Which meant playing Santa instead of splurging on Givenchy.
Her sudden melancholy mood didn’t escape Carole.
‘Is everything OK, honey? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go on about the dress.’
Holly shrugged and waved her hand airily. ‘Oh no, it’s nothing. Sorry, just have some stuff on my mind. Danny started talking about dads again this morning. Apparently, he has taken note that some of his friends’ fathers pick up their kids at school.’
‘I’m sure he just thinks that you could use someone else around,’ Carole offered. Holly looked up to protest, but Carole cut her off. ‘I know, I know. You are superwoman and you can do it all. But I’m sure that Danny’s just thinking about your happiness, not his.’
‘But I am happy,’ Holly insisted.
‘I know you are,’ Carole continued. ‘That’s plain to see. You are one of the most optimistic people I know. You see romance and joy around every corner and infect everyone you meet with all that positivity. Do you think Danny doesn’t see that? All I am saying is that you, too, deserve a little magic. You’re too young to take yourself out of the game completely. You don’t want to end up like me, all by myself,’ Carole said with a self-deprecating smile.
‘Oh Carole. I’m sure I could do much worse than end up like you,’ Holly teased, referring to her boss’s whirlwind social life.
‘Well then, you need to get your diary filled. No way are you going to add more charms to that bracelet if all you do is sit at home in your pyjamas.’ Carole patted Holly’s arm knowingly, aware that she had a tradition of adding charms that signified important life events and experiences to her charm bracelet. She also knew that Holly hadn’t added a charm in several years.
‘Thank you, you’re right. I’ll make a start on filling up my social calendar.’
‘Good.’
‘Just as soon as I unpack all those boxes out back,’ she added with a wink, skilfully evading the topic.
Carole shook her head as Holly headed towards the back of the store. ‘Well, it’s your life, but do you think Anna Bowery waited for Sinatra to ask her to dance? Absolutely not, I bet she took the bull by the horns. Especially in that dress!’ Holly pushed open the stockroom door with her hip. ‘I believe it,’ she called back. ‘In that dress, a girl could do anything.’ She quickly brushed through the doorframe, hoping to avoid any further discussion on her social life, the dress, or her lack of either. That simply was not a reality. She knew where her responsibilities lay: firmly with Danny and what was best for him.
She shook her head as if to rid herself of the cobwebs of gloom that had now descended upon her. Determined to recapture the optimism with which she had begun the day, she picked up a box cutter that lay on a folding table and turned to the boxes that Harold had delivered. Who knew what treasures were waiting to be discovered within?
She applied the box cutter to the top of the first one, slicing it open quickly and expertly, realising that it was a true garment box. Some of their stock came in anything: garbage bags, cardboard boxes, milk crates even. This box was beautifully packed, as if the owner understood well the worth of the clothes. There were a few gorgeous leather handbags on top and then some suits, all carefully wrapped in tissue paper. Three suits, to be exact. Holly pulled them out and lined them up on a rack in front of her. Three perfectly kept Gucci suits: one pink, one brown plaid and one in black. She gave a low whistle.
‘Wow, this is good stuff,’ she whispered under her breath. Why would anyone want to part with it? Then she smiled as she answered her own question. Someone with lots of money, of course. It was typical for the time of year, actually, especially amongst New York’s wealthy, who routinely purged their closets, readying themselves for the onslaught of holiday shopping. Nice …
She went about the business of inspecting them for tears and blemishes and going through the pockets. People rarely used the pockets in designer pieces and most times they were sewn up to keep the lines of the suit smooth.
Then, going back to the box, she pulled the flaps wider to reveal a red velvet jacket … a very expensive, classic red velvet jacket. Chanel, no less.
‘Oh my, this is beautiful … just beautiful,’ Holly gasped, pulling the jacket from its packaging and shaking it out gently. She smiled as she examined the workmanship; the quality the Chanel brand put into their individual pieces was truly exquisite.
As she admired it, she couldn’t resist wondering what it would look like on. ‘Oh what the hell.’ Holly peeled off her own jacket and placed it aside. Unlike the dress, she just might be able to afford this – plus it was practical and she could wear it anywhere, no special occasion required. Slipping into the jacket, and buttoning it up, she ran her hands over the delicate fabric, checking the way it fitted.
But as Holly turned to a mirror to admire the effect while smoothing the jacket along her torso, she felt something. Something hard inside the jacket, beneath the material.
‘What in the world … ?’ Holly unbuttoned the jacket and pulled open the lapels, wondering if something from the box had got snagged on it. But there was nothing immediately apparent against the interior lining.
Her hand returned to the spot where she had first felt the hard bulge. It was still there.
She turned the Chanel jacket inside out and was examining the lining when Carole came into the stockroom. ‘Holly, have you seen that beaded purse we had on display last week? Has it sold? Someone is asking about it …oh wow, that’s beautiful.’
Holly shook her head. ‘There’s something wrong with it, though. I tried it on and there’s something … hard inside.’
Carole stepped closer. ‘Something hard?’
‘Yes … right here … oh, there’s a pocket!’ Holly ran her hands along the seam and pointed out a small, barely concealed zipper that was secreted away in the lining.
‘Let me see,’ Carole peered over her shoulder. ‘Well, Chanel certainly never put inner pockets in these. This must have been altered by the original owner – or for her, at least.’
Holly gently tugged at the zipper and it opened easily. ‘There’s definitely something in here.’ She put her hand in the secret pocket, and her fingers sought out an object cool to the touch.
Taking it out, she revealed a silver chain. Actually no, she realised quickly, it was a silverbracelet- full of dangling trinkets and pretty objects.
