The Visitors(41)

Inside, a petite middle-aged woman had greeted them and offered them drinks. ‘A pot of coffee and some biscuits would be great, thanks, Myra,’ Brendan had told her. ‘Bring them through when you’re ready.’

He’d opened a door on the left and they stepped into a large rectangular room featuring an entire glass wall overlooking the car park. Holly guessed this was the wall of smoked glass she’d spotted when they’d first arrived. It was crystal clear this side, whilst looking out, but a completely private screen for anyone trying to see in.

At one end of the room was a large round glass table with ten matching Perspex chairs; at the other end a smaller, individual glass desk and pedestal chair.

Holly was struck by the modern, minimalist look of the place, and it also occurred to her that the desk was probably the tidiest she’d ever seen, with barely a thing on it.

‘This place is amazing,’ Markus had said, slowly turning in a circle to take it all in.

‘Thank you. I like it,’ Brendan replied simply.

He’d pulled out one of the chairs at the conference table and lowered himself into it. ‘Both of you, please, sit down.’

Myra had brought in a tray of coffee and biscuits and set it down before leaving the room again.

‘So, Markus, we can talk about the IT stuff in detail a little later when my business partner gets here, but in the meantime,’ he’d turned to Holly, ‘Markus tells me you might be looking for a job yourself?’

‘Oh, yes!’ she’d managed, a little taken aback. ‘I’ll do anything. Bar work, waitressing… anything you’ve got, really.’

‘That’s what I like, a young person who’s willing to graft.’ Brendan had nodded appreciatively. ‘Actually, I have got something in mind, but it’s a bit different from what you’re suggesting.’

She’d waited, all ears.

‘My wife needs a bit of help in the house. Cleaning, ironing, but mostly companionship. She gets a little lonely at times, with me working so many hours.’

‘That sounds really interesting,’ Holly had said. She could clean and iron, so that was a start, she’d thought to herself.

‘And… what are you like with kids?’

That had taken her aback. She didn’t really know any kids; she was only just past being one herself.

‘Fine,’ she’d heard herself say. ‘I love kids, get on really well with them.’

‘That’s good.’ He’d nodded. ‘Not for us – we haven’t got kids – but some of the team bring them in here and it would help if you could keep them entertained for the odd hour or two, you know?’

‘That sounds… perfect.’ She’d made a great effort to keep her voice level because she’d actually felt like dancing around the office and punching the air. Could it really be this easy?

All the suspicion and dread she’d had about Manchester before that moment completely drained away in an instant.





Chapter Thirty-Two





Holly





The next day at the briefing, Josh informed everyone that Emily would be in an hour later than usual as she’d had to make an emergency dental appointment after losing a filling the previous evening.

‘As discussed, I’ll be discounting the Brooklyn corner suite at some point this morning.’ He hesitated. ‘Bad luck, Holly. Emily told me you were certain you had that sale in the bag yesterday.’

The other sales staff pulled sympathetic faces at her.

Holly shrugged nonchalantly but the back of her neck bristled as she imagined Emily making fun of her to Josh.

‘And don’t forget, folks,’ he added, ‘we need to really push the Lalique vase, as Mr Kellington bought it not realising the new collection will be out in a couple of weeks’ time. Several of our customers are avid collectors, and once they realise, we could get saddled with it and lose some serious money.’

Both Ben and Martyn, the other sales assistants, asked Holly how she was doing and told her to just ask if she needed help at any point.

‘Thanks, guys,’ she said, thinking how pleasant they were compared to Emily.

She didn’t think it was her imagination that, thanks to Emily’s absence, the atmosphere today was so much more relaxed and cordial between the staff.

Josh had barely finished unlocking the doors when the first customers of the day arrived. Holly immediately recognised them as Alice and Luke, the young couple interested in the corner suite.

‘Hi, Holly!’ Alice waved as they walked across the shop floor, and Martyn, who was nearby and already approaching them, nodded to Holly and fell back.

‘Hello again.’ Holly beamed when Alice gripped the top of her arm in excitement.

‘Holly, if you can get us some money off, we’re going to buy it!’ Alice spluttered, unable to hold in her glee. ‘Right, Luke?’

‘Right.’ He smiled at his wife. ‘Thanks for being so patient and giving us a bit of space, Holly. We just needed to be absolutely sure.’

‘Really?’ Holly’s eyes widened but she tried to look as if she pulled off this kind of sale every day. ‘That’s fantastic! And I totally understand you needed to be sure; it’s a lot of money to invest in your home.’