Crazy in Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop. Annie Darling

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      All the while, Nina was aware of Noah, always in her eyeline. Lurking. Making notes. Not being the least bit helpful even though he could see that she was rushed off her feet, and would it kill him to put down his sodding iPad and slot a complimentary bookmark into a book, put the book in a bag and hand it to its new owner?

      But, apart from dropping the f-bomb when she had to put in a new till roll (always a tricky manoeuvre), Nina had been an exemplary member of the Happy Ever After team.

      Not that Noah said anything to Posy when she finally emerged from the office. He just said, ‘Well, I’ll be off, then. See you tomorrow.’

      Then he couldn’t leave the shop quick enough, probably so he could collate his gazillion notes on Nina’s lacklustre work ethic. Nina waited for the door to shut behind him, then rounded on Posy. ‘Three times I asked you to help me on the till! Three times! Have you any idea how busy it’s been this afternoon?’

      Posy put her hands up as if she could hold back Nina’s wrath. ‘Don’t, Nina,’ she said plaintively. ‘Very and I were going through the accounts. If I’d paused then I’d never have been able to find my place again. It will be better tomorrow. Tom said that he’s finished with his footnotes emergency and he’ll be in.’

      Nina would also be having words with Tom tomorrow for abandoning her for what sounded like the flimsiest excuse ever. Just wait until he found out about Noah. Talking of which!

      ‘And as for that Noah! I won’t have it any more, Posy! He is literally stalking me with my employer’s permission …’

      ‘Come on! He’s hardly doing that.’ Posy patted Nina on the arm in what was meant to be a placating manner but simply annoyed Nina even more.

      ‘He is. I can’t even catch a breath without him making a note of it. I shouldn’t have to put up with this.’ Nina was on a roll now. ‘I have rights! Workers’ rights!’

      ‘Actually you don’t,’ said a haughty voice from the door. It was Sebastian Thorndyke, of course it was, because he always popped up when Posy was in trouble, as if he had a sixth sense that let him know when his beloved was under attack.

      Nina whirled around to jab her finger at Sebastian. Normally she had a lot of time for Sebastian because he understood that passion and drama were the foundations of true love, and also he made Posy wildly happy, but today she had no time for him at all. ‘I do have rights,’ she insisted. ‘Any employment tribunal would tell you exactly the same.’

      ‘Oh my God, no one’s talking about employment tribunals,’ Posy said desperately. ‘Honestly, Nina, you’re completely overreacting about this.’

      ‘Overreacting or reacting just enough?’ Nina demanded. ‘How can you let that Noah invade my privacy with his electronic spy pad? I bet it’s against the Data Protection Act too. Like I said, I have rights.’

      ‘It’s all right, Morland, I’ve got this,’ Sebastian said, which was the other thing that really annoyed Nina – when he acted as if Posy was helpless without him, which she wasn’t. ‘Like I said, you don’t have that many rights because the other thing you don’t have is a contract of employment.’

      Nina opened her mouth but all that came out was a shocked gasp because Sebastian, God damn him, was right. Lavinia had been lovely, the best of all the bosses, but things like contracts and job descriptions hadn’t been too much of a priority for her.

      At least that made things easier for everyone. Nina opened her mouth again to what? Was she about to quit in a fit of pique? Was she really that stupid? Then the injustice, the unfairness, the Noahness, of the current situation swept over her in a wave of fury. ‘Right, fine, then I qu—’

      ‘Shut. Up!’ Posy snapped, her eyes flashing, because unlike Nina, Posy was slow to get angry but once she did, it was best to stand well back, preferably behind some kind of protective barrier. Though why Posy was angry with Nina was one more unfair thing in a whole week of unfair things. ‘Just shut up, Sebastian! Talking of contracts, how I wish I hadn’t signed a marriage contract! Nina, Very: pub! That’s an order.’

      ‘But we haven’t done the cashing up,’ Verity pointed out timidly.

      ‘DON’T UNDERMINE MY AUTHORITY! WE ARE GOING TO THE PUB!’

      

      ‘I’m not going to act the lady among you, for fear I should starve.’

      Half an hour later, they were sitting in The Midnight Bell, an empty bottle of Shiraz and the debris of three bags of crisps on the table, as Posy reassured Nina for the umpteenth time, ‘Nobody is being dismissed, unless it’s my husband. Noah isn’t there to create problems; he’s there to give us solutions. OK?’

      ‘OK,’ Nina agreed, though she was still a little sulky, even after Posy had explained that since the relaunch, apart from a surge over Christmas, footfall was down, which meant that sales were down and they couldn’t make a profit on website orders alone. Nina had wanted to remind Posy of all the brilliant ideas they’d had to bring in more customers when they were planning the relaunch but Posy had a stress rash all over her neck so Nina decided it was best to leave it for the time being.

      ‘Honestly, being married is really hard work,’ Posy was now complaining. ‘Don’t get me wrong, like seventy-five per cent of the time, Sebastian is lovely and makes me feel lovely too but the other twenty-five per cent of the time, he’s an absolute pain in the arse. Also, I have hardly any time to read any more.’

      Verity sighed long and low. ‘I know what you mean. I never thought that I could bear to have a full-time boyfriend …’

      ‘What about Peter Hardy, oceanographer?’ Nina interrupted. Peter Hardy who’d been Verity’s boyfriend before posh architect, Johnny.

      Verity blushed as she always did when her ex was mentioned. ‘He was hardly full-time, what with him being away so much graphing oceans!’ She shook her head as if she could hardly bear to talk about him. ‘Anyway, as I was saying, I can’t believe that Johnny fits into my life with the ease that he does – you know how much I need my own space – but my reading time has really suffered.’

      ‘World’s smallest violin, ladies,’ Nina said, rubbing her thumb and forefinger together. ‘I thought we’d come to the pub to reassure me that I wasn’t about to be sacked, and then we’d order another bottle and bitch about Tom and it would be just like the old days before you two “settled down”, so will you stop banging on about your relationships?’

      ‘You say “settled down” the same way that someone else would say “venereal disease”,’ Verity noted with a small smile.

      ‘Or “terrible personal hygiene”,’ Posy added and Nina didn’t even mind that they were ragging on her because she’d missed this, missed them. No one was more supportive of her friends’ love lives than Nina but God, it was so boring when they all safely and sedately paired up.

      ‘I would rather have a venereal disease than ever settle down!’ Nina said, which wasn’t at all true but it had the desired reaction. СКАЧАТЬ