If the Shoes Fit

by Pauline Lawless

  She smiled around at them as Carlo handed out the contracts.

  “Does anyone have any questions?” she asked.

  Phoebe, of course, had, despite the fact that she had already interrupted Grace on at least three occasions to ask totally irrelevant questions. Grace was patient with her, but firm.

  Tessa glanced over at Amber when Carlo had passed them and mouthed “Phew”, fanning herself with the paper. Amber grinned back at her.

  Grace continued. “Now for the most important thing – money!” They smiled at her. “How much you earn will depend on you. The more reps you have and the more they sell, the more you’ll earn. Simple!”

  To the girls it sounded great. The wonderful thing was that they could do it in their own time – no nine-to-five – and as Grace explained, they would get out of it what they put in. The atmosphere in the room was upbeat and positive.

  Grace was pleased. “You all understand that this is a new concept in Ireland so we’ll be pretty much winging it, but we have done a lot of market research and feel it is very viable. We hope eventually to cover the thirty-two counties and maybe go even further afield. So you,” she held her two arms out to them, “are the pioneers, as it were, and will have the possibility of rising to senior management level with us.”

  The girls looked at each other, smiling.

  Amber noticed Lesley staring transfixed at Grace, a determined tilt to her chin. She nudged Tessa and surreptitiously rolled her eyes in Lesley’s direction. “She sees herself as managing director already,” she whispered, behind her hand.

  Tessa giggled. “Not with you to contend with,” she whispered back.

  “Bloody right!” Amber muttered. “Let the battle begin!”

  Grace was gathering up her notes. “I think you’ve had enough for one morning, so if you’d care to make your way to the dining-room, lunch is waiting for you. Just tell the waitress to charge it to If the Shoes Fit. Enjoy your lunch, ladies, and we’ll meet back here at two.”

  Niamh’s head was spinning trying to take it all in. She felt like pinching herself just in case she was dreaming. She looked across at Val, still hurt by her behaviour.

  What if there had only been six places and she’d got in and I’d missed out? she wondered. I would never have forgiven her. She was finding it difficult enough to forgive her now. Val was obviously avoiding her and went outside with Phoebe and Lesley for a smoke as the others headed to the restaurant.

  “I think it’s going to be a case of ‘them’ and ‘us’,” Tessa remarked as she sat down beside Amber, having picked up a salad from the buffet. The four girls had grabbed a table together and Val, Phoebe and Lesley sat at another.

  “I could do without their company, to be honest,” Amber replied, checking that Niamh was still at the buffet counter and couldn’t hear her.

  After Niamh and Rosie had taken their seats Amber leaned in and said in a low voice, taking care not to be overheard. “Isn’t that Phoebe something else?”

  Rosie rolled her eyes to heaven and Niamh giggled.

  “I’ve come across this type of woman often in the modelling business,” Tessa confided, keeping her voice quiet too. “Supremely self-confident and very loquacious, but an empty vessel behind it all.”

  “She is rather boastful,” Rosie agreed.

  “Pain-in-the-arse, if you ask me,” Amber muttered, to the amusement of the other three. “But let’s forget her for the moment.” She turned to Tessa. “I know now why you looked familiar to me. I’ve seen you on the cover of Vogue. You said you had retired as a model when you introduced yourself but don’t you still do some modelling? I’m sure I’ve seen your photo lately, in a magazine.”

  “That’s possible, but I’m well past my sell-by date. However, I do still have a contract with a cosmetics company so that’s probably where you saw it. It’s just four shoots a year but it pays well and of course my face is completely airbrushed!” Tessa laughed.

  “You still look fantastic,” Amber said admiringly.

  “I wasn’t surprised that you’d been a model,” Niamh said sweetly. “You look stunning.”

  “It must have been very exciting running a model agency,” Rosie said. “What made you give it up?”

  Tessa told them about her heart attack, moving to Ireland, and how she needed something to keep busy.

  “It must have been a shock to your system – leaving London – and work,” Niamh said sympathetically.

  “Imagine coming from the hectic London fashion world, to retirement in a small Irish village! However did you cope?” Amber asked her.

  “I didn’t. That’s why I went for this job. I’m not cut out for retirement.”

  “You’re much too young to be retired,” Rosie said kindly.

  “How about you, Niamh? What made you go for this?” Tessa asked.

  “Well, my husband is unemployed and we live with his mother, who is a dragon.” She rolled her eyes to heaven as the others laughed at her woebegone face. “I want to get the money together for a deposit for our own house and since the twins started school in September, I decided to look for work. This job seems like the answer to my prayers.”

  “I couldn’t believe it when you said you had three kids,” Tessa said. “God, you’re only a kid yourself!”

  “Not quite,” Niamh said blushing. “And what about you, Rosie? Why are you here?”

  “My husband died a year ago,” she told them, the sadness evident in her voice, “and I really couldn’t come to terms with it. My daughter, Gail, bullied me into applying and I’m so glad she did.” She looked around at the others, tears not far from her eyes. “Besides the fact that I’m very excited about the business, I’ve a feeling I’ve made three lovely new friends.”

  Tessa squeezed her hand and Niamh put an arm around her shoulders.

  “I’ll drink to that!” Amber raised her glass of water and they clinked glasses.

  “What about you, Amber?” Rosie asked. “What made you apply for this job?”

  “Besides my addiction to shoes?” Amber replied, making the others laugh.

  She then told them about her divorce and how she desperately needed a new start.

  “It’s a new start for all of us then,” Tessa smiled.

  They finished up their lunch and made their way back to the meeting, all of them sensing that they’d become good friends.

  Chapter 11

  Back at the meeting, the six shoe styles that would comprise the first collection were on display. They were exquisite and the girls descended on them like a flock of locusts on a cornfield. They positively drooled over them. Niamh had never seen such beautiful shoes in her life.

  “I can’t believe it,” Amber shrieked, pointing to a pair of silver shoes. “These are identical to the Manolo Blahniks that were stolen from Carrie on Sex and the City!”

  The others crowded round the said silver shoes, remembering the scene and agreeing with her. They were peep-toe, with one side cut out and a rosette on the front.

  “Not identical,” Grace smiled at them, “but very, very similar.” She winked at Amber. She was delighted with their reaction to the shoes. She knew that if they loved them, they would have no trouble selling them. “You will each get a set of these shoes and we would like you to wear them as much as possible, because by doing so you demonstrate them.”

  There was a gasp from the girls.

  “Wow!” Niamh exclaimed.

  “Fantastic!” said Amber, and she and Tessa high-fived each other.

  Even Lesley came down from her high-horse and looked excited.

  Grace and Carlo laughed at their enthusiasm.

  “We’ll take your sizes today and have them for you before you leave on Friday,” Grace told them. “We would also like to invite you for dinner on Friday night – a sort of graduation, if you like. Can everybody make it?”

  Phoebe of course had a problem. “I do have other plans for Friday night but I’ll see if I can rearrange them,” she said cond
escendingly.

  “Yeah, probably shopping in Tesco,” Amber whispered to Tessa who dissolved in giggles, earning a dirty look from Phoebe.

  Grace continued. “If, after six months, we feel you’ve got what it takes, we’ll take you to Rome for five days, for further training – all at our expense, of course. Will any of you have a problem getting away?”

  They looked at each other, disbelievingly. This was too good to be true.

  Niamh would have to have the kids taken care of but she was sure that her mam would take the kids again, as she had this week, to give her this chance. Wow! Rome! She’d never even been out of Ireland. She was so excited!

  Tessa knew that she would have a problem. How will I tell George? He’ll have a fit. He doesn’t even like me going to London to visit my old friends. Well, fit or no fit, I’m going to Rome. He’ll just have to get over it.

  Rosie said a little prayer. Thank you, Jack.

  Have a problem getting away? Amber thought. Are you kidding? This is a lifesaver for me. I’m going to give it one hundred per cent and I’ll make a success of it if it kills me. And I’ll make senior management, Lesley be damned! I was born for this company.

  She had caught Carlo looking at her several times but had avoided his eyes. Then she thought she must be imagining it. How could he be interested in her when Tessa was so gorgeous and Lesley so sexy? When the meeting was over she thought she saw him heading her way but he was intercepted by Phoebe and Lesley. He’s a womaniser, no doubt about that, she thought. Look how charming he is, even with those two. No, thank you! I need another Casanova like I need a hole in the head. She sighed. There was no denying that he was absolutely gorgeous, though.

  The four girls decided to go into the bar for coffee.

  “To hell with coffee, girls – we’re having champagne. My treat,” Amber said. “This is a special day.” She ordered a bottle of Moët.

  “Isn’t this a fantastic opportunity?” Rosie exclaimed. “I can hardly believe it.”

  “It’s great, though I wish my partner felt the same way. He’s not too pleased about me taking it on,” Tessa admitted.

  “My husband isn’t too happy about it either,” Niamh told them.

  Amber heard the tremor in her voice. Poor kid, she thought – a sister from hell and now a problem husband too!

  “What is it with your sister? Why didn’t she tell you she was applying too?” Amber was very curious about Val. She couldn’t understand how Grace had chosen her. She never would have.

  “No idea. She was there in Mam’s last Wednesday when I was leaving for the interview, and she never said a word. Mam certainly didn’t know she was going for it, or that she got it.” She looked really perplexed. “I don’t understand it. I’m sure she must have had a reason to keep it quiet.” Niamh, for the life of her, couldn’t imagine what it could be. “Maybe she resents me a bit. She was the baby in the family for six years and then I arrived. I suppose she wasn’t happy about that . . .” She trailed off, conscious that she was trying to make excuses for her sister’s actions.

  The other girls didn’t buy it.

  Val went out for another cigarette and came back into the room, hoping that Niamh would have left. Relieved, she saw that she had gone so she joined Phoebe and Lesley, who were talking to Carlo. The last thing in the world that she wanted was to bump into Niamh. She knew she would get a rollicking from her mother when Eileen heard that she’d gone for the job. Well, too bad! Val fancied Carlo like mad but she’d seen the way he’d looked at Amber. So, he’s interested in that posh bitch, she’d thought furiously.

  As she was leaving the hotel she spotted Niamh and Amber chatting cosily in the bar with the older woman and the stuck-up model. Trust Niamh! She twists everyone around her little finger, her sister thought bitterly.

  Val had hated Niamh from the very beginning. She’d been six years old and she still remembered the shock she’d felt when her mother had arrived home from the hospital with the tiny bundle. She’d asked her parents to send Niamh back and when they wouldn’t, she’d proceeded to offer her to anyone who came to visit. Up till then, Val had been the pet in the house and no way did she want this upstart around. She was jealous whenever anyone paid the slightest bit of attention to the new baby. She was especially angry that her father seemed enchanted with his new baby daughter. It hadn’t helped that Niamh had been so pretty and placid. She had big green eyes and golden hair and when she smiled, which was pretty much all the time, two little dimples appeared in her cheeks. The only time she’d ever cried was when Val had pinched her, which was often, and once when Val had bitten her.

  Eileen had been very concerned about that.

  “Maybe we should get counselling for her,” she’d suggested to her husband, Dan. “None of the others ever behaved like that. She’s so jealous of Niamh. I’m very worried.”

  “She’ll grow out of it,” he consoled her. “Don’t worry.”

  But Val hadn’t grown out of it. Twenty-three-years on, she still considered Niamh a usurper.

  The crunch had come when Val had fallen in love with Gavin Byrne. She’d been crazy about him and had even offered to let him go the full way with her, but he’d turned her down. When she discovered that he was in love with Niamh she’d been distraught and had even considered suicide. But then she decided that it would be better to bide her time and find a way to get even.

  She found it incredible that Niamh had no idea just how much she hated her. It amused her to see the perplexed look on her sister’s face when she said, or did, something nasty to her. Niamh couldn’t quite get it and always made excuses for her.

  Mam was another story. Her mother had guessed her true feelings and warned her off Gavin. Eileen would sure as hell be furious with her about this job. Well, it was worth it, she thought, with glee. I damn well took the wind out of Niamh’s sails today. Her face when I walked in – it was priceless! She laughed mirthlessly to herself at the memory.

  After the meeting, Niamh went straight to her mother’s to collect the kids. After she had hugged them and kissed Lily’s knee, which she’d hurt at school, she sat down with Eileen in the kitchen.

  “Mam, you won’t believe it! Do you know who was there? Val!”

  “Val? What was she doing there?”

  “She went for the interview last week and got the job too. I couldn’t believe it when she walked in. I thought something had happened to you or one of the kids. Why didn’t she say something?” Niamh couldn’t keep the hurt out of her voice.

  “The bitch!” Eileen cried. “I’ll kill her when I get my hands on her . . . Oh, sorry,” she apologised to the children, seeing their shocked faces.

  “Naughty Nana,” Rose shook her finger at her.

  “Bad word,” Lily got in on the act.

  “Yes, that was a very bad word. I’m sorry.”

  “Are you angry at Mammy?” Ian asked her, a worried frown on his little face.

  “No, of course not, pet,” she said, giving him a hug. “Why don’t I put on the Disney Channel for you and we’ll see if there’s something good on?”

  She ushered them into the living-room and settled them down there so that she could talk freely with Niamh.

  She returned to find Niamh putting on the kettle.

  “Bad as Val is, I didn’t think she was capable of doing that,” Eileen said bitterly. “The sly thing! That’s why she didn’t return my calls. I swear I’ll kill her, Niamh. This really is the last straw.” She was incensed with anger.

  “I can’t understand why she didn’t tell us,” Niamh said, shaking her head.

  “Oh, I can. She’s so jealous of you that she’d do anything to get at you,” Eileen was vehement. “You’ll have to be very careful with this job. Don’t let her spoil it for you, pet. She will if she can.”

  “But why?” Niamh asked, a bewildered look on her face.

  “Because she’s so jealous of you that she’ll do anything to bring you down.” Eileen’s face was thundero
us.

  “I just don’t understand it, Mam.”

  “Well, never you mind. I’ll sort her out tonight,” Eileen said, in a very determined voice. “I’m going round there right now, when you’re gone.” Niamh had never seen her mother so angry. As she went in to check on the children while Eileen made the tea, she found herself hoping her mother would calm down before confronting Val. She decided she wouldn’t refer to her sister again that day.

  “Oh Mam, I’m so excited!” she said as they sipped their tea. “If we make a success of it, after six months they’ll take us to Rome for further training. Can you believe it? Of course, I’d need you to take the kids while I’m there.” She looked at her mother anxiously.

  “You know I will, love. Rome. Imagine! I’ve always wanted to go there. Do you think you’ll get to see the Pope?”

  “I hope so, Mam. That would be brilliant. I’ll get your rosary beads blessed by him, if we do see him.”

  Her eyes were shining and Eileen was very happy for her youngest daughter. She deserved it all. Now to sort out the other one!

  She mused over it as she made her way over to Val’s. Despite everything she and Dan had tried to do, that awful jealousy had continued to gnaw at Val and obviously it was still there. Thank God that Dan or Niamh had never found out that Val was in love with Gavin. Eileen had warned her to keep away from him and that she’d never talk to her again if she did anything to damage Niamh’s marriage. Val was afraid enough of her to obey, but now this! Eileen knew her daughter well and, although she loved her, she didn’t like the woman she’d become. She’d never admit this to anyone, of course, and she often worried that somehow she’d failed Val.