In this part Penny reciprocates with her part of the bargain, a visit to the coffee shop. She is a little wary of showing too much attention however because Robyn is 20 and she is 29 and trying to steer her career and business in the right direction. Thus, romantic liaisons are on the back burner but Helen on the other hand has taken an active interest in Robyn. This section begins the day after Robyn attended a meeting on Friday night.
Author's note: Dim sims or dimmies are a kind of dumpling unique to Australia. Despite the name, they are not classed as Asian food, being filled with minced meat, spices and a mixture of spices. The name was apparently chosen at random back in the 60s and has stuck ever since.
For readers outside Australia, the Liberal Party in Australia equates to the GOP in the U.S or the Tory Party in the U.K.
Helen flipped through the thick folder of patterns as she sat in her car outside the quaint house in Williamstown with its wrought iron fence and gate. The old woman she'd rung earlier that morning had told her that all the pattern books had been sold except for one. Considering she was the last person Helen had called that morning, all of whom had either sold their books or had buyers on their way with the money, she'd taken a chance with Elspeth Daniels and as she turned the plastic envelopes she reasoned that perhaps fortune had smiled on her.
The pattern books had been opened up and used as a backing for the actual patterns inside, which were also inside the envelope. The patterns all dated from the 1980s and hadn't yet come back into fashion but they certainly looked as if they more or less matched the clothes she'd seen Robyn wearing a few days ago, those double-breasted blouses were certainly eighties and then there was the other thing she'd purchased from Elspeth.
She looked over her shoulder at the sewing machine. Elspeth assured her it worked and so Helen had driven to the nearest ATM to take out money from her other account and that was significant for her because she rarely withdrew money from her emergency account. Taking that much money out of it had triggered something inside herself. It was a declaration that from now on she was going to withdraw from Roxy and focus entirely on a new challenge.
Helen closed the folder and put it on the seat beside her and as she started the engine she stared at the beautifully kept garden behind the fence. Her mother had a garden at her house in Box Hill but hers had more weeds than flowers, she'd never been much of a green fingers. Helen released the parking brake. Operation Seduce Robyn had begun but first she had to scout out the landscape.
Fools rushed in where angels feared to tread.
***
Penny certainly felt like a fool as she stood with a plastic bag filled with sausage rolls, dim sims, some donuts and two bottles of Coke. She stared at the real estate listings hanging in the front window of the office at the top end of Main Street, Croydon. Her eyes alighted on a house in nearby Montrose that was going for an eye-watering price.
My God, my joint would sell for three times that amount without breaking a sweat.
Her eyes shifted to the front door and she contemplated her next move. It was bold and risky, and she risked looking like the girl who got all dressed up for the prom and turned up at her date's house only to discover that her date's date was standing behind her with a bemused smile on her face.
She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She'd chosen a casual look this morning, a white blouse tucked into jeans, the three-quarter length denim coat was fringed with fur at the collar and on the cuffs. A pair of brown suede boots completed the outfit along with the western style leather belt. The winter cold had begun to bite early this year, this last week of May had seen torrential rain drenching the city last week. The previous day had seen a brief respite but they were forecasting a wet finish for this city of four seasons in one day.
Just do it, start walking.
She opened the door and stepped inside, a woman directly to her right looked up but then she saw Robyn at the next desk talking to someone on the phone. Her eyes widened and she raised a hand and pointed to the seat in front of her. As she walked to the desk she glanced at the rear of the office where a woman in her forties sat behind a desk and she also looked up and her eyes widened. Her age suggested she was the branch manager and just appraising a new potential client, Penny pulled the chair back and sat down.
"Yes, I know, I know, but unfortunately the price is still too high but if you were to spend some time on renovations and repairs then we could do a new valuation," she smiled.
"I understand that but we do have a listing of qualified tradesmen who do offer a variety of services, they're not part of our company but we often use them for repairs on rental properties. I could mail you the listing if you like and then it's up to you. Some charge more than others but I can assure you that we wouldn't use tradesmen who weren't up to scratch," she leaned forward.
"Okay, yes, I can mail that out this morning, unless you have an email address? You do?" Robyn picked up a pen, "no worries," she started writing.
"Great Mrs Pennyworth, I'll email this right away and when you're ready for a new inspection please call us and we'll arrange it... Okay then, thank you very much, you have a lovely afternoon too, bye now," she hung up and put the phone down.
"My God, what a conversation," she grinned and fiddled with one of the pleats on her pussybow blouse, "how are you? And what are you doing here?"
"I brought some lunch," she held the bag up, "but then I thought that maybe I should've checked with you first but by then I'd already paid for it."
"That was a bit... impetuous of you," she glanced at a woman on the other side of the office, "but fortune favours the bold and in this case you, I'm just about to head out for lunch," she clicked her mouse, "but just let me email Mrs Pennyworth this listing," she clicked again.
"Bloody Outlook, it's the bane of my life," she clicked again, "waiting... waiting... oh this is like watching the bloody paint dry... ooh, progress and action," she started typing.
Penny smirked as she waited for her to send the email and then she became aware that the older woman had left her desk and was now approaching the desk. She glanced up and gave her the once over. She had light brown hair pulled back with a hair clasp and a broad face with brown eyes and a wide mouth. Her attire was businesslike, white blouse and black trouser suit and as she came to a stop a nervous smile nudged her lips.
"Are you? Ms Jones?"
"I am," she inclined her head slightly and turned towards her, "Penny Jones."
"You've been in the local paper a couple of times?"
"I have," she pulled a wry grin, "I'm one of the founders of women who talk."
"I thought so, I'm Yvonne Gilchrist, branch manager."
"Pleased to meet you," she extended her hand, "I'm just taking our newest member out for lunch," her hand slipped into Yvonne's, "if that's all right?"
"Of course, of course," her eyes flickered to Robyn who had just sent the email, "I've been meaning to come along to one of your groups," she shook her hand briefly, "but it's finding time."
"I fully understand that one, I find it hard to juggle timetables myself," she let of her hand, "but we have different chapters meeting at various times of the month, so it's usually easy to find a time that suits you. We even have unofficial coffee circles within the chapters where members meet up once or twice a week for coffee, we're flexible like that," she put a hand into her handbag and took out a business card.
"Here, give that number a phone and there's a website address that has phone numbers for the various chapters."
"Of course, thank you," she glanced briefly at Robyn, "well, I won't keep you any longer," she took a step back as Robyn stood up and plucked a grey tailored jacket off the back of her seat.
"No worries," she smiled and stood up as well, "nice to have met you."
Yvonne nodded once more and returned to her desk. Penny turned her attention to Robyn as she slid the jacket over her shoulders, it matched the three-quarter length pencil skirt and her eyes flickered momentarily to the blouse. It was also reminiscent of an earlier era with its white lace pussybow that reached her belly, the blouse had a wide pleat on either side of the bodice and when she moved around the desk Penny noted the black, knee-high boots.
"Shall we?" Robyn smiled as she slung her handbag over her shoulder.
