Page 48 of My Kind of Happy

Chapter Fifteen

‘Oh balls,’ Nina grumbled, following my gaze. She scrabbled to put the lid on the sandwich box and slid it under the counter. ‘What does he want now?’

Sam turned away from the door, shaking the drops off his umbrella into the street and refolding it neatly.

‘Calm down. He’s not chasing money today,’ I said, trying to smooth my hair down without being noticed. ‘We can perhaps build bridges instead, improve communications, rather than do a runner.’

‘Ooh, that’s true,’ she said, wide-eyed. ‘Which must mean he’s chasing something or someone else.’

My heart gave a little skip. He probably wasn’t; he probably wanted flowers for his girlfriend.

‘By the way, you’ve got crumbs on your chin,’ Nina said as the door opened and Sam stepped in.

‘Hello,’ he said, closing the door gently behind him. I brushed my face quickly while his back was turned.

‘Hello again,’ I said, casually, secretly pleased to see him. His visits here might be something which Nina dreaded, but he was only doing his job, and the way he’d apologised on his way out last time was enough to convince me that he wasn’t all bad. Nina, on the other hand, bristled as he approached the counter.

‘What do you want?’ She folded her arms and stuck her chin out. ‘You only ever visit when the rent is due.’

‘No I don’t,’ he replied, looking for somewhere to rest his dripping umbrella. ‘I visit when it’s overdue. Which is every time.’

‘It has been paid,’ she said indignantly. ‘Didn’t you get the memo?’

‘What Nina means to say,’ I said smoothly, ‘is that she regrets the late payments and that we are looking at ways to streamline the business to ensure it doesn’t happen again.’

Sam raised his eyebrows. ‘The landlord will be pleased.’

I took the umbrella from him and put it in a bucket to drip-dry.

‘So you won’t have to visit again,’ Nina put in.

Scamp, having woken up and realised who was here, positioned himself in front of Sam and sniffed hopefully at his pocket.

‘At least someone’s pleased to see me,’ said Sam, catching my eye and giving me a wink.

I smiled at him, grateful that he had a sense of humour. I thought he looked tired. There were dark shadows under his eyes and his hair looked ruffled as if he’d been raking his hands through it.

‘Of course we’re pleased to see you,’ I said. Nina snorted softly. I gave her a stern look. ‘Customers are always welcome, especially paying customers.’

She tutted beside me. ‘That’s a marketing tactic. Half the battle in sales is getting people through the door, and when they do, I try and build a rapport with them, no matter what they come in for. Unless it’s him.’ She jerked her head towards Sam.

‘Sorry.’ I mouthed to him when she wasn’t looking. He shrugged lightly as if to show that it was water off a duck’s back and fed Scamp a treat. The greedy mutt was staring at him adoringly, watching his every move. I was going to have to monitor that dog’s diet or he’d be obese before long.

‘If it’s any consolation, chasing small business owners for money is my least favourite job.’

‘You can’t possibly hate your visits as much as I do,’ said Nina, drily.

‘You get a rent bill every three months, you know it’s coming,’ Sam said evenly. ‘It would really help if you planned for it.’

‘Oh yeah, like it’s that simple,’ Nina scoffed.

I suppressed a sigh; so much for building bridges. Her diplomacy skills may need some work, as well as her so-called marketing tactics. Thankfully Freddie’s old iPad beeped from its stand on the counter, where it now resided.

‘That’ll be an order. So I’ll leave you in Fearne’s capable hands,’ Nina said and flashed me an encouraging look before taking the iPad into the back of the shop. I cringed; she had all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

‘Don’t you like your job?’ I twirled a lock of my hair around my fingers until I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I looked like I was flirting. I started pulling flowers from the display instead as if I had a bouquet to make up. I’d have to put them all back afterwards, but I needed something to do to stop me staring at him inanely.

‘Um.’ Sam let out a long breath. ‘It pays the bills, I suppose.’