Page 77 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
‘Would he?’ Nile said, then gloomed into his Guinness a bit more. ‘Zelda said I was unable to commit to any relationship and my girlfriends always got tired of waiting and found someone who would,’ he said, this obviously rankling.
‘They had better luck than I did then,’ I commented slightly bitterly, then added curiously, without intending to, ‘Didallyour girlfriends dump you and marry someone else?’
‘Some did – ortheygot serious andIgot cold feet and dumped them,’ he admitted.
It was just as I thought: he was Mr Commitment-phobe. Zelda’s phone call was now starting to look to me less like a misunderstanding but more like an attempt to hogtie him! Maybe she regretted letting him go first time round and wanted another bite of the cherry?
He sighed. ‘We’re business partners, so we can’t permanently fall out. I’d better go down and make things up with her, and persuade her to see sense. I’m busy till the end of the week, but then I have a country house sale to go to in Surrey, so I could call in on my way back.’
‘Netsuke or Stanhopes? I asked brightly, though for some reason I wasn’t feeling that cheerful about him visiting Zelda …
‘Neither: a Black Forest carved wooden bear hall stand and a matching barometer.’
‘They don’t exactly sound small and perfect?’
‘No, actually they’re big and ugly, but this particular client loves Black Forest bear carvings so much, she’ll buy anything.’
To my surprise, on the way home he invited me back to his flat for coffee for the first time and I accepted out of sheer nosiness. He clearly wasn’t interested in pouncing on me, so it seemed safe enough.
He unlocked the door of the shop and put the light on, and as I went in I suddenly spotted the Spode jug, sitting on a shelf.
‘Oh, you haven’t sold it!’ I said, picking it up and fondling it. ‘I noticed it had gone from the window.’
‘I like to change the display from time to time,’ he said. ‘And you can see now that it is nothing like that Minton teapot you got at the car boot sale!’
‘I never said it was,’ I told him indignantly, ‘only that the blue of the pattern was the same – though you can’t tell that in this light.’
He looked for a moment as if he might argue the point, but then thought better of it and said, ‘Come on, let’s have that coffee.’
Reluctantly (and carefully, because I’d just spotted the price sticker) I replaced the jug and followed him.
His flat was smaller than mine and his kitchen and bathroom downstairs, behind the shop and its small storeroom.
He made the coffee and we carried it up to his living room, which was furnished in a rather funky retro Swedish style, with bright fabrics and lots of light wood.
‘This is fun,’ I said, surprised.
‘I’m a fun person,’ he said gravely.
‘You could have fooled me. I’d have milked you for design suggestions for the teashop if I’d known, though.’
‘I think you’ve done pretty well on your own,’ he said, and then we talked about my renovations and what still needed to be done until I spotted the time – which had flown by – and got up to leave.
He handed me a small but weighty box at the front door.
‘What’s this?’ I asked, surprised.
‘That paperweight you wanted for Lola, remember? It’s Clichy, so you’re going to be paying me back in afternoon teas for ever.’
‘I might toss you the occasional crust,’ I conceded magnanimously.
The van driver bringing the tables and chairs actually managed to follow directions and find the back of the café, which was unique among delivery men.
In fact, the first I knew of his arrival was a knock at the back door – and when I opened it, the first stack of chairs was already piled up outside and he’d gone to fetch the next.
Jack, who was grouting endless yards of tiling, helped him carry the rest in and through to the teashop, where I spent ages arranging and rearranging the tables and chairs, until I came up with a configuration I liked. I didn’t want the customers jammed in together, but an airy, relaxing ambience.
There was a large, round table capable of seating six people, which fitted neatly into the bow window. Then I arranged half a dozen little square ones down the side of the room and dotted the smaller round tables about.
