Chapter Four

The next day was Saturday and officially my day off. I grabbed a cab to Celia’s house still feeling unsettled by my argument with Ed the day before and scarred about how close I got to revealing my past to him.  But I had also been cheered up when Marine had called that morning to tell me about all the orders we had been receiving, turns out Mimi Sutton had more influence in the community than I could ever imagine and people were leaving Gerard’s in their droves at Mimi’s recommendation.

Celia lived in a converted warehouse near to the sea, and was waiting outside when I arrived.  She impatiently grabbed my arm and dragged me inside.

“Now about this interview,” she started seating me down and bringing me coffee and her world famous croissants.  “I’m so thrilled about it.  I have our new features reporter, Josh Mercer, to do it for us as I thought his take on you would be fresher than mine.  I suggested he come to Seraphine’s to talk to you – is this ok?”

I had surrendered to do the interview late last night after Ed had left and I was drowning in my own thoughts.  “No problem,” I replied a little reluctantly.

“Great,” Celia continued.  “He’ll come by next Tuesday and wear some lipstick for once as he will be taking a photograph.” 

Before I could protest Celia was onto her next task.  “So do you want to hear what I heard today?”

“Tell me,” I squealed loving a bit of gossip.

Celia leaned forward and opened her mouth to continue when her daughter came bounding over and sat herself on the sofa switching the TV on.  Celia had Chelsea nine years ago when she was in a relationship with a man named Jerry. Jerry left shortly after Celia had got pregnant, but Celia did not care.  She had the baby she had always wanted and cherished her daughter. 

“Hey darling, why don’t you go and watch the TV in the playroom, mummy and auntie Lily are just talking.”

“I want to sit here with you,” Chelsea replied stubbornly.  Like mother like daughter I guess.

“Suit yourself,” Celia replied and turned back to me.  “So as I was saying.  I was speaking to Brent Crosswood and he was at a theatre premier at the Lincoln Centre yesterday and he saw Mimi, Harry and Caitlin Sutton.  Right in the middle of the performance, Caitlin stormed out and Harry did not follow.  Then at the aftershow party, Mimi and Harry had a massive argument in front of everyone and Mimi was later heard saying to someone that Harry had not heard the last of it and he would marry her daughter if it was the last thing he did.”

“And…..” I asked.

Celia sat back. “That was it.”

“Oh,” I replied a bit disappointed expecting something juicier.  But once again, before I could dig for anything else, Chelsea piped in with: “Mummy, why aren’t you married,” and I thought it might be time for me to leave.

When I got outside I checked my phone and found a frantic message from Marnie telling me to call her at the shop as soon as I could.  I decided to just go straight to the shop and grabbed the next cab over.  When I got there, Marnie came running up to me. “Thank goodness you’re here. We have a visitor,” she gasped while pointing behind her.

Behind stood a tall perma-tanned, Versace clad man.  He seemed to possess an immense presence that seemed to fill the entire store.  He spun around as I glanced over and bellowed: “Lily Anderson I take it.”

“Welcome to my shop, Gerard Davenport.  How are you?” At this point Ed had come down from upstairs and was standing beside the flamboyant designer. 

“Cut the sweet talk,” Gerard snapped. “You know why I am here.  And I hope you know that you can never aspire to even have a fraction of my business, expertise and artistry however much you try.”

Cooley I replied, “but it would appear your customers don’t agree….

Gerard cut me off, “I don’t know what you have done to entice them from my company – in the most unprofessional way, I may add – but rest assured Ms Anderson, they will be back.  You are merely a passing phrase, a fad!  You can’t possibly fulfil my client’s demands.”

Oh, I can.  I had heard the rumours but thought best not to entertain them right now.

“My emporium is a palace compared to this….this hovel!” Gerard continued.  “Talent starved traditionalist like yourselves can only dream of owning a business like mine.”

I had dared venture into the sacred halls of Davenport Design once before.  Gerard’s shop was more like a showroom, no clothes available for passing trade and a large security guard on the door.  Everything was white and sterile like a hospital and there were few staff parading around in stiff black suites and blank faces holding clipboards and donning headsets.  “I sincerely hope Seraphine’s never looks like your emporium,” I returned.

“Seraphine’s is nothing and I am going to make sure your business is ruined!”

Ed had been standing by listening quietly, waiting to see if he was needed.  Now he stepped in. 

 “Threaten her again and I’ll personally throw you out,” he growled into Gerard’s face.

Gerard’s mouth opened but nothing came out.  He flicked his hand up and strode out of the door turning back to say, “I will not tolerate Seraphine’s pathetic attempt at stealing my considerable share.  I intend to drive your business into the dust….”  Before he could finish Ed had slammed on the door in his face and Gerard was left red faced out in the cold.

Me and Ed looked at each other and could not help but to let out a little giggle.  “Not a happy bunny,” Ed said and I grabbed hold of him and gave him a big hug for helping me out.  For some reason the hug seemed to linger slightly and I caught Ed’s smiley eyes when he pulled away…..

The next few days flew by.  We were so busy with passing customers and orders for clothes that I almost forgot that it was Tuesday and time for Celia’s dreaded interview.  Ed was upstairs sewing away so it was just me and Marnie in the shop.  In preparation for the reporter I asked Marine if she could try tone down her bright dress code for the day, so when she turned up looking like a Lady Ga Ga reject, I was not really surprised.

Let me tell you a little about Marnie’s background.  She was raised as a good Christian girl by her parents in a small town in the middle of nowhere.  Her father was a school teacher and her mum was a homemaker.

They lived in a trailer and Marine spent her childhood helping her mum around the house, reading the bible with her father and was never allowed to develop her love and passion for designing and colour.

So the moment she was old enough she left home and travelled to the thriving town of Riverside where she signed up for design school and has never looked back. 

Before I could mention anything Marie burst into: “Oh Lily I’m in despair. I’ve met this guy at my community theatre group and his amazing and he doesn’t know I exist! I heard him tell the others that he had just come out of a long term relationship and he has got his eye on someone in the class but I doubt it could ever be me!”

“How do you know its not you?”

“I don’t really.  Oh my god I have not slept in a whole week.  I can’t get him out of my mind what do I do Lily?” I had been through this before with Marnie, infact every month there was a new boy she was fretting about.  But before I could answer her it was too late as I suddenly noticed Josh Mercer had arrived and was beaming at me from across the shop.  I offered him coffee and Marnie stomped off to get it for him.

“Hello Ms Anderson,” he started shaing my hand. “I love the vibe in your store,” Josh smiled mentally photographing every angle, feature and detail and taking out his notepad and pen.  “Seraphine’s is so different from other clothes design stores, like Davenport’s Designs.  How do you keep it that way?”

“We have a long tradition of serving the neighbourhood,” I replied. “Seraphine’s has been around long before me and I try to keep it just like it used to be, but with a modern touch.”

“So how does someone like you end up in Riverside?”

“I moved here from SimCity just over four years ago, worked for a while for Mrs Seraphine and then took over the business when she retired.” I replied hoping that this would be enough information.

“And what did you do in SimCity?  Were you a clothes designer there to?”

My heart begun to thud.  “No, I was a creative director for a small advertising firm.  But my mother was a seamstress and I learned by trade from watching her and helping out in her shop when I was young. Then after university I chose to enter advertising and wound up here, eventually.”

Josh looked up at me and I could see his inquisitive eyes peering from behind his glasses.  He opened his mouth to continue but was interrupted by the bell going on the door.  I spun around and saw one of my regular customers Mrs Schuster.  “Hi Mrs Schuster,” I shrieked a little too loud.  “How may I help you?”  I knew I should have left Marnie to deal with her but I needed to get off the subject of my past quick!

“Oh Lily, thank god you’re here. I need your help quick.  I have a dinner party tonight and have nothing to wear, could you help recommend anything.” I thought this was the perfect time to showcase to Josh how my business ran.  I introduced him to Mrs Schuster and went through the motions of how I serve a customer from sitting them down with a cup of coffee and going through designs.  To picking out one of the ready made outfits.

After Mrs Schuster left Josh concluded his interview of me and took some photos.  On his way out he told me how impressed he was with my business and how he was going to put a big positive emphasis on the article.  I was so pleased, and so glad I had allowed Ed to talk me into doing the interview.

A few days went by and it was Thursday, the only night during the week that Seraphine stays open until 9pm.  Its never very busy so only requires one designer to be in the shop on these nights.  Tonight was Marnie’s turn so I planned to spend the evening lazing around in my pyjamas and catching up on some sketching.

While trying to enjoy my solitude, my phone rung and it was Marine excitedly demanding I come down to the shop at once. It was already late and the shop would be closing in 30mins, so I went down in my pyjamas not bothering to get changed.

When I arrived Marnie grabbed me and hurried me over to the snug where she drew out a newspaper.  “It’s arrived,” she shrieked.  “Your review is here and there is a double page spread on you and Seraphine’s.  It’s amazing!”  Marnie then took her time reading to me every sentence and every line of the review.  I have to admit, it was very good.

While Marnie and I were busy dissecting the article, the bell on the door went and a customer entered.  I froze.  I grabbed Marnie’s hand and whispered out of the side of my mouth.  “It’s Harry Wilson.  I can’t let him see me like this in my pyjamas and with my hair not done what do I do?”  Marnie sniggered and pushed me off the sofa saying, “just go talk to him.  You look fine.”

As I approached Harry he said.  “Hi Lily. Your store is pretty cool.”

“Hi,” I replied very conscious of what I looked like.  “So what brings you all the way to Seraphine’s tonight?”

“I was in the neighbourhood and… oh wow you have coffee?” 

“Absolutely.  Only the best coffee in Riverside.”

“Oh really.  I’m intrigued.”  While we were talking I had not noticed Marnie trying to discreetly creep out of the way.  Bless her!

As I went to make some coffee I discovered my hands were shaking.  Get a grip, a voice inside my head scolded. He has simply come into the shop like any other customer.

Harry sampled the coffee and let out a growl of satisfaction.  “Now that is a great cup of coffee.” There was a pause and we exchanged smiles and sipped our officially certified excellent coffee.

“So I decided to come and visit as I need a suit for the Summer Ball and I had heard that you were someone who could help.” He continued sipping his coffee while raising his eyebrow.  My stomach did a summersault.

“Well you have come to the right place,” I replied.  “What did you have in mind?  What is your style?”

Harry’s eyes widened and he looked at me confused. “My style?  Erm… well I don’t know. I was hoping you could choose for me I guess.”

“A suit is a very personal thing, it tells a lot about a person.  If you want me to choose something for you, you need to tell me more about you so I can get it right.” I replied.  As awkward as this was, people have said that I design as if I intimately know the person who will be wearing it.  I can’t explain it really – I design with my eyes, my wisdom and my heart.

Harry’s eyes focussed on something a million miles away.  “I… I guess that would be a good idea.  How about I come back again another time when you are not closing up and we can go through it?  How about next Wednesday?”

“No problem at all,” I replied and there went the butterflies in my tummy again.  Harry drained the rest of his coffee and shook my hand and told me he would see me next week.  As he left he crossed paths with Ed who was on his way in.

Ed headed straight over to me where Marnie was also standing wanting to hear the juicy details.  “Hmmm…. that wasn’t the notorious Harry I keep hearing you drop into conversation was it?” he asked raising his left eyebrow.

“I thought you were on a date?” I asked trying to change the subject.

“I was but she was hideous so I ditched her.  Come on Lily tell me all the details,” Ed begged holding me by the shoulders and pretending to plead with a smirk on his face.

“A woman never kisses and tells,” I teased winking at him.  But even though Ed was smiling, his eyes were starring straight at me and it was not until I looked away that Ed himself looked away and said: “Like I care about your love life anyway Lily Anderson.  I have enough romantic problems of my own anyway.” And with that he skipped away.

I helped Marnie cash up the till and then went back upstairs to my apartment, still in my pyjamas.  I could not stop thinking about the look in Ed’s eyes.  I remember watching the six o’clock news one time with my mum when I was younger.  A British hostage had just been released and was speaking at a press conference.  He was smiling, and I remember commenting on how happy he looked.  “His face may be happy but he eyes aren’t,” my mother told me. “His eyes tell the real story.”

I went up to the TV and covered up the bottom half of his face and sure enough, his eyes showed pain, anguish and fear.  Ed’s eyes had the same look to them and it scared me.  He had said he was OK, but his eyes gave away another story!