The showroom hit a quiet patch, so Holly took the opportunity to sit at her desk and begin to tidy up her mounting paperwork.

Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Emily put her current victims through their paces. She could almost lip-read the stages of Emily’s patter, and it was obvious that she was currently at the ‘Look, I might get into trouble but…’ stage, no doubt poised to fleece the unsuspecting buyers of an extra few hundred pounds on the back-room sales price.

Incredibly, this time the customers didn’t fall for it. The man held up his hands, then they thanked Emily profusely and left the shop empty-handed.

Emily stood motionless for a few moments, staring out of the window. There was something just a little off kilter about her today, Holly observed. It was difficult to pin down why the thought occurred to her, but for one thing, Emily had seemed a little too pushy with the customers, a little bit manic even.

Josh sauntered over and spoke to Emily in a low murmur that Holly couldn’t quite catch. Emily nodded and shrugged.

Holly thought he’d probably offered her sympathy. She could imagine him saying, ‘You win some, you lose some.’ That seemed to be one of his favourite phrases.

They walked back to Emily’s desk together, and as they passed her, Holly called out to Josh.

‘I might have a buyer for the Lalique vase later today. A customer is calling back to view it again.’

‘Brilliant, Holly… fingers crossed!’ He winked at her but continued walking. ‘Mr Kellington will be delighted if you close that deal.’

She saw Emily’s face tighten and enjoyed the frisson of pleasure that resulted from it. Emily was quite obviously grossly irritated by the thought of Holly pulling off another high-profile sale.

When Josh left the shop floor, Emily turned her back and picked up the telephone, speaking in a low enough voice that Holly was unable to hear the detail. When she’d finished the call, she replaced the handset and turned towards Holly, flashing her a self-satisfied grin.

Holly felt like asking what the smug attitude was in aid of, but she bit back the retort and continued to record her sales chits on the database that Josh would authorise before sending it through to the wages department at the end of the month.

Emily walked over to the large expanse of window that overlooked the busy main road. Holly noticed that her demeanour had changed yet again. She now seemed to hold less tension in her body and, in the short time since her customers had abruptly left, her face had softened a little. She appeared… mildly excited, almost as if she were looking forward to something.

Holly was helping Ben to rearrange the accessories in one of the room mock-ups at his end of the showroom when the doors opened. She looked up and smiled a welcome as the Fenwicks swept into the store.

‘Mr and Mrs Fenwick,’ she beamed, walking over to them. ‘I wanted to formally introduce myself. I’m Holly, the new sales assistant here.’

‘How nice,’ Mrs Fenwick simpered, taking her hand. ‘And how lovely that you already know our names!’

‘I’m not surprised, the amount of time and money we spend in here,’ Mr Fenwick muttered drily as he grasped Holly’s hand.

Holly mischievously thought that if she could grab them quick and make a sale under Emily’s nose today, it might just be enough to finish her off. She fought a grin as she imagined the pristine Emily crumbling in a puff of smoke with nothing left but a pile of clothes, just like the Wicked Witch of the West. But before she could progress her amusing idea, Emily appeared at her side out of nowhere, as if by magic.

‘Mr and Mrs Fenwick!’ Her face lit up like a lantern. ‘Thanks so much for calling in on your way home. Did you have a super lunch?’

‘We did, darling. It was marvellous. And Holly here has just introduced herself, which we thought was so lovely of her.’

‘Oh that is nice of you, Holly.’ Emily turned to her with a dazzling, stretched smile and the manic glint still in her eye. ‘But don’t worry, Mr and Mrs Fenwick are quite safe in my hands now. In fact, I think Josh was just looking for you.’

Holly smiled at her prompt dismissal. Fair dues, she’d been rumbled. It was fun while it lasted.

‘Now.’ Emily clapped her hands and turned back to her clients. ‘Let me show you that wonderful Lalique vase I called you about. I think it would be the perfect piece for your stylish lounge.’

So that was her game.

Holly realised that when she’d mentioned to Josh earlier about the possibility of one of her customers returning to view the vase again, Emily had instantly determined to try and flog the item before she had a chance to add to her already impressive commission total.

Holly could read her like a book.

She watched as the three of them moved slowly across the shop, chattering on about the sublime fine dining menu at the astounding restaurant in Castlegate the Fenwicks had just tipped out of.

Some of these people were just a mine of superlatives with little substance behind them.

When Emily presented the vase, Mrs Fenwick threw her hands in the air and audibly gasped at its beauty.

No doubt the next few minutes would be spent with the two women shoehorning Mr Fenwick between a rock and a hard place in a bid to convince him to produce his battered credit card yet again.

Holly waited.

The first sign that something was wrong was when Emily took a big step back, her hands flying to her mouth. She spun around, her eyes wide and searching the store.

‘Bloody hell, what’s up with Em?’ Ben whispered, sidling up to Holly. ‘Have the Fenwicks finally refused to pay over the odds?’

Holly couldn’t help smiling at his comment, but when Emily dropped her hands, she saw that her face had totally drained of colour. Two bright spots of blusher and her vivid pink lips stood out incongruously against her pallor.

The obviously shocked Fenwicks backed away from the display pedestal a little, as if suddenly the vase had grown sharp teeth.

Holly walked slowly towards them. They had the look of wild deer that might scatter at any moment. A few other customers browsing nearby began to watch proceedings with interest.

‘Emily… is everything all right?’ she called as she neared the small group.

Emily shook her head, and then, noticing that people were watching, pushed her shoulders back, standing up a little straighter.

‘You’d better get Josh down here right away, Ben,’ she said coolly.

Ben dashed towards the stairs without a word.

‘Emily…’ Mr Fenwick glanced at his wife, who gave a small shrug of agreement. ‘To tell you the truth, we’re rather pushed for time today. We’ll get off now and you can give us a ring when there’s something else to see. I do hope everything gets sorted out.’

Emily gave him a vague nod, for once seeming quite distracted.

Martyn, the other salesman, walked over and ushered away the spectators. Emily’s eyes were fixed on Holly.

‘What?’ Holly asked. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

‘You’ll find out soon enough,’ Emily said, in such an unexpectedly pleasant tone that goose bumps popped up on both Holly’s forearms.