The Exciting Life (14 page)

The
ballroom of The Ritz had been decorated beautifully. A water
feature had been placed in the middle of the floor, and a string
quartet was playing in the corner. As Annie and Eddie took their
seats at a table with Henry Wilde, the designer of the dress, and
his sister Edith; Annie couldn't help but laugh at the top table.
On one side were the very stuffy-looking Duke and his mother - the
Dowager Duchess of Loxborough. The Dowager was unable to hide her
distaste and kept firing filthy looks at the other end of the table
where sat Sid and Pearl Miller, who both looked uncomfortable in
their finery, and their working-class roots were so obvious. Their
loud voices rang out amongst the hushed tones and polite laughter
and it reminded Annie very much of her own life. Like Fiona, she
too had working-class relatives in South London, but she knew if
she met them she’d have nothing in common with them.

‘
I hate this place,’ Eddie observed, sipping his champagne. 'My
old nan used to clean here.’

‘
Really?’

‘
Yeah. She was this poor little Jewish woman straight off the
boat from Belarus who didn't speak a word of English and they
treated her like shit. Then years later Mum and Dad paid for me to
have my Bar Mitzvah here, and one of the waiters recognised Nanna
and refused to serve her.’

‘
What a pig. I'm not overly keen on the place either. It
reminds me of my wedding reception.’

‘
So you regret marrying Mario?’

‘
Well I wouldn't be saddled with debts if I'd never married
him. But you live and learn don't you?’

Once the
speeches were finished, the party could begin. More guests arrived,
and to Eddie's delight, they were friends of Fiona's and mostly
from the world of showbusiness. Eddie knew most of them so he took
it as an opportunity to go off and schmooze. Annie was just about
to go and speak to Fiona to congratulate her, when she was stopped
by Clarissa, the Duke's cousin, who was one of the
bridesmaids.

‘
Are you free this week?’ she asked. 'I'd like to come in and
see you about something?'

‘
You want me to make you some shoes?’

‘
No. I want to work for you.’

‘
Work for me! I can barely afford the staff I've
got.’

‘
No I want to design for you. You see I've made a few bags over
the years for friends, and they love them. I’d like to do it for a
living.’

Annie
went to refuse - she hadn't established herself enough yet to start
diversifying. But girls like Clarissa Balfern had huge circles of
friends who could be valuable future customers; and what might
start off as an expense could end up being an asset.

‘
Okay, come in and see me on Monday. We'll have a
chat.’

‘
Super!’ Clarissa gasped, clasping her hands together. ‘I've
got so many ideas.’

Annie
finally made it to Fiona, sitting alongside her at the top table -
now it had been vacated by everyone except the bride and groom and
the best man. Fiona was normally quite an uptight girl, but today
she looked radiant and happy.

‘
Thank you so much for my lovely shoes,’ she said, taking hold
of Annie's hand and squeezing it. ‘You will become my official
shoemaker now won't you?’

‘
I beg your pardon?’

‘
I hope you'll agree to become my official shoemaker. I have a
list of engagements coming up and I'll need shoes for all
occasions.’

‘
And you want me to do it?’

‘
Yes. As soon as Ronald and I come back from honeymoon why
don't you and Eddie come and stay at Norcross and we can discuss
designs?’

‘
Certainly, thanks Fiona. This means a lot to me.’

The
following day, the pomp and circumstance of Fiona's wedding seemed
a million miles away, when Annie returned to Bruno's to interview
cleaners. Patrick was in Scotland with Oscar London, scouting for
cheap locations to use for the film; so it was left to Annie to do
the mundane jobs like this. Patrick had been putting a lot of
pressure on her to sell Bruno’s lately, and she was still holding
out. But with this new commission from Fiona Miller, Annie knew the
time would soon come when she wouldn't be able to juggle both
things. And if she was honest with herself, the main reason she
didn't want to cut all ties with the nightclub was because it meant
she'd have no reason to see Patrick again, and she couldn't bear
the thought of that. But Eddie was becoming more serious and she’d
soon have to put all thoughts of Patrick out of her
mind.

As she
hadn't been there the night before, she wasn't aware of what had
happened, but by the fact that there was a split in the wood on the
bar, and there was still remnants of broken glass on the floor, she
guessed there had been a fight. The place looked a mess, and the
couple of women Annie had interviewed so far had turned their noses
up at it. One of them used to clean at Claridges and saw this as a
comedown. Another had been a slip of a girl who'd been more
interested in the celebrities that frequented the club. Annie was
just about to give up, and went to the store cupboard to get a
dustpan and brush to sweep up the glass, when the door opened and a
woman walked in. She was a tall, skinny bottle blonde who'd seen
better days. She carried a plastic handbag in the crook of her arm
and her cardigan was rather baggy and unflattering.

‘
I saw the advert for a cleaner, love,’ she said in a broad
London accent. ‘It said you were interviewing today. Is that
right?’

‘
Yes, it is,’ replied Annie. ‘Take a seat. Can I get you a
drink?’

‘
Oh, thanks love,’ the woman said, sitting in a booth. ‘A cup
of tea would be nice.’

‘
I meant something stronger,’ Annie smiled. ‘How about a
sherry?’

‘
A sherry would be lovely. You’re a good girl.’

Annie
laughed and went behind the bar, pouring herself a gin and tonic,
and the woman a small dry sherry. She returned to the booth and sat
opposite her.

‘
Sorry, what’s your name?’ Annie asked.

‘
Norma. Norma Francis.’

‘
I’m Annie Holland. So what are you doing at the moment
Norma?’

‘
I do a bit of cleaning at the Locarno on Willesden High
Street. I also used to clean at the Red Lion in Maida Vale, but
they’ve changed landlords and the new one’s brought his own cleaner
with him, so I’m out of a job.’

‘
Have you been cleaning long?’

‘
Ooh years love. I have references.’

With a
shaky hand, she opened the handbag and pulled out a piece of paper,
passing it to Annie. It read;

To Whom It May Confirm

Norma Francis has worked for me for three years as a cleaner
and I can confirm that she is hard working and honest.

P Donnelly – Manager The Locarno Ballroom,
Willesden.

‘
Well that’s good enough for me,’ Annie said, handing Norma the
paper back. ‘Are you okay working on a Sunday? You don’t have
family who’ll want to see you?’

‘
My children are all grown up. They won’t miss me.’

‘
Well, I need someone who can clean on a Friday, Saturday and
Sunday morning. I already have a lady who comes in Monday to
Thursday. It’s ten shillings an hour and I’d like you to do eight
until one. Is that alright?’

‘
Fine with me love. So is this your club?’

‘
Yes. I have a manager, Mr Collins. He’ll deal with you when
I’m not available. One of us will leave your wages on the bar on a
Sunday. So, Norma, would you like the job?’

‘
Yes,’ Norma smiled. ‘Thank you Miss Holland.’

‘
Annie. Call me Annie.’

‘
Thank you Annie.’

The
following day, Annie went into work to find Mandy at her desk,
which was covered in bits of paper. Mandy came in for a few hours
every morning to answer calls and sort Annie’s diary out. Quite
often there was so little for her and Annie to do, they’d end up
just going along to Gino’s Coffee Bar on Regent Street until it was
Mandy’s time to go home. But today was different. As Annie walked
in, she found her friend on the phone, scribbling something down,
and at the same time, she indicated to Annie at all the messages
she’d taken.

Annie picked up one of the pieces of paper and it simply said
‘
Binky Longford,
Cambridge 928032’
another one said
‘
Grace Bryce, Staines 923219’

‘
Who are these people?’ Annie asked, sitting in front of
Mandy’s desk.

‘
Some are guests from the wedding. Others are girls who saw
pictures of Fiona’s shoes in the paper and want you to make the
same for their weddings.’

‘
How am I going to cope with all of this?’ Annie fretted. It
was what she’d always wanted. But it had all come at once and she
was scared she wouldn’t be able to manage.

‘
You’re going to have to get more people in to
help.’

‘
And that bloody Iris has gone off on some modelling assignment
- according to her. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s actually
seeing some man behind Patrick’s back.’

‘
Jealous are we?’ quipped Mandy with a knowing
smile.

‘
I had many chances to be a model, as well as you
know.’

‘
I wasn’t talking about modelling,’ Mandy replied.

Annie
blushed and stood up, gathering the pieces of paper and taking them
into her office. She shut the door and sat at her desk, and to
salve her conscience, got on the phone to Eddie at his office in
Hammersmith.

‘
This is a pleasant surprise,’ he purred down the
phone.

‘
I’ve come in this morning to hundreds of messages from girls
wanting me to make wedding shoes for them. What am I going to do
Eddie? Can your father’s factory cope?’

‘
Probably. But if you injected some more capital into it, he
could probably expand.’

‘
Sell Bruno’s you mean?’ she sighed. They’d had this
conversation before.

‘
It’s nothing to do with you now Annie. It’s just a reminder of
the past. Of bad times with Mario. Why don’t you sell it to
Patrick’s father then use the money to buy a bigger factory for
Dad?’

Annie
knew what he was saying made perfect sense, but it was the thought
of severing all ties with Patrick that made her hesitate. She’d
tried so hard to fight her feelings for him, but she couldn’t help
it. If he hadn’t been involved with Iris, she would have probably
found the courage to tell him how she felt. But from what she could
tell, he was mad about her. And judging by the fact that he’d been
with Trixie the night she’d met him, he obviously preferred buxom
blondes; which meant she - as a skinny brunette - wouldn’t stand a
chance.

‘
I’ll have to talk to him about it when he gets back from
Scotland,’ she said.

‘
You know it makes sense darling. It’s daft holding onto the
past.’

Chapter Ten

It was
with a heavy heart that Annie met with Lewis Finkel, her
accountant, at Bruno’s later that week. She knew she had no choice
but to sell the club. Things had gone crazy since Fiona’s wedding.
She had sixty orders that needed to be made within the next three
months, for weddings alone. There were also other orders come in
from friends of Fiona’s who wanted shoes to take on holiday with
them. A lot of them were going off to spend the summer in the South
of France or the Caribbean, and wanted comfortable but stylish
shoes they could wear all day. Annie worked until midnight most
nights, designing, and during the day she was on the phone hiring
office staff. She needed a full-time secretary as well as someone
to order supplies; and on top of that, Glass’s were trying to
fulfil their usual orders, as well as hers. Now she potentially had
Clarissa Balfern on board, designing bags and something had to
give. And she guessed that something had to be Bruno’s.

Lewis
went around the club, measuring things up, checking stock and the
state the interiors were in. All the time weaving in and out of
Norma’s way as she tried to do her cleaning. Annie hid away in one
of the booths, looking through the books. She hadn’t examined the
ledgers in ages and she was surprised to see takings had almost
doubled since Patrick had joined the business. Indeed he was there
more often than she was these days. She had to dedicate her time to
Holland’s, and it was easier for Patrick to oversee the running of
the club. He had a lot of contacts – both in the London underworld,
and in show-business, who he would invite to the club to talk
business, and they were obviously spending their money and boosting
the profits.

When
Lewis finally joined her in a booth, he took the books from her and
started to look through them.

‘
I have to say this place is certainly healthier than it was
when Mario left it to you,’ he said, pushing his horn-rimmed
glasses up his nose. ‘You could ask for a good price for
it.’

‘
What sort of price?’