All That She Can See(14)

‘Yes, completely right, Mrs B,’ said Mr Datta who barrelled over and hugged Cherry so hard, her feet came off the ground. Cherry had changed Mr Datta more than most. Her pie had given him a whole new lease of life. The less he cared about his hair, about his unfulfilling conquests and about how he wanted everyone else to perceive him, the more room he had in his life to care about the things that really mattered. Like being personable. Like his business and livelihood. Like the child he hadn’t planned on having; a child he’d only spent a handful of hours with since he’d been born ten months ago, a child that Mr Datta hadn’t told anyone about because he was ashamed, and a child he’d often considered a nuisance, a weight that dragged him down. Now, because of the humility Cherry’s pie had given him, his eyes had been opened. Now, he adored his son and wore the bed-head hair and the sick-stained shirts like a badge of honour. They told the world he was a father and he couldn’t be prouder. In turn, the townsfolk couldn’t be prouder of him and his shop was now a friendly, welcoming place where people enjoyed listening to his stories, not of his imaginary adventures, but of his child and his life as a father.

‘We’ll really miss you, Cherry,’ Felicity said, shaking Cherry’s right hand.

‘You should still expect deliveries!’ Fawn added, taking Cherry’s left hand.

‘That’s so lovely of you,’ Cherry said, ‘but I’m not entirely sure where I’ll end up! I’ve not really thought this through.’

‘Well, it’s a good job you’ve got a businesswoman on your side, isn’t it?’ Miss Kightley said, looking up from her phone. She’d been tapping on it for the last few minutes. ‘I’ve just contacted a friend of mine in Cardiff. He’s lost a tenant in one of his properties. It’s a very small little shop. Used to be an ice-cream bar but strangely it didn’t do too well in Wales. There’s a one bedroom flat above the shop. This is the rent. How does that sound?’ She turned her phone to show Cherry the details from her friend. She registered the monthly rent with interest and a growing sense of excitement – she could definitely afford that, for a while at least. Suddenly, moving away was all very real.

‘That sounds… that sounds…’ Cherry looked around at the smiling faces of everyone she’d come to love. Then her gaze drifted past them to the window. There was nothing obstructing the view and she could see the trees swaying in the wind and the spray of the sea in the air. There were a few tiny Meddlums scuttling around on the pavement, but they seemed much more manageable now. There really was nothing tying her to the seaside town – her work here was done. She thought of her inheritance and the money her father’s bakery would fetch. She thought of the freedom of being able to travel wherever she wanted to and of having a purpose.

Cherry turned to face her friends, a happy smile on her face. ‘That sounds marvellous. I’m in.’





6





Cherry Online





Four years and seven months after Cherry had first decided to move on and said goodbye to her father’s bakery and their family home, she found herself by the seaside once more. One night, as she lay in bed above her bakery in Sheffield, it called out to her. She could hear seagulls and felt the waves crash against the walls of her mind. It was too soon to return back home so she boarded a train and travelled four hours to Plymouth. Another twenty minutes in a cab took her to Royal William Yard where a little pop-up shop was waiting for her. Cherry knew it was too small for a lengthy stay but it would do for a while, just to be close to the sea. And once again, Loneliness wasn’t able to cross the threshold. It often tried to, but each time it burnt its rubbery skin on the invisible barrier. It persevered though and kept running and jumping at the door. Cherry sat and watched for a while, enjoying that wherever she went, Loneliness was never able to enter her bakeries.

After a lot of organising, redecorating and a huge amount of baking, she opened the doors to her new bakery. The benches were polished wood, the walls were papered in gold and turquoise and she’d purchased the old-fashioned cashier till from an antique store. Although Cherry had invited Margie into her bakery before it had been ready, no one visited on the first day. An elderly couple did look into the window, as did their two-headed Meddlum, but they continued on. A group of school children also lingered in the doorway for a minute or two on the second day with their Meddlums, each of them far larger than their owners, all pushing each other out of the way to get a better look, but they didn’t buy anything. Cherry wondered what she was going to do, and then it struck her. She knew just the right person who could help her drum up business in a heartbeat.





‘Miss… Miss Kightley?’ Although Cherry was now used to interacting with people and being talkative and social, she still found Miss Kightley intimidating and at her heart, Cherry was naturally timid.

‘Hello? Who is this?’ Miss Kightley said.

‘It’s Cherry. Cherry Redgrave?’ There was silence on the other end and then Cherry heard Miss Kightley sigh.

‘We thought we’d lost you, dear. Fallen off the planet. It’s so good to hear your voice. How are you?’

‘Fine! I think. Maybe.’ Cherry perched on the shop counter, watching potential customers only glance through the windows and then waltz past on their merry way. ‘Maybe not.’