The Charm Bracelet (32 page)

In Greenwich Village, Tasha Geller languished behind the counter of her aunt’s store, twirling her hair, snapping gum and talking on the phone. This job was like, so easy.

‘So what did Dana say then?’ Tasha said to her friend Gretchen. She paused for a moment, waiting for a response. ‘Ugh, what a bitch. I saw she changed her Facebook status to ‘in a relationship’. I mean, someone should tell her that just because you make out at a party doesn’t mean that you are, like, in a relationship.’

She laughed at whatever her friend said, and then turned and jumped up to sit on the counter.

‘Yeah, it’s OK, a bit boring. It’s my aunt’s store. I really don’t have to do anything and she is, like, paying me ten dollars an hour. Not too shabby.’ A pause. ‘Yeah, I don’t know, some girl quit or something. I can’t remember, whatever, she’s not working and my aunt needs some help, so I said I’d do it. I don’t have anything else to do. Besides, like I said, it’s not like I really have to
do
anything. It kind a smells a bit though.’

Another pause.

‘Just a clothing store,’ she continued. ‘A used clothing store. Beats me, I don’t know why anyone would want to wear someone else’s crap, you know?’ She laughed. ‘Right, like hand-me-downs? I know, gross.’

Suddenly, Tasha’s attention was turned to the front door as the bell chimed, signalling that someone had just walked in. She rolled her eyes and jumped down from the counter, looking at the customer who had entered, glancing around expectantly. ‘Ugh, Gretch, I have to go, I’ll call you back. There’s someone here and I have to go
wait
on them. Yeah, OK, call you back, bye.’

Tasha placed the phone back on the receiver and looked at the customer.
              ‘Like, hi. Can I um, help you?’ she said smacking her gum.

She wished that the guy would just hurry up and figure what he wanted or needed and leave. She wanted to get back on the phone with Gretchen. They had lots to talk about. ‘Is there, like, something you are looking for?’

Tasha still didn’t know her way around the store really, but her aunt said that she didn’t need to do much more than man the cash register and make sure people didn’t make a mess of the rails. She figured that if someone came in looking for something in particular, they could find it on their own, and if they couldn’t find what they needed, they could leave. Hopefully promptly and without annoying her too much.

‘Actually, yes. I’m looking for Holly?’ The man wore a hopeful expression.

‘Um, she doesn’t work here any more, she’s gone.’

He frowned. ‘What do you mean – gone?’

Jeez, how much plainer could she get? She meant that Holly didn’t work here now. Adults could be so dumb sometimes.

‘I mean, like, she doesn’t work here. She used to, but now she’s gone. Can I help you with something else?’

‘Um, well … well I was looking for Holly because she might be in possession of something that belongs to me, or rather, someone close to me. I’m looking for a piece of jewellery. A bracelet.’

Tasha snapped her gum. OK, she knew the answer to this. ‘Well, we don’t sell jewellery.’

The man held up his hands, looking annoyed. ‘No, I’m not looking to buy anything. I’m actually looking for something that was lost, and I think Holly was trying to track down the owner of this bracelet that she might have found. The bracelet belongs to my family.’

Hearing the buzz of an incoming text, Tasha pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open.

‘Well, I don’t know,’ she mumbled idly, as she read the message. ‘I don’t think we have a lost and found—’

‘No, that’s not what I am saying.’ The man started to raise his voice a little. ‘Are you Carole?’

‘No, and she’s not here either.’ Tasha shrugged, and the man now looked as if he was about to explode. Jeez …

‘Well, do you think that maybe you could give me another number where Holly can be reached and I’ll get out of your hair. I only have the store’s number.’

At this request, Tasha’s eyes flew up to meet Greg’s and narrowed.

She didn’t like the way he seemed to be losing his cool and getting more animated. She might not be the brightest bulb in the box, but kids her age understood the meaning of ‘stalker’ well enough to remember the ‘stranger danger’ lessons taught in childhood.

‘Sorry, I can’t.’ Tasha didn’t know Holly from Adam, but she knew that she was doing her a favour. ‘We don’t give out personal information about employees, past or present,’ she added with conviction, sure her aunt would be proud of her ability to confidently assert store policies.

Greg sighed. ‘Well is there anyone else I can talk to here please … ? Carole, will she be back later?’

‘No,’ Tasha said sharply, looking to the phone. ‘And if there’s a problem, maybe I should just call the police.’

The guy backed off quickly, a bit too quickly Tasha noted. ‘No, that’s not necessary.’ He ran a hand through his hair and puffed out a breath. ‘Look, maybe if you could just pass on my information? Here’s my name and phone number. Maybe you could ask Carole to call me when she comes back. It’s really important, so maybe you could be so kind as to pass this along. I really need to talk to Holly.’

Tasha took the card and glanced at it.

‘Sure. Whatever.’

Greg Matthews, photographer.
Stalker, more like.

When the guy finally backed off and left, she peered warily at the business card. ‘Whatever, you’re a freak.’ Spitting out her gum, Tasha wrapped it in the card and threw it in the trash.

Just as she reached for the phone, her aunt walked through the door. Quickly, she moved her hand away. She should at least look as if she was working. She stacked some papers on the counter.

‘Hey Aunt Carole,’ Tasha said sweetly.

Carole smiled and came around the counter to where her niece stood. ‘How’s it going? Was it busy?’

Tasha rolled her eyes. ‘Not really. A guy was just in, he didn’t buy anything though. It was a bit creepy actually. He was like, looking for Holly or something, like a stalker guy. I told him to scram.’

Carole frowned. ‘What do you mean “a stalker guy”?’

‘Um, I don’t know. This guy was looking for Holly, he wanted her phone number and stuff, but I told him she wasn’t here.’

Carole was confused. Could it have been Nick? But Nick and Holly were in touch again so she couldn’t see why he’d be asking for Holly’s number. Her mouth set. She didn’t like the idea of strange men in her store, looking for her friend, let alone looking for personal information.

‘Did you tell him that that information is confidential?’

Tasha beamed. She knew she had done a good job. ‘Yup, and I told him that I would call the police.’

Carole nodded, but something still felt off, something wasn’t adding up. ‘What else did the guy say? What did he look like?’

Tasha looked up at the ceiling. ‘Um, he had dark hair, and he was tall, kinda good looking, I suppose,’ and Carole thought she was mistaken; it must have been Nick. That is, until she heard the next words out of her niece’s mouth. ‘And he said something about some bracelet or something. I told him that we didn’t, like, sell jewellery.’

Carole stopped short. ‘He said he was looking for a bracelet … are you sure?’

Tasha took a step back at her aunt’s intensity. ‘Um, like, yeah … ’

Carole rushed towards the front door. ‘Which way did he go?’

‘Um, I wasn’t really paying attention … ’

‘Think about it Tasha,’ Carole snapped, quickly losing her cool.

Startled, Tasha answered. ‘Like, right I think?’ She watched her aunt rush from the store and head towards Bleecker Street. She rolled her eyes. ‘No need to get snippy about it.’

She didn’t understand what the big friggin’ deal was. Why would Aunt Carole want to talk to some stalker guy? Adults were so weird.

Shrugging, she flipped open her phone and pulled up her Facebook account. Quickly typing a new status update, she smiled to herself at the wisdom of the words that she had just written.

‘Hey idiots! When you yell at me, I feel less inclined to tell you what you want to know, OK?’

She closed her phone and went back to leaning on the counter. Maybe Aunt Carole should learn that she shouldn’t shout at her employees. Not if she wanted them to do their jobs properly.

Tasha smiled to herself and picked up the phone again, her attention now on continuing her conversation with her best friend. ‘Hey Gretch?’ she said. ‘Yeah, I’m good now. This place is dead again. It’s
so
boring actually. I can’t believe I have to be here for another three hours.

When Carole got back to the shop, empty-handed and without finding the man who had been in the store, she found Tasha hard at work. On the phone.

‘Yeah and did you see what she was wearing? I know! Like, barf city.’ Tasha’s eyes at that moment locked with her aunt’s. ‘Um, I have to go. OK bye.’ She quickly put the phone away.

Carole raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips.

‘It was a customer searching for something that we didn’t have. I mean, there’s like, nothing in this store that could be called “barf city”,’ Tasha said meekly.

‘Really … ’

‘I swear—’

Carole held up a hand. ‘Forget about that for a moment, Tasha. I need you to think. This is very important. Did the man say anything else? Did he mention his name?’

Tasha’s mind went back to the trash can, but she knew she would be in trouble if her aunt knew that she’d just thrown the message away without giving it to her. And she already knew that she was walking on thin ice with Carole at the moment, by being caught on the phone.

‘No Aunt Carole,’ Tasha said sweetly. ‘I’m sorry, should I have asked? I just thought he was kind of a creep. He
scared
me,’ Tasha said exaggeratedly, hoping that acting terrified would get her off the hook. ‘I mean, this is my first day here. I don’t know what to do in situations like that, you didn’t tell me.’

Carole’s expression changed and softened ever so slightly. ‘I know, you’re right. You wouldn’t have known and you were just going with gut instinct when it comes to dealing with strangers. Just … excuse me for a second, I have to go call Holly. Just keep manning the fort up here, will you?’

Tasha agreed and, as Carole walked away, her niece called after her. ‘Um, Aunt Carole?’

‘Yes Tasha?’

‘Is Holly, like, going to be OK? She’s not in trouble or anything, is she?’

‘I don’t think so sweetheart. At least, I hope not.’

Holly’s mouth dropped open when Carole called to tell her what had happened.

‘I tried to chase him down, but it was too late, I lost him. Oh Holly, I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there at the time. If only I had been, this whole thing would have been sorted out by now and—’

‘Carole, it’s not your fault. It’s mine! I should be at work today.’ Damn, she thought, biting her lip. ‘He didn’t leave a name or anything?’

‘No. Tasha practically called the cops on him; she thought he might have been a stalker, poor guy. You know what teenagers can be like.’

‘And he definitely said he was looking for a bracelet. Anything else?’

‘That’s all I got out of Tasha.’

‘So presumably the charm bracelet must belong to his wife, or a girlfriend or whatever … ’

‘I would think so. Tasha would have
definitely
told me if he’d looked like a cross-dresser,’ Carole laughed.

A giggle escaped Holly’s lips. ‘It’s just so ironic. Here I’ve been working to track down the owner, and now the owner – or her boyfriend or husband or whatever, is looking to track me down.’

‘But how did he know you had the bracelet? Or your name and where you worked?’

Good question, Holly thought. She thought back over the search thus far. She’d started with
Lila at the UPS store – who had her details but hadn’t called her back. Next was Tiffany’s, but she definitely hadn’t left her name or any contact information with Samuel, had she? Holly didn’t think so; so the guy couldn’t have traced her back from there. After that, she’d tried to get in touch with Margot Mead via Jessica. Then … Holly remembered where her next port of call had been, and had a brainwave. The gallery. She had left her card with the Italian gallery owner.

‘Did Tasha say what this guy looked like?’

‘All she said was that he was tall, and had dark hair. I wondered if it might have been Nick at first, but then when she mentioned something about the bracelet … ’

The gallery owner was tall and dark, but why would he call at the store if he had information to share with her? He had her card and could easily call her cell if he was looking for her.

‘Did he actually say he was looking for a bracelet, or that he had information about one?’ she asked Carole, wondering how reliable Tasha’s memory was.

‘I’m not sure. Hold on, I’ll ask her.’

Holly waited, while Carole went to talk to her niece again. She guessed that she was right; it was probably just the gallery owner after all.