Page 59 of Christmas Ever After
‘Who’s the fifth couple?’ Mrs Willetts repeats at the sound of silence.
‘I am.’ I didn’t realise I was going to say anything until it pops out, but it’s unequivocally true, isn’t it? Somehow, somewhere along the way of this crazy December, a snow globe brought me and Raff together. I look over and meet his eyes again. ‘Weare.’
I didn’t intend to make it public in quite such an ostentatious way, but it seems fitting somehow, considering the moment our relationship started has been seen by so many people on the internet. ‘Three weeks ago, Raff made me a snow globe and when he handed it to me, I saw it move. The nutcracker prince spun the ballerina around, just once.’ I rotate a finger to mimic the movement.
He tilts his head to the side questioningly. He didn’t know that. I’ve never told him about what I saw in the snow globe that day.
‘So if you’re all wondering how we went from enemies to friends to something more, that’s how. I saw the magic with my own eyes. I know what it feels like to be matched by a Dardenne snow globe because Ifeltit myself. Somehow, that snow globeknewthat Raff should be more than an enemy to me long before I did.’
A collective ‘awwwww’ goes through the room, and when Raff catches my eyes again, the soppy smile on his face makes butterflies take off inside me.
Mrs Willetts smiles too, but Mr Hastings looks typically unimpressed. ‘And you, Miss Andrews? We’ve been following your social media with interest. It’s nice to see the number of followers rising and all those giveaway entries that are being posted. Top job.’
‘Yes, right. I would never have thought of that without Raff. I’ve got two hundred extra followers, people are tagging me all the time, and the shop is busier from people seeing the nutcracker outside and coming in for a browse, and my market stall is nearly empty, so…’ I feel proud of what we’ve achievedthis month, and so grateful for Raff’s help. I wouldneverhave come up with any of that without him. Before the accident, I knew I had to do something, but my mind was blank, frozen by the possibility of losing my shop, and I had no idea how to move forwards, until he burst into my life with his twinkly dark eyes and sunny smile and made it feelworthsaving.
‘Even I’ve had several orders for nutcracker umbrellas because of that one on the giveaway.’ Mrs Coombe from All You Need Is Gloves jumps in. ‘And customers keep mentioning the video and saying they’d never heard of Christmas Ever After before but are going to come every year from now on.Bothof these two have helped us all.’
I give her a nod of thanks as a chorus of other voices agree with her. It’s lovely to feel that our fellow shopkeepers want us both to stay too. I did wonder if they were so fed up of our quarrelling that they might be glad to see the back of one of us.
‘And how long will it be before you’re able to work again?’ Mr Hastings holds up his arm and wiggles his fingers. ‘Because if you’re nearly sold out of nutcrackers, then surely there won’t be muchtosell for the foreseeable future, which will undoubtedly lead to a lack of customers and fading interest, lower income, and disengaged followers.’
‘There’s just over a month until I can take the splint off, and then a while longer to regain strength and range of motion.’ My answer is juddery because I can feel my heart beating in my throat and it’s a fight to speak around it. Are they really going to use this against me? I hadn’t considered the longer-term implications and what being unable to work for the next few weeks would look like to the council, but I have a sudden realisation that this must put me at a serious disadvantage.
‘I’ll be helping Franca until she’s fully recovered,’ Raff interjects. ‘The injury is my fault – I won’t let her business suffer because of it.’
‘That’s very princely of you, Mr Dardenne, but you’re only one person and running yourself ragged between two shops will have a negative impact on both of them as time goes on, and quite frankly, you need to focus your efforts on your own business. We asked you to match five couples because you desperately need some good reviews to bury the bad ones and show customers that the legend behind your shop is something they can believe in.’
I feel awful because matching people we know was my idea. Our colleaguescan’tleave reviews for their own place of work. I knew this was about the reviews – I suggested such an impossible task, because, at the time, Iwantedhim to fail, but over the last few weeks, it’s become more about helping people find love, and the practicality of getting reviews has been forgotten.
‘This was to prove that Raffcanandwillget better reviews. You’d leave good reviews if you could, right?’ I know any reviews from our biased friends would be taken down immediately, but I turn to Ali and Imogen and then Nina and Joshy. Best to avoid Cedric and Mandy, they definitely wouldnotleave a good review, and as for Mrs Bloom and Jorge… Well, Jorge is still protectively rubbing his arm and has gone back to looking at his phone now – probably searching for injury lawyers. ‘The point is that Raff’s going to change direction in the new year and focus on his passion, and the reviews will be exemplary.’
‘And we have to ensure that the right businesses are on this street, and any that aren’t living up to the others in popularity, well, we really are going to have to reconsider their position here. We have many other businesses vying for a spot. Fresh new faces who would bring much-needed custom and publicity to Ever After Street, but space is limited and we can’t continue to accommodate shops who fall short of our very strict standards.’ Mr Hastings seems to be enjoying this. Cleo has told me that he’sgot a kinder side when you get to know him, but I’ve yet to see any hint of it.
My stomach is flip-flopping like I’m on a rollercoaster, with absolutely no idea if it’s going to go up, down, or if the carriage is about to fall off the track. Right now, they seem to be erring in my direction, and that makes alarm bells start ringing. I don’t want them to sway towards either of us – I want them to get stuck straight down the middle.
‘Raff needs to be allowed time to change direction. He needs to find his feet,’ I try again, an ironic mirror of what Mrs Bloom said to me in the A&E waiting room all those weeks ago.
‘Fran, it’s fine.’ He shakes his head at me from across the room, but I amnotletting this go.
‘He’s done so much for all of us. With a slow December and without a stall at the Christmas market, I’d have been handing in my notice this year anyway. But he took over when I was unable to and single-handedly saved my business. Well, double-handedly, so to speak.’ I hold up the splinted hand and my other hand and form an X shape with them. ‘But he’s done that at the expense of his own shop. If he hadn’t spent so much time helping me, he would have had a chance to match actual customers and get those reviews. No one wants to lose Love Is All A-Round from Christmas Ever After. Mrs Bloom, Claude Dardenne matched you and your Reginald, didn’t he? Mitch, you wouldn’t let Raff go, you said so yourself.’
‘That’s very true.’ Mitch addresses Mr Hastings and Mrs Willetts. ‘These two are the best publicity we’ve had for a long while. Everyone’s talking about them. It wouldnotbe in Ever After Street’s best interests to leteitherof them go. Their new-found, er, friendship is elevating all of us.’
I can sense the desperation growing in everyone. Mrs Willetts and Mr Hastings are giving nothing away, but neither seem very moved by our impassioned pleas so far.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been certain that they would be delighted to see us working together, and quite happy to realise they don’thaveto decide between us, but they don’t seem quite as delighted by the prospect as I’d hoped.
In fact, they look decidedly awkward as they share a knowing look with each other before looking between me and Raff.
‘While it’s nice to see you championing each other, especially after the past couple of years of trying to bring each other down, nothing changes the fact that neither of you have managed to doexactlywhat was asked of you. Mr Dardenne, you have not in any way, shape, or form, matchedfivecouples.’ Mr Hastings looks towards Mrs Bloom and Jorge, and then at Cedric and Mandy, leaving no doubt that he’s seen right through that ploy. ‘I accept three at most, and you cannot count yourselves, no matter how unexpected this turn of events is. No further reviews have come in to counteract the bad ones, so your slew of one stars arestillreflecting badly on your colleagues.’
‘Maybe it’s time to start giving every shop separate review pages,’ I suggest.
‘We’ve tried that, but it’s too confusing for customers. People don’t come to Christmas Ever After to visit just one shop. Once they step under that arch, they’re all-in for the year-round festive experience. They visiteveryshop. No customer is going to bother to leave a review for each individual shop, but most will take the time to review their experience as a whole, including the good parts and bad parts. Unfortunately those all get muddled up together.’ Mr Hastings scrunches his fingers together like he’s kneading bread dough. ‘If anyone is not making the cut, they pull us all down with them, asyoumade clear at the November meeting, Miss Andrews.’
He turns his beady eyes to me. ‘And although it certainly seems that you’re energised and keen again, we tasked you with getting engagement on social media channels. While your ideaof giving away a giant nutcracker is a novel one, unfortunately it does nothing for your engagement possibilities in the long-run. Those nutcrackers cost in the region of £500. Trust me,allcustomers are interested when there’s the possibility of getting something expensive for nothing, but when that is no longer on offer, customer interest will drop again. As before, absolutely no one will be taking selfies with your nutcrackers if they don’thaveto.’
‘I could give away other nutcrackers. I could do something like this every month.’
