Chapter 1.3 ~ Burberry Bites

Henley was determined to find a job. Sure, she had a healthy savings account, but with rent being what it was in Hidden Springs, she didn't want to live beyond her means. Plus, a large portion of her job was about keeping up appearances and she would have to make sure that she looked the part if she wanted to make a name for herself in a town filled with women who would drop what amounted to Henley's entire life savings on the newest handbag.

Henley drifted in to the first shop she found on Oxford Avenue. She noted the sign above the door. Saint Claire, it announced in fancy script. As Henley passed the cash register at the front and moved toward the back of the shop, she observed that it was filled with the latest designer wear. She dreamily browsed through the racks, feeling the silky fabrics, admiring the newest shades of the season.

"May I help you?" The nasal voice cut through her reverie and she turned around to see who had spoken.

Henley made her way to the sales desk where a woman, draped head-to-toe in Burberry, and a man behind the cash register, were both giving her the once over. She could feel their eyes taking her in as she moved toward them.

"Yes, hello!" Henley began brightly.

"May I help you?" the woman repeated, not sounding terribly helpful.

"Yes, hello!" Henley realized that now she was repeating herself too. Somewhat flustered, she stuck her hand out at Ms. Burberry and tried again. "My name is Henley Grey," she said with her most winning smile.

Ms. Burberry held out a limp hand as if she was expecting Henley to bend over and kiss one of the giant stones that decorated her fingers. Henley grasped the hand awkwardly and tried to recover from this introduction which was going very badly indeed.

"Erm, well I just moved here from Bridgeport and I am looking for work in the fashion industry. I have en excellent portfolio which-"

Ms. Burberry, who had failed to introduce herself entirely interrupted her pitch. "I'm quite sure that your portfolio is simply...fascinating," she said, sounding wholly insincere. "However this is Hidden Springs, not Bridgeport. We have certain standards here on The Avenue, my dear." The way that she said the word dear was one fraction away from being utterly scathing. And with that she turned, nose first, and busied herself behind the counter.

Henley was mortified. She made her way past the jewellery display, the scarves, the beautiful pink silk couch and ended up back in front of the rack of clothes. She tried to compose herself before leaving the store. She bit her tongue in an effort not to cry. 

Her face hot with embarrassment, she mindlessly rifled through the clothing as she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Sure, she was new here, but she'd managed to create the beginnings of a career in Bridgeport. The woman hadn't even given her a chance! Part of her wanted to confront the woman, but the part of her that was apparently in control of her actions at the moment swept her out the door of the shop in a hurry.

She passed a Boulangerie and inhaled the sweet smell of pastries wafting out the front door. She ignored the lure of croissants. A Pain au Chocolat was not going to cut it this time - she needed something stronger right about now. She glanced about until she noticed a bar on the second floor of the building across the way. 

Perfect, she thought. I just need a few moments to re-group.

It was a dark, strange little place. It had a look about it as if it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a pub, a sports bar or cater to a higher end clientele. At that point, however, Henley didn't give a hoot. 

"I'll have a vodka and soda with lime please. Tall glass."

The bartender wordlessly went about making her drink, all the while glancing down at Henley from under his lashes. Henley ignored the looks he seemed to be giving her and instead decided to see if she could find out anything about how to crack through what she was was beginning to sense was the very tough veneer of Hidden Springs.

"Can you tell me" she said between sips of her drink "do you know of any jobs in the fashion industry here in town? Like...anything at all?" She knew she sounded a bit desperate, but after her encounter with the snobbish Ms. Burberry, she was feeling off-kilter.

At first she thought he wasn't going to answer since he simply stood there looking at her. Finally he said "Have you tried Luxe?"

"Luxe?" asked Henley hopefully. "What's that?"

"Yeah", he replied. "It's one of the salons here in town. It's also a tattoo parlour...and where I sent my Jenny after she had our first son. It's not as expensive as the spa and Jenny felt real good about herself after she got that make-over."

A salon and a tattoo parlour in one? Henley was dubious at best but she didn't want to appear rude since the bartender had been so kind after she had experienced a day of very strange and rude behaviour from all of the Hidden Springs residents she'd met thus far. 

"That sounds great!" she said in her most optimistic voice. "Where would I find Luxe?"

The bartender, whose name turned out to be Mike, told her that he could find Luxe on Mountain Road, at the bottom of the escarpment. After drawing her a map on a cocktail napkin, Henley threw back the remainder of her vodka and soda, thanked Mike profusely and made her way to Luxe.