‘Oh, go on, Ruby! Why don’t you? They’re absolutely gorgeous,’ Jasmine said encouragingly. The two women were looking in the window of a fancy shop in Victoria Square shopping complex in Belfast. It was five o’clock on Christmas Eve, but the shops were still thronged with people enjoying the Salvation Army carol service and the general festive spirit.
‘I’d love to, but they’re so expensive,’ Ruby said.
‘Yes, they are. But didn’t you say that Jonathan needed a new pair of brogues?’ Jasmine replied.
‘I did. His favourite shoes have got a bit worn and these ones are so lovely,’ Ruby sighed. ‘Just look at the stitching. Perfect.’
‘Well then?’
‘But four hundred pounds for a pair of shoes?’ Ruby said doubtfully. ‘I always get Jonathan a coffee-table book about NASA or photography. Something small like that?’
‘Fucking hell! A book about NASA! Ruby O’Neill, you can’t give your husband a book for Christmas,’ Jasmine said, shaking her head in pity. ‘I mean, really, a book? Would you ever get real? Books are only stocking fillers.’
‘He likes books.’
‘Oh, Ruby.’
‘He does. He really likes those big, heavy, coffee-table books.’
‘Just buy the shoes.’
‘Our monthly mortgage is four hundred pounds.’
‘That’s it. I give up.’
The two women had been firm friends for the best part of a year – ever since Jasmine had come to work alongside Ruby in a small but successful clothes shop on the elegant Ravenhill Road, close to the heart of Belfast city centre. Theodora Kelly owned the shop. She was a sprightly spinster of eighty-two and wore her hair in silvery-white waves like the Queen.
Jasmine was twenty-seven years old. She was tall and super-slim with dark blue eyes and waist-length, honeyblonde hair. Ruby was thirty-one and had hazel eyes and a sleek, black bob. But sometimes she might as well have been fifty-one as far as Jasmine was concerned. Ruby was simply too sensible for her own good.
‘Lighten up, Ruby O’Neill! Scrooge himself wouldn’t have a look-in with you,’ Jasmine muttered under her breath. But Ruby heard her.
‘You single girls don’t have to be as careful with your money as the rest of us,’ she began, trying her best to be tactful.
‘Yes, we do, excuse me. We have rent to pay,’ Jasmine protested at once.
‘Well, yes. Rent, of course.’
‘Extortionate rent, I might add. I probably pay more to rent my one-bed apartment than it costs some couples to buy a big detached house. If they bought before the boom, that is. And I have nobody to split the utilities with.’
‘True,’ Ruby admitted, biting her lip with indecision.
‘Maybe I should start buying Lotto tickets again?’ Jasmine said in a dejected voice.
‘No, don’t do that! You said they were becoming addictive,’ Ruby reminded her.
‘Oh, so I did! Right! Let’s wrap this up. Can you afford the shoes?’ Jasmine asked matter-of-factly.
‘Yes, I suppose I can,’ Ruby replied.
‘Okay. Listen to me, Ruby. Why don’t you go mad for once in your life? I’ve only been in your house a few times but Jonathan has more than enough books already from what I can see. So nip in there immediately and buy your husband a decent present for Christmas,’ Jasmine commanded, elbowing Ruby through the crowds and straight up to the black marble counter.
‘I-I’d like to see that pair in a size eleven, please?’ Ruby stuttered, pointing at the shiny leather brogues. The young assistant duly placed the heavy black shoes in front of Ruby and took a deep breath. The sales pitch was long and complicated and she was very tired. But Jasmine was in a hurry.
‘They’re perfect. We’ll take them. And can you gift-wrap them as well? Thanks,’ she said fi rmly as Ruby meekly handed over her credit card. ‘Well done, Ruby. He’ll be so pleased he’ll be chasing you around the house all week,’
Jasmine said casually, tossing her long hair over one shoulder and checking out her glittery eye make-up in a huge Rococo mirror on the wall.
‘I hope so,’ Ruby whispered to Jasmine as she felt her own face begin to redden with excitement.
‘He will. He’ll totally love those shoes.’ Jasmine smiled.
‘Well, if that’s us done shopping, we can treat ourselves to a quick steak sandwich and a glass of wine in the bar next door. There’s live music on all day. And the lead singer’s quite sexy,’ she added with a laugh.
‘Yes, okay,’ Ruby agreed. She glanced at the sales assistant, who was still gift-wrapping the box. ‘You go ahead and order for both of us and I’ll be across in a minute. Just a fizzy apple juice for me, mind. I’m driving.’
‘Right,’ Jasmine said, clutching the giant carrier bag containing her fabulous new white mohair coat from River Island. She’d just got fifty per cent off in a pre-Christmas sale. ‘I love shopping, but I have to say I’ll be wearing flat pumps next time.’
‘Off you go then,’ Ruby told her. ‘I’ll be along in a minute. And try not to get into any trouble. Find out if that singer has a jealous girlfriend with a bad temper before you go batting your eyelashes at him.’
‘Hey, you watch it! I hardly ever get myself into trouble, Ruby. Nine times out of ten the trouble comes to me,’ Jasmine said resignedly. ‘Is it my fault so many guys seem to find me attractive?’
But Ruby knew she was only joking. Or maybe half joking . . . ‘Okay, I’m sorry,’ she sighed. Jasmine was a great friend, really.
‘Right then. Don’t hang about in here chatting to the staff and keeping them back,’ Jasmine said, laughing. ‘I’ve a party to go to at eight thirty this evening.’ And off she went, marching across the street in her spike-heel boots, skin-tight jeans and short leather jacket. Her long legs were attracting discreet, appreciative glances from most of the men in the vicinity, Ruby noticed. Ruby didn’t get admiring looks nearly as often, though she was rather attractive herself. But when men glanced at her full-length black overcoat and her sleek black bob and biker-style boots they knew she wasn’t the type of girl to be chatted up on a windblown city pavement. Ruby wasn’t exactly intimidating, but there was something about her that was somehow simply unapproachable. She was aware of it, but she didn’t mind. Jonathan was the only man she ever wanted to notice her or fancy her or love her.