to really take off. Would the leaflets that she had printed make a difference or would the man in the posh suit be right and it was all a waste of time?
“Do not look in the mirror!” Dayna shouted up the shop.
Instinctively, Jenny looked up at the mirror to see where Dayna was and could just make out her head, poking out from the staffroom door. “Ok, I won’t,” Jenny called back.
Turning back towards the window, she peered out absent-mindedly, as she listened to the scuffling of feet walking down the first aisle towards her.
Moments later, Jenny was aware of them standing behind her.
“You can turn round now,” said Dayna, excitedly.
Swivelling around on her heels, Jenny halted and stared… and she stared, harder… then she blinked, disbelievingly. “What the…”
Dayna and Tasha stood side by side, grinning stupidly. “The best is yet to come,” chirped Dayna.
“What? What are…?”
Simultaneously, Dayna and Tasha turned on their heels and stood, motionless, with their backs to Jenny.
“What do you think?”
Jenny was dumbfounded. “I… err… well…” Inhaling a deep breath, she continued. “Err… well… what does that mean exactly? I’ve heard it so many times but never really thought about what it means.”
“What?”
“The ‘be square’ bit?”
“Uncool – obviously.”
Jenny nodded her head, thoughtfully. “Ok, I think I get it.”
“High five!” said Dayna, reaching a hand up to Tasha’s and clapping them together.
“What’s it all for? How much did that
cost?” Jenny placed a finger across her lips and contemplated the vision before her.
Dressed in fluorescent pink waterproof trousers, matching jackets and high-vis, colour coordinated waistcoats, the two girls looked brighter than the Blackpool illuminations on a clear night. The bold, black lettering on the back of their waistcoats stood out, dramatically.
J’s Convenience Store
Be there or
be square!
“Got them cheap from Amazon. Lettering was the expensive bit. We paid half each. We have a plan, Jen, so hear us out.”
“I can see you have a plan,” Jenny laughed. “What do you both look like?”
“Want to get noticed, don’t we?”
“You’ll definitely manage that,” said Jenny, trying to keep a serious look on her face.
“I’ll take mine off now, so I can serve if anyone comes in,” said Tasha, shyly. “Cool aren’t they, Jenny?” Tasha smiled and walked off with a rustle and a bustle as she went.
Shaking her head from side to side, Jenny snorted. “Oh dear, Dayna. You do make me laugh. So what’s the plan? Oh… and I do hope that I haven’t got one of those outfits… please tell me that I haven’t got to wear anything like that in your plan.”
“No, silly. It’s just me and Tasha. We’re going to deliver the leaflets.”
“When?”
“Well, we had a little chat in the staffroom… and before you ask, I did not pressure Tasha into this. She’s quite happy to do the extra.”
“Extra?” Jenny stared, worriedly.
“We’re both going to do an extra hour, each day.”
“Really… but I can’t…”
“For free…”
“Oh, ok.” Jenny’s troubled expression softened. “It’s a bit much to ask of you both though, Day.”
“That’s the point, Jen – you’re not asking – we’re telling.”
“Ok,” Jenny replied, resignedly. “So when are you going to do this?”
“As we swap shifts around each day, we’ll be swapping the delivery times round too. So, basically, one of us will deliver from eleven till twelve and the other from two till three.”
Jenny nodded and smiled. “Ok, but are you sure that you’re both happy to do an extra hour each day?”
“Yes – stop worrying. We’ve been talking about this for a week now. Tasha is bringing her bike here, so she can whizz around on that. I’m guessing it’ll be fine to lock it up by the newspaper cupboard, round the back?”
“Yes, sure.”
“That’s that sorted then, we’ll start on Monday. You know, Jen, we can both see that you’re looking tired a lot, lately. The only way you’re going to get any time off is if you can afford to get more staff in. The only way that you can afford more staff is if you get more customers. The only way you’ll get more customers is if they know your shop is here in the first place.”
“You’re right, Day. Absolutely right. Thank you. I don’t know how I can ever repay you. You’ve gone out of your way to do this and I am so grateful,” Jenny said, humbly.
“We don’t expect you to repay us, Jen. We want it to work as much as you do. We love working here and we’ll do our bit to help you out.” Dayna paused and grinned. “Now clear off and go and have your lunch break.”
“Yes, Ma’am!” said Jenny as she stood to attention and saluted her dearest, but sometimes completely crazy, friend. “I’m going.”
“Oh,” said Dayna, “and check your phone – I heard it go off when I was down in the staffroom.”
“Ok, thanks.” Jenny scuttled off and passed Tasha on the way, who had already changed back into her normal, bog-standard, tame-coloured clothes.
“Well… you never know… it could be Aaron,” Dayna called out.
Plonking her bottom down, Jenny leant back in her chair, clutching her mobile to her chest. Is it him, she wondered? She almost didn’t want to look, in case it wasn’t. Jenny could hear Dayna, in the staffroom, changing her clothes and making cups of tea. Holding the phone in front of her, Jenny swiped the unlock key on the screen and peered at the message notification. Calvin. Bloody Calvin was still sending pathetic little, needy messages.
How’s the shop going? Heard you’ve had some problems with customers. Call me if you need any help. Calvin. X
Thanks, Calvin but I’m dealing with it. You know me – never give up, whatever is thrown at me.
That’s my girl!
I’m not your girl, remember? Thanks for offer of help though. Jen.
Still tetchy I see. From cool, calm and collected Calvin.
Jenny listened to the chugging, clunking sound of the printer as she nibbled her way through a tuna sandwich. She’d reeled off 600 leaflets to date. She was guessing she’d need at least another 600 just to serve the area in closest proximity, without even venturing down Millen Road at all. Also, there had to be another 400 houses on the housing estate at the back. Did the girls realise just how many homes they would need to deliver to? Placing the rest of her sandwich back in the cellophane wrapper, she leant back in the chair and closed her eyes as the printer continued to do its thing.
A rap on the door woke Jenny from her doze. “Come in,” she squeaked, sleepily.
“Jacob,” said Dayna, handing the phone over.
Jenny looked at the phone sitting on her desk. “Blimey, I didn’t hear the phone ring.”
“Having 40 winks, were you,” Dayna said in jest, before winking an eye and leaving.
“Hi Jacob, are you ok?”
“Yeah fine. Dad wanted me to ring – to find out how things are going. He’s tied up with a big job at the moment.”
“Oh, yes, everything’s fine.”
“What about the bill for that woman’s car?”
Jenny paused and thought for a moment, she’d forgotten all about that. “Oh… err… I couldn’t be bothered with it, Jay, so I just called them and paid it off.”
“You idiot – why did you do that?” Jacob sounded annoyed.
“I’ve had too much other stuff going on to worry about that as well.”
“Ok, well you know that you’ve been ripped off there – good and proper.”
“Yes, I’m sure I have but I just wanted it out of the way.” Jenny sighed. “The man upstairs has been enough for me to deal with – without anything else to worry about.”
“He still giving you trouble?”
“Not any more… or should I say, not at the moment. But, Jay, you wouldn’t believe it if I told you what I found out about him.”
“Try me.”
Jenny spent the next ten minutes telling her brother the gory details of Denny and Jessie Smith’s torrid marriage, full of woe, deception and violence. “Look it up on Google, it tells you all about it.”
“Bloody hell. I do hope that you won’t be going up to his flat again.”
“Absolutely not.” Jenny heaved another sigh. “The council can deal with any problems that he thinks he might have with me in the future.”
“Yes, do not get involved with him. And don’t spread gossip around with your customers, it could cause no end of problems for you.”
“Jay, I’m not stupid – of course I won’t. I haven’t even told Day and Tasha everything.”
“They should know, don’t you think?”
“Yes, they do know most of what the woman told me, but I just said to them to Google the rest… and no, they won’t go spreading gossip. Tasha even said that she won’t be telling her mum anything. Apparently, her mum would go broadcasting it around the world.”
“Ok, well I’ll tell Dad about it – obviously, he won’t say anything to anyone.”
“And give him a hug and a kiss from me.” Jenny felt a pang of guilt wash over her. She hadn’t called her dad or popped in to see him, on her way home from work, like she’d promised.
“Yeah, don’t worry, he knows you’re busy. Aren’t we all?”
Jenny laughed. “Yep, ok, Jay, I’ll see you soon. Love to everyone.”
>
“See you soon Sis.”
A few minutes later there was another knock on the door. “Yes?” said Jenny, suddenly wondering if it might be someone to see her. Someone like Aaron…
Dayna poked her head around the door. “I’ve got a text message,” she squeaked, excitedly. Bouncing down the step, into the office, she closed the door behind her. “From Will.”
“Will?” Jenny frowned. “The dentist?”
“Yes!” Dayna clutched her phone to her chest. “Can’t believe he’s replied to my letter.”
“What did he say?”
“Well… err…” Dayna stuttered. “Well… he… err. Shall I read it to you?”
Jenny nodded her head and smiled, awkwardly. By the wobble in Dayna’s voice, it didn’t sound good.
Dayna breathed in deeply and looked down at her phone. “Hey, Dayna. Great letter! I thank you for your kindness and the offer of an evening out with you…” Dayna looked up and grinned.
“Ah, that’s sweet,” said Jenny, having empathy for her friend because, somehow, she felt that there was a ‘but’ coming.
Dayna continued, after another deep breath. “Somehow we seem to have gelled, over such a short time and very few visits…” Dayna paused and looked up with the biggest, cheesy grin, Jenny had ever seen.
“Go on,” said Jenny, impatiently. Maybe there wasn’t a ‘but’ in there.
“You’re a beautiful lady…” Dayna clapped the phone to her chest again and looked up to the ceiling. “Aah…” she breathed.
“Oh bless him. Go on – go on.” Jenny’s heart was beating fast, in anticipation.
“It would be good to keep in contact and maybe one day we could go for that ‘American Diner’… maybe even in America! Ha ha.” Dayna looked up again. This time there was a sadness in her eyes.
“Is that it?”
“No, one more bit,” Dayna replied, glumly. “I’m leaving the UK in the new year. I’m going back to the US to start a new practice over there. Hey, but keep in touch, won’t you?”
