Home Front Girls (5 page)

Patting her hair, which was so thick with setting lotion that it looked as if it wouldn’t budge even in a gale-force wind, the woman turned about, heading for the lift that ran from the ground floor to the very top of the store. The lift stopped at each floor and in no time at all both girls were wondering how they were ever going to find their way about. The shop was enormous and there was so much to remember. But eventually, Mrs Broadstairs stopped in the men’s department and told Lucy, ‘This is where you will be working for today. Mr O’Dell is the floor manager and I’ve no doubt he will find you plenty to do.’

Lucy looked over to see an elderly man coming towards them with a broad smile on his face and she thought perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad, after all. He looked nice enough.

‘Hello, my dear,’ he greeted her. ‘Mrs Broadstairs informed me that I would be having a temporary new assistant today, and I must say I was glad of the fact. We are seriously short-staffed at present with all our young men disappearing. But there we are, we shall just have to make the best of things, won’t we, and pray that the war will soon be over.’

Lucy warmed to him immediately. He looked like everyone’s favourite grandad although he was very smartly turned out in a dark grey suit, a crisp white shirt and a pale blue tie. He was slightly shorter than her and plump, with wispy grey hair and startlingly blue eyes.

‘So come along then,’ he said pleasantly.’ I’ll show you where everything is so that you can get your bearings. Over on this side are the suits, and over there are the shirts and ties . . .’

Seeing that Lucy was now safely in her colleague’s capable hands, Mrs Broadstairs turned back towards the lift, abruptly telling Annabelle, ‘Right, we’ll go and get you settled now. You will be working in the lingerie department for the rest of this week.’

Mrs Broadstairs was experienced enough to know that Annabelle would be perfectly suited to this department. Women who shopped there were usually looking to be a little extravagant and they liked to be surrounded by young attractive women, so Annabelle would certainly fit the bill.

Once in the lingerie department they were met by Miss Williams who, along with Miss Norton, had that particular department running like clockwork. Tall and slim, she looked to be in her late thirties and was known for being fairly strict with her staff. As she was keen on telling them, ‘There is a place for everything and everything has its place.’

She was exactly as Annabelle had imagined a spinster to be – tall and thin with a nose so sharp it could have cut butter, and she was impeccably dressed in a smart two-piece costume that was, however, quite old-fashioned. Her hair, which was fair, was pulled back into a tight bun on the back of her head and large rimless spectacles were perched on the end of that knife of a nose.

Despite the daunting floor manager, Annabelle was actually secretly pleased to be in this particular department.

At least she had nice things to look at here. It would have been awful to have been stuck in household wares or somewhere boring like that.

Her eyes flicked appreciatively over the display stands and came to rest on a young mousy-haired girl who was busily dusting the tops of the glass counters as if her very life depended on it. The girl offered her a nervous smile but Annabelle stuck her nose in the air and turned her attention back to what Miss Williams was saying, wondering how such a dowdy-looking girl had ever got to work in such a glamorous department. They really must be short of staff!

And then a customer emerged from the lift, and forgetting all about Annabelle, Miss Williams almost pounced on the woman with a smile so wide that her plain face was quite transformed, trilling, ‘Hello, madam, how may we help you?’

Crikey, she could be quite attractive if she’d take a bit of trouble with herself, Annabelle thought as she crossed to examine a pretty lace bra that had caught her eye. It was on a stand quite close to the counter that the mousy-haired girl was dusting and now she looked at Annabelle and said shyly, ‘Hello, I’m Dotty.’

‘Annabelle Smythe,’ Annabelle introduced herself imperiously and Dotty was completely bowled over by her. The girl was so beautiful that she might have been a model out of one of the magazines she was so fond of. In fact, Dotty wondered if perhaps she
was
a model come to model some of the lingerie.

‘Worked here for long, have you?’ Annabelle asked now. She was bored already.

‘Not very long,’ Dotty admitted. ‘But it’s quite nice here.’

‘Hmm, well I could certainly think of better ways of spending my time,’ Annabelle said petulantly. By now, Miss Williams had passed the customer over to a senior member of the sales staff and was bearing down on Annabelle again.

‘Right then, Miss Smythe. Let me show you around so that you are properly acquainted with where everything is when the time comes for you to serve the customers. Over here we keep the knickers, ranging from cotton to pure silk, and over there are the brassières. Later on I shall show you the correct way to measure a customer for those. You would be shocked at how many women don’t wear the correct size. And over here . . .’ Her voice droned on as Annabelle reluctantly followed her about. It looked set to be a very long day.

At last it was time for the morning break. To Annabelle, who was usually still in bed at this time, the morning had passed interminably slowly. As she entered the lift, Dotty followed her in, but Annabelle didn’t bother to speak. She just wanted to go home. And when she did she would tell her father how unreasonable he was being. She was even prepared for him to cut her allowance if it meant not having to come back to this place again. There had only been four customers who had actually bought anything all morning, although the foot traffic through the lingerie department had been quite heavy. But that didn’t mean that Miss Williams had allowed her to stand idly about. The blasted woman had had her in the stock room for the last hour unpacking the underwear that had been delivered to the store the day before, and after the break she had informed Annabelle that she must transfer it all to the correct places on the shop floor.

‘Do you think you will like working here?’ Dotty plucked up the courage to ask when the lift started to rise.

Annabelle glared at her as if she had taken leave of her senses. ‘How could anyone
like
working?’

Dotty gulped and wished that she had kept her mouth shut, and the rest of the ride to the top floor was made in silence.

When the lift stopped, Annabelle found herself in a large staff dining room. It was nowhere near as nice as the restaurant that the customers used, but she made her way to the counter all the same and ordered a cup of tea. Then she stood indecisively looking around. Tables covered in plain oilskin cloths were dotted all about the room, but she saw that the place was saved from looking drab by the panoramic views of the city from the windows. The rest of the staff were sitting in little groups chatting and laughing, and she suddenly felt like a fish out of water; all her confidence fled.

Seeing that Annabelle was looking uncomfortable, Dotty decided to forget her haughty attitude in the lift and suggested, ‘Why don’t you come and sit with me? We could go over there – look. There’s a table by the window.’

Annabelle followed her gaze and shrugged; she didn’t have any better option and there was only one other girl sitting there. As they walked towards her, wending their way through the tables, Annabelle saw that the girl was actually quite pretty, or at least she could have been if she’d known how to look after herself. She had quite striking green eyes and her hair was a lovely auburn colour, but she had pulled it back into a ponytail; she seemed to be the only person sitting alone in the whole room.

‘Would you mind very much if we joined you?’ Dotty asked politely as they neared the table and the girl smiled.

‘Actually, I’d be really grateful if you would,’ she admitted. ‘I’m feeling a bit strange sitting here all on my own but I only started today and I don’t know anyone.’ She beamed at Annabelle.

‘So how are you finding your first day?’ Annabelle asked eventually, although she wasn’t really that interested.

‘I’m quite enjoying it actually, but I’m not so sure my floor manager is that pleased with me,’ Lucy confided. ‘There’s so much to remember and I keep putting things in the wrong places. He sent me downstairs for something earlier on and I actually got lost trying to find my way back. The store is huge! Still, it’s early days, isn’t it? I dare say I’ll get the hang of it, although I never realised there was so much to shop work. I thought the assistants just stood about all day until there was a customer to serve.’

‘Oh, there’s much more to it than that,’ Dotty piped up. ‘We aren’t allowed to be idle for a second, especially since they are so short-staffed. I’ve been here for two months already, but I’m still only allowed to serve a customer if the rest of the senior staff are busy.’

‘Well, I think it’s disgusting!’ Annabelle rubbed her sore feet under the table. She had to grudgingly admit that Mrs Broadstairs was right when she said that high heels weren’t a good idea for work. Her feet were throbbing already and she still had the biggest part of the day to get through.
‘I
certainly don’t intend to spend my days dusting and stocking shelves,’ she huffed.

Lucy and Dotty exchanged an amused smile. Both of them were just grateful to have jobs, but it certainly didn’t appear to be the same for Annabelle. They watched as she took a cigarette from her bag and lit it, then she stared at them through a haze of blue smoke as she asked, ‘Do you both live locally?’ She felt she ought to at least make an effort to be friendly.

The girls nodded in unison but before they could answer, Annabelle went on, ‘I live in Cheylesmore with my parents and I don’t mind telling you, this job wasn’t
my
idea!’ She sniffed indignantly. ‘Daddy has cut my allowance so I had to get a job. And all because of this bloody stupid war! It’s all a waste of time, if you ask me. After all, nothing’s even happened yet, has it? No bombs – nothing! And half of the kids who were evacuated are coming back already. I mean, what’s the point of them staying away anyway? I reckon it will all be over in no time and then we can get back to normal – and the sooner the better, I say!’

‘I’d like to think you were right but I’m not so sure,’ Lucy replied pensively. ‘I was reading in the newspapers that some of our ships are already being sunk by magnetic mines out at sea. I’m afraid this is only the beginning and I think things will get far worse before they get better.’

‘Hm, and in the meantime
we
have to suffer.’ Annabelle took another long drag of her cigarette. ‘They’re ruining the city in the meantime, digging up shelters for everyone. Have you seen the trench one they’re working on in Cox Street on the corner of Grove Road? It will shelter two hundred people when it’s finished apparently, but it’s a right old eyesore! Then there’s another being dug in Bird Street on the old bowling green that will accommodate six hundred and forty-five people when it’s finished. That’s to name but a couple, not to mention the ugly Anderson shelters that are appearing in people’s gardens everywhere.’

‘I suppose it’s just a precaution in case they’re needed,’ Lucy said sensibly, but Annabelle just shook her head.

‘I disagree. Why would the Germans want to bomb the city centre? If they do drop any bombs, they’re going to aim for the factories on the outskirts of the city, surely?’

The conversation was stopped from going any further when Dotty nervously pointed to the large clock on the wall above the counter. The catering staff, who were robed in long white coats and hairnets, were now collecting the dirty pots and the majority of the staff had already disappeared off back to their departments. ‘I think it’s time we were going, otherwise we’ll be late.’

‘Oh for goodness sake,’ Annabelle groaned. ‘I haven’t even had time to go to the ladies yet!’ Even so she ground her cigarette out and followed the other two back to the lift with a martyred expression on her face.

It was almost lunchtime when Annabelle was approached by a customer as she was arranging a nightdress on a mannequin.

‘Is that pure silk, my dear?’ the middle-aged woman asked her imperiously. The fur coat she was wearing looked like mink and Annabelle saw that her handbag and shoes were of the finest leather. Annabelle glanced about. She had been told that the senior staff would serve the customers, but as none of them appeared to be about she couldn’t see the harm in helping the woman.

‘Yes, it is,’ she answered, flashing a bright smile. ‘Would Madam like me to take it down so that you can see it?’

‘I’ll
take over from here, Miss Smythe.’ One of the senior assistants had appeared at her elbow from nowhere and Annabelle glared at her resentfully as she ushered the customer away. From the look on the assistant’s face, anyone might have thought that Annabelle had committed a cardinal sin, but what was she supposed to have done? Just left a customer standing there unattended? She frowned as she glanced at the clock. Roll on lunchtime!

She was secretly pleased when she found Lucy and Dotty already sitting at the same table they had shared during the morning break when she entered the staff dining room some time later, and after buying some sandwiches and a cup of tea she joined them.

‘How did your first morning go?’ Dotty asked pleasantly as Annabelle sat down.

‘Huh! Apart from almost getting my head bitten off when I started to serve a customer, all right I suppose,’ Annabelle grumbled, then pointedly ignoring Dotty, she looked at Lucy and asked, ‘How about you?’