The Little Unicorn Gift Shop: A heartwarming romance with a bit of sparkle in 2018!. Kellie Hailes

of what came out of his mouth. But being in the same room as Poppy meant the words flew off his tongue as quickly as they came into his head. It was the Poppy-effect in full flight. Her presence had always left him a little unsteady. Off kilter. Hell, he never put a foot wrong when he was left to his own devices, but whenever she entered his sphere, since the day they met, he’d found himself in all sorts of harmless trouble. Nipping over to his neighbour’s house to relieve their tree of apples. Getting tipsy on cider Poppy had stolen from her mother’s fridge when they were fifteen. He’d been so ill the next day his parents had taken pity on him and decided the hangover was punishment enough. Life with Poppy was more interesting, but it also meant there was a huge chance things could go askew.

      She could promise things were going to go smoothly all she wanted, but he only had the past to go by, and that made him nervous.

      ‘Oh God, you’re hilarious. You and your rules.’ Poppy straightened up and smoothed back the tendrils of hair that that had come loose from her braid to frame her face. ‘You were always one for them, but gosh, look at you now. So serious. So earnest. So much more… rule-y. What happened, Ben? You used to know how to have a bit of fun, but now…’ Poppy’s gaze started at his perfectly shone shoes, before she worked her way up to his suit pants, his suit jacket, lingered on the tie, then finished on his cut-just-that-day hair. ‘Now you’re all about looking perfect, and making everything perfect, and being perfect. What’s wrong with a little sparkle and shimmer and shine? What’s wrong with unicorns? They make people happy. They make people smile. Do you not want to be happy and smiley, Ben?’

      Did he not want to be happy? Of course he did. But right now he had too much riding on the success of Steep. If he didn’t do well, if leaving his practice had been a mistake, he’d have to deal with the disapproval of his father for… well, probably ever. ‘Look, Poppy, I just want to make sure my business succeeds. And for that to happen “Steep” needs to be taken seriously, and unicorns don’t exactly project that mentality. It’s one thing to go halves in this space, but there needs to be separation. No sharing, no boundary crossing, you understand? “Sparkle” can shimmer and shine all it likes, but “Steep” needs to be as solid and dependable as a good cup of tea.’

      Poppy rolled her eyes so hard Ben feared they were going to pop out of their sockets. ‘Fine. I understand. I’ll stick to your stupid rule, but I’ve got one rule you need to abide by.’

      ‘Really?’ Ben mashed his lips together to stop a smirk appearing. Poppy, the ultimate disregarder of rules, was going to set one? ‘What’s your rule?’

      ‘My rule is this – if you so much as look at one of my customers like they’re mad for loving unicorns, if you so much as make a snide remark, if I see a hint of side-eye when a man comes in and buys the unicorn underpants I plan on selling, then I’m out. I’ll give you plenty of time to find a person to take over my side of the space. Or enough time for you to see your bank manager, or whoever, and sort out your expanding into my side of the shop, but I won’t stick around. You take Steep seriously? Well, I take Sparkle every bit as seriously. My life savings are going into this, and I don’t have assets I can sell or people I can ask to help me should things falter. Which, they won’t.’

      Ben nodded. ‘You’re right, they won’t. Because as much as I’m sure I could fill the space or figure out some alternative arrangement, I have neither the time nor the inclination. So, I guess that means I agree to your ridiculous rule.’

      ‘Good.’ Poppy held out her hand for Ben to shake and caught the edge of her wine glass, knocking it over, which saw it domino into his wine glass, sending a stream of wine over the table and onto the floor.

      Please don’t be a sign. Ben shook his head in despair. Please don’t let it mean that ‘Sparkle & Steep’ is destined to become ‘Debacle & Weep’.

       Chapter 4

      Poppy clapped her hands, the sound bouncing off the bare walls. ‘Righto, you lot. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives. A grand day no less. A day that will go down in history as being the start of two of the most fabulous businesses London has ever seen.’ Poppy paused, and waited for a cheer of encouragement, or at the very least a grunt to show that she’d been heard. None came.

      She’d successfully managed as a nanny to six-year-old triplets, you’d think she could hold the attention of two eighteen-year-olds, but no. Sophie was inspecting her nails. Joe had his eyes on that damn phone of his. And her business partner was clomp-clomp-clomping back and forth in the kitchen, muttering into his phone. Pausing every now and then to flick her the thumbs up. Why? She had no idea. But if it meant things were moving forward at a rapid pace she was happy for him to leave the teen wrangling to her.

      ‘Joe? Are you listening to anything that’s coming out of my mouth?’

      No answer came. Right, then. Drastic measures were called for.

      Stomping over to where he stood, Poppy plucked the phone out from his palm and marched it to the kitchen. Turning on the tap she threatened to douse it in water. ‘Don’t think I won’t,’ she warned. ‘We’re not paying you to spend hours looking at mindless gaming videos, or… half-naked women… or whatever it is that has so captured your imagination.’

      ‘Unicorns.’ Joe folded his arms across his chest and popped his hip out. ‘I was looking up unicorn suppliers with quick delivery times. I get the feeling you want things up and running soon as possible.’

      Poppy glanced at the screen to see a wall of unicorn giftware. ‘Oh, I see. And how long do these sites you’ve found take?’ Poppy returned the phone to Joe. ‘And what’s the pricing like?’

      Sophie shook her head. A disgusted puff of air escaping her lips. ‘Are you telling us you haven’t even sorted that out yet? Have you thought about storage? And getting things through customs?’

      ‘I’m not daft, you know. Of course I’ve got that worked out.’ Kind of. Poppy had known she’d have to figure that stuff out, she just hadn’t expected for things to race ahead at breakneck speed – but there was no way she was letting Sophie know that. If they got a hint she was flying by the seat of her pants, they’d try and take advantage. ‘But, it’s good to have fresh stock, different stock, and I really appreciate that you’ve taken an interest in my business, Joe. Nice work.’ She slapped Joe on the back, then motioned to Ben to hang up the phone as soon as he could. ‘Speaking of space. We need to decide who gets what.’

      With a quick goodbye Ben shoved his phone in the back pocket of his navy pants and leaned against the door. ‘I was hoping…’

      ‘To have the side with the bricks? I agree. It will suit your vision.’ Poppy fisted her hands and placed them on her hips. ‘I’m happy with the other side. It’s lighter, brighter. And I was thinking I’d get some holographic tinsel and drape it down the windows on my side of the shop.’

      ‘Cooooooool,’ breathed Joe.

      ‘Oh, God. No.’ Sophie gagged.

      ‘I’m with Sophie.’ Ben shook his head so quickly Poppy wondered if he would sprain his neck.

      ‘What’s wrong with that? It’s my side of the shop, isn’t it? I can do what I want, can’t I?’ Poppy tucked her tongue into her cheek.

      ‘Poppy. No. I forbid it.’ Ben placed his hands on his hips, mirroring hers, his face growing pink. Then red. Then almost purple. ‘It will look beyond tacky. What will people think of the shop? Of my shop?’

      ‘They’ll think it’s a fun place to visit. That our shop is a warm, welcoming, engaging, and just a little bit magical, place to spend time in.’ Poppy reached for her braid and stroked it.

      ‘She’s having you on,’ Sophie said flatly. ‘Honestly, Ben, can’t you see that? You’d think you’d know when your girlfriend was having you on.’