Chapter Eighteen

 

On Monday morning, Miss Grimshaw was standing in the middle of the office with a folder in her hand. ‘Oh, Aileen,’ she said. ‘I’m so sorry Eva didn’t make it in on Saturday. Thanks for getting it all done, though. You did well.’

‘Yes, it was a bit daunting, but the sales rep, Mr Pickering, helped. I’d never have got through it all without him.’

‘Oh, I see.’ She frowned and tapped her lips with her pencil. ‘That was kind of him. Did he leave any paperwork?’

‘I don’t know, Miss Grimshaw. He may have left some with Alan.’

‘Why he can’t let me know when he’s coming in, I don’t know.’ She sighed and went out into the yard.

‘What was that all about?’ Aileen asked.

Val shrugged. ‘I don’t think she likes Roy much either.’

There was obviously something in his character she had missed, but she would wait until she knew him better before making judgement. It could well be a personality clash; in Miss Grimshaw’s case, that wouldn’t surprise her.

‘Why do people dislike him, then?’

‘Don’t know really. I rarely see him, but he comes over as a bit of a loner, if you know what I mean.’

‘Really? He doesn’t give me that impression.’

‘Do you fancy him?’ Val laughed.

‘Don’t be daft.’ Aileen sighed. ‘Anyway, what did you do at the weekend?’

Val stopped typing. ‘We went dancing Saturday night at the Ritz social club, and on Sunday night we went to the Odeon. We were in the back row.’ She giggled. ‘So, I’ve no idea what was showing.’ She pulled the advice note from the machine and replaced it with another.

‘Sounds grand.’ Aileen was bored with staying in night after night. At least back in Dublin, she had Dermot to go dancing with. She missed him, especially at the weekends.

‘What did you get up to?’

Aileen glanced up. ‘Chance would be a fine thing. If you’d call writing letters, housework, and watching television with Mary, that’s about it.’

‘Drive me bonkers, that would.’ Val looked up. ‘I’ll try and ditch Peter one night, and then you and me can go somewhere, if you like?’

‘That would be great. I can’t wait to see the city at night.’

* * *

Later in the week, Aileen had just about had enough of Alan’s rudeness, arrogance, and the snide remarks made when there was no-one within earshot. And she was at her wits’ end as to how to deal with him.

‘Oh, just ignore him. It’s nothing personal.’

That was easy for Val to say. But Aileen couldn’t forget it. She wanted to know why Alan was taking his frustration out on her.

‘It is personal as far as I’m concerned, Val. And I don’t intend to put up with it.’ ‘Look, let me have another word with him.’

Aileen shrugged. ‘Ah sure, what good will it do?’

A few minutes later, Alan brought in a stack of orders. He handed half to Val and the rest to Aileen. She was still working her way through the previous lot and only gave the work a cursory glance.

It was much later that morning when she picked up the recent batch. The order on top of the pile was impossible to read. Although she was now familiar with the different kinds of seeds and grains, this just wasn’t acceptable. He was deliberately trying to annoy her. She pushed a rubber thimble onto her middle finger and flicked through the rest of the batch. They were all the same.

A furious feeling knotted her stomach. She didn’t want to complain about him to Miss Grimshaw and be the cause of him losing his job, as well as his girlfriend. This was something she would have to deal with herself. Pushing down her anxiety, she gathered up the paperwork and went outside. She found him drinking tea with Bob, and she threw the sheets of paper onto the bench; some fluttered to the ground.

‘You think this is funny? Well, I’m not laughing. I doubt Mr Bill will either when he hears what you’ve been doing.’

‘Bitch!’

‘Steady on, Alan.’ Bob glared at him. ‘That’s enough. There’s no need to speak to the girl like that.’ Aileen bit her lip. At least now she had a witness.

‘Rewrite these in a legible hand; it’s the only way they will get done today.’

‘Who the hell are you, telling me what to do?’ He placed his hand across his chest to emphasise his importance.

‘You might be the foreman, Alan, but it doesn’t give you the right to take your childish pranks out on me.’ Turning, she walked away. In spite of her limbs shaking, it felt good to have stood up for herself.

Val glanced up as she re-entered the office. ‘What’s up? You’re trembling.’

‘I’m furious.’

‘Is it Alan? What’s he said now?’

When Aileen recounted what had happened, Val got up. ‘Really! He called you that? You’re white as a sheet. Would you like some water?’

‘No, I’m grand.’

Val sat back down. ‘What are you going to do?’

Aileen swallowed, feeling a little dewy-eyed. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.’

‘If you complain to Miss Grimshaw, he’ll probably get a good ticking off. Or worse, she’ll report him to Mr Bill.’ Val frowned. ‘How he never got wind of the affair with Bella is beyond me. The boss is a deeply religious man, and he wouldn’t condone it.’

Aileen couldn’t reply. She reached across the desk and grabbed a handful of Val’s work and began to type, taking her frustration out on the keys.

‘I hope he won’t be the cause of you leaving.’

‘Who said anything about leaving?’

‘Bella giving him the push must have hit him badly.’

Anger made Aileen snap. ‘Oh, and that gives him the right, does it?’

‘No. Course not. I never thought he was that serious about Bella.’

Aileen shook her head. ‘It’s his wife I feel sorry for.’

The phone rang, ending their conversation. There was only so much Aileen was prepared to take of Alan’s abuse.

* * *

Just before lunch, Val slipped on her jacket, took out her compact mirror, and smeared on a coating of red lipstick. Her naturally curly blonde hair was set close to her head, and Aileen had seen a similar hairstyle in Vogue. It reminded her she hadn’t done anything exciting with her own hair for some time, and long hair had gone out of fashion.

‘I’m meeting Peter and taking an extra ten minutes lunch. Will you be okay? And will you cover for me if Miss Grimshaw comes down?'

Aileen nodded.

'If I see Alan, I’ll find out what’s really bugging him.’

Aileen’s eyes rounded. ‘Don't bother. You’ve already tried, and he’s still being obnoxious.’

After Val had left, Aileen worked solidly for over an hour, and in that time Alan didn’t bother her. She thought about finding another job, but then Alan would have won. She couldn’t let that happen.

When Val returned, Aileen was ready for a sandwich at the nearby café. But when Val stifled a sob and dabbed her eyes with a tissue, Aileen asked, ‘He’s not upset you, too, has he?’

‘No. It’s Peter. He still won’t set a date. He swears he loves me, and he says that should be enough.’ She sniffed.

‘I’m sorry, Val. He’s obviously not ready to settle down.’ Aileen thought about Dermot and how reasonable he had been when she’d told him she wasn’t in a hurry to settle down. Unlike Dermot, Peter was making demands on Val.

‘I don’t want to lose ‘im.’ Val slipped off her coat and started typing.

Aileen sighed. ‘Look, if he loves you, you won’t lose him. Give him a bit more time and he’ll come round.’ She hoped she was right.

‘I can’t take that chance.’

Aileen wrapped her scarf around her neck and picked up her bag. She hesitated by the door and looked at her watch. ‘I’ll be back at two.’

‘Oh, by the way, Aileen, Bob’s just told me Alan’s had a letter from Bella this morning. It’s really rattled his cage. Her mother’s taking her and her sister to live in Spain. Lucky mare!’