‘How much did you say the rent was again?’ She made her way to stand beside Ben, hoping he’d go along with her idea. Provide a united front.
Monty repeated the price.
‘Would you consider shaving ten per cent off that, in exchange for hiring these two?’ She nodded at Sophie and Joe, whose mouths formed identical o’s, their aquamarine eyes widening in horror. Poppy suppressed a smile. ‘Because we’re going to need some help, Ben and I, if we’re going to open our shops in this space in couple of weeks’ time.’
‘Our shops?’ Ben shot Poppy a quizzical look.
‘Sparkle & Steep. That’s the name we agreed on, right?’ She raised her eyebrows, praying that Ben wouldn’t work against her.
‘Sparkle & Steep. Yes, that’s right.’ Ben nodded, his face free from emotion.
A bit shell-shocked, Poppy guessed. ‘You see, Monty, we are going to open a gourmet tea shop, and London’s most fabulous unicorn gift shop.’ She turned to her new employees. ‘Now, Sophie, Joe, I may as well be upfront about this. We can’t afford to pay much, I’m sorry, but being new and all there’s just not the money there for more than the living wage.’
‘That’s fine,’ Monty interrupted. ‘These two need work, and you’re offering it. It’ll keep them out of my hair, and keep them out of trouble. I’ve got the papers all drawn up out back. Take a look at them, and if all is in order, the shop’s yours. But the sooner you decide the better, I’ve another interested party keen to take a look. They should be here any minute, actually.’ Not waiting for an answer Monty turned and made his way through the door to the back room, leaving the two teens to huddle up in a murmur of mutters.
Ben pulled Poppy to the furthest corner. ‘What are you doing?’ he hissed. ‘Opening a store with me? That wasn’t the plan. And why’d you go and throw the twins into the deal? They clearly don’t want to work.’
‘First of all, you had your budget and this was out of it. I, too, have a budget.’ Poppy crossed her fingers behind her back. ‘And our budgets combined will make this work. Also, you’ll need help. And I’ll need help. And it’s clear to me that Monty is being driven round the bend by those two being under his feet. It all makes sense. I’d go so far as to say it’s meant to be.’ Poppy flashed Ben a thumbs up, along with an encouraging nod.
Monty returned in a rustle of paper and a hustle of feet. ‘Here you go. Here are the papers. Look over them. It’s all above board, but I want you to be happy.’
Poppy thrust her hand in Monty’s direction, and ignored Ben’s choke-cough. ‘No need for that. I trust you. We trust you. Consider us your new tenants.’
Ben ran his eyes over the documents before him. Poppy may have been willing to sign away her life without checking things out first, but there was no way he was about to. Still, they looked fine to his professional eye. Everything was in order as Monty had said. But what was not in order, in fact what was highly out of order, was Poppy springing this on him without even considering his thoughts, his feelings.
Sharing a space with her? Not just a space, but a business space? This wasn’t like sharing a fake rock-pet as they had when they were young and neither set of parents had allowed them to own a puppy or kitten. This was their lives. Their livelihoods. And if the fate of the rock-pet was anything to go by, going into business with Poppy was not a good idea. She’d lost the darn thing between school and home three days into their deal to share it.
‘Didn’t see that coming, did ya?’ The girl – Sophie – nudged him with her elbow. ‘I’ve never seen someone look so green in my life. Do you need a bucket?’
‘Sophie, don’t be rude. That’s our boss you’re talking to.’ Her brother pulled Sophie away and gave Ben some breathing space.
Breathing space? He’d need more than the air in the shop to breathe after everything Poppy had just flung at him. He’d need a small country’s worth of air. Speaking of Poppy, where had she gone? ‘Poppy?’
‘I’m out the back. With you in a sec.’
The light tip-tap of excitable feet greeted him, followed by Poppy, her green eyes sparkling with excitement.
‘This place is perfect. The kitchen’s great. You’ll love it. The office is a little small, but I’m sure we can take turns in there to have our cups of tea when we’re on break, or eat our lunch, or whatever. Or we could squeeze in together if you don’t mind getting cuddly with me. The toilet could do with a scrub, but I think we can get Joe or Sophie to do that. Whoever’s annoying us most at any given time.’
‘We heard that,’ Sophie sniped over her shoulder, before turning back to her brother, who had his eyes glued on his phone, his fingers tapping away furiously.
‘You were meant to.’ Poppy’s smile didn’t falter. ‘It’s my not-so-subtle way of telling you not to annoy us. And to do that you need to do as you’re told, when you’re told, and to not walk around with that grimace on your face. You’ll scare off the customers.’ Ignoring the grunt from Sophie’s direction, Poppy focused on Ben. ‘So, Ben, have you signed the papers? Does it look good? Are you happy with everything? Do you think we could have this place up and running in a week or two?’
Ben set the papers down, closed his eyes and took a breath. This was too much, too fast. This was pure Poppy. All go, no slow. ‘Poppy.’ He opened his eyes and took her by the shoulders. ‘I’m not sure about this. You and me, running a business in the same room? It’s a recipe for disaster.’
‘Piffle.’ Poppy shook her head, sending her signature black braid swinging. ‘We used to make a great team. Aced all the school projects we did together. And sure, we got into a little trouble here and there…’
‘Because of you,’ Ben asserted, hoping to remind her that her past follies hadn’t been forgotten. Even if they had quickly been forgiven.
‘Yes, well, I was younger. Now I’m not. Look, I’ve got the money.’ She pulled out her phone and began swiping furiously. ‘I have an app that I can show you. I’ve been saving every penny I can for a couple of years now.’ She went to lift her phone, but Ben held up his hand, stopping her.
‘It’s not that I don’t think you have the money. You could get the money in a second, even if you didn’t. Your mother, your family, isn’t exactly poor…’
Poppy’s smile disappeared, the line of her jaw sharpened. Ben inwardly cursed himself. Poppy’s mother may have been a successful artist, and the family she came from may have been well off, but that didn’t mean Poppy was a pampered princess who was given everything her heart desired. His home had shared a wall with Poppy’s, and he’d heard the raised voices when she and her mother had argued, followed by the door slamming.
What had gone on at the Taylor household to cause so much friction, he had no idea; Poppy and her often red-rimmed eyes had refused to speak of it, but he knew enough to know that the relationship she had with her mother wasn’t the kind where you asked for money. Or, come to think of it, where you’d turn up on the doorstep after twelve years away expecting your old room back.
And maybe that meant he needed to put his misgivings on pause, to trust Poppy. For all her youthful transgressions she’d come home with a plan, with money to execute that plan, and she’d been the one to find a way to reduce the rent on the space, while hiring two helping hands who she had managed to wrangle into submission with just a few words and the lightest of warnings.
‘The thing is, Poppy, what do you know about running a business? It’s a big ask to expect me to just leap into this with you. There’s a lot of risk involved…’
‘And