Stuff (The Bristol Collection) (13 page)

He had a momentary attack of the butterflies—or maybe moths in a place like this—when switching on the old enamelled fridge and stove at their wall sockets, but the fridge gave a reassuring buzz and the stove gave off a smell of burning dust when he tried turning on one of the rings. Yep. He could live here for a while. All the basics of life were in place.

Shortly before nine, he heard the knock at the front door and unlocked it to let Lewis and Jasper inside.

Jasper recoiled slightly, but Lewis just took in the oppressive racks of dark clothing with interest. “So, how much of this do you need me to find storage for?”

“I’ve got a van load of bags out the back, but I was hoping we might be able to jiggle things around in here without having to move out too much stock.” Mas showed them both through to the second room—much brighter now, thanks to the clean window and new bulbs, although the racks of clothing and dark, hulking furniture swallowed up the light.

“You’ll have to move something out. There’s too much here.”

In the end, Mas agreed to bundle up the winter coats—they’d soon be out of season anyway—and Lewis and Jasper set about removing a couple of chests of drawers and the dresser that was blocking half the window.

They’d been working like that for half an hour when Perry’s voice cut through the air. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Mas? Where are you? What the hell is going on?”

Oh shit. Perry looked like he was both bricking it and furious. Not a great combination for talking sense into someone. Had Mas pushed him too far this time?

Chapter Fourteen

The two strange men whipped round to look at Perry, almost dropping the chest of drawers on their feet.

“Put that right back where you found it,” Perry ordered, his voice shaking with rage. A small part of his brain was yelling something about not confronting dangerous criminals and going to call the police instead, but since his phone line had been cut off…

“Perry? It’s okay. You can put the hammer down now.”

Perry looked round in confusion at the sound of Mas’s voice. Mas bounded out from the shadowy corner of the room. Perry hadn’t noticed him there at all.

“These are my friends, Jasper and Lewis. You remember me mentioning them? They’re just helping to clear a few of the bigger things out of the way so we’ve got some room to move things around down here.”

“Clear them out of the way to where?” Perry scanned the room and caught a glimpse of the empty kitchen. “Where’s all the furniture that should be in here? The clothes?”

“Don’t worry. They’re just in the van. They’ll all be kept safe. Nobody’s stealing anything.”

“Van? Where are you taking my things?”

The man with the blond hair piped up. “I know it’s hard seeing things moved, but it’s the only way to get a place organised sometimes. I’m Lewis, by the way. And this is my job, so don’t worry, you’re in safe hands. But I’m sorry for the surprise. I thought Mas had cleared this all with you first.”

Perry turned to Mas, hurt and bewildered. Mas smiled back sheepishly. “I did say I’d need to move things around a bit.”

“I thought you meant in here!”

“I do, eventually, but I had to get a few things out of the way temporarily so there was space to move around. I should have made myself clearer. Sorry about that.”

Mas looked genuinely contrite, and Perry’s heart began to slow down. “Where are you taking everything?”

Lewis answered. “I’ve got a storage unit over in Fishponds I’ve hired for another client, but she won’t be needing it for another week. Mas told me this would only be for a few days. And it had better be, or I’ll have to start charging him by the hour.”

“Just a few days?”

Mas stepped right over and took Perry’s shoulders. “Just a few days, I promise. I just can’t see what I’m doing in here otherwise. Look at how much lighter and more spacious it is already.”

Now that Mas pointed it out, Perry realised it was brighter. And all that seemed to have done was throw the state of the walls and the floor into even sharper focus.

“It looks a mess. That plaster. Oh God, we can’t let people see that.” He buried his face in his hands. “I can’t afford to get decorators in.”

“Perrykins, you’re worrying too much. This is fine. It’s got that classic distressed look. A bit of shabby chic. It’s all the rage at the moment. It’ll be fine, you’ll see. There’s no damp here. No mildew. Lewis would have spotted it by now if there were.”

“You’re lucky,” Lewis commented. “Must have been enough ventilation through that draughty window, and I suppose the fact you’re not actually living in these rooms helps. Less condensation.”

“You should have seen the state of my place when Lewis cleared it,” the other man said. His voice was quiet and cultured, and Perry felt an instant sense of affinity with him. “Believe me, this is nothing to worry about. I had to have two rooms completely replastered in the end.”

Perry shook off Mas’s hold and stalked over to the empty window corner. “It’s filthy. All this dust.”

“Dust which can be cleaned up quickly. Especially if you go back upstairs and let us work. Or how about you bring that kettle of yours down and make us all a cup of tea. I got the stove and fridge working.

“The fridge?” Perry realised with dismay he could hear its loud humming. “That old thing must be eating up electricity.” He imagined his meter spinning round and around, and remembered the red lettering across the top of his last bill, informing him just how overdue he was.

“Gotta keep some milk down here somehow. You got a better idea?”

“Umm, I’ll bring you down a bucket with some ice cubes in.” Ice was about the only thing he did have in his freezer right now. “That should do. It only needs to keep fresh for the day.”

“About that. Err, could I have a word?” Mas grabbed Perry’s arm and pushed him further into the kitchen. “You two, carry on with the things I showed you. And we’ll need the hoover in a minute. Hope you brought spare bags.”

“What’s going on?” Perry demanded, although it came out sounding weaker than he’d intended.

“I had this idea, and you can say no if you like, but really, I didn’t want that fridge just for milk.”

“Huh?”

“I was thinking I could stay here. Just for a little while, and I could camp out down here. It would make everything so much easier. I could start work at stupid o’clock and carry on all evening after we’re closed. And it means you don’t have to feel bad about not paying me anything, because you’re giving me a place to stay instead. Please say yes. Please?”

Trying to resist that pleading, puppy-dog look was like swimming through quicksand with lead boots on, but Perry put up a valiant fight. “I thought you were staying with your friends. Are they pressuring you to move out already?”

“Of course not. I can stay as long as I want. But it’s not easy, being the odd one out with those two mooning over each other. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m chuffed Jasper’s got someone now who makes him happy, but it’s hard to see that sometimes. Especially when I’m still on my own.”

“You and Jasper, you were together?”

“Yeah, but not like a proper relationship or anything. I mean, I would have liked that but sometimes these things just aren’t to be. ’Sides, what did I have to offer him other than my arse? He needs a man who’s more like him. Clever and into books and all that kind of stuff. Lewis is doing a PhD next year, you know? He’s going to be a Doctor of Psychology. It’s not like I can hold a candle to that as a bleedin’ shop assistant.”

The bleak wistfulness in Mas’s voice made Perry’s heart clench. “You really love him?”

Mas smiled, but the humour petered out before it reached his eyes. “Nah. Not me. I don’t believe in all that true-love bollocks. Save that for the girls. But I do miss him. I miss him even more living in the same house as him, if that makes any sense.”

“Not really, but I think I know what you’re getting at. It was like that with my parents.” Damn. What had he mentioned them for?

“Oh? You were close to them, were you?”

“Not exactly.” Time to change the subject. “Staying in here, though. I don’t know. Where would you sleep?”

“Lewis has got a camping bed and a sleeping bag in his van.”

“You thought ahead. You know there’s no heating down here.”

“You’re telling me. I’m fucking freezing me nads off right now. Coldest March ever, I reckon. What’s with the radiators, then? Are they just for show or something?”

“I need a new boiler.”

“Should get onto your landlord about that, really. But anyway, the sleeping bag’s one of those hi-tech ones for mountain climbers. I reckon I’ll be able to handle the cold. And I can always warm myself up by watching porn or something, can’t I?”

“We did cover the fact I don’t have a television, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, I know. Nothing here any more modern than the Dark Ages, right? But I’ve got a laptop, haven’t I? Got stuff saved on the hard drive and a few discs. I’ll be fine. Plus I can always imagine you if I get really desperate for inspiration.”

Perry wondered if that was meant to be a slight, but Mas’s cheeks were dimpled and his voice had gone all musical again. Teasing. Right. Could he tease back?

“Things would have to be pretty desperate for that,” he said, hoping the pause hadn’t been too long. “I thought you were supposed to be impressing me with your visualisation skills.”

Mas’s beam threatened to split his face in two. “See, I knew you had a sense of humour lurking in there somewhere. And y’know, there’s nothing wrong with my visualisation skills. I can picture just what you look like under that suit. And one of these days, I’m gonna find out for certain.” He winked and gave Perry a quick peck on the cheek. “Cheers, mate. I knew you’d be all right with me staying. I’ll stash the bed back out here during the day and you won’t even know I’m here tonight, I swear.”

Perry’s cheek tingled as he watched Mas bounce back into the shop. He didn’t believe a word of Mas’s assertion. He had the feeling he’d be acutely aware of just how near Mas was. Sleeping would be a challenge.

Perry hid himself upstairs for another half an hour until his usual shop opening time before heading downstairs. There were no voices, thankfully. Mas’s friends had clearly left to wherever this storage unit was. Perry stifled a twinge of anxiety at the thought, but if Mas trusted them, it would be okay. Mas had good judgement, didn’t he? Perry liked to think so, although he was probably being a fool. No doubt his father would have some sharp words on the subject of trusting the proles.

Perry stopped to give himself a pep talk. He did not need to listen to his father anymore. He was a grown man with a mind of his own, and his father was a snobbish bastard. Amazingly enough, he didn’t feel guilty at the near-blasphemy this time. Was this Mas’s doing? It felt like things had shifted around inside him somehow, and though it was a little uncomfortable right now, perhaps space was being made for something new. Something…exciting.

When Perry opened his doorway into the shop, the first surprise was that it was no longer shielded by a rack of greatcoats. The rail seemed to have completely disappeared, and he couldn’t see it anywhere else in the room. Mas had worked an impressive transformation in such a short space of time, he admitted to himself. The overall impression now was of an overcrowded clothes shop rather than a storage room. The remaining pieces of furniture had been pushed to the sides of the room where other clothing rails had been removed, and a screen now stood in one corner, sectioning off a changing area. Mas had even draped a couple of scarves over it, giving it a boudoir kind of ambiance. Cherise would probably love it.

The screen had looked familiar, but it wasn’t until Perry walked through to the front room that he realised where he’d seen it before. Daylight blinded him, pouring in through the two enormous shop windows. “You took my window screens,” he complained to the silhouette standing in the doorway. And now he could focus his eyes again, he noticed something else very different. “And you put rails outside? Are you mad? That’s just asking for trouble!”

“In what way, exactly? I don’t think they’re blocking the pavement. It’s plenty wide enough here.”

“People could steal the clothes.”

“Yeah, I suppose. But I think it’s way more likely they’re going to buy them instead.”

“But…but the fabric will degrade in the sunshine. It’s really not a good idea. And what if it rains?”

Mas looked up at the ceiling and huffed. “In case you hadn’t noticed, you get bugger all sunshine out there most of the day, and I’ve gone and checked the weather forecast already, haven’t I? Believe it or not, we’re in for a dry few days. Might even be time to break out the sunnies. Hey, I bet you’ve got a few cool vintage pairs knocking around somewhere in here.”

“You can’t trust the weather forecast,” Perry insisted.

“I know, and I promise you, the minute I notice it starting to rain, I’ll be out there, wheeling those racks back in again, okay? Come on, I need the space, and they’re going to be the best way of attracting trade till I’ve got these windows sorted out. It’s just till then, I promise. I don’t really want this place to look any more like a flea market than it already does. I’m aiming for classy. Trust me.”