Lindsey looked at her watch. 7:45pm. Only five minutes later than when she'd last looked. It was a Thursday in early December, a Late Night Shopping evening, and the Christmas Market was packed down below as she gazed out of the first-floor window. People were hurrying past as the first flakes of snow began to fall on Parliament Street. Despite the crowds, New Look was deserted, as it had been for at least the last hour. Fifteen minutes to go until she could lock up. How she was regretting being the first to volunteer to stand in for the Shop Manager, who had some "top secret" function that had to be attended β but here she was and she was stuck with it now.
Lindsey busied herself with tidying the underwear department. It had been perfect at 10:00am this morning, but careless shoppers had pulled and pushed it about and left things strewn on the floor. As she was finishing, she heard footsteps on the stairs which led up from the Ground Floor. Without looking round, she said "God, Sarah, it's dead in here isn't it?".
Silence. A short but distinctly male cough told her it wasn't her work colleague Sarah, and Lindsey turned around to find herself looking at a well-dressed man in a suit.
"I'm sorry..." she stumbled, "...I thought it was, I thought you were..."
"No problem. I'm sorry too..." said the stranger, "I've come in just as you're thinking about locking the doors..."
"That's fine" Lindsey replied, looking him slowly up and down "just let me know if I can help?"
She looked at her watch again. 7:55pm. She had wanted to go home, but now found herself quite intrigued by the stranger, who was looking at the neatly rearranged underwear section. She wondered if he was buying for his wife β surely he was married, or engaged, or a long-term girlfriend? But her thoughts were interrupted by a shout from downstairs,
"Lindsey! My lift's here!" This time it was Sarah, and Lindsey left the stranger whilst she went downstairs.
"Is he going to be long up there?" Sarah asked.
"Don't worry β you go, I'll lock the doors and wait while he chooses" Lindsey said.
"OK, see you tomorrow!" Sarah called back over her shoulder as she disappeared into the bustle of the Christmas Market.
Lindsey locked the front doors and went back up to the First Floor. The stranger was still there, but was now looking at her rather than at the selection of underwear.
"Are you OK? Do you need any help?" she asked again.
"I'm looking for something for a friend..." he started. So he's not married after all, she thought. "...it's a bit tricky, as she's not single..."
That got Lindsey's attention. So he was playing with an attached woman? Who'd have thought it! Lindsey had often thought about a fling to put a little excitement back into her life, but had never dared to take it any further than the thinking.
"Do you know what size she is?" she asked, more out of wanting to know about this other woman than out of trying to be helpful.