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Caroline ot closer, Pearl noticed she wasn’t her norreyish roots showing through She wasn’t wearingher always very slender form into the realms of extreme thinness

‘Can I speak to your boss please?’ she barked

‘Hello, Caroline,’ said Pearl, trying to give this incredibly rude wonized her

‘Yes, hello, em …’

‘Pearl’

‘Pearl Can I speak to your boss?’

Caroline glanced around the shop, wild-eyed On the sofa were ca over each other’s babies while clearly preferring their oo business a rey Penguin Classic was having trouble concentrating on it and was instead eyeing up another student by the fireplace, as scrawling notes on a pad while tossing her long lusciously curly hair over her shoulders, presumably on purpose

‘Issy,’ bellowed Pearl down the stairwell, with such force it er Caroline propped herself against the wall, tapping her foot anxiously

She leaned in towards Pearl ‘You know, ot all these cast-off clothes I was just about to get rid of, but I wonder if your wee chap would like thee, and it’s nice stuff – lots of White Company, Mini Boden, Petit Bateau’

Pearl recoiled behind the counter

‘No thank you,’ she said stiffly ‘I think I can clothe him, thanks’

‘Oh, OK,’ said the blonde, coht save myself a trip to Oxfam! Not to worry’

‘I don’t need any charity,’ said Pearl, but the wo up the stairs, and her hands erupted in a flurry of nerves

‘Oh … oh, hello!’

Issy wiped her hands warily Caroline and Kate hadn’t been back to the café since that first day; Issy had taken it rather personally Still, local business was local business

‘You know,’ said Caroline ‘Uh, you knohen I didn’t get the site?’