"Hello," I call.
There's no answer, so I go down the stone steps into the basement of York's department store, where I've started working at again after 5 years away. I see a plump figure sat on a tall chair with his back to me. He has headphones covering his ears. His hair is a black and grey mass of curls. I cough clearing my throat, and call again.
"Hello...excuse me."
He stops whatever he's doing and slips his headphones off.
"Hi, are you William?"
He turns round and removes his goggles, holding some sort of pen shaped object with an electrical lead coming out of the end. He turns back to his worktop and puts the object in a spring like holder.
"Hi," I say again, "I work in the kitchen department, Janis asked me to come down and see you about the telly which has the knife promo on. It's on the blink."
He nods and spins his chair round facing me. He has a round face with a black and grey moustache hanging from his top lip, like those Mexican bandits in old cowboy films. He takes a bite out of bread roll. I watch the crumbs land on his white polo shirt. The crumbs settle next to a tea or coffee stain.
"Hello Sylvia," he says opening his mouth giving me a nasty view of what he is chewing.
I go to touch my name badge, but it isn't there.
"We were at school together. You don't remember me do you?"
I watch his mouth open and he takes another huge bite of the bread roll containing what looks like ham and salad. I watch salad cream dribble on his chin.
"Um, no sorry, it was a big school and 14 years ago."
He nods, stops chewing, and finally wipes the salad cream off his chin with his hand, and then into his shirt. He takes a sip from a mug.
"William, William, Todd."
His grey eyes look into mine waiting for me to recognise the name, I do, and I gulp a little.
"Yes it is really me Willy Wanker, as you, Carol, Jess and everyone else used to call me."
I cough nervously, "Like I said that was years ago, anyway how are you?" I ask trying to ignore the name calling, and worse, we did back then.
He makes me wait before answering.
"You haven't lost your figure," he says looking me up and down, "me, I just got fatter, as you can see."
I struggle trying to find something to say; in the end I just give him a half hearted smile.
"So, you'll come and have a look?" I say starting to back towards the stairs.
"I'll be there when I've finished doing this board. How is Jess, I heard she got pregnant a couple of years ago, and her old man kicked her out. I heard he had the snip so she must have gone with someone else."
"Yeah, I haven't really been in touch with her for a while now. So are you coming then?"
"Carol had a breakdown I hear. Poor Carol. Is that right she called you?"
"I really have to be back on the floor, it is nearly closing time," I say and take another step back.
"Poor Carol, it got round that she had been with a guy, her lesbian friend kicked her out too.
"Something like that," I mumble, not really wanting to talk about it.
"Odd, I never thought she would turn into a dyke, she seemed to like men back then."
"I don't know it is just one of those things," I say getting more and more uncomfortable with the conversation.
"So, do you know who the bloke was who screwed her, and who spread it around about her going with him?"
"No, she never told me. I really have to get back," I say quickly and kick something with my heel.
"I bet that hurt. Your ankle is bleeding. I've got a plaster somewhere."
I look down at my heel watching a trickle of blood trail down over the heel of my navy court shoe, as I hear him rummaging around.
"I have to go and sort it."
He stands in front of me with a plaster.
"Sit on my chair."
"No I can manage," I turn away and as an after thought I say, "thank you."
"Hey don't be a baby. I do first aid. Slip your shoe and stocking off."
"No," I say more forcefully, but with a nervous quiver in my voice.
He chuckles a little.
"Come on, it'll be like old times when we were 18. Hey do you remember how you all made me lay down on the ground face down? You stood there with the heel of your shoe on my tie, making me kiss the heel of your shoes. You always wore high heels. You'd smoke, and flick fag ash on my head."
"I never did that," I say with a gulp, "not the fag ash."
"Don't panic we're old friends. No you were always a little kinder than the other two. I used to kiss your actual ankle, I kissed Jessie's once, and she swung her leg back and gave me a spilt lip, spat at me too and called me a fat freak."
"William I'm really sorry about, well what we did back then. We were, cruel, and it is unforgivable. I have to go the store is closing in five minutes."
"Nah, that clock is 10 minutes slow. It is already shut. Luckily I'm on overtime this evening. Now sit down and let me sort that cut out."
"No I can manage."
Somehow he has manoeuvred me with my back to the chair. He takes a step forward, and I end up half falling on the seat. I watch as he kneels at my feet.
"Just let me do this for you Sylvie it won't take long. Hey what do you reckon the management would say if they knew what we all got up to at school?"
"What do you mean?" I ask, and then wish I hadn't.
"You know the little things we all got up to. Like the day we went to the cinema, remember that?"
"I've said I'm sorry. Please let me go?" I say in an increasingly panicking voice.
"I remember sitting there and you three getting my dick out," he smiles to himself, "that was a shock wasn't it, seeing Willy Wanker had a bigger cock than you thought I had. Carol and Jess told me I was freak, you though, you just stared at it."
I shudder as I feel his hand on my calf.
"What was it they said? Oh yeah, my dick was so big because I couldn't stop wanking it because I was a pervert. They told you to get an ice cream, and when you came back; they shoved it on my dick, telling me it would get my erection down. I don't know, but I guess the management here wouldn't like it if they found out you bullied me."
"William please, I'm really sorry. Sorry for what we all did back then. I've only just started back here, and I need the job."
"I know you do, this covid virus has a lot of people doing desperate things. So let me dress your wound. Honestly what sort of a first aid person would I be, if I let a member of staff go home with a cut?"
"It's not that serious," I whimper.
"Sylvia what would your husband say, with you going home with blood on your stocking?"