‘Digby, was she wearing jeans and Converse?’
‘She was indeed.’
Cammy refocussed on the screen. There she was. Blonde. Jeans. White Converse.
Looking at the clock at the top of the screen, he could see she’d been here just a few moments before he’d waltzed in with Val and Josie.
‘That’s her there,’ he told Lila. He played, rewound, played, rewound. The CCTV covered the till area, although it also caught the rest of the room, but the black and white image was a little grainy. It was the same system that Mel had fitted when she opened La Femme, L’Homme over ten years ago. If nothing else, this was a reminder that he should probably update it.
He paused on the best image, and both he and Lila strained forward to see it closer up.
‘Do you know her?’ Cammy asked, studying the image.
Lila shook her head. ‘Don’t recognise her at all. I thought maybe it was someone I’d met through work, but… no, never seen her before,’ she declared, her tone unquestioning. ‘What about you?’
Cammy was still staring at it. ‘I don’t know. There’s something… familiar about her.’ He was flicking back through scenes in his mind. Was she someone from the glory days when he was out in Glasgow clubs every night of the week? Or someone that used to come into the shop? He had such a feeling it was more recent. ‘Could it be someone you’re friends with on Facebook?’
Lila shrugged. ‘Don’t think so, but I’ve got over two thousand friends and I’ve never met most of them, so it’s possible.’
That whole concept never failed to bemuse Cammy. Over two thousand friends online, and she couldn’t pick most of them out in a line-up.
‘It could be one of the nurses or doctors from hospitals I’ve dealt with. I’ve told loads of people this is your shop…’
‘Thanks for the plug,’ Cammy interjected.
‘You’re welcome. Anyway, people always look different out of uniform so that could be it.’
Cammy stared at the screen again. There was definitely something about the woman that struck a chord. ‘I’m sure it’ll be something like that. But look, just keep an eye out. There are all sorts of weirdos around these days. Crazy stalkers on every corner,’ he said flippantly, then realised that Lila wasn’t in on the joke. ‘Hey, I was only kidding.’ He pulled her towards him, kissed her, long and slow, his hands gently tracing a line down the side of her face. ‘It’ll be fine. There will be a perfectly innocent explanation. In the meantime, why don’t I get Digby to lock up and we can go home, and I’ll pour youa drink, and do filthy things to you to take your mind off all this.’
Usually her shoulders would relax, her breath would deepen and her hands would start to wander at that very suggestion, but not today.
‘I’d love to, baby,’ she said, and she looked so sexy that, for a moment, he was sure she was going to agree, ‘but I’m not finished work yet. I’ve got one more appointment.’
His arms still around her, Cammy’s face was one big question mark. For fuck’s sake, this was all he needed. Hadn’t enough things gone wrong today? And now she had to work late.
‘At this time on a Friday?’
His irritation dissolved when he saw how mournful Lila was.
‘Sorry, babe, but it’s a meeting that got postponed from earlier. A cardiac surgeon. He got called into theatre. I’m just going to pop into Pluckers for a quick something, then go back to see him.’
‘Can’t it wait until after Christmas?’
She was already disentangling herself from his arms. ‘It can’t. I just need to get an order from him and if I don’t get it today I’ll miss my target. You know how it is – these guys work all kinds of hours and sometimes I just need to be flexible and fit around their schedules. It’ll be worth it.’
Cammy didn’t have much of a clue how her commission structure worked, but it had to be a big deal or there was no way she’d be going there instead of knocking off early.
She stretched up on to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek – the cheek.
‘I’ll be back in time for dinner though. What time are we going?’
‘We’re meeting your mum and dad there at eight o’clock.’
‘Okay, well I’ll try to make it home for sixish. That’ll give me time to beautify myself even more,’ she added with a giggle.
Leaning down, he kissed her again. ‘I love you, Lila Anderson. Don’t be late,’ he said softly, wondering if she could tell his heart was banging at the prospect of the unlimited list of things that could still go wrong – attempting to propose to a girlfriend who was working late and couldn’t make it being top of that list.
‘I won’t,’ she promised. ‘Love ya.’
