Page 32 of Secrets at the Little Music Shop

‘Well, (a) you don’t date, (b) she’s married and the guy is downstairs, and (c) — Christ on a bike, man, she’s evil!’

‘(a) I wasn’t dating her, (b) she forced herself onto me and (c) yes, you’re right she’s awful but — Jeez—’ A wicked smile spread over his face. ‘She’s good,’ he finished. ‘In an awful way, obviously.’

‘You’re a slut. A man-slut.’

‘Probably. But—’

I stopped him with a raised hand. ‘No, don’t tell me. It wasn’t what it looked like?’

Ben was still smiling the wicked smile. ‘Oh, well, I wouldn’t say that.’

There was a clinging heat at the base of my neck and a deep feeling in my stomach. ‘So, you two were about to go off somewhere more “comfortable”?’

The smile disappeared. ‘Jemima, listen.’

‘Oh, yeah, right, I’m going to stand here and listen to a man who’s just been caught nearly shagging a woman who makes Genghis Khan look like a rank amateur!’ I tried to spin on my heel and huff away, but spinning in bare feet on a wooden floor doesn’t work. There was a pathetic squeaky sound.

‘Jem.’ Ben grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me to face him. Because I’d got no shoes on he was suddenly a lot taller than me. ‘This is important. As soon as she knew I was the only person in York stocking your stuff she was absolutely crippling herself to get to me. She offered me her suppliers, she even offered to help pay to buy in some new stuff “as a trial offer”. She kept telling me you were always letting her down; she even told me you still owed her nearly ten thousand pounds for pieces you’d not delivered.’ Ben shook his head.

‘That is a complete and utter lie!’ I tried to pull back but the pressure of his fingers increased until I could feel each individual digit digging through my shirt. ‘I’ve never not delivered!’

‘Okay. But she’s got the Board of Trade members blackballing you from their shops. She’s absolutely serious. In fact I was quite scared at one point.’

‘That point being just before I arrived, then.’

‘I wanted to see how far she would go.’

I snorted. ‘All the way, by the look of the two of you!’

‘Jem.’ Ben let go of my shoulders and let his hands fall by his sides. ‘I thought I was doing you a favour. She was the one pulling the all-over body approach, not me. I don’t do that. So I’m sorry if you — But we’re just friends, you and me.’

He smelled spicy. Warm and green and slightly of leather. His bow tie was hanging loose around his collar and he’d undone the top button of his shirt where his hair kept getting caught. I wasn’t sure whether to be glad of his words or whether to stab him with one of the nicely sharp items on display.

‘It’s OK,’ I said at last, to somewhere over his shoulder.

‘I didn’t want you to get the wrong . . . I mean, it’s nothing personal, it’s me.’

‘You don’t have to say anything.’ I was still talking to the shop wall. Couldn’t meet his eyes. Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Didn’t know whether I was misreading the situation or not. Didn’t even know why I was so angry.

‘I’m not going to. This is it, end of conversation.’

There was a flurry on the stairs and Rosie appeared looking breathless. ‘Oh, Jem, there you are! Shall we get a taxi back, only I don’t want to keep the babysitter past midnight and I think Jason’s taking someone home.’ Then she looked at both of us. ‘Sorry, did I interrupt something?’

‘No!’ Ben and I spoke together.

I turned to him. ‘I’d better go.’

‘Yeah, me too.’ There was a pause. ‘I’ve . . . I have another appointment tomorrow. Would you be free to come and mind the shop in the afternoon? About three?’

‘I’m not sure.’ I couldn’t avoid looking at him any longer but was surprised when I did. He looked closed in, as though he was in pain. As he had the first time we’d met. ‘I’ll e-mail you in the morning.’

We all went down together. In the main shop Saskia was the centre of attention again. She was standing with her arms around Alex, holding forth on how having Oscar had been the single most enriching experience of her life.

‘I thought marrying Alex was her most enriching experience,’ muttered Rosie as we headed out of the door. ‘Although I suppose there’s always the Child Benefit. Harry’s enriched me to the tune of twenty quid a week, bless him.’

Ben waved a hand in goodbye and set off towards Wilberforce Crescent without looking back.

‘Did you piss him off?’ Rosie asked as we went in search of a taxi. She turned around to watch Ben walk out of sight. ‘You really shouldn’t piss off men with backsides like that. Roooooaaawwww!’

---