The Exciting Life (15 page)

‘
I’d say three thousand.’

‘
Three thousand pounds! That much?’

‘
Definitely. It would be more than enough for you to invest in
a factory in East London.’

‘
I see. Well that’s it then.’

‘
Have you spoken to Mr Collins about it?’

‘
Not yet, no. But I will as soon as he returns from Scotland
tomorrow.’

‘
The pair of you have turned this place into a goldmine. If you
didn’t need the money to invest, I’d say hang onto it. The profits
alone are very healthy, but they’re not enough for you to buy
somewhere outright.’

‘
So with the money I make in profit, I could pay the mortgage
on a factory; without buying it outright?’

‘
Yes, but you’d always run the risk of losing profits one month
and having to pay out of your own money.’

‘
You’re right,’ she sighed. ‘Leave it with me Lewis. I’ll get
back to you as soon as I can.’

Lewis
left and Annie took the ledgers back into her office. She came back
out to find Norma polishing the bar. She looked different today.
When she’d interviewed her that Sunday, she’d looked like someone
who was down on their luck. But today her make up was applied
better, and the dress she wore under her overall was smarter and
more attractive. She actually looked too glamorous to be a
cleaner.

‘
Everything okay?’ she asked Annie.

‘
Not really,’ Annie said, sitting on a stool by the bar. ‘I’m
probably going to have to sell this place.’

‘
Really?’ Norma frowned.

‘
Oh don’t worry, it’ll only be to Mr Collins. You’ll still have
a job.’

‘
Why have you got to sell? If you don’t mind me
asking.’

‘
I’ve got another business, making shoes and bags. Did you see
Fiona Miller’s wedding at the weekend?’

‘
Oh yes,’ smiled Norma. ‘I saw the photos in the paper. Didn’t
she make a beautiful bride?’

‘
I designed her shoes. Now suddenly I’ve got orders coming from
all over the place and I need a bigger factory. The only money I
can get my hands on is by selling this place.’

‘
But you seem quite attached to it.’

‘
I am. I’m being sentimental I suppose. It belonged to my
husband, and I did love him once upon a time. I also like having
somewhere to come to when it’s all getting too much. My accountant
reckons that Mr Collins and I have really turned the place around
and it’s making a healthy profit. It seems such a shame to let it
go.’

Annie
wondered why she was confessing all this to the cleaner. She didn’t
know what it was, but Norma seemed so easy to talk to - almost as
if Annie had known her for years. Maybe it was because she was
neutral, and it was always easier to talk to someone who wasn’t
involved.

‘
Well I’ll tell you something Annie. A confession if you like.
I’ve been here before. I came here a few weeks ago with a friend
and I ran into a girl I used to know, Iris Lindholm, Mr Collins’s
girlfriend. Please don’t think I’m speaking out of turn if she’s a
friend of yours.’

‘
She’s no friend of mine,’ Annie chuckled.

‘
Well, she totally knocked me back when I tried to say hello.
Snotty cow. If you sell this place, I could just imagine her
swanning around like she owns it just because she’s Mr Collins’
girlfriend.’ She suddenly checked herself and started polishing the
bar again. ‘Anyway, I’ve said enough.’

‘
No, I appreciate your honesty. I just wish I knew what I
should do.’

‘
Only you can decide that. But I know what I’d do if it was me.
I’d find some other way of buying a factory. This place is like
your baby, and you wouldn’t want to stand by and watch some other
woman bringing it up would you?’

‘
No,’ Annie said. ‘I wouldn’t.’

Annie
slept little that night, going through all the possible ways she
had of making enough money to buy a factory without selling
Bruno’s. She had no jewellery to sell. She’d had to do that to pay
off Mario’s debts. All she owned in the world was Bruno’s and her
building on Regent Street. She thought about what Norma had said
about Iris taking the place over if it was left to her and Patrick,
and Annie knew it was true. Iris was intolerable as it was, let
alone becoming Queen Bee of Bruno’s.

But what
else could Annie do? She couldn’t ask Kenneth for a loan. She
guessed her Aunt Alice would help, but she’d done enough in giving
her the building in the first place. Her only other option was her
cousin Max. He owned Bloomberg Foods over in America and he was
richer than Midas. She could ask him for a loan and pay him back
out of the profits from the shoes. That seemed a better prospect
than selling Bruno’s.

She
finally drifted off to sleep just as it was getting light, but was
awoken by the phone beside her bed ringing. She fumbled for the
receiver, expecting it to be Eddie giving her one of his early
morning calls.

‘
Hello,’ she yawned.

‘
Well top of the morning to you,’ Patrick laughed, and to
Annie’s dismay, her heart did a little flip on hearing his
voice.

‘
How are you?’ she asked. ‘Are you back?’

‘
I am. We found some great streets in Glasgow that we can
use.’

‘
That’s good,’ she yawned. She looked at her watch. ‘Patrick
it’s half past eight. Can we talk later?’

‘
Why don’t you come round this evening?’

‘
I can’t. I’m having dinner with Eddie. We could meet at the
club tomorrow.’

‘
Okay. Well, if you change your mind. I’ve brought you back
some shortbread.’

‘
What woman could refuse?’

Annie
dressed and went down to her office. She was tired and a little
spaced out, but awake enough to draw up a telegram to her cousin.
She didn’t phrase it that she wanted money as such, instead she
said she had an interesting business proposition. People like Max
Tanner could never resist the temptation of making more money. Even
though he owned half of New York, and practically every fast food
restaurant in the United States served his food. He had a mansion
in Beverley Hills, an Island in the Caribbean, and Tawny, his
youngest daughter had a place at Roedene. But if it meant earning a
few grand extra, he’d still do it.

Putting
it to the back of her mind, she got on with her day. She had a
meeting with Lady Davinia Watson, who was marrying a Crown prince
of some obscure European principality and wanted wedding shoes, and
they were sitting in Annie’s office, going over designs, when Eddie
came bursting in - a huge smile on his face.

‘
Are you free?’ he beamed.

‘
No I’m in a meeting,’ she snapped, subtly indicating at
Davinia.

‘
Well how long will you be? I have something to show
you.’

‘
Okay, go and wait for me in the flat.’

He left
and Annie apologised to Davinia before showing her the sketches
she’d done. She wondered what Eddie had to show her. She hoped it
wasn’t an engagement ring, or a house they could move into or
something. She had enough on her plate; the last thing she needed
was worrying about settling down with someone.

She went
up into the flat and found that as usual, Eddie had made himself at
home. He was sprawled out in the sofa drinking vodka, his moccasins
kicked off in different directions. On seeing Annie, he stood up
and quickly slipped his feet back into his shoes and went over to
her, holding his arms out.

‘
There you are,’ he crowed. He grasped her shoulders and kissed
her cheeks. ‘You are coming with me.’

‘
Where?’ she moaned. ‘I'm not in the mood Eddie.’

‘
You will be when you see it,’ he said.

He took
Annie's hand and pulled her out of the room, along the corridor and
into the lift.

‘
I thought you were having a meeting with the Hit Parade people
or something,’ Annie said.

‘
That can wait. The needs of my beautiful girlfriend are far
more important.’

He
practically manhandled her into the Rolls and drove off. Soon they
were heading through Holborn and into the City and out to East
London. Annie thought he was taking her to the factory, but when he
went through Whitechapel, and towards Stratford she wondered where
the hell they were going. Annie wished he'd put the roof up - she
felt quite vulnerable driving along in such a shiny, fancy car
through one of the poorest areas of London.

‘
If you're taking me to some fancy hotel in Essex you can
forget it,’ Annie said. ‘I've got clients to see.’

Eddie
just laughed and drove on.

Eventually they ended up in Barking in Essex - a particularly
dreary area with bomb sites, fields and a smattering of mock Tudor
houses. Eddie drove into a large industrial estate and stopped the
car in front of a massive red bricked building with the name
'Kirks' written on it. The only Kirks Annie was aware of were the
shoe-makers.

‘
What's this?’ she asked.

‘
A factory. They've moved up to Peterborough and this place is
vacant. I thought it would be perfect for the new Glass factory.
I’ve got the keys, come and have a look.’

He
grabbed Annie’s hand and pulled her into the large building. It was
indeed a huge factory that - compared to Glass’s factory in
Whitechapel - looked like something from the Twenty First Century.
It had workstations for at least a hundred people and a whole suite
of offices on the top floor. Eddie pulled Annie to the middle of
the floor, in between all the heavy machinery, and took her hands,
kissing her on the lips.

‘
What do you think?’ he asked.

‘
It’s fantastic,’ she replied. ‘But how much does it
cost?’

‘
Moray Kirk, the owner is an old friend and he’s going to do us
a deal. He’s selling it for five thousand pounds.’

‘
Five thousand pounds?’

‘
Yes. I realise Bruno’s isn’t worth that much. But if I can
persuade Dad to sell the Whitechapel factory, I thought we could
buy half of it each.’

‘
It’s okay. I’ll just ask my cousin Max to lend me two thousand
five hundred pounds.’

Eddie
frowned.

‘
What?’

‘
I’m not selling Bruno’s. I’m going to ask my cousin Max to
lend me the money. He owns Bloomberg Foods in the States, and he’s
worth several millions. Two and a half thousand pounds will be
nothing to him.’

‘
Why aren’t you selling Bruno’s?’

‘
Lewis Finkel, my accountant was looking at the books yesterday
and he reckons that we’ve turned it around and it’s making really
healthy profits.’

‘
You’re not in the nightclub business Annie,’ Eddie snapped.
‘You’re a shoe designer. Why are you hanging onto it?’

‘
It’s mine. It’s hard for me to let it go.’

He let
go of her hands and walked off, banging his fist against a huge
iron lathe.

‘
It’s Patrick Collins isn’t it?’ he said.

‘
What are you talking about?’

He
turned and looked at her.

‘
You’re in love with Patrick Collins.’

‘
Don’t be stupid,’ she blushed. ‘Why are you saying
that?’

‘
I’ve seen the way you look at him. The way the pair of you
gravitate towards each other whenever you’re in the same room.
That’s why you don’t want to sell Bruno’s. It’ll mean severing all
ties with him.’

‘
You’re wrong,’ she pleaded – even though it was partly true.
‘I just don’t think it’s wise selling off my assets.’

‘
A run down club in Soho is hardly an asset love,’ he said
mockingly.

‘
Don’t be rude about my club,’ she snapped. ‘It’s kept me going
up until now. You were grateful for Al Dunne to showcase his act
there.’

‘
I wouldn’t have put anyone high profile in there. It would be
an embarrassment.’

Enraged
by this, Annie walked up to him and slapped him across the
face.

‘
You pig!’ she cried. ‘You absolute pig.’

She
turned and walked out of the factory and out of the industrial
park. She marched along in anger and could hear Eddie calling after
her. But right now she couldn’t bear to see him or speak to him.
His reaction had angered her so much, although she feared it was
partly because it had struck a raw nerve and this was making her
cross with herself. She just needed to get away from him for a
while, and go back to London. But she was completely lost. Barking
was alien territory to Annie, and she had no idea how she was going
to get home. She didn’t even have a handbag with her, and all she
had was a shilling in the pocket of her Capri pants. She couldn’t
get a taxi with that.

Hearing
footsteps and Eddie’s voice, she was too proud to run to him and
instead did the foolish thing of sticking her thumb out at the
first van that came along. Luckily for her it was being driven by
an elderly man who looked far too old to try anything
funny.