The Second Chance Shoe Shop (13 page)

D
an wiped
his hands on the sides of his jeans as his palms began to sweat. He was sitting waiting in the restaurant for Anna to appear. Since sharing a few more messages with her online, he couldn’t wait to see if they gelled as much in real life. This was going to be a blind date, however, as Anna still hadn’t added a photo to her profile. Dan had wondered whether it would even be worth meeting her, especially after his dates with Lorraine and Ronnie had been disasters, but over the past couple of weeks he felt he’d gotten to know Anna a little bit. And even if he didn’t know what she looked like, her personality had shone through in those messages. She seemed witty, liked a few of the same things he did, and was the same age – which he hoped she wasn’t fibbing about as Lorraine had.

When she’d asked to meet, Dan had initially decided against it but then changed his mind. How would he feel if Anna had been the one and he’d turned down his soulmate? So, at the last minute, he’d said yes. They’d arranged a date for this evening and now here he was.

Dan hid a smirk as he looked at the menu. He was setting himself, and the date, up for failure before he had even seen Anna. He perused the menu. Carlo’s restaurant was one of his favourites in the town. The Italian eatery had a good reputation and it was often hard to get a table, but because it was situated just off the High Street Dan often saw the owner out and about and knew him well. He always gave Dan a discount too, and a free dessert. So, even if the date went wrong, he knew he was guaranteed to have a good meal out of it.

Almost every table was full. Chatter could be heard over the music playing low in the background. The smell of garlic set Dan’s taste buds tingling. By his side, a table of four were all laughing, and a table of eight were celebrating a fiftieth birthday, balloons bobbing in the middle of the table. To his left, several tables were occupied by couples. He hoped Anna wouldn’t be too long.

He chanced a look at his watch, hoping not to seem too desperate. And then he froze. Standing waiting to be shown to a table was his ex-girlfriend, Sarah. He hadn’t seen her in a good while, almost making her as distant as she was familiar. Her brown hair had been cut a little shorter, and highlights added to it, making it shine. The bright red blouse she wore suited her olive complexion, and it stung to think that he hadn’t seen the blouse before.

He glanced around the room: who was she meeting? He wouldn’t be able to stay here if it was another man. It would be too awkward. Maybe Anna wouldn’t mind going somewhere else. He’d be honest with her and tell her why he wanted to leave. After all, they had met on a dating website. Everyone on there had baggage, surely?

He bobbed his head down quickly. Maybe her table was booked for a later time. He prayed it would be at the other side of the room. Either way, he didn’t want her to see him.

He peeped over the top of the menu. The waiter was walking straight towards him, with Sarah following behind. He ducked his head again, leaning to his side as if he had dropped his napkin. When he’d given them enough time to pass, he sat up straight again.

They had stopped in front of his table.

‘Your guest, sir.’ The waiter spoke to Dan as he pulled out a chair for Sarah. She sat down and he handed a menu to her and left.

Sarah’s smile was nervous as she waited for Dan to speak.

‘You have got to be kidding.’ His voice came out as a high-pitched squeak, and he cleared his throat quickly. ‘You posed as someone else?’

Dan felt his whole body going rigid and he clammed up. How could she have tricked him into saying all those things online?

‘Did you know it was me?’ he asked, holding his breath.

‘Yes. After the video of the flash mob went online, my friend Felicity said that she thought she’d seen you on Dates Online. She showed me your profile, so I joined too. I suppose it’s a bit of a shock to you. I’ve been wanting to contact you for a while now, so I thought it was fate. There are a lot of dorks and weirdos on that site, aren’t there?’

Dan felt a flicker of a smile. ‘There are a few, I fear. But why pose as Anna?’

‘I wasn’t giving away my details until I was sure what the site was all about. Besides, I only wanted to chat to you.’

‘I half-wish I had done that too,’ said Dan, missing her point completely. ‘Honesty isn’t always the best policy.’

‘I wasn’t sure if you’d want to see me again,’ Sarah pressed her point. ‘Talking to you online was fun. I felt that old spark, and I thought maybe it was worth trying to meet with you.’

‘If you’d been less selfish, we might still be together.’ Dan wouldn’t let her walk all over him.

‘Ooh, I love it when you talk tough.’ She smiled shyly.

‘Stop taking the piss.’

‘I’m sorry. I’m really nervous and my mouth is running away with me as usual.’

Dan was quiet for a moment. He couldn’t help thinking that he had walked into a time warp. Or maybe someone was going to jump out with a hidden camera and say this was all a joke. Had he really been chatting to his ex online and not known it? Sure, dating hadn’t been much fun, but did he want to revisit the past with Sarah? She seemed so sure of herself, so much fun to be with.

Had they just lost sight of what they’d had together?

He was quiet for a moment longer while he decided what to do.

‘You really want to pick up where we left off?’ he asked eventually.

‘We could try.’ Sarah reached across the table and put her hand over his. ‘Seeing as we are here.’

Dan hesitated again. He should really shout her down in the middle of the restaurant for tricking him into this date. But part of him had to admire her guts. Much to Sarah’s surprise, he nodded.

‘We can at least be civil this evening,’ he told her.

I
t had been
over a week since the video went online and Riley was shocked to see how many competition entries were still coming in. Over 500 people had joined in so far. It was incredible – and really hard to keep track of. Luckily, just searching the hashtag #ShoeLove brought up shoe after shoe. That made life a lot easier.

Since Urban Angels had joined in the Twitter conversation, things had become even more hectic. Riley had been asked to write a few articles for blogs and online magazines. She’d been invited to speak on local radio. She’d even been tweeting with Roxy and the other three band members quite often. They had tweeted photos of lots of their shoes. There was talk of them visiting the shop the next time they came home to Hedworth. Now, that would be a scoop. She would have to get Ethan to take lots of photos if it happened. She loved their music, despite the fact that the girls’ average age was just twenty.

The shop’s own sales competition was looking good, too. Sales had improved, so Suzanne didn’t have reason to complain. In another few weeks the shop would be doing better, which meant none of them should lose their jobs.

As she served a lady at the till, Riley noticed another woman looking at her. She was tall and her long blonde hair was as thick as her make-up. She wore a knee-length black coat and nude-coloured high heels that she tottered around in.

Riley noticed her again a few minutes later, once her customer had gone, studying the last pair of the new sandals. After helping Dan to locate a pair of missing shoes in size five, she caught the woman looking over again. Riley frowned, but by the time she had reached the woman it had morphed into her regular customer service smile. Up close the woman was a little older than Riley had first thought. She reckoned she might be in her early thirties.

‘They’re great, aren’t they?’ Riley said. ‘If you’re looking for them in your size, I’m sorry, that’s the last pair.’

‘I’m just browsing.’ The woman glared at her. ‘I doubt you’d have anything to suit my requirements in here.’ She held the strap of the shoe between her finger and thumb as if it was covered in cat poo, before placing it down again.

‘Well, if you need any help, just give one of us a shout.’ Riley forced a smile before turning back to the till.

‘Yes, you’re great at helping, aren’t you?’ the woman spat.

Riley turned to her with another frown.

The woman pointed a manicured nail at her. ‘You don’t mind helping yourself to anything.’

‘I’m not sure what you mean,’ said Riley.

‘I’ve seen you and your social media campaign. I saw the stunt you pulled at the weekend.’

‘It wasn’t a stunt. It was a―’

‘You were kissing
my
boyfriend!’

People in the shop, including Dan and Sadie, had turned to stare. A silence fell as they watched the scene unfold. Riley’s shoulders drooped as everyone continued to stare at her.

‘Ethan is . . .’ She paused. ‘You’re Clarissa?’

‘Yes, and I happen to still be going out with him.’

‘No. He told me your relationship was over.’

‘It isn’t. He’s still seeing me.’ Clarissa looked Riley up and down snidely. ‘I thought he was only seeing me, but now I know that you’re around too I’d call him a two-timing bastard.’

‘I’m not sure what’s been going on, but Ethan said that he has nothing to do with you any more.’

‘Is that so?’ Clarissa opened her coat.

Everyone in the shop shared a gasp. Riley thought the woman must be at least seven months pregnant.

‘He doesn’t want to see me any more,’ Clarissa went on, ‘because he doesn’t want to acknowledge that this is his baby.’

‘He didn’t tell me that . . .’ Riley’s hand flew to cover her mouth.

‘Of course he wouldn’t say,’ Clarissa almost screeched. ‘He accused me of harassing him, can you believe that? He’s been ignoring all my calls and my emails. But all I wanted was to tell him my news. When I did finally see him, he said the baby wasn’t his. He’s wrong. I know he’s the father.’

‘But I thought your relationship ended well over a year ago,’ Riley finally managed to say.

‘It did. We bump into each other occasionally, and we always end up in bed together.’ Now she had an audience, Clarissa was becoming far more theatrical. She pressed a hand to her stomach. ‘This was one of those times.’

‘I― I―’ Riley stuttered.

‘You don’t believe me?’ Clarissa pointed her finger in Riley’s face. ‘Ask him about the time when we met up at Rembrandt’s and he took me home afterwards.’

Riley frowned. Ethan had told her he didn’t like Rembrandt’s, so she wasn’t sure he would meet anyone there, let alone Clarissa.

‘Ask him!’ Clarissa folded her arms and rested them on her bump. ‘You’ll see he’s lying then. He’s nothing but a two-timing―’

Riley didn’t want to listen any more, especially when everyone in the shop was listening too.

‘Dan,’ she said, beckoning him over. ‘Would you escort this lady out of the shop if she doesn’t want to buy anything, please, while I―’

‘That’s it, run away.’ Clarissa waved her off. ‘But you can’t hide from the facts. Ethan should have told you that he’s going to be a father soon. It’s a good job you did this flash mob thing. If it wasn’t for that video, I wouldn’t have been able to warn you off him.’

Riley was halfway down the stairs, yet she could still hear Clarissa shouting after her. She hoped Dan would be able to remove her from the shop without causing a scene. Wow. Ethan had warned her about Clarissa’s jealousy, but she had never thought she would go to such lengths to get him back. She got out her phone.

Yet, as she waited for him to pick up, the image of Clarissa’s pregnant stomach kept flashing before her eyes. It couldn’t be true. Ethan would have told her.

Maybe Clarissa was trying to get her to argue with Ethan and then finish things with him so that Clarissa could get him back.

She needed to speak to him, to put her mind at rest. But his phone went unanswered, switching to voicemail.

‘Ethan, it’s Riley. Could you call me when you have a moment, please?’

R
iley sat
in the staffroom while she wondered what to do. Ethan had told her how jealous Clarissa was, and she was inclined to believe him over his ex. He was a nice guy, not like Nicholas. Nicholas had made a fool of Riley, and she shouldn’t take that out on Ethan.

Yet, she wondered whether she should be so quick to believe him. She hadn’t known him long, and Clarissa was definitely pregnant. It might not be his baby, but Riley needed to know for sure. She was still hoping this was all a mistake.

Ethan hadn’t called back and she would be needed out on the shop floor soon. But she couldn’t face anyone yet. Her hands shook as she made a cup of sweet tea.

A few minutes later, she was just about to go back upstairs when her phone rang. It was Ethan.

‘Hey, what’s up?’ he asked. ‘How’s the competition going?’

‘Good,’ she replied. ‘But it brought the wrong kind of publicity today. I’ve just had a most bizarre exchange with someone named Clarissa.’

She heard him groan. ‘She came into the shop?’

‘Yes, she’s accused you of seeing both of us, and says that the baby she’s carrying is yours. She’s just shouted me down in front of a shop full of people. Why didn’t you tell me she was pregnant?’

‘Ah.’

Ah
?

‘The baby isn’t mine. She’s been saying it is, but it can’t be.’

‘But why didn’t you tell me? I made a total fool of myself when I saw her.’

‘We split up over a year ago.’

‘Yes, but . . .’ Riley paused. She was about to accuse him of something he may not have done.

‘Did she tell you we’ve been having casual sex since we split?’ Ethan asked.

‘Yes.’

‘It isn’t true. I would have told you if it was. She’s been harassing me since the weekend.’

‘But I thought you’d blocked her?’

‘I have. She’s opened another Twitter account. I blocked that one, too. She keeps setting up new ones. I can’t keep up with blocking them all.’

‘But why has it got so bad all of a sudden?’

‘She must have seen you in the video. For some reason, she wants to mess with me.’

‘So the baby isn’t yours?’

‘No. Ask Jimmy if you don’t believe me.’

Riley felt herself relax at his attempt at a joke.

‘Though I do feel sorry for the man who
is
the father – I doubt she’ll ever tell me his name.’

Dan came into the staffroom. ‘Riley, I think you need to see this.’ He held up his iPad. ‘Your Twitter feed has gone wild again – but not in a good way.’

‘I’ll ring you back, Ethan,’ she told him. ‘Something’s happening on Twitter.’

She disconnected the call before he could speak again. Her heart sank as she looked at the tweets displayed on Dan’s iPad.

@RileyFlynn You slimeball

Can’t believe you’d sleep with another woman’s man. #Howcouldyou? @RileyFlynn

@RileyFlynn All this competition stuff was to cover up what you’re really doing. #Slut

‘Why are they saying that?’ Riley looked up at Dan with a frown.

Dan scrolled up the screen and showed her the tweet they were all referring to. It was from someone with the Twitter handle @Clarissapops. Riley looked at the avatar on the account and saw a photo of Clarissa.

@RileyFlynn stole my man for publicity campaign. Don’t buy your shoes from Chandler’s Shoe Shop!

‘How the hell can everyone talk like that without knowing the facts?’ Riley questioned.

‘That’s social media for you,’ said Dan. ‘Happy or sad news, if they see it, every loony in the world can comment on it.’

‘But why would Clarissa try to sabotage the campaign?’

‘I don’t think she’s doing that deliberately.’ Dan continued to scroll through more tweets. ‘She seems as if she wants to get back at Ethan, through you. I hope Suzanne doesn’t see this, though. Clarissa’s bringing ill repute on the shop as well as you.’

‘Do you think it will blow over soon?’ Riley glanced at the Twitter feed again. ‘Things on social media don’t last long. Do they?’

‘Depends who it’s aimed at,’ Dan shrugged. ‘Loonies love to join in if someone else is being slagged off.’

Riley gave him back his iPad. ‘We need to get retweeting and sharing some competition entries, take the attention off Clarissa’s tweet. Show some shoes – stay positive. Come on.’

‘Are you okay, Riley?’ asked Sadie as Riley came back onto the shop floor. ‘What was that woman talking about? It isn’t Ethan’s baby, is it?’

‘No. That was Ethan’s ex-girlfriend, though.’

Sadie’s hand shot to her mouth. ‘Oh Riley, what a cow!’

‘I’m inclined to believe him over her,’ Riley sighed loudly. ‘Whatever’s happening, it will all blow over soon.’

Sadie touched Riley’s forearm. ‘Keep your chin up. I think you may have found a good one in Ethan.’

‘I hope so.’ Despite the circumstances, Riley broke into a smile. ‘Because I really like him.’

They shared a hug. Behind them, two young women walked in.

‘Can we enter the competition?’ said one of them, walking over to the till with a leaflet in her hand.

‘Of course you can,’ said Riley.

‘Are those the bags in the window?’ the other said. ‘They are well cool. I’m definitely buying one if I don’t win.’

Riley suddenly found her faith again. This was the goodness in social media, right here. No matter what the likes of Clarissa did, there were a lot more good people.

I
t had taken
Suzanne an hour to hear about the trouble on Twitter and to come into the shop. Riley took her downstairs to the staffroom.

‘Just what the hell is going on?’ Suzanne barked. ‘It’s one thing for you to say this social media lark is good for publicity, but quite another thing when it starts bringing bad press to the shop. Who is’ – she peered at her phone – ‘“Clarissapops”? And why is she hell-bent on causing you misery?’

‘She’s my boyfriend’s ex.’ Riley cringed as she explained. It felt weird to call Ethan her boyfriend, and a little immature, but she couldn’t call him her partner yet. They hadn’t been together long enough for that.

‘And what has she got to do with Chandler’s?’ asked Suzanne.

‘Nothing at all. She used to go out with Ethan and has been harassing him over the past few months since they split up.’

‘From what I can see, it doesn’t look like they have split up at all. The woman is having a baby!’

‘It’s not his,’ said Riley. ‘She’s just being vindictive and trying to get him back. I’m ignoring all her comments, and concentrating on the positive things being shared. The favourite shoe competition is really working.’

‘And are sales improving?’

‘Yes, we’ve had more footfall since the video went live.’

‘That’s not what I asked.’

Riley knew exactly what she meant. ‘I don’t think we can judge these things on a daily basis. Things will look better week by week, month by month if we have more time.’

Suzanne shook her head.

‘What does Max think about all this?’ Riley decided to bring his name into the conversation. Max was beginning to feel like the elephant in the room, with Suzanne hardly mentioning him at all.

Suzanne’s shoulders rose. ‘Max agrees with me, of course,’ she snapped.

‘When is he due home?’

‘He’s in Italy, on a six-week residential course. It hardly seemed worth him coming home at the weekend to go back on Sunday evenings, so he’s staying there until he’s finished.’

‘Which is . . . ?’

‘None of your business. Why are you asking?’

‘No reason in particular,’ Riley shrugged.

‘It was a last-minute opportunity.’ Suzanne glanced at her watch. ‘I must dash.’ She stared at Riley for a moment. ‘I trust I can leave you to sort out the mess with this Clarissapops?’

Riley nodded, stifling a giggle at the face Suzanne pulled at Clarissa’s Twitter handle.

‘Good. I don’t wish to see Chandler’s’ name bandied about on social media, or anywhere else for that matter – not in a bad way. Any more nonsense like that and I will close the Twitter account.’

‘You can’t! What about the competition? We’ve worked so hard at it.’

‘You’ll just have to make sure the ex-girlfriend keeps her comments to herself then,’ Suzanne told her sharply. ‘You know I had my doubts about social media in the first place. I thought that you might have proved me wrong. But as far as I’m concerned, it seems to bring nothing but trouble.’

Riley couldn’t agree more. ‘Before you leave, am I okay ordering in some more of those sandals? They’ve gone down a storm with the local students, and schoolgirls have been coming in with their mums too.’

Suzanne paused. ‘I suppose so, if they’re selling.’

‘And the tote bags? Frank can’t make them quick enough. I know they don’t bring in much profit, but it’s about what else customers buy on top, isn’t it? We’ve actually got a waiting list and I can―’

‘Like I said, I’m putting the onus on you if anything goes wrong,’ Suzanne interrupted. ‘If this social media thing gets out of hand, I’ll be forced to close the shop before the three months are up.’

W
hen Ethan rang
that afternoon asking if she wanted a lift home, Riley declined his offer. Throughout the day, the trolling had gathered momentum and she had been called every horrible name she knew, as well as some that she hadn’t come across before.

How could everyone side with Clarissa? Was it because she was pregnant and all they saw was a helpless woman? Because, to Riley, Clarissa seemed far from helpless. She was very much in control.

Ash drew Riley into her arms for a hug when they met at the bus station.

‘I’m sorry,’ Ash told her. ‘I had no idea she was such a psycho. Did you?’

Riley shook her head. ‘Ethan says she’s been unstable for some time now, at least two years.’

Ash paused for a moment. ‘Do you believe he would lie to you?’

‘Of course I don’t.’

‘Then stop this right now – go online and dampen the fire. If you don’t respond to the accusations, you’ll look guilty. You don’t need to get involved with all the tittle-tattle, just say your piece and leave it at that.’

‘Won’t it make things worse?’ Riley asked.

Ash shrugged. ‘It’s possible, but you still need to be seen to be trying to limit the damage. A baseball bat around the head might suffice.’

Ash was trying to make her laugh, but Riley wasn’t in the mood. She sat on the bus, head hung low, desperate to see Ethan but not wanting to incite the trolls again. The internet made everyone a target. Everywhere you went people could film you or photograph you and it could be online within seconds, around the world in the same. Riley had marvelled at the speed with which the competition had grown legs, but now she could see the darker side of things too. And the story Clarissa was spreading wasn’t even true.

How was Riley going to quell the rumours?