The Visitors(54)

‘Thank you, Patricia,’ Geraldine had said briskly. ‘You can pop the tray just there, on the table.’

‘Anything else, madam?’ Patricia had said whilst staring at Holly.

‘That’s it, you may go. Thank you.’ Geraldine turned back to her. ‘Now, Holly, tell me all about yourself and why you decided to come to Manchester.’

Holly had reiterated a lot of what she’d already told Brendan. Dithering, pessimistic Holly, who fretted constantly about whether her new start would materialise, had been suddenly replaced in her account of the last year or so by a confident, ambitious young woman who was determined to do well.

‘I don’t know how much Brendan has told you about exactly what we’re looking for,’ Geraldine had said. ‘It’s an unconventional appointment in a way, and therefore essential that we get the right person. It’s not a position we can fill with just anyone.’

Holly’s mood had instantly dipped. She’d lived her young life so far as the girl who nobody chose as a best friend, who nobody wanted on their netball team and who had gone unnoticed by all the boys at school, and at college too.

There had been no reason to believe Geraldine would see anything different in her.

‘I can promise you I’ll work really hard to do a good job,’ she’d heard herself say, before biting down on her tongue before she could embarrass herself further.

Geraldine had smiled.

‘That’s good to hear.’ She’d nodded. ‘Because I’m looking for a very special kind of person indeed.’





Chapter Forty-Two





Holly





The showroom hit a quiet patch, so Holly took the opportunity to sit at her desk and begin to tidy up her mounting paperwork.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Emily put her current victims through their paces. She could almost lip-read the stages of Emily’s patter, and it was obvious that she was currently at the ‘Look, I might get into trouble but…’ stage, no doubt poised to fleece the unsuspecting buyers of an extra few hundred pounds on the back-room sales price.

Incredibly, this time the customers didn’t fall for it. The man held up his hands, then they thanked Emily profusely and left the shop empty-handed.

Emily stood motionless for a few moments, staring out of the window. There was something just a little off kilter about her today, Holly observed. It was difficult to pin down why the thought occurred to her, but for one thing, Emily had seemed a little too pushy with the customers, a little bit manic even.

Josh sauntered over and spoke to Emily in a low murmur that Holly couldn’t quite catch. Emily nodded and shrugged.

Holly thought he’d probably offered her sympathy. She could imagine him saying, ‘You win some, you lose some.’ That seemed to be one of his favourite phrases.

They walked back to Emily’s desk together, and as they passed her, Holly called out to Josh.

‘I might have a buyer for the Lalique vase later today. A customer is calling back to view it again.’

‘Brilliant, Holly… fingers crossed!’ He winked at her but continued walking. ‘Mr Kellington will be delighted if you close that deal.’

She saw Emily’s face tighten and enjoyed the frisson of pleasure that resulted from it. Emily was quite obviously grossly irritated by the thought of Holly pulling off another high-profile sale.

When Josh left the shop floor, Emily turned her back and picked up the telephone, speaking in a low enough voice that Holly was unable to hear the detail. When she’d finished the call, she replaced the handset and turned towards Holly, flashing her a self-satisfied grin.

Holly felt like asking what the smug attitude was in aid of, but she bit back the retort and continued to record her sales chits on the database that Josh would authorise before sending it through to the wages department at the end of the month.

Emily walked over to the large expanse of window that overlooked the busy main road. Holly noticed that her demeanour had changed yet again. She now seemed to hold less tension in her body and, in the short time since her customers had abruptly left, her face had softened a little. She appeared… mildly excited, almost as if she were looking forward to something.

Holly was helping Ben to rearrange the accessories in one of the room mock-ups at his end of the showroom when the doors opened. She looked up and smiled a welcome as the Fenwicks swept into the store.

‘Mr and Mrs Fenwick,’ she beamed, walking over to them. ‘I wanted to formally introduce myself. I’m Holly, the new sales assistant here.’

‘How nice,’ Mrs Fenwick simpered, taking her hand. ‘And how lovely that you already know our names!’

‘I’m not surprised, the amount of time and money we spend in here,’ Mr Fenwick muttered drily as he grasped Holly’s hand.

Holly mischievously thought that if she could grab them quick and make a sale under Emily’s nose today, it might just be enough to finish her off. She fought a grin as she imagined the pristine Emily crumbling in a puff of smoke with nothing left but a pile of clothes, just like the Wicked Witch of the West. But before she could progress her amusing idea, Emily appeared at her side out of nowhere, as if by magic.

‘Mr and Mrs Fenwick!’ Her face lit up like a lantern. ‘Thanks so much for calling in on your way home. Did you have a super lunch?’