‘I haven’t seen you here before. I work here, see, get used to everyone who comes through. Same old faces, same old habits, same dirty bitches, oh, and their dogs.’ He smiled broadly.
Gracie noticed a good set of teeth along with cropped brown hair, a slightly outgrown goatee beard which she didn’t mind, even though Lewis had always been clean shaven. She also noticed his smouldering brown eyes and beautifully shaped big lips. She loved big lips on a man. He was in his late twenties, she reckoned.
‘You didn’t have to do that, you know.’ His small act of kindness made Gracie feel like she wanted to cry and just not stop. ‘But thank you. Thank you very much.’
‘I know I didn’t, but I did. By the way, my name’s Ed. I would shake your hand but…’
Gracie smiled, looking at the green bag hanging from his finger.
‘So what do you do here then, Ed?’ She felt she ought to make a bit of an effort as he had just picked up her dog’s shit and he was rather handsome.
‘Ground work on the common. Keep it shipshape, you know. I charge around on my quad bike, trying not to run over any posh birds and get sued.’ Gracie liked his devil-may-care attitude. ‘Well, good to meet you…’ Ed hung waiting for answer.
‘Gracie, my name’s Gracie, and this is Boris.’ Boris was now dragging around a stick wider than the length of his body and growling. ‘And he’s actually my sister’s, hence my amateur attempt at canine shit disposal.’
‘Well, he’s a lucky boy having you at the end of his lead.’ Ruffling Boris’s brown coat, the handsome one winked. ‘Right. I’d better do some work.’
Gracie, not sure what to do with this obvious flirtation, stood up, then swore loudly as her jeans began to slowly slip down her hips. She sat down again abruptly.
‘You OK?’ Ed called back.
‘Not really, but I’ll get over it. Seeing all these runners makes me think I should get fit.’
‘You look fit enough to me.’ He grinned. ‘Bu if you need a bit of a push there’s a running club that meets here regularly.’ He assumed a posh voice. ‘The SW19 Club,’ he laughed. ‘There should be details on the café noticeboard.’
With that he leapt on his bike and whizzed past her with a smile and a wave.
FIFTEEN
A week later Gracie sat opposite her boss in Marcy’s. To avoid the elephant in the room she began talking about everything from the weather to the forthcoming summer party for their biggest client – until Rob cleared his throat and said casually, ‘Just so you know before you make any rash decisions,she’sgone.’
‘What do you mean, she’s gone?’ Gracie took a sip of her cooling coffee.
‘Annalize. She’s gone. Resigned.’ Rob Warhurst wiped cappuccino froth from his beard.
‘Really?’
‘Yes, really. Now come on, finish your coffee, I’ve been flying solo for too long and I could really do with your help,’
Rob Warhurst had never been a very good liar. Of course Annalize hadn’t resigned; she had been on good money at Lemon Aid and was very much a career woman. But Rob’s heart was stronger than his head. She had upset his lovely Gracie and he couldn’t bear to have her anywhere near him, much less lose his favourite employee. Gracie was a fantastic, empathetic events organiser. He could replace a salesperson such as Annalize more easily than her, he hoped.
He had made Annalize redundant with immediate effect. She hadn’t kicked up a fuss probably because he had offered her a tidy pay-off in order for her not to threaten a lawsuit, which he assumed she would try to do. He was sure that her passive exit had nothing to do with guilt, as he was doubtful that that was an emotion ever to have troubled her.
Gracie lightly put her palm on top of her kind boss’s hand. ‘Well, that’s a relief. I thought I may have to resign. I do need to ask you something, though.’
‘Go on.’
‘I’d like to be a bit flexible with my hours, if that’s OK? I’ve found a running group on the common, but they seem to not fit in with the nine to five. I haven’t been yet but I want to try and go as many times as I can. I will make up my hours – start early, work late…’
‘Gracie, of course that’s fine. I know you know the devil’s in the detail with events. You’re experienced enough to work out what needs doing when, and you sure enough put in the hours, even weekends when needed. And I certainly don’t want to lose you. You’re special, you know.’
Gracie felt herself welling up. ‘It’s going to take me a while to get over this and I love you a little bit more now, you know that.’ Gracie kissed her boss on the cheek, which she noticed reddened immediately.
Gracie was putting on her coat when Maya approached.
‘Gracie, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, hi. How you doing? I’m so sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.’
