The Oddest Little Chocolate Shop in London by Beth Good

Author:Beth Good [Good, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Humorous, Romantic Comedy, Contemporary, Romance, General Humor, Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages), Humor & Satire, Literature & Fiction
Amazon: B00LP17J66
Published: 2014-07-09T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

In Which Clementine Reveals Herself As A Latex Pervert

Despite her romantic yearnings, Clementine was a practical soul at heart. She had not expected to be mobbed by thousands of choc-starved customers, all clamouring for Lemon Creams and Strawberry Surprises the moment Dominic flung open the door at three minutes to noon the next morning.

Nonetheless, she found the ‘grand re-opening’ of Ravel’s Chocolaterie de Londres surprisingly low-key. Few passers-by, it seemed, had noticed the sign in the window advertising the event. Or if they had spotted it on their way home yesterday, they had not particularly cared. She suspected some people had not even noticed that the chocolate shop had closed in the first place.

Besides which, it was another hot, dry day – wonderful weather for ice cream vans and ice-cold drinks, but not for visiting chocolateries, clearly.

And if anyone had been daring enough to poke their nose round the door, they would soon have scurried away again, driven off by loud music, thanks to Rachel's bizarre idea of a warm welcome.

Clementine thought she was there fairly early, knocking on the back door at a few minutes after eight o’clock. But Rachel had bustled in soon afterwards, red-eyed and still sneezing, but determined to be helpful.

‘I wasn’t sure you’d be in today,’ Clementine admitted.

‘Yes, well, it seems to take my mind off … you-know-who … if I work hard,’ Rachel said a little tremulously, her chin jutting out, ‘so here I am. Single and proud. Oh god. Quick, find me something to do or I’ll start crying again!’

Much to Dominic’s annoyance, Rachel had cheerily insisted on rigging up a line of bunting with clusters of blue, red and white balloons – the colours of the French flag. And she seemed to have the Marseillaise playing at full blast every time someone came through the door – which wasn’t very often, admittedly.

Several people glanced inside and asked Clementine, in bemused tones, if it was a French public holiday. On learning that it was just a re-opening, they hurriedly disappeared again, no doubt concerned they would be expected to buy something. Others took one look at the balloon-festooned shop interior and marched out again, to the refrain of ‘Aux armes, citoyens!’

While Rachel endlessly rearranged the shelves, Clementine busied herself with learning how the till worked. After an hour, she made her first solo sale and felt quite proud of herself.

A new skill!

Despite the quiet start, the reopening was not a complete washout: once the trumpeting Marseillaise had been silenced, customers wandered in and out every few minutes, occasionally making a purchase. Concentrating on her work, Clementine barely saw the gorgeous Dominic – who spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen area, preparing new chocolates – until much later, when he finally drifted down the shop at half past four to see how their first day’s sales had gone.

His hair was a little messy, he was wearing a pinstriped apron, tied twice about his waist, and there was a kind of burning intensity to his gaze which Rachel had already warned her to expect.

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