you’d make a contribution to the rent, and get a share of the profits. In addition to that, you’d have a space of your own to sell the candles, your embroidered cushions and homeware, plusany new craft lines you might want to start. You’d have the benefit of café customers lingering long enough over their cups of Earl Grey to fall in love with the stock.’
Alison smiled, mulling it over.
‘I’d run the café, and organise everything to do with the food, including baking, so your time would remain devoted to the crafty side of things. But ultimately the space would be shared and I’d want for us to decide on the art and any events together. You mentioned you still had quite a bit left over from Pete’s redundancy payment,’ Jamie said. ‘So perhaps this could be a good investment?’
‘OK,’ Alison said. ‘This all sounds …’ she continued, grinning, a wave of excitement building. ‘I mean, you know better than anyone, Jamie, that this is what I’ve always wanted to do.’
Jamie reached over and gave her hair a ruffle. ‘Good,’ he said, ‘because you’re the only person I can imagine doing it with.’
‘So what would the costs be?’ Alison asked, sitting up straighter in her chair and clasping her scarlet-nailed hands together.
Jamie went over to the counter and brought her a sheet of paper with his calculations on it. He ran his finger down the right-hand column. ‘How about if you paid three hundred pounds amonth towards the rent at the start,’ Jamie said, ‘and then we could adjust that up later if you wanted? You said you had about half of Pete’s lump sum left, didn’t you?’
Alison nodded and looked over the figures on the sheet.
‘Anyway,’ Jamie said. ‘It’s a big decision, I know. And you’ll need time to think about it and talk to Pete. So just come back to me when you’re ready.’
Alison nodded, knowing that despite what Jamie said, he’d need to put a deposit down soon in order to make sure no one else rented the space.
‘You’re really making thishappen, aren’t you?’ Alison said, giving Jamie a hug. ‘Your very own café. Of course I want to be part of it.’
Chapter 7
Jenny
‘Chloe, come on, not that tight!’ I called out, giggling and reaching behind me to still Chloe’s hand. Chloe and I were crammed into a toilet cubicle at work and she was lacing me in to my wedding-night corset.
When the parcel arrived on my desk that lunchtime, Chloe spotted it from across the office, leaped up from her chair and dashed across the room, ringlets bouncing, shepherding me away from my computer and into the ladies’. I’d liked the look of the underwear on the Blackout Nights website – it was all original 1940s, and the corset promised a waspish waist and a curvy bust. My waist was now tiny – miniscule in fact – but I could hardly breathe, and looking down I wasn’t sure I had much of a boosted cleavage forall the effort.
‘All
riiiight
,’ Chloe finally relented. ‘I’ll tie it here. Spin around and show me.’
‘Spin around, are you kidding?’ I laughed. ‘We can hardly move in here without getting intimate.’
‘Right, let me get past,’ Chloe said, ‘and you can show me properly by the sinks.’
‘Come out then,’ she called a moment later. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got the bathroom on lockdown.’ I peeked out and saw she did indeed have her back to the main door, holding it firmly shut. I ventured forward, and took a look in the full-length mirror. I had on my work trousers still, but I looked completely different.
‘What a bombshell,’ Chloe said, smiling.
Actually, I didn’t look half bad. While my curves weren’t quite dynamite, they were, undeniably,
there
, knocked into my slightly boyish figure by the corset’s engineering. Earlier that week I had been to the hairdresser to have some pale blonde highlights added to my shoulder-length hair and a new, sweeping fringe now brought out my wide-set hazel eyes. The overall
Alison smiled, mulling it over.
‘I’d run the café, and organise everything to do with the food, including baking, so your time would remain devoted to the crafty side of things. But ultimately the space would be shared and I’d want for us to decide on the art and any events together. You mentioned you still had quite a bit left over from Pete’s redundancy payment,’ Jamie said. ‘So perhaps this could be a good investment?’
‘OK,’ Alison said. ‘This all sounds …’ she continued, grinning, a wave of excitement building. ‘I mean, you know better than anyone, Jamie, that this is what I’ve always wanted to do.’
Jamie reached over and gave her hair a ruffle. ‘Good,’ he said, ‘because you’re the only person I can imagine doing it with.’
‘So what would the costs be?’ Alison asked, sitting up straighter in her chair and clasping her scarlet-nailed hands together.
Jamie went over to the counter and brought her a sheet of paper with his calculations on it. He ran his finger down the right-hand column. ‘How about if you paid three hundred pounds amonth towards the rent at the start,’ Jamie said, ‘and then we could adjust that up later if you wanted? You said you had about half of Pete’s lump sum left, didn’t you?’
Alison nodded and looked over the figures on the sheet.
‘Anyway,’ Jamie said. ‘It’s a big decision, I know. And you’ll need time to think about it and talk to Pete. So just come back to me when you’re ready.’
Alison nodded, knowing that despite what Jamie said, he’d need to put a deposit down soon in order to make sure no one else rented the space.
‘You’re really making thishappen, aren’t you?’ Alison said, giving Jamie a hug. ‘Your very own café. Of course I want to be part of it.’
Chapter 7
Jenny
‘Chloe, come on, not that tight!’ I called out, giggling and reaching behind me to still Chloe’s hand. Chloe and I were crammed into a toilet cubicle at work and she was lacing me in to my wedding-night corset.
When the parcel arrived on my desk that lunchtime, Chloe spotted it from across the office, leaped up from her chair and dashed across the room, ringlets bouncing, shepherding me away from my computer and into the ladies’. I’d liked the look of the underwear on the Blackout Nights website – it was all original 1940s, and the corset promised a waspish waist and a curvy bust. My waist was now tiny – miniscule in fact – but I could hardly breathe, and looking down I wasn’t sure I had much of a boosted cleavage forall the effort.
‘All
riiiight
,’ Chloe finally relented. ‘I’ll tie it here. Spin around and show me.’
‘Spin around, are you kidding?’ I laughed. ‘We can hardly move in here without getting intimate.’
‘Right, let me get past,’ Chloe said, ‘and you can show me properly by the sinks.’
‘Come out then,’ she called a moment later. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got the bathroom on lockdown.’ I peeked out and saw she did indeed have her back to the main door, holding it firmly shut. I ventured forward, and took a look in the full-length mirror. I had on my work trousers still, but I looked completely different.
‘What a bombshell,’ Chloe said, smiling.
Actually, I didn’t look half bad. While my curves weren’t quite dynamite, they were, undeniably,
there
, knocked into my slightly boyish figure by the corset’s engineering. Earlier that week I had been to the hairdresser to have some pale blonde highlights added to my shoulder-length hair and a new, sweeping fringe now brought out my wide-set hazel eyes. The overall
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