‘Most auspicious star’
(The Tempest)
Kelsey wandered alone to the agency office, the rustling bag in her hand crammed with her name badge, the neckerchief, and the dreaded gilets. She grasped a large posy of irises and roses in shades of lilac and purple and tall spikes of Cotswold lavender. At last, she’d had a reason to walk into the florist’s shop in the posh shopping arcade. She’d handwritten the note right there by the cash register.
Dear Norma, thank you for taking a chance on me. You gave me the start I needed. I will be forever grateful, with love, K x
Making her way towards the office she saw ghosts of her summer at every step along the busy streets. Pressing the door buzzer she noticed for the first time the ‘To Let’ sign in the windows up above her.
‘Come up, dearie, I’ve been waiting for you.’ Norma’s voice crackled through the speaker.
Kelsey picked her way carefully up the stairs which were cluttered with black sacks of shredded paper. The landing was piled high with dusty travel guides ready for delivery to the charity shop. Norma was kneeling barefoot on her office floor surrounded by lever-arch files and folders, diaries and ledgers. A noisy shredding machine whirred as she fed it from a tall pile of papers.
Norma’s satin jumpsuit wasn’t the only thing that was purple; her eyes were circled with dark rings. She’d been weeping. She looked up as Kelsey walked in. For a second, Kelsey was taken aback. She’d never seen Norma without make-up, or without her high heels. When she stood up to greet her, Kelsey was amazed at how tiny she was, but also by how young she looked without the thick layer of foundation and harsh red blusher. Norma smoothed down her red bob, which was just as bright as ever, and reached out to kiss Kelsey.
‘Sweetheart, are those for me? Oh, they are glorious, thank you, darling. Coffee? Yes, of course, it’s time for a cuppa.’ Norma was off, chattering ten to the dozen as always. ‘I’m glad you’ve popped in, my dear. Sit down, sit down.’ She poured filter coffee from a glass pot adding milk and sugar without even asking if that was how Kelsey took it, which it was. ‘Here you are. Don’t worry about a coaster, they’ve been packed.’ Norma settled herself behind her desk. ‘I have a proposition for you, my dear. You see the thing is, I’m leaving next week and I haven’t found a tenant for the office yet. And the truth is I didn’t want to find one, not just anyone. I’ve owned this building for twenty years and it was my mother’s before that. I have no intention of letting it go quite yet. That’s why I think you should take it.’
With that, Norma nodded her head decisively, sat back, and interlaced her fingers, waiting for Kelsey’s reaction in total silence. Kelsey put the cup down on the window ledge beside her, waiting for Norma to start up again, but for once she said nothing.
‘I’m sorry, Norma. What are you saying exactly? I don’t need an office.’
‘No. But many little birdies about town told me you do need a studio.’ Norma’s eyes gleamed as she leaned forward, drumming her sharp red fingernails upon a document on the desk.
It had only taken ten minutes. Kelsey found herself out on the street again in a bewildered shellshock. The tiny peppercorn of a rent had been agreed, and fixed for six months before it would increase to market value in order to allow Kelsey time to establish her photography business, and the lease had been signed. Her tenancy began on the third of September, Norma’s wedding day. Kelsey was already reaching for her phone as she left Norma’s office, desperate to tell her mum the bewildering, exciting news. Mari would be over the moon for her. Norma waved her off down the stairs, her eyes twinkling as she called out, ‘And we’ll talk about the ticket barge in the autumn, darling!’
Kelsey just caught the words as the door closed behind her.
‘The what?’ she’d shouted back, incredulously, but Norma was shredding paperwork again, her machine devouring documents noisily. Kelsey could just make out a satisfied cackle over the racket.