‘No!’ Lucy cries. ‘Why would you think that? I don’t even have a boyfriend!’
‘Sorry, sorry.’ Connie smiles brightly. ‘I just thought …’
Now she looks relieved. Which likely won’t last long.
‘It’s nothing like that.’ Lucy takes a breath. ‘I need to stop working here.’
Her parents both stare at her.
‘Why?’ her father says.
‘I have a lot on.’ This is both the truth and a very broad definition of it.
‘It’s that stupid charity shop, isn’t it?’ her mother says, shaking her head. ‘You’re spendingtoo muchtime there. Your schoolwork will suffer.’
‘It’s not suffering,’ Lucy says, which is another truth. ‘You’ve seen my marks.’
She’s making sure she hands in every assignment on time and studies for all her tests, so there’s no way her parents can point to school as a reason for her to not do something.
‘You need to focus on what matters, Lucy,’ Connie says.
‘That’s what I’m doing,’ Lucy says. ‘The sewing is important to me.’
‘It can’t be more important than your family!’ her father says, clearly upset.
‘It’s not, Papa, but I love it and I’m good at it.’
She’s trying her best to sound calm, because even though she anticipated this reaction, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to handle.
‘How are you meant to earn money? You’re just there making things for yourself!’ he says.
Lucy isn’t sure how much to tell them about Christina’s plans, but she needs to show there’s a way forward.
‘I might have some pieces on commission,’ she says.
Her father throws his hands in the air. ‘Commission! That isn’t stable.’
‘It’ll be enough.’
‘And what are we meant to do here?’ her mother says. ‘We’ll have to hire someone.’
Who you’ll have to pay more to, Lucy thinks. ‘I wasn’t going to be here forever,’ she says.
Her parents look at each other again.
Her father frowns. ‘But this business is for you and Russell.’
Lucy is so startled she laughs. ‘Me and Russell? You mean, the Russell who wants me dead?’
‘Lucy!’ her father roars. Her mother puts her hand on his arm.
‘Dad, Russell will throw a party once I’m not here.’
And once I’m not at home.Moving out is her next plan, but she’s obviously not going to mention that now.
Christina told her the other day that the shop comes with a flat above, which has been empty for a while. She gave Lucy the key and told her to use the flat if she needs to. It wasn’t an invitation to move in, but tonight Lucy needs a place to stay. The key is in her pocket. She can hardly wait to use it.
‘That is unkind,’ Rafael says.