The problem of getting r.., p.26
The Problem of Getting Rich Quik ... Part One, page 26
part #1 of The problem of getting Rich Quik Series
‘It’s perfect,’ she sighed with love. ‘Do you like it?’
‘What’s there to like? It’s dirty and smelly.’
‘Okay,’ she said, realising he didn’t care about this part of the building. ‘But you do like the flat?’
‘Yes, as long as I get the front room,’ he mumbled.
‘Yes, you can have the biggest room but do you like this shop?’
‘If you like it, I like it,’ he said peering out of the window. ‘I used to go to that pub across the road.’
Wet to her skin and wondering what on earth she was doing, Lily put an offer on the place with the estate agent as Dominic looked bored out of his brains.
‘Do you fancy trying that pub across the road as it’s going to be one of our locals?’ she asked seeing he was looking glum again.
‘Yeah.’
‘Dominic what’s wrong?’ she asked. Lily couldn’t hide her excitement but something seemed to be bothering her friend. ‘You don’t seem so keen and it’s your money too. I don’t want you to-.’
‘It’s Monica.’
‘What about her? She can come round whenever she wants. I haven’t got any hard feelings towards her,’ Lily lied.
‘She wants us to be more of a permanent thing,’ he said staring into space. ‘But I’m not interested.’
‘Stop seeing her.’
‘It’s not that easy. She’s great in the sack.’
‘Don’t play with her feelings. Tell her you’re not ready.’
‘I am ready but not with her,’ he whispered.
‘What did you say?’ she asked, thinking she’d misheard.
‘I’m ready to find someone I like.’
‘Why are you doing this with me?’ she said, worried he was having a major change of heart.
‘I’m still up for it, don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I want to get married, it’s just I want to enjoy the company of someone who’s good in the sack and I can hold a conversation with.’
‘What about Rosana?’
‘What did you mention her name for?’ he snapped. ‘She hates you!’
‘And I hate her! I mean, does she know what’s on those DVDs, her sister included?’
‘I know what’s on some of them,’ Dominic said brightening up.
‘Well now I have copies of them under lock and key in the laptop.’
‘What are you going to do with them?’
‘Since he didn’t want me to see them then I think they must mean something.’
‘I’d want to keep them if I were him.’
‘Is he that good?’ Lily looked at Dominic hoping for a flicker of embarrassment.
‘I can see why he put a smile on your face, if that’s what you mean.’
‘He won’t be doing that ever again, will he?’
Chapter Twenty Three
It was nearly a year since leaving her marital home and the shop had been open for seven months. Lily dusted the shelves of ‘These Foolish Things.’ She stepped back and admired the display then felt the pain passing through as she realised it was a year since Richard dumped her.
The bulk of work was from the goody bags business but changing the name to match the shop meant she had lost many of the clients from her time with Richard, which wasn’t a bad thing. Lily glanced at the boxes in the back of the shop for the fifty goody bags her and Dominic would have to create in the evening.
‘You’re never going to believe this!’ Dominic yelled, running into the shop and frightening a young child with her mother.
‘Sorry about that,’ Lily said jumping then taking a chocolate lollipop and handing it to the little girl. ‘He gets too excited.’
‘I’m so happy,’ he said jumping up and down. ‘I got it, I got it!’
‘Got what?
‘I got the part in the commercial!’
‘That’s brilliant!’ she shouted and ran to hug him tightly, nearly knocking her customers over.
‘I know it’s amazing!’
Lily couldn’t remember seeing him this happy in a long time. She smiled from ear to ear as he beamed with pure delight.
‘Shall we go and celebrate tonight?’ she said then remembered she had work to do. ‘After we stuff some more bags?’
‘I’d love to,’ he said, arms in the air. ‘But we start filming in a few days and I have to fly over to the States tonight!’
‘You’re joking!’ she yelled and once again they embraced each other but this time they started to jump with joy. Lily glanced over at someone who was going to come into the shop then quickly changed their mind. ‘You better go, pack and get out of here. Have you got your passport and-.’
‘Shh,’ he said, putting a finger to her mouth. ‘I’m fine. Now are you sure it’s okay if I take off for a week to do this? I know you’ve got stacks of stuff to do upstairs and I feel a little bad about leaving you in the lurch especially now, you know, a year since-.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, holding his hand. ‘At least one of us is having some good luck and that’s something to be happy about. Me, I’ve reached a milestone and it will be a year since he dumped me.’
‘Lily,’ he frowned and she immediately knew she said the wrong thing. ‘You’ve got this shop, that’s what you always wanted.’
‘I know,’ she said half-heartedly. ‘I’ve got the shop.’
It was the first time she had been left on her own since they moved in together and it suddenly dawned on her how much she had relied on Dominic to stop her from thinking about Richard. But this night, there was nothing to prevent her from dwelling on the man she loved and lost.
Getting up from the sofa, she walked to her bedroom and pulled out a large black box. This was the first time she’d opened it for months and when she pushed back the lid she immediately knew why.
‘Shit,’ she quietly said gulping back the bitter tears.
The first thing she saw was the pressed flowers she had on her wedding day and the keepsakes. The small photo album was underneath and she pulled it out, quickly opening it and taking a sharp intake of breath. She was met with the smiling face of Richard semi-naked in bed.
Then she noticed the old lap top and the DVDs. Lily slammed shut the album, angrily throwing it back in the box and kicking it back under bed before starting her daily night time sob which started from the last day she saw him.
‘You want a what?’ she said to Julian the following day, as he stood brazenly in the middle of her shop, poking one of the displays.
‘A job,’ he said, smiling at her.
‘You want to work for me? Look,’ she said, gob smacked by his request. ‘I can’t afford to pay myself let alone you.’
‘Oh, I’ll do it for free,’ he said flippantly. ‘But not full time, I can only do a few hours here and there.’
‘Why?’
‘Why what?’ he replied blankly. ‘Why do I want to work part time? Well, I have other things to do.’
‘No, why do you want to work here? It’s not your sort of thing.’
‘I need something to do and I thought where else but come and help my two dear friends starting up their business,’ he said trying to look sincere. Lily stared at him for a moment then watched as he deflated and blurted out. ‘I’m bored.’
‘You think coming to work here will alleviate your boredom, do you?’ She laughed at his gall then quickly ticked over she could sit him in the room downstairs and stuff goody bags. ‘You know the work I’d want you to do is boring. Like stuffing bags in a dark dingy room?’
‘I’ve stuffed a lot of things in dark dingy rooms, honey! Anyway as long as it has a TV and is close to a kettle, I’ll be fine.’
‘Julian, you can’t be that bored,’ she laughed. ‘You know Dominic is away filming in the States.’
‘So I heard,’ he said sounding disinterested. ‘It’s only a commercial.’
‘The money he makes will help pay for the bills and don’t be so mean. He’s always supportive of anything you do,’ she said defensively.
‘I know, I know,’ he sighed. ‘Everyone seems to be doing something, moving on and I’m just in limbo.’
‘I thought it was panto?’ she said, sniggering then noticed he wasn’t laughing.
‘There’s more to me than dressing up in drag you know,’ Julian said seriously.
‘I was only joking,’ Lily replied, feeling guilty as she looked at his sad face. ‘Have you ever worked in a shop before?’
‘Don’t be stupid!’
A week had turned into a fortnight and Dominic still hadn’t returned. He left a message saying he was going to spend some time with a bloke he met on the shoot before coming home. Lily felt deflated he hadn’t come back sooner but Julian’s appearance for two hours every day had lightened her mood. His hours were strictly eleven to one so she could have a lunch break and make phone calls. All he asked in return was that she would supply him with lunch.
‘What’s this?’ Julian asked, turning up his nose at her chicken Caesar wrap.
‘Your lunch,’ she replied as she changed the display.
‘Is that it?’
‘I didn’t have enough time to prepare you a full on salad so make do. Anyway, I was sorting out dinner for Dominic’s return.’
‘That’s if he returns,’ sniped Julian.
‘He has to,’ she said, knowing her new colleague wanted to wind her up. ‘He owns nearly half this place.’
‘Oh what an incentive,’ he sarcastically replied taking a bite of the wrap then pulling a face before his mouth dropped open.
‘I put some Tabasco sauce in to liven it up,’ Lily laughed, watching Julian sweat as he knocked back a can of diet coke. ‘You’re letting the side down. You’re supposed to take hot and spicy things, my black friend.’
‘You tried to poison me,’ he choked. ‘And you know chilli makes my head break out into a sweat!’
‘That’s her cooking for you,’ Dominic said walking in.
‘Dom!’ Lily shouted and ran to give him a big hug.
‘Did someone miss me?’ he asked, dropping his bags and hugging her back before noticing Julian and scowling. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘Having lunch,’ replied Julian throwing the wrap into the bin.
‘He’s helping me out,’ said Lily before whispering. ‘But it’s more hard work than I thought.’
‘We can’t afford to pay-.’
‘I’m doing it pro bono,’ announced Julian.
‘He wants to work with common people,’ added Lily. ‘Not that he does any work.’
‘I do,’ Julian defensively replied. ‘Just your business isn’t exactly taking off. It’s not my fault you’re not making money.’
‘He’s probably pinching it,’ said Dominic walking over to Julian before planting a kiss on his cheek. ‘And your appearance wouldn’t be because you’re dying to know how I got on?
‘No,’ Julian said. ‘Okay tell me. I know, let’s go upstairs as I’ve finished for the day.’
In a whirl, Julian whisked Dominic away as Lily was left alone in the shop. After listening for hours to them laughing, Lily eventually went up to join in and found Dominic sprawled on the sofa with no sign of Julian.
‘Where is he?’ she asked pouring herself a glass of wine.
‘He went home about half an hour ago and I thought I’d just chill. Why on earth did you employ that lazy tart?’
‘He’s good fun and the customers like him,’ she smiled. ‘Plus he keeps my company for free.’
‘That’s a good point?’
‘Tell me all about it,’ she asked excitedly. ‘You look really well. You’re not going to up sticks and leave me?’
‘Not yet,’ he laughed. ‘It was great. I met some amazing people. Funnily there was this guy, Will, his mother lives not too far from here. He’s doing really well in the States and he was the star of the commercial. Well, he introduced me to a few guys, took me to some parties and generally he’s a good bloke. He’s coming back over here because he’s homesick.’
‘And you weren’t homesick?’
‘I was only away for two weeks,’ he sighed. ‘Anyway, he hooked me up with a few good contacts so, hopefully, I’ll get something else soon.’
‘When will I see this commercial?’ she asked, realising Dominic had changed back to his little ambitious self from years ago.
There was a light in his eyes she hadn’t seen for ages.
‘It’s only going to be shown in the States, so who knows, I might get some work from it.’
Dominic quickly sat up and frowned.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, sitting in the arm chair opposite.
‘Look, I’ll say this now so I don’t have to tell you later on.’
‘What?’
‘I saw Richard.’
It was like a sharp pain cutting across her insides when she heard his name. Momentarily she was scared at what Dominic was going to say but she pulled all the gumption she had left and smiled.
‘How is he?’ Lily could see he was mulling something over. ‘Dead, I hope.’
‘Okay,’ he said slowly. ‘He’s very well. The film he was working on when he was with you is a critical and box office success in the States and it’s going to be released here. Talk is he’ll win a few awards and all that shit.’
‘That’s nice,’ Lily replied with a fixed smile. ‘Where did you see him? In a gutter? Maybe a brothel?’
‘At a party,’ he replied nervously.
‘I see,’ Lily said nodding her head and not knowing why she was doing it.
‘I ignored him at first but he came straight up to me when he noticed I was there. I told him not to speak to me because he’d hurt you.’
‘I suppose he laughed?’
‘He asked about you, where you were but I didn’t tell him anything, unless you think I should-.’
‘No!’ she shouted out louder than she should have. ‘He probably wanted to serve me the divorce papers.’
‘He also told me to tell you something which…’ Dominic laughed nervously. ‘…I don’t know if I should because even mentioning his name gives you the arse.’
‘Of course I’m going to be upset. What did he say?’
‘I shouldn’t have opened my mouth, look let’s forget about it.’
‘Come on,’ she said, bracing herself for the worse. ‘You can’t tell me you’ve seen the man I love and now back down.’
‘The man you love?’
‘Loved,’ she sharply replied.
‘He said to tell you everything he felt about you was genuine.’
‘Sure,’ she said. ‘Just like his recordings of screwing other women, one hundred per cent genuine.’
Chapter Twenty Four
‘Excuse me,’ she heard a voice say behind her. ‘Is Dominic around?’
‘Just a moment,’ Lily replied putting a box of bath bombs on the floor.
‘Looks heavy.’
‘I’ve got muscles,’ she laughed and turned to see the most gorgeous young man she’d set eyes on in a long time. His hair was light brownish blonde and he had bright green eyes with a sparkling white smile, set off against his tanned skin. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans but even she could see he was buff. ‘Hello.’
‘Is Dominic here?’ he asked smiling brightly at her.
‘Yeah,’ she said trying to pull herself together but unable to stop smiling. ‘If you go out the front door and turn left, you’ll see the intercom to the flat.’
‘Great,’ he said and smiled as he left the shop.
‘Oh my god, Dom’s got a good looking friend at last!’ she said excitedly.
Lily stood there for a moment, stunned. Glancing at the clock she could see there was another forty five minutes until closing. There were footsteps above and she longed to be in her sitting room. Unpacking the bath bombs on the stand she recalled what she thought when she first saw Richard and she fell back to earth with a hefty bump.
‘Lily, are you deaf?’ Dominic yelled as she did a double take and could see the handsome stranger standing next to him.
‘What?’ she said realising her face must have looked like someone had died.
‘It’s ‘pardon’ young lady,’ Dominic said walking up to her. ‘Excuse her Will, she’s a little coarse.’ She stood there and out of nowhere managed to snort with laughter, shocking Dominic who stared at her in disgust before peering into her face. ‘What’s wrong with you?’
‘Nothing,’ she mumbled and smiled at Will before returning to her display, reminding herself to throttle Dominic when they were next alone.
‘Where are your manners?’ Dominic shouted and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards Will. ‘This is William and here is my little grunting deaf pig, business partner and occasional best friend Lily.’
‘Hi,’ she said holding out her hand and realising she had a bath bomb in her grasp.
‘Hello?’ Will said looking at her hand.
‘A gift,’ she quickly said grabbing his hand and placing it in his palm. ‘For looking after Dominic while he was away.’
‘Great!’ Will smiled and glanced at Dominic. ‘My mum would love this.’
‘Good,’ Lily replied as Dominic flashed her a strange look. ‘Great to meet you!’
Lily turned around and walked towards the back of the shop but unintentionally tripped over the half unpacked bath bombs knocking the stand over.
‘What’s with you?’ Dominic snapped and rushed over to her. ‘Sorry Will, I’ll be with you in a minute.’
‘No, I’ll do it,’ Lily said scrambling around on the floor.
‘Are you alright?’ he whispered in her ear before shouting to Will. ‘She’s usually okay in public.’
‘You caught me off balance. I was thinking about something,’ she hissed.
‘Let me guess? Would his nickname be Dick?’
‘Is this a private conversation?’ Will smiled and she noticed his feet were directly in front of her before he leaned down to help.
‘Please don’t,’ she said, glancing up at him and feeling her distressed expression would only make her look like his grandma.
‘Would you like to join us for a drink?’ Dominic asked standing up straight while Lily was scrambling on her knees.
