He bought a gazillion tokens, and we rode the rides until I felt queasy. Then we ate burgers from the burger van and went over the road for a drink, which did nothing to settle my stomach, but I made it through on high spirits. It was only the second time that yearthat I was having fun—if the truth be told, I’d found our first date quite stressful—even though the Waltzer seemed to have given me whiplash.
“What do you do in retail?” James asked me as we settled at a corner table with our drinks. I was caught off guard and my mood dropped.
“I’m involved in displaying the stock,” I told him.
“Window displays? I remember you as being creative.”
“Not quite.” But I liked the idea that he thought I was creative, although I’m not. Or maybe I am; I’d been creative with microwave dishes after the oven burnt, and I made many of my own clothes. But those were from necessity. I didn’t feel they qualified as creativity.
“Do you do the displays inside the shops, then?” he asked. Wasn’t he going to let this go?
“Closer.”
“Do you have to do a course for that?”
There was an induction day, then a few minutes watching a more experienced colleague putting packets of dried rice on a shelf and telling me to make sure the oldest stuff was at the front. “Not a long course,” I said.
“Really? I thought it was quite involved.”
“Look,” I said, “I stack shelves in the SPAR. I worked at the bric-a-brac shop in Tippington and I loved it. I was going to go into antiques, Miss Bradbury said I had an eye for it, but it closed down. Then Mum died and I needed a job quickly and that is what I got. It won’t be forever, I’ll get another job in bric-a-brac sooner or later, or antiques, but for now, I’m working at the supermarket.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” James said. “My mother was at the SPAR for most of her working life.”
I was so relieved I could have cried. It was easy to forget Mrs. Dixon had worked there with the way she swanned around like Lady Muck, although she was a supervisor, not a lowly shelf stacker.
“I’m sure things will get better,” James said.
We finished our drinks and I couldn’t face another after the way I’d been shaken around at the fairground, so I said, “Shall we go? I’ve got an early start—deliveries in the morning and much to put on the shelves.”
He dropped me off at my house, but before I got out of the car…he kissed me!
***
We fell into a routine of regular messaging.
Good morning.
Really enjoyed last night.
Looking forward to next time.
Did you see Hollyoaks? OMG!(from me) and
Just watching Newsnight(from him).
Goodnight xx
xxx
xxxx
xxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
