The girl appeared to be wearing some sort of walkie-talkie, because she pressed a button and murmured something into it. Saskia was just about to step in when the purple-haired person from earlier came flying out of the warehouse, rushing for the till before placing themselves between the young girl and the angry man.
“Now, then, what’s going on here?” Their voice was soft, the man continuing to shout his abuse over it, so they repeated the question twice until he finally stopped for air.
“She gave me the wrong fucking change! I gave her a twenty, she gave me change for a ten! I just need a ten-pound note out of the till, but she’s refusing to give it to me! This is actual theft, you know? I could call the police – I couldsuefor this! And I know you. I’ve seen you before. You’re in on it too, you stupid old bag! You did the exact same thing to me, and you sure as hell ain’t gonna like the consequences if you don’t give me my money, you hear?”
Finally, he seemed to run out of air. The colleague was standing, arms folded, eyebrows raised in a cool and placid expression. But underneath it, Saskia could see fire and stone. This was not a person to mess with.
“Finished?” Their voice was soft as ever, and a Scottish accent began to make itself known. “Or are you going to keep shouting at the young eighteen-year-old shop assistant? Such a gentleman.”
“Now look here-”
“No,youlook here. You may know me, but you don’t seem to realise that I know you. We all do. You’ve been here before, and you’ve tried this shit before. It doesn’t wash. Want me to check the CCTV? We have a camera right there.” They pointed above the till, at a small camera that pointed down. “A very detailed one. Complete with audio recording. Want me to check it,Steven? And send it to your boss at the estate agent in Lygate?” Now they laughed. “If you’re going to try and scam a shop, at least do it somewhere where nobody is likely to know you. Now take your shopping and get out. You’re banned.”
“You can’t ban me, you stupid bitch. It ain’t even your shop!”
“I’m a member of the management team. I have full consent from the store manager to ban whoever the hell I like if I deem it necessary. Now, will you go quietly, or do Iseriouslyhave to take time out of my day to email Simon Myers?”
The man stared at the colleague for a moment, then stepped forward. For a moment, Saskia thought he was going to hit them, but he simply barged them out of the way to grab his bag. He stormed off without another word, and Saskia’s focus zoomed out to see a group of customers had assembled to watch the fracas. The purple-haired shop assistant immediately went behind the till to murmur something to the young one, and as one, the group of customers (including Saskia) offered a round of applause. The purple-haired assistant took over the till while the young one went out the back, and Saskia grabbed the nearestthing to hand (a packet of sweets), so that she could join the back of the queue and have an excuse to talk to them.
“That was spectacular,” she said as she handed the sweets over.
“Why thank you.” The colleague’s eyes twinkled, and up close, Saskia could see they were a bit older than she’d originally thought. Probably mid-fifties. “That utter berk has tried it before. He did the exact same thing to me about a year ago. I didn’t have the guts to stand up to him then, but I’m a different person now. Promoted and solidified. He won’t get away with that shit any longer. Pardon my French.”
“I’m a writer,” Saskia found herself saying. “A freelance journalist, and a blogger. I’m down here on business for the next few weeks. Would you consider being interviewed at some point, for a piece about the abuse of shop-workers? I’ve just been commissioned, and I feel like it’s kismet that that just happened.”
“Sure, why not?” They smiled. “I’ve been in this job for twenty-odd years – I’ve certainly got a wealth of material at my fingertips.”
They exchanged emails. The colleague wrote theirs down on a scrap of receipt paper, and Saskia took it from them, thankful that their name was in it.
“Well, thank you,Jean.”
“Actually, I finish in forty-five minutes. My wife is working late tonight, so if you’re happy to wait, we can chat over dinner.”
“Why not? I’ll wait for you in my car outside.”
“I’ll look forward to it!” Jean smiled again, and even winked, but their focus was already on the next customer.
What a badass,Saskia thought as she walked away. Then, just as she reached the door, a display of flowers met her eye.Pretty!
Fresh-cut flowers were certainly not the worst way to apologise to Kivi.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Kivi
The dining room felt exceptionally odd without Saskia that evening.
Over the last couple of weeks, the little table in the corner had become ‘her spot’. Kivi had taken the other chair away, and it felt odd putting it back there again so that Mr and Mrs Kinnersley could sit there. It was even weirder to walk out of the kitchen and see a different, older redhead in Saskia’s seat. Although if Saskia looked as good as Mrs Kinnersley in twenty years’ time…
Saskia’s car had returned to the car park at some point during dinner, but the woman herself hadn’t appeared. Perhaps she’d taken herself off somewhere else, given that Kivi hadn’t been expecting her. It wouldn’t have been a problem, since she’d made a couple of extra veggie skewers, and Kivi hadn’t stopped thinking about her all day. She’d have been really rather glad to see her, and check she was okay.
By the time eight o’clock rolled around, Kivi had cleared up everything from dinner and was grabbing a bite to eat herself in her own kitchen. Nothing fancy, just scrambled eggs on toast. She ate it standing up in the kitchen, Toto sniffing around herfeet hoping for a little snack. A quick scrub of the pots and pans – she didn’t see the point of a dishwasher when space was so limited – and she sat herself down with a bag of chocolate snacks, Toto stretched comfortably across her lap, remote control in hand as she perused the movies available to watch.
A knock on the door interrupted her.Bollocks, what NOW?Toto leapt up too, but he waited patiently behind her, his years of training paying off as she switched the TV off, fumbled with the key and wrenched the door open.
“Oh. Saskia.”
“Good evening.”
