Getting Organised. Carolyn Caterer
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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.
Chapter 7
‘She’s just perfect for the role, believe me. I have never been so sure of anything in my entire life such as this.’ Mabel delivered these words with such conviction that she knew it would be impossible to argue with her.
Her mouth spread into a broad smile at the response to these words as she held the telephone close to her ear and she punched the air in a manner more reminiscent of John McEnroe than a woman in her seventies.
Now all she had to do was start the ball rolling with Abi and persuade her that what she needed was a nice little job in Basingstoke. Surely this was well within her capabilities and then the rest would all fall into place; of that she was sure. Abi may, on first impressions, be the type of woman that wouldn’t say boo to a goose, but Mabel had immediately sensed that there was far more to this young lady than met the eye and that she was destined to surprise people in ways that they could never imagine to be possible. Mabel wondered if Abi was even aware of this fact herself, but didn’t worry about what was to come. She wanted to see Abi liberated, independent and fully in charge of her own life and she could think of no better way of helping her than by putting her forward for this job and letting fate take its course. She couldn’t wait to see the outcome of her plan and wondered if in a former life she had actually been a witch…..
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Imogen Fraser put the telephone down and replayed the conversation in her head. Mabel had been absolutely sure that she had found the ideal person to work with her and was adamant that her plan was perfect. Imogen, while less convinced, was just relieved that Mabel had found someone suitable.
Imogen was very successful at her job and had built up a business of very satisfied clients. One reason for this was that they felt completely relaxed and at ease in her company. They could come to her to de-stress and unwind and know that she would never reveal their secrets and was the soul of discretion. With a degree in psychology Imogen understood the human mind very well and especially those of men who worked in high pressure jobs and who led stressful and demanding lives. Driven by high levels of testosterone she also knew how difficult they could be to live with and sometimes they needed to get away from it all and just be themselves. Of course some of the surgeons and consultants who came to her most definitely had a God complex when it came to their work, but this fell away from them the minute they walked into her consulting room, rather like a cloak being discarded once they had reached the warmth of a friendly resting place.
Imogen was extremely proud of the business she had built up over the last twenty years. She had no need to advertise as her clients came via recommendation. The gentleman’s club had been perhaps the single most important marketing tool for her and she thanked her lucky stars that this was the case, as she always had a full appointments diary and a waiting list of potential clients practically begging her to take them on.
It helped of course that she was attractive; even at forty-five she could pass for someone in their late thirties. She was very pleased that she kept herself in good shape by working out at the gym, doing yoga, Pilates and body balance as well as playing tennis in summer and squash in winter. She was by no means attracted to the gym but realised the cost of its membership was more than paid for by being so successful in her work and if an alluring appearance could bring in more business she wasn’t going to argue with that.
But now she wanted a change of scene and to go and retire to her home in Cyprus. She had more than enough money to do so and had invested it extremely wisely over the years in a portfolio that was the perfect mix of high, medium and low risk strategies thanks to her rather brilliant financial advisor who also happened to be her brother. Imogen was more than ready to have a change of scene and a life where she could be free to be herself and not have to spend her days keeping the secrets of others and being an emotional crutch for them. She was pretty good at switching off at the end of the day, but now she wanted some time out, to relax, swim and walk, read and write and just take it easy.
The thing was, she had a thriving business and it would be such a shame to throw it all away now.