Chapter Seventeen

 

When Aileen had been working at the mill two weeks, Miss Grimshaw asked her how she felt about doing a few hours overtime on Saturday morning. ‘Yes, I’d like that,’ she said. ‘What do you want me to do?’

The woman smiled. ‘Can you come upstairs at nine tomorrow? You won’t be on your own. It’s just putting invoices into envelopes and using the franking machine.’ She linked her fingers. ‘They need to be in the post by twelve noon. Is that okay?’

Aileen nodded. The extra money would come in handy. She was saving to go back to Dublin for a few days. Dermot’s letter had been full of news; not all good. The draper’s shop had been closed for days, and when he’d asked her Aunt Lizzy if everything was all right, she had given him a load of abuse, telling him to mind his own business. He told Aileen that he understood why she had felt the need to get away.

So her aunt was still getting things her own way. Aileen wondered if she should have given in so easily.

Dermot’s letter had increased her desire to see how her da was coping. Although she hadn’t heard from him, she refused to believe he had completely forgotten about her.

* * *

Several times that week, Alan snubbed her, but Aileen just put it down to the fact that he was missing Bella. On Friday afternoon, she was outside in the yard when she bumped into him.

‘Alan, have I done something to upset you? You seem…’

‘You couldn’t keep your pecker out, could you? Why did you have to interfere with something you know nothing about, eh?’ He turned and walked away towards the sheds.

Shocked, she followed him. ‘What do you mean?’ He tried to close the door in her face, but she pushed it open. ‘This had nothing to do with me. Bella’s mother wanted her to come home.’

‘You and that Mary engineered it, though, didn’t you?’

‘No. It wasn’t like that.’ She wanted to say more, but this wasn’t the time to get into an argument. ‘Oh, think what you like,’ she said and went into the toilet, bolting the door behind her. She took a few deep breaths until she felt calmer before returning to the office.

‘Took yea long enough,’ Val said, when she returned. The other girl was eating a sandwich with one hand and typing with the other; a pile of paperwork surrounded her. ‘We must get this lot finished before we leave tonight.’

‘Sorry. I was talking to Alan.’ She said nothing more. She was still shaking from Alan’s accusation. Why did he feel it was her fault? Had Bella been in touch and ended their relationship? As she typed, the keys kept sticking, and her fingers became covered in ink. Wiping them on a clean tissue, she glanced up at Val. ‘Is Alan working tomorrow?’

Val shrugged. ‘I guess so. He hasn’t got Bella to distract him. Have you heard how she’s getting on?’

Aileen shook her head while typing the orders as fast as she could. She wished now that she hadn’t agreed to work. Each time Alan came to the hatch, he spoke directly to Val. He was acting like a huffy teenager, and she struggled to hold in the anger welling up inside her. This mess was all down to him. As far as Aileen was concerned, Mary had done Bella a favour.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Aileen was determined not to let Alan intimidate her. When she arrived, the yard was quiet but she knew he was about because the shed doors were open. She quickly slipped upstairs. There was no-one in the office, and she felt vulnerable. The work was laid out on the desk, and she began to sort through it until she heard someone coming upstairs. She looked up, expecting to see the part-time lady, but was startled to see a man standing in the office. He wore a bright yellow jersey over a check shirt, beige casuals and suede shoes.

‘I’m sorry, can I–?’

‘Apologies if I startled you.’ He held out his hand. ‘I’m the company rep, Roy Pickering.’

‘I’m Aileen. I’ve only been here a few weeks,’ she said, shaking his hand.

‘On your own then?’

Aileen shrugged. ‘Looks like I am.’

He smiled. ‘Well, I’ll be around for an hour or so. If you need any help, give me a shout.’ He moved to a bigger desk by the window overlooking the street and opened his leather briefcase.

Aileen sighed, pleased that she wasn’t alone in the building. She glanced down at the work facing her and wondered how she was expected to get through it all, but she didn’t want to let Miss Grimshaw down. When Alan appeared in the office, he walked across to where Roy was on the comptometer, his fingers quickly moving across the mechanical calculator.

Alan handed over an invoice, exchanged a few words, and went back down without so much as a cursory glance in her direction. How rude, she thought. The snub hurt her because he had always been polite to her before all this business with Bella.

By eleven o’clock Aileen had only got through half of the work, and she needed to get to the post by twelve. It was a ten-minute walk to the post office, so she decided to finish up, frank the envelopes she had ready, and go.

Roy Pickering finished what he was doing and shut his briefcase then looked over at Aileen. She was looking at the franking machine, a worried expression on her face.

‘Need help with that?’ Smiling, he came over. In spite of him being an older man, Aileen couldn’t help noticing he was quite attractive, and certainly charming and polite. His ginger hair had a centre parting that needed a trim. He touched his hair and gave her a quizzical look. ‘I guess you’ve not worked one of these before.’

She shook her head.

He explained about the dials and the pricing, and then asked her to place one letter at a time into the correct slot at the top and pull the handle. ‘Would you like me to help you get the rest finished?’

Aileen smiled gratefully. She didn’t want to be left alone in the building with Alan, and she would have used any excuse to keep the sales rep from leaving. ‘I hope I’m not keeping you from anything.’

‘A few household chores; nothing important!’ He pulled over a chair and sat next to her. She could smell his aftershave but couldn’t put a name to it. He chatted to her freely as they worked. ‘So you’re from Ireland? Do you miss it?’

‘Yes, I guess I do,’ she said, as they passed the envelopes back and forth. Half an hour later the work was finished and bundled together for posting. Aileen sighed. ‘Thanks, I’d never have done it without you.’

‘Pleasure. You shouldn’t have been left in this situation.’ He stood up and glanced at his watch. ‘Quarter to! They close at twelve. You won’t make it on foot.’

‘I’m a good runner,’ she said.

‘Come on, I’ll give you a lift.’

Aileen quickly put the bundles into her shopping bag, picked up her belongings, and followed him downstairs. Alan turned his back as she came outside.

A shiny black car was parked in the yard. Aileen knew very little about cars but when Roy opened the passenger door, she could smell the leather. ‘I’ll have you there in a couple of minutes.’

‘I appreciate this. Thank you, Roy.’ She settled back in the seat, holding the bag with the post on her knee as the car moved smoothly out into the avenue. She caught a glimpse of Alan standing watching with his hands on his hips.

When Aileen came out of the post office, she was surprised to find Roy was still there. The car purred softly, and he wound the window down.

‘Have you far to go?’

‘No. I’ll be grand. I’ve some shopping to do.’ Thanking him again, she walked on, glancing into shop windows before slipping into the newsagents where she bought liquorice allsorts and the Birmingham Post. On the couple of occasions she had gone downtown to browse the shops, she had discovered it wasn’t much fun on her own.

It had been especially lonely these past two weeks and, apart from Mary, she never saw a living soul all weekend. Sometimes she found herself wishing for Monday morning just to hear what Val and her boyfriend had gotten up to. But this morning, working alongside Roy had been pleasant, and she had enjoyed talking with him. Unlike Alan, his manners were impeccable, and she was intrigued to know why Val disliked him so much.