Читать книгу Getting Organised - Carolyn Caterer - Страница 8

Mabel observed Abi as she got out of her car and unloaded her goods. Mabel had to admit she admired her taste. She was pleased that she had mentioned the local pottery to her the other day as it was so nice to get something different from the mass produced garden wares that were to be found in the majority of gardens owned by the local population. She wondered if Abi had come across the potter himself (Mabel had always jokingly referred to him as ‘Harry’ before she found out his real name and after that continued to do so as it always caused her amusement and confused everyone else around her). Luckily Adam seemed to find it as funny as she did and never complained about her schoolgirl humour.

Thinking about it she could imagine that Abi and Adam would make a pretty nice couple, but she didn’t want to push things at this stage. From all Abi had told her she was taking time to enjoy her freedom after what had seemed like a pretty awful marriage. Mabel could sense Abi’s boredom in her role as wife and with no children to occupy her and no job either, Abi had become increasingly frustrated with her lot. This new life, free from her husband and what sounded like a right old bag of a grandmother, was allowing Abi to make her own decisions for the first time and she was relishing every one of them, whether it was deciding on the colour of her bathroom or the tea towels she was buying for the kitchen. Abi certainly had the ability to appreciate the little things in life and Mabel liked her more and more each time she visited her to give her advice on her garden, or when Abi came around to help her and they were chatting over a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

Anyway Mabel also had other ideas for Abi, but she wanted to check her out a little more and see what Imogen thought about her. Mabel may not have been a match maker in the traditional sense of the word, but she certainly had an eye for people and an instinct as to what they are capable of. In Abi she felt she had found the perfect person for Imogen and couldn’t wait to introduce her. Patience was of course a virtue and Mabel knew that the timing had to be right or the whole plan would go out of the window before she had time to put it all into place.

She wandered across to Abi’s house and made admiring comments about her choice of planters and innocently asked if the pottery had been busy.

Abi coloured slightly; she certainly didn’t want to talk about her encounter with the man in the seconds shop and was quite sure she would never see him again (though in any other circumstance she would have to admit that she would have liked to find out a little more about him and how he was so good at creeping up on people) but there was no need for her to make her humiliation any more widely known than it was already. So she commented on how quiet the pottery had been, save the rather dismissive young woman who took her money with a look of disdain and contempt.

‘Ah Sophie. Well she might not get top awards for being the friendliest of shop assistants, but she does know how to up-sell and cross-sell (if that’s what you call it) to the weekend crowd, who have more money than they know what to do with. Employing her was a very shrewd move as was giving her a basic salary and a commission. She might only work four days a week but she does very nicely for herself as you could no doubt tell from her appearance.’ Mabel looked at Abi’s attire and continued in a bemused and yet kindly tone.

‘And she was probably not convinced that you had much to spend other than on the less than perfect range in the seconds shop.’

Abi looked down at her jeans and t-shirt and blushed a bit more. They had been pretty clean when she put them on this morning and she had actually forgotten she was wearing them. It wasn’t how she would normally dress to go out but that hadn’t been her plan at all when she got up and had decided to spend the day working on the garden and tidying things up. Then the sudden urge to buy some planters for the patio had put all other thoughts out of her head and she hadn’t even glanced in the mirror as she ran into the house to grab her handbag and head off for the pottery while the fancy took her. She could just hear the critical tones of her grandmother, tut-tutting at her lack of organisation and how she was letting herself down by venturing out looking such a mess. Abi wasn’t sure if she felt ashamed or elated to have so gone against the type of behaviour that her grandmother would find acceptable. Perhaps she should get Mabel to take a photo of her so that she could torment her grandmother with it the next time she saw her?

Actually Abi didn’t want to see her grandmother and certainly not in her new home as that would just be the perfect opportunity to invite the worst kind of criticism; unless it was done her way it was wrong and Abi didn’t feel she was ready to face up to the kind of onslaught that only her grandmother could deliver. She wished her grandmother could be like Mabel and encourage her, rather than tell her off all the time and imply she would never come up to scratch. However no one stood up to her grandmother so it was no wonder she was able to get away with such mean-spirited behaviour.

One day though, Abi was going to surprise her grandmother and make a stand; perhaps even tell her exactly how much she hated the way she behaved. When that would be Abi didn’t know, but she was determined that it was going to happen. If she had any idea as to what Mabel had in mind she would never believe that it would have a positive reception from her grandmother, but luckily for the moment, Abi was blissfully unaware of what her future held.