A Perfect Christmas (22 page)

Well, this year, unless something happened to see them parting company by then, she was determined to make sure Glen and she had some Christmas cheer. A good meal and a little present to open at least. And perhaps, if all went well, Glen might have a special visitor to entertain.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A
gnes Dalby sighed with relief to hear footsteps descending the stairs at long last. She scurried out of the kitchen to greet Cait. ‘Good morning, Miss Thomas. I was getting really worried about you. It’s well past your normal time for leaving the house to go to work and you haven’t even had any breakfast yet.’

At the bottom of the stairs Cait looked over at the woman, feeling perplexed. Agnes had been in every day since her employers had left, continuing with her duties despite the fact that she wasn’t being paid. Cait couldn’t at all understand why she was acting this way and not off enjoying her leisure.

‘You did understand my mother’s instructions to you when she left?’ Cait asked her now.

She nodded. ‘Perfectly. Mrs Thomas laid me off until she comes back.’

‘Then why are you still working here when you’re not being paid?’

‘Because if I didn’t, who would look after you, Miss Thomas?’

Cait felt shocked. Was this Agnes Dalby’s way of telling her she cared about her? If so, why was it that she could when Cait’s own parents couldn’t? She didn’t know quite how to respond to this so just said, ‘I would like some breakfast, Agnes. Tea and toast will be fine.’

It wasn’t lost on Agnes that Cait had addressed her by her Christian name for the first time, and wondered if the girl had realised. She felt warmed by it. ‘I’ll have it ready in a jiffy.’

As Agnes bustled back into the kitchen she fought down her desire to ask Cait just where she was getting the money from to buy the smart new suit she was wearing, different from yesterday’s, not to mention pay for the new hairstyle she was sporting, which was clearly from an expensive salon in town, the sort her mother frequented. Then there were the dozen or so boxes of new shoes and handbags that Agnes had helped the taxi driver bring in when they’d been delivered yesterday afternoon. Even if she landed herself a new job, it couldn’t pay on such a munificent scale, and besides she hadn’t been working there long enough to have been paid her first wage packet. And, more surprisingly, this new job didn’t seem to require her to work normal office hours either as she was home by four yesterday afternoon and had time to have her hair done first. It was after nine o’clock now and Cait seemed in no hurry to be at her new workplace. But it wasn’t Agnes’s place to query that, she decided.

There was a question it was her place to broach. As she was putting Cait’s breakfast before her Agnes asked, ‘Miss Thomas, do you know what your plans are for Christmas yet? Have you had any word whether your parents will be back by then? Only there isn’t much time if I’m to make a Christmas cake and pudding, mince pies et cetera, and also what I’m needed to prepare in advance for Christmas Day. I can order all the provisions from the butcher and grocer, of course.’

Cait looked back at her blankly. Christmas Day had never proved any fun for her in the past, her parents not at all the type to make merry, and she had been so much looking forward to a different sort of holiday this year, surrounded by Neil’s family and friends, which wasn’t going to be now. Still, there was time for her to meet someone else . . . maybe she could find a way to entice someone new to ask her to join them for the day. She told Agnes, ‘I’ve been invited out for Christmas Day so there’s no need for you to prepare anything special.’

The motherly side of Agnes was relieved to learn that the young woman was not spending the day alone. No one should be left solitary on the Lord’s birthday, in particular a young girl who was not only getting over a broken engagement but also coping with the fact that her self-centred parents hadn’t showed any consideration or compassion for her when going off on holiday, knowing her emotional state at the time. Looking forward to taking one day off at least, Agnes went back to the kitchen to clear away.

Cait finally arrived at the factory at just after ten. When she arrived she saw the young receptionist laughing with another girl. Both of them were in her own age group, fashionably dressed and looked the friendly sort. Here was an opportunity to make some new friends, a chance to ingratiate herself with them and hope one of them would invite her to join them on Christmas Day.

But then Cait remembered her position in the company, and her mother’s belief that it wasn’t the done thing for the hierarchy to fraternise with their employees. In future the type of friends she needed to make for herself were the type who mixed in the same social circles as she did now. She hoped she’d be invited into those circles by the company’s customers and suppliers who would want to build good working relationships with her.

As she had been yesterday, she was greeted in her office by the efficient, unflappable Jane Trucker.

‘Good morning, Miss Thomas,’ she greeted Cait in a businesslike manner.

Cait flashed her a critical look as she took off her coat and hung it up on the coat stand behind the door. She considered Jane to be a plain woman who did herself no favours by wearing such matronly, old-fashioned tweed suits, high-necked blouses, thick stockings and sturdy shoes. But today she looked even more dour, dressed as she was all in black. Then it struck Cait that she was all dressed like that because she was attending a funeral. A funeral she herself was supposed to be attending, representing her mother! Inwardly she heaved a sigh. A funeral was the last thing she felt like attending, though it seemed she’d have to as her mother’s representative.

She said to Jane, ‘I could do with a cup of tea, if you’d order it for me.’

That wasn’t what the secretary had been waiting for Cait to speak to her about, but regardless she said, ‘I’ll see to it, Miss Thomas.’

Cait shivered and said, ‘It’s chilly in here.’

Jane did not fail to notice the couple of magazines Cait took out of her handbag and put on the desk, and wondered whether this meant she was going to sit and read them all day or if she was actually going to make some contribution towards keeping the company profitable. She told Cait, ‘The radiators in the whole place have a mind of their own, I’m afraid. One day they’re boiling hot and the next stone cold. The boiler is really long overdue for replacement. In fact, the whole system needs renewing as it must be over fifty years old. Half the maintenance man’s week is taken up with plastering over its cracks, so to speak. I know Mr Swinton had spoken to Mrs Thomas about it a few times over the last few years, and we’re waiting for her decision.’

Cait knew better than to go over her mother’s head. ‘I expect there are a couple of electric heaters around somewhere. Will you find me one and bring it in? Oh, and you won’t forget about the tea, will you?’

Jane inwardly sighed. This young woman seemed to think that a secretary’s job was purely to run about seeing to her every whim, when in truth she had a mountain of important work to do – much of it work that Cait herself should be attending to. Jane did have some important information she needed to tell the young woman, but supposed she ought to see to her requests first then hopefully she would be more receptive.

Five minutes later Jane returned armed with a plug-in heater which she then spent several minutes moving around the room until Cait was satisfied she was receiving the full benefit of it. The tray of tea was delivered meantime and as Cait poured herself a cup Jane said, ‘I need to warn you, Miss Thomas, to expect all the foremen to visit you at eleven.’

Cait looked up, a blank expression on her face. ‘What for?’

‘I passed on the instructions you gave me yesterday and they aren’t happy.’ Flabbergasted at first then fuming was the truth of the matter, once Jane had informed them of their extra responsibilities.

Cait fought to hide her alarm. She didn’t like the thought of several burly men descending on her, obviously aiming to intimidate her into backtracking on her instructions. If she allowed them to force her to countermand her orders, where would her credibility as a boss be?

And, of course, there was the problem that she had delegated the work to them in the first place because she herself wasn’t capable of tackling it. Should that come to light she’d become a laughing stock around the factory. She had to make a stand here, show these men that she may be young but she was the boss and what she said went. It was very important that her mother returned to find the company prospering in her daughter’s capable hands. Then she would see Cait in a new light . . . and that wouldn’t be the case if she found the workers running rings around her.

She said to Jane, ‘Inform the men that I have given them my instructions and have nothing more to say on the matter. Did you need me for anything else?’

Jane did. The same as the foremen, her workload had already been more than enough for her to cope with, without the extra burden that Cait should have been dealing with heaped on her as well. Like the foremen, she was neither qualified nor remunerated enough to make such critical business decisions, and was worried just who would be held accountable if errors were made. But if Cait didn’t see fit to listen to the foremen’s legitimate reasons for refusing to take on the extra responsibilities, then she was unlikely to pay attention to Jane either.

She excused herself and left the office.

A while later Cait had finished reading the magazines from cover to cover, the articles not as interesting or informative as she had expected, and was leaning back in her chair, wondering what to do with herself now. She heaved a deep sigh. Being a boss had not proved as exciting as she had thought it would. According to the girls she had worked with in her previous job, the owner would sit in his inner sanctum on his fat arse telephoning around his business colleagues, arranging social events . . . lunches, games of golf and the like. As matters stood she had no business colleagues. That would surely change, though, once word spread that a new female boss was in place at Rose’s who needed wining and dining in order to secure business deals. In the meantime she needed to fill her day, which seemed to be passing too slowly. It really was no fun having nothing to do. Cait was surprised to notice that she was missing being kept busy.

She suddenly realised that she had not yet taken a tour around the factory. Righting herself in her chair, she made to lean over and press the button on the intercom to summon Jane Trucker to escort her but then thought better of it. She would have to make small talk with the older woman as they went around, and Cait felt she had nothing in common with her and didn’t relish awkward silences. She hadn’t yet asked Jane where the executive dining area was. Hopefully she would find it herself on her travels and have some lunch there.

On leaving her office Cait decided to take the stairs leading down to reception. Then she saw a door to the side of her that she hadn’t noticed before and decided to investigate where it led. There were more stairs behind it. She deduced that this must be the back entrance to the offices, avoiding the reception area. Descending them, she found herself in a short corridor with one door on her right and another at the end. The sign on the door informed her it was the customers’ viewing room. Making her way over to the door at the end, Cait opened it and found it led to a wide area she assumed was the workers’ entrance as on the wall was a clocking-in machine along with a clock-card holder on the wall to one side of it. She could see the signs for male and female lavatories and there was another door opposite that had no sign on it.

Cait went across to that and had a peek through. It led into a large cobbled area, with several separate old-looking two-storey buildings grouped on the other side. The site the company occupied appeared far larger than she had envisaged. It was now possible for her to see that the building she was in was two-storey at the front with a single storey extending quite a distance off the back.

She took a look around. Several people were in the process of crossing the yard, obviously on works business judging by what they were carrying. But then she saw a couple of groups of men and women huddled in the doorways opposite, smoking cigarettes. When she looked back and down both sides of the main building this side of the yard she saw a couple of other groups of workers, also smoking while they laughed and chatted between themselves. She watched as members of each group, having finished their cigarettes, threw their butts on the ground then disappeared back inside. Seconds later other workers arrived to take their places. This practice was the same as in her last job. The warehousemen smoked in the yard under whatever cover they could find, while the office staff sat smoking at their desks. Now Cait was in charge, though, she wasn’t sure how she felt about the practice continuing. After all, the workers were taking unofficial breaks when they should in fact be working.

She decided to go across the yard to visit the outlying buildings first, finding herself intrigued to know just what went on in there. She began to cross the cobbled yard. With everyone else dressed in work clothes, she suddenly felt very self-conscious and out of place, dressed in her expensive suit and suede court shoes. Although she kept her eyes straight ahead she was acutely aware some people had noticed her and were looking at her curiously. She didn’t doubt that by now word had spread through the company that the owner’s daughter was taking care of business until her mother returned from holiday, and she suspected the people watching her were wondering if this was her. She wished now she had asked Jane to accompany her. At least then people would know for certain that she was the new boss and not just an over-dressed new clerk in the office.

She was barely a quarter of the way across when she heard a loud wolf whistle then a male voice shout: ‘Well, look what we got here! A new doll in the offices. ’Bout bloody time. Already shagged ’ote worth having.’ Then another voice shouted, ‘Eh up, what yer doing tonight, gel? Fancy the back row of the flicks? I promise I won’t keep me hands to meself.’ The first voice snapped angrily, ‘Keep yer hands off, Jez. I saw ’er first.’ The man addressed as Jez then retorted, ‘As if a babe is gonna look at you when I’m around, yer dozy git.’