How Not to Shop
Table of Contents
- About the Author
- By the Same Author
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Title
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Ninteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-one
- Chapter Twenty-two
- Chapter Twenty-three
- Chapter Twenty-four
- Chapter Twenty-five
- Chapter Twenty-six
- Chapter Twenty-seven
- Chapter Twenty-eight
- Chapter Twenty-nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-one
- Chapter Thirty-two
- Chapter Thirty-three
- Chapter Thirty-four
- Chapter Thirty-five
- Chapter Thirty-six
- Chapter Thirty-seven
- Chapter Thirty-eight
- Chapter Thirty-nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-one
- Chapter Forty-two
- Chapter Forty-three
- Chapter Forty-four
- Chapter Forty-five
- Epilogue
- Acknowledgements
- Extract Three in a Bed
- Also Available
Carmen Reid is the bestselling author of, most recently,
The Personal Shopper
and
Late Night Shopping
, also starring Annie Valentine.
She has worked as a newspaper journalist and columnist, but now writes fiction full-time. Carmen also writes a series for teen readers,
Secrets at St Judes
. She lives in Glasgow, Scotland with her husband and two children.
For more information on Carmen Reid and her books visit her website at
www.carmenreid.com
Also by Carmen Reid
THREE IN A BED
DID THE EARTH MOVE?
HOW WAS IT FOR YOU?
Starring Annie Valentine
UP ALL NIGHT
THE PERSONAL SHOPPER
LATE NIGHT SHOPPING
And for teenage readers
SECRETS AT ST JUDE'S: NEW GIRL
SECRETS AT ST JUDE'S: JEALOUS GIRL
HOW NOT
TO SHOP
Carmen Reid
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
ISBN 9781409093831
Version 1.0
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
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A Random House Group Company
www.rbooks.co.uk
HOW NOT TO SHOP
A CORGI BOOK: 9780552158855
First publication in Great Britain
Corgi edition published 2009
Copyright © Carmen Reid 2009
Carmen Reid has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case
of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library.
This electronic book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
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can be found at:
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The Random House Group Ltd Reg. No. 954009
ISBN: 9781409093831
Version 1.0
HOW NOT TO SHOP
Chapter One
Dr Yasmin 'cosmetologist' at work:
White cotton coat (medical suppliers)
White gauze mask (same)
Black and pink silk high-collared dress (Alexander McQueen)
Pink peep-toe slingback heels (Christian Louboutin)
Total est. cost: £960
'And how does that feel now?'
'Just hold nice and still, this is going to be a little uncomfortable.'
Annie's heart began to pound. When a straight-backed professional in a pristine white coat, paper mask and latex gloves, carrying a syringe, tells you something's going to be 'a little uncomfortable', you know it's going to hurt like . . .
'Nice and still,' the outrageously expensive Harley Street 'cosmetologist' repeated as Annie instinctively nudged her face away from the tip of the needle.
Then
yow!!
the point was in and she could feel her first ever hit of Botox coursing coolly into the offending frown lines between her eyebrows.
Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!
It hurt. Why had she not been told how much it hurt? And the 'Doctor', though really she was probably just a souped-up dental nurse with a very snazzy client list, was going to do her brow lines next. There was even less skin up there on her forehead. That would really sting.
Dr Yasmin's assistant pressed a tissue to the side of Annie's face to catch the tears of pain slipping silently from her eyes.
To take her mind from this horror, Annie let her eyes roll towards the corner of the room, where four large shopping bags were stacked in a fat heap against a chair.
She hadn't wanted to let those bags out of her sight and now, just stealing a quick glance at them helped to soothe her. Those four bulging carriers represented something very important. Crucial. Fundamental. Those four glossy bags symbolized the end of her old career and the beginning of a whole shiny, brand new phase.
A veteran of self-improvement, Annie Valentine was about to move on and up in the biggest way imaginable. She had worked in London's most glamorous, most high-end fashion emporium, The Store, for nine whole years and now she was leaving.
She had been The Store's top, best known and most trusted personal shopper. She had shopped for, styled and made over women from every walk of life. In short, there was nothing about fashion or buying clothes that Annie didn't know. In several swift minutes, Annie could size you up from head to toe and teach you more about what shapes, sizes, colours and styles you should be wearing than all that time spent schlepping hopelessly in and out of changing rooms could possibly have done.
Working for The Store had transformed her over the years too. The hair in her tight, high ponytail had become increasingly blonde. The slightly too short and slightly too curvy figure had been lifted and lengthened with expensive high heels, ramrod posture and a hefty dose of Lycra in all the right places. Now that she was in her . . . erm . . . late-thirties, she was at Dr Yasmin's because she wasn't going to let some pesky little frown lines give the game away.
Annie knew she was leaving more than just a job. Over those nine years, The Store had become her second home. When she'd lost her husband, she'd been able to lose herself in The Store; when she'd struggled to meet the school fees for her two children, her clients from The Store had rallied round to give her extra out-of-hours work. Even the new man in her life, Ed, though he understood not one shred about fashion, understood completely the importance of The Store in Annie's life.
But she was about to leave! Leave her job and her monthly commission (not to mention her regular bonuses for best saleswoman) and her hugely tempting staff discount (the kind of discount which meant there were labels she could previously only have dreamed about hanging in her wardrobe) and the staff who had become best friends.
Annie was about to walk away from it all because she had been offered the perhaps once in a lifetime chance to become a real, live TV STAR. Oh yes! She still had to pinch herself to believe it.
After two auditions and a screen test, finally, the call had come. Now Annie and her ridiculously wealthy client-turned-friend, Svetlana Wisneski, were going to be the makeover gurus on a new Channel Five show,
Wonder Women
.