Pear Shaped

Chapter Nine

At a staff meeting on Monday morning to discuss the proposed changes to the fashion department, all I can think about is the imaginary wedding of Mark Edwards and Chloe Mills. Obviously the thought of me in a puffy white dress standing with a besotted Mark at the altar comes from the crazy imagination of Bianca Shaw. If it were my thoughts, Mark would be checking what he looked like every two minutes in my giant rock of a glinting engagement ring.

Back to reality, Suzy is resting her hands on the long white table, going on about customer demographics and how we need to be appealing to a younger audience of customers.

I give a bored yawn and glance around the room. Suzy and Mark are sitting at the top end of the table with Janine just opposite me. Then there’s Scott from men’s fashion to my left and the young girl who works the tills on weekends and busier days.

“What each of us must consider,” Suzy lectures, “is what we can do to support customer needs. How can we move in a fresh direction?”

I stifle a laugh. Bet she was up all night scripting this bullshit.

“That was very useful Suzy,” Mark says flatly when she’s finished boring us all. It’s obvious he’s as bored as the rest of us.

Even Janine seemed to be thinking about what colour to paint her nails next all the way through Suzy’s speech. And when she stops staring at her claw-like nails and plants a kiss on the side of Mark’s face, I get much the same impression from him that his heart’s not in it. He turns away from her, embarrassed that somebody might have seen the public display of affection. His flushed cheeks and the way his full lips look a shade or two redder than most men’s makes him appear to be wearing make-up. I can almost believe that he is.

He catches me looking at him and holds my gaze for a few seconds before Janine appears beside me, her long auburn hair swinging loosely around her shoulders.

“Hey Chloe,” she says, a fake smile on her glossy lips that could almost compete with her BFF Suzy’s. “I just wanted to say that you shouldn’t feel bad about what Suzy said today.”

I stare at her, trying to work out what’s really going on here. The puppet-master is watching us from her position by the door so I know that she’s probably scripted Janine’s words too.

“Just because Connect is really going with a younger feel now doesn’t mean you won’t be considered for the job. Mark will make the right decision about who gets it.” She looks across the room at him all gooey-eyed.

Her comment is so ridiculous that I don’t waste much time at all thinking it over. If they really wanted a ‘younger feel’, they wouldn’t have an old hag like Suzy as the fashion manager. And no one in the right mind would consider Janine to be more employable than me because she’s a few years younger.

What I’m really thinking about is the sincerity of her relationship with Mark. The dreamy way she looks at him seems real. But even I, Man-Free Chloe Mills, have had a thought or two about a big white wedding featuring Mark Edwards as the groom. Just because he’s an arrogant tosser doesn’t mean that he’s not good-looking.

I know that this is all a concoction from the evil mind of Suzy Smith but what if Janine really does like Mark? Where does that leave me? I think of the stiff way he responded to her kiss. Obviously, being a man, he has no idea what’s going on.

***

If men had body shapes the way that women do, it would all be about bulging out their crotches and giving them the illusion of a six-pack. For some reason, Mark is the model in my head trying out my imaginary range of ‘deceptive clothing for men’. Catchy title, I know.

I’m supposed to be helping Scott organize a display of men’s coats, on Suzy’s request, only Scott has disappeared somewhere and I’m stuck trying to sort out where the waterproof coats should go in comparison to the brown suede jackets.

Over by the tills in nearby women’s fashion, Janine is chatting to a young woman with bright green hair. I’m too far away to hear their conversation but I bet it isn’t about where she can find our latest range of dress-length t-shirts. And I bet that Suzy does nothing about Janine’s personal visit at work.

I scan the green-haired woman’s slender body, deciding that she’s a pear-shape with her wide hips and narrow shoulders and mentally selecting a few items from our current range that would suit her and her personality. Tapered black jeans to slim her bottom half, a bold fuchsia blouse and an edgy studded denim jacket to draw the attention upwards, and maybe a grey silk scarf to add some extra layering. Janine would be totally clueless about any of this.

I’m too caught up in my own imagination to notice Dan standing beside me, his black hair a ruffled mess.

“What are you doing here?” I hiss, looking around for Suzy. That woman can appear out of nowhere. “Wasn’t being harassed by your girlfriend bad enough?”

“I’ve come to apologise for that,” he explains. “And I’ve told you, she isn’t my girlfriend.”

“But you’re still living in her house?” I check.

He nods reluctantly. “Just until I get sorted. Or maybe I could move back in with you? I want to come home.”

“Dan,” I say firmly, ignoring his not-so-subtle suggestion, “if Kylie is still letting you live with her then she hasn’t got the message. Or else, you haven’t actually broken up with her, which is the more likely scenario. She sounded pretty serious warning me off you. Why would she do that if you’d dumped her?”

Dan toys with the flap of his jacket pocket. “Well she knows I’m not over you, doesn’t she? Maybe she thinks she can win me back by getting you to stay away.” He shrugs. “Who knows with women?”

I slip the last waterproof onto a coat hanger, no longer caring about how it looks beside the suede jackets. “I have been staying away. Meeting you for that drink was a bad idea. Bianca’s bad idea. And I’m sorry. But that doesn’t excuse the lies you told Kylie about it.”

“Hold on just a minute,” he says, following me as I turn away towards the changing rooms. “Kylie filled all that stuff in by herself. I didn’t know she was going to bother you at work.”

“Funny that,” I retort. “That’s exactly what you’re doing.”

“Oh, come on,” he pleads, continuing to follow me.

“Chloe.” Mark appears out of nowhere like Suzy the Snake and looks between the two of us with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Dan stopped by to apologise,” I explain. “And now he’s leaving.”

“There’s a customer who requires your expertise,” Mark says without commenting on Dan’s presence.

I nod and smile professionally, following Mark and leaving Dan to mope.

As soon as we’re alone, Mark says, “Turning into the Chloe Show out there with all your visitors.” His voice is rough and bitter but I don’t understand why.

“I can’t get rid of Dan!”

“If your personal life is interfering with your work–“

“It isn’t,” I challenge, wondering why he’s acting like Suzy.

“Good.” He nods, signalling the end of the conversation.

When we reach the other side of the tills, I see that a queue has formed and Suzy has opened up the second till to help Janine. Thank God she didn’t find me first.

Mark points me in the direction of a petite blonde who apparently needs my help and leaves me to it.