Chick Lit Box Set

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE

It was still pitch black outside as Aggie stood in front of the kettle waiting for it to boil. She shivered and wrapped her dressing gown tightly around her body as she moved toward the window and tried to gauge what the weather was going to do that day. Probably rain, she thought as she returned her attention to her first cup of tea that morning. Stirring a spoonful of honey into it, the sound of post dropping through her mailbox startled her out of her thoughts of Vegas.

She and Coco had been back a week already and her memories were slowly starting to fade, being replaced instead with thoughts of what she was going to do with her life now that she no longer had a job at the library of mythology. A job she’d rather enjoyed for the past five years.

Taking a sip of her sweet tea, she smiled, remembering what Coco had done for her. She was one in a million that woman, and Aggie had no idea how she could ever repay her. Not only had she shared her holiday with her, she”d also given her more than two thousand dollars’ spending money. But it was giving up her chance to go on a date with Johnnie Blackburn that was the icing on the cake. Nothing she could ever do could live up to that.

Aggie sighed, wishing that one day she could repay her.

Heading toward the front door, she bent down to pick up her mail. The usual bills and her latest copy of Mythology Untold Magazine along with a letter alerting her to the fact that her subscription was coming to an end. Hardly any point continuing with it, she thought as her thoughts drifted back to the closing of the library. She’d cried as she’d walked out of the old building. Apparently the owner had sold it to some property developer who was going to knock it down and build a block of flats there instead. She sighed as she continued to rifle through the letters, stopping at the sight of a postcard from Vegas.

Grinning, she perched on her old-fashioned telephone seat in the hallway and looked at the picture of the famous strip, lit up in all its night time glory. Turning it over, she laughed out loud at the sight of Coco’s handwriting.

Just wanted to remind you of the fun we had, not to mention the very brief encounter with Johnnie Blackburn! You owe me, you know lol! Only kidding, my lovely.

Stay happy. Love you.

Your bestest pal in the whole wide world,

Coco

Grinning, Aggie shook her head. She was such a nutcase. Picking up the rest of the mail from the side where she’d tossed it all, she went back into the kitchen and sat down to finish her cup of tea, all the while trying to get her head round her future.

Would she keep the old corner shop she’d inherited? Or would she sell it? What would she do with it if she decided to keep it? The town certainly didn’t need another “corner shop” as such. There were enough grocery stores, not to mention numerous large-scale supermarkets in the vicinity. No, it would have to be something new. Something different.

But what the hell do I know about running a shop? she thought, sighing as she ripped off the plastic envelope holding her Mythology magazine. Perhaps I could create my own mythology library, she thought to herself. Excited at the possibility, she soon brought herself back down to earth as she realised nobody cared about mythology books any more. Everything was on the internet. No, that certainly wouldn’t work.

Sipping the last of her tea, she looked up at the window as the sun was rising in the sky. The gentle sound of birds chirping made her smile. Even when the weather was a bit miserable, one could always count on the birds to sing in a good morning.

She stood up just as her own cuckoo clock—a gift from her mother a couple of years ago—began to sound eight o’clock. Stretching her arms above her head, Aggie yawned and went into the living room. She flicked on the TV to catch the latest headlines. As it seemed to be all doom and gloom, she changed the channel to find breakfast TV. It was more for background noise than anything as she sat down and curled her feet up under her bottom, gazing out the window at the sight of her elderly neighbours in the front garden, and the kids from next door climbing into their parents’ car to head to school and their folks to work. She’d have been doing the same not so long ago. It was weird getting up and having nowhere to go. And she didn’t like it.

The sound of the presenters talking on TV began to lull her into a sleepy state, so she straightened her legs out from under her and snuggled down into her old sofa, adjusting one of the scatter cushions to cradle her head.

Sighing, she let herself drift, listening in and out to the words being spoken on the telly. The TV duo were laughing as they talked about some new s*x aid that was causing a bit of a scene throughout the country, making its inventors a rather tidy sum of money.

Aggie closed her ears and turned away from the TV, trying to block them out as she remembered Coco dragging her into that embarrassing s*x shop in Sheffield almost two months ago. It had been quite busy too. Coco loved that sort of thing. There’d been some similar shops in Las Vegas that she’d insisted they peruse, which had caused her to blush on an almost constant basis. Whereas everyone else had seemed to act like it was quite normal to buy vibrators and crotchless knickers in full view of the general public. Not me, she thought.

Just as she was about to nod off again, the phone rang. Aggie sat up, catching sight of the odd-shaped gadget on the TV, before she rushed into the hallway where she picked up her old-fashioned telephone and greeted the caller.

“Hello, dear, it’s only me.”

“Hi, Mum.”

“Hello, sweetheart. How are you? Well-rested I hope? And ready to start planning your future?” she asked.

“I guess so.”

“Well, that’s actually why I’m calling,” said Aggie’s mum.

“It is?” Aggie asked. “Okay then, what’s up?”

“Well, your father and I went to see the solicitor dealing with Aunt Petunia’s will last night.”

“Yes? Is everything all right?”

“I’m getting to that, dear. Well, it seems there’s more to it than we originally realised.”

“There is?”

“Yes, dear. Well, it seems that Aunt Petunia doesn’t want you to sell the corner shop.”

“But she left it to me. Isn’t it up to me?”

“Well, that’s the catch, dear. She put a, er, what do you call it? Er…” Aggie listened as her mother yelled on the other end of the phone. “Edward! What was that thing called again? No, the thing with the will and the corner shop? A what? Oh right. Are you there, dear?”

“Yes Mum, I’m still here.”

“A condition, dear. She put a condition in the will. She’s only leaving it to you if you agree to get it back up and running again. It says you can choose whatever kind of shop you like, but it must remain a shop, for at least two years. After that, if it fails, you’re allowed to sell. But not before. If you don’t want to do that, then she’s leaving it to the local vicarage.”

“The local vicarage? You mean Reverend Geoff? There’s no way in hell I’m letting that man anywhere near my shop,” Aggie growled.

“Agatha Trout!” her mum shouted back at her. “You mustn’t talk like that about a man of the cloth.”

Aggie could imagine her mother cross herself on the other end of the line.

“I couldn’t care less whether he’s Jesus himself, Mum. That man is pure evil.”

“Now why ever would you say a thing like that?”

“Don’t you remember, Mum?”

“Remember what, sweetheart?”

“Colin from school? Apparently Reverend Geoff threw Colin on his head when he was six years old, and there’s that rumour about him, er, touching Catarina Eccles inappropriately on her sixteenth birthday. Not to mention the time he grabbed Georgina Wells…”

“Enough!” yelled her mother. “All rumours. None of them proven…”

“Or disproven,” Aggie muttered under her breath.

“So I’m taking it you’re ready to take on the shop then, Agatha?” her mother asked before anything else could be said about the rumours surrounding the reverend in the local vicarage.

“Absolutely,” Aggie said, standing up to her full height as if preparing for a fight.

“Well then that’s marvelous, darling. Have you had any thoughts on what kind of shop it will be?”

“Not really, Mum. To be honest I was kind of hoping to sell it, but I guess Great Aunt Petunia has other ideas for me.”

“I guess so, dear. Perhaps there’s some way you can incorporate your love of the astrology?”

Aggie shook her head and smiled, “It’s mythology, Mum.”

“Oh it’s all the same to me, dear.”

“It’s not really. Mythology and Astrology are actually quite different.”

“Tomatoes, tomatoes,” her Mum tutted down the other end of the phone, pronouncing the second word with a terrible American accent.

Aggie laughed again and changed the subject. “Have you spoken to Christie lately?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I spoke to your sister this morning.”

“That must’ve been early.”

“I rang her at half past seven. I knew she’d be up with the twins.”

“Poor thing. Josephine and Matilda run rings around her.”

“They are darlings though,” her mum added with a cheeky chuckle.

“So how is she doing? And why were you ringing her so early, Mum?” asked Aggie.

“Well, your Great Aunt Petunia left some money to Christie and we were chatting about that.”

“She left Christie money?” Aggie breathed down the phone.

“Yes, fifty thousand pounds to be exact.”

Aggie had to sit down. Her sister, married to a very wealthy banker and living in the most beautiful townhouse, who needed money like a hole in the head, had been given fifty thousand pounds? And to me, with no job, a tiny bungalow and hardly any money to my name, she gives a corner shop, she thought.

“Are you still there, dear?”

“Y…yes Mum. I’m still here.”

“I thought it was rather a decent thing of your Great Aunt Petunia to do, considering we haven’t really had anything to do with each other over the years. Don’t you?”

“Sure, Mum. Great.”

“Well, I ought to go. I’ve got the Ladies Luncheon Club at the golf club today, and I still haven’t decided whether to wear my yellow tweed skirt suit or my blush one. And Ebenezer is coming over to do my hair at ten o’clock, so I must dash.”

“Ebenezer?” asked Aggie.

“Yes, you must remember him. He did your sister’s hair for her wedding. He did such a wonderful job, didn’t he? Well, he’s been doing mine ever since. I’m sure I’ve mentioned him to you.”

“Oh yes of course I remember him. How could I forget? What a character. But you never told me you’d poached him.”

“I did no such thing, dear. He’s now a full-time mobile hair stylist and he comes over twice a month. He does ever such a good job, you know dear. You ought to see him. I’m sure he’ll be able to do something with your long lanky hair, dear. I could make an appointment, if you like?”

“I think I’ll pass, Mum. Besides, it’s not like I can afford it at the moment. I’ve got my future to sort out.”

“That’s very sensible, dear. Do let me know if you need any advice. You know I’m always here for you, darling.”

“I know, Mum and I appreciate that. But I’ll be fine.”

“Yes, I’m sure you will. But keep me up to date about what kind of shop you’re going to open. The ladies and I are eager to know. Right, toodle pip, dear. Talk soon. Love you.”

Aggie placed the phone back on the receiver and pretty much stumbled into the kitchen where she put the kettle on to boil again. Long, lanky hair? That woman had a way with words.

And she still couldn’t quite believe it. Fifty thousand pounds. Christie certainly had all the luck. Even when they were born two years apart. It had been a period in their mother’s life when she had been clearly obsessed with Agatha Christie novels. Aggie would much rather have been called Christie Trout instead of Agatha Trout (Aggie for short) but she’d been born first so it was what it was.

As for Christie, Agatha was convinced she’d searched for a husband based on his surname (as well as his bank balance, perhaps). She’d married Jonathan Valentine within a year of dating him. She’d been twenty-two at the time and the twins had arrived soon thereafter. They were now approaching three years old. Jonathan, on the other hand, had already celebrated his thirty-seventh birthday. Had he not been a rich man, their mother wouldn’t have been too pleased. Aggie was sure of that.

Taking her first cup of coffee (she decided she needed a little more caffeine) into the living room, she sat down. Noticing that the programme now on television was about inheritance and heir hunters, she grimaced and reached for her mobile phone.

“Coco?” Aggie asked as the phone stopped ringing and she could hear the faint sound of breathing.

“You there? I can hear you breathing?”

“I’m still asleep,” said her best friend on the other end of the line.

Aggie smiled as she imagined Coco lying in bed in her favourite satin pyjamas, her eyes covered by one of her many sleep masks, mumbling into the phone.

“It’s almost nine o’clock, Coco.”

“So,” groaned the twenty-seven year old woman.

“I need to talk,” Aggie whispered before she heard the bed sheets ruffle.

“Okay, I’m up. I’m awake. What’s the matter? Are you okay?” asked a somewhat more alert Coco.

“Christie inherited fifty thousand pounds.”

“Oh.”

“And, get this. I’m not allowed to sell the shop. If I don’t want it for myself, it’s going to be gifted to the vicarage.”

“What?” Coco yelled down the phone, making Aggie hold it away from her ear. “Bleeding Reverend Geoff?”

Aggie nodded, making a yes sound at the same time.

“Well that’s decided then. You’re opening a b****y shop. We’re not letting that dirty p*****t get his filthy hands on it.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Aggie replied as she sank back into the sofa again.

“Did your Great Aunt Petunia specify what kind of shop?”

“No, that can be up to me apparently.”

“Well then, how about a knocking shop?” Coco whooped at her own joke. “That would get your mum’s Ladies Luncheon Club talking, wouldn’t it? And the so-called Reverend? Creep if ever there was one.”

Aggie laughed at Coco”s sudden alertness.

“Do you remember Kirk from Glasgow? I heard that Geoff tried it on him as well. Makes me sick to the stomach. Why ever would your Great Aunt Petunia even think to leave anything to that disgusting human being?”

“I think when she was younger, she must have been a regular at the church, but that would have been way before the arrival of the so-called Reverend Geoff. Before he was stationed there anyway. Stationed? Is that the right word? Probably not. But you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. But to be honest, hon. I’m kind of pleased this has all happened.”

“You are?” asked Aggie, a little taken aback.

“Ever since you heard the library was closing down, you’ve not been yourself. You needed a project to get your teeth sunk into. And this, my lovely, is the perfect project to get you back on your feet again. Come to think of it, I have a feeling this just might be the making of you.”

“I doubt it, Coco. I’ve always been okay with my life.”

“You shouldn’t just be okay with your life, hon. You should be embracing it, loving every second, taking every opportunity that comes your way and pouncing on it.”

“You mean the way you do with every sexy man who looks in your direction?” Aggie laughed.

“Something like that. But it’s your time now, Aggie. It’s time you were noticed. I’ve managed to work my magic with your makeup, and a few new clothes but now it’s step two. The whole shebang. It’s time to take it a step further and not only get your career on the up, but maybe get you a man and…”

“Coco?”

“Yes, hon?”

“I get the gist,” I smiled.