I nod, recalling Laurie telling me the same thing, how she’d often go for weeks without a shower. ‘Who’s going to employ someone who stinks? Anyhow, I’m fifty-eight, no spring chicken.’
‘It must be hard,’ I say to my companion.
‘It is! Who’s gonna take me on? Would you employ me?’ She looks intently into my eyes, her stare disarming. ‘I used to work in a bank, can you believe it? Counting money and giving advice! Hah!’ She wags a finger at me. ‘Me! Giving advice! It’s no joke. I used to have a home, one hundred per cent. And a man. Nicholas. He put me high up on a pedestal. He died, you know. The love of my life. A lot of bad things happened to me. Bad things happen togoodpeople, you know.’
I nod, telling her I do know, and how sorry I am again, tempted to give in and buy her the vodka. I mean, what’s the harm? Why shouldn’t she have a drink? I’ll have one with her too. ‘Do you know about Soul Food?’ I ask her instead.
She shakes her head. ‘What’s that, pet?’
I tell her about the café, giving Nina’s enthusiasm a run for its money. ‘It’s every Saturday, half past twelve.’ I tell her the address, though fear she won’t remember it. ‘It’s by the church, you can’t miss it. We put banners and signs out on the street. They do charge a little, but we never turn people away if they don’t have enough money.’
‘Sounds too good to be true,’ she says, swinging round and nudging the man behind us. ‘Doesn’t it? Do you know ’bout this Soul Food place? You been?’
‘No.’ He catches my eye and smiles. ‘But it sounds wonderful. I might come along too?’
‘Yes!’ I say, rather too enthusiastically.
She nods at him. ‘The more the merrier! I’ll see you there, pet. Blow me down, you’re a good-looking chap. Isn’t he, doll?’
I try not to laugh again as we reach the front of the queue. But yes. Yes, he is. I actually noticed him when we were in the cereal aisle. From the amused look on his face, he’d clearly overheard my friend asking for organic porridge. He’s tall, slim build, light brown hair, black-rimmed glasses which made him look like a thinker, and a wide, open smile that could surely make anyone feel that life is worth living, even on the greyest of days.
I begin to unpack, noticing the odd look coming from the cashier, as if my new friend and I are unlikely companions.
My companion swings round and peers nosily into the stranger’s basket again. ‘A lasagne for one,’ she says. ‘Shame. No one special in your life then?’
It’s a good excuse to turn round and look at him again, trying to communicate with no words that I’m sorry about this invasion into his love life. But he doesn’t seem put out at all. ‘No, no one special at the moment. Unfortunately.’
‘Oh, shame! Isn’t that a shame, doll?’ she repeats to me as I pay for our food, distracted, flustered, wondering if I should ask him out for a coffee, or would that be weird, spook him out? Would it be too forward? Yet I asked Jamie first, and look how that turned out.
‘You’re an angel,’ she says to me when I hand her the shopping outside. A scruffy-looking man wearing a cap and carrying a guitar approaches us. He looks familiar. I’m sure he’s someone I’ve previously ignored on the street. She shows him the food I bought for her as if she still can’t believe her luck.
Just before I paid, I saw her looking longingly at the packets of Dairy Milk and couldn’t help myself. Besides, it kept me in close proximity to the stranger for that little bit longer. ‘Right, I must be off,’ I tell her, knowing Harriet will be wondering why I’ve taken so long to get our lunch. ‘It was lovely to meet you. Take care. And don’t forget about Soul Food. We’d love to see you there.’ I glance at her friend. ‘You’d both be welcome.’
She takes my hand and holds it firmly in hers. ‘What goes around comes around, doll,’ she says. ‘I’m Cindy by the way. God bless you.’
As I head back to the office, I catch myself looking over my shoulder. I see Cindy and her friend walking the other way, their arms linked. It’s only then I notice how pronounced her limp is. What I wish I could have done is buy Cindy a pair of comfy, matching shoes. Maybe, if she comes to the café, I can find out more about her, which doorway she sleeps under, or where she lives, but most importantly, what size feet she has. It wouldn’t surprise me if Craig knew her. It’s a small world out there on the streets.
My mind then drifts to the man in the supermarket. I wonder how many times we encounter strangers in a shop, on the Tube or in the park, strangers who could become so much more if we got over our fear and struck up a conversation. Instead, I walked away. Why didn’t I have the courage to ask his name? Or even ask him out for a coffee? I mean, what did I have to lose? The worst thing he could have said was ‘no’. Why wasn’t I brave like Laurie, who asked Ian out when they were in the supermarket, walking down the cheese aisle? ‘Holly, if I’d waited for Ian to ask me, I’d be half dead! Sometimes you’ve got to grab the bull by the horns, right?’ Laurie will be disappointed in me. Maybe he will come to the café? Or was he only saying that to be polite?
‘Excuse me,’ someone says, interrupting my thoughts with a tap on my shoulder. ‘I think these are yours?’ I turn. It’s him. Breathless, as if he’s been running for his life, he holds up my house keys with the Waitrose loyalty card attached to the keyring. After the cashier had scanned my loyalty card, I must have put my keys down to pay. But that’s not the point! My scattiness has finally done me the most gigantic favour. Don’t let him go again, don’t let this stranger walk away. The universe is giving me another chance. The universe is trying to tell me something.
‘I’m Marcus,’ he says, offering his hand.
‘Holly,’ I reply, my hand remaining in his. ‘Would you like to have a coffee with me sometime?’
Why can’t we stop smiling at one another? Why do I feel as if we’ve met before?
Someone was listening when I made that wish.
