Darley Street: Season Two Episode Nine - Hello, Are You Open?
By Steve Gray
Previous Episodes
Hello, Are You Open?
Leonard had struggled to make his shop happen, he would go in after work and ‘fiddle’ His wife Jo, didn’t say anything, she knew that he could get depressed about things and that might simply shut him down some more.
He had saved for years and done okay with that, he always said he wanted to start his own business and for some reason took a liking to a discount store, ‘They’re everywhere, therefore they must be good businesses.’ Well Leonard may have thought that, but the truth was probably another matter.
He bought the shop ages ago and let it sit empty, waiting for the right time to get started, the whole thing hung like a millstone around his neck. Not so much financially but more for the effort he put into getting it started.
In essence he was scared, what if it didn’t work out? What if leaving his long term job became the worst decision of his life? Jo would simply let him work that out, she worked part time at a local Pharmacy and just kept ‘plodding along’. She would answer his questions and provide simplistic answers, more to keep him happy than anything else.
Six thirty pm, Tuesday, Leonard parked out the front of the shop, headed to the door, key in the lock, unlocked, walked to the switchboard and turned on the lights, the fluorescent tubes flickered into life, there was one light, that although the starter and the globe had been replaced it still flickered more than Leonard liked..
He stood for a moment. Looking at what he had achieved from previous visits, some shelves had been set up and loosely positioned where he thought they should go. Out the back as stock arrived at his home, Leonard would bring it to the store, not at all sure if it would be safer here or at home? His garage was starting to look a little too full for Jo’s liking, and so things ended up here, where they should be.
Leonard took a deep sigh, there was one set of shelves he had bought at auction, he thought would be very useful, I would be, but it came in pieces and needed some fiddling to make it work. Apart from some minor banging of pieces that didn’t want to easily go together the end result was useful.
The only thing was that it ‘wasn’t quite’ in position. It was close but now it needed two adults to ease it to where it needed to be. Leonard also figured he just needed two more shelves and a front counter to finish things off, the items could then go on display.
It was getting late, time to put the tools away, switch off and lock the door.
Saturday, Leonard is now buoyed by his latest efforts, so a Saturday session is in order, after running a few errands, He’s at t he shop at 10am, its a good day out some sunshine, no rain and everything looks rosy.
Leonard props the front door open to let in some fresh air.
‘Hello!’ A voice came from just outside the door. It was Bijay and Shnuk, out for a wander. Bijay waved as Leonard turned around to see who it was, Shnuk started a slow wag of its tail.
‘May I come in?’ Said Bijay. Leonard said yes and extended his hand in friendship. Bijay added that not many shops allowed him to bring in his dog. They chatted for a short while, Mr Mandal mentioned that he saw the shop had been empty since he arrived and wondered what was happening.
Leonard gave him the long drawn out story, Bijay listened carefully and nodded in appropriate sections of the conversation. He then mentioned, ‘Wow, it seems like a big task for one person, so where are you up to now?’
Leonard pointed to the set of shelves and said it needed to be moved carefully a bit this way and that. Bijay offered to help and was most insistent. ‘I may be mostly retired, these days, but I have some strength left, do you want to try it?’ They did and it moved enough to please Leonard.
Bijay smiled, ‘So what’s next Leonard?’ He outlined that he needed to locate some more shelves and a front counter, he has a cash register and all that. Bijay asked if he had a source for the shelves and the counter?
‘No not really,’ Came the reply. Bijay said, I have a friend of a friend who has some contacts for retail furniture, I wonder if he can help out, do you have a budget in mind?’ Leonard nodded no, but then added ‘At this stage it needs to be as cost effective as possible, but in good condition.’
Bijay asked, ‘Did he want him to call his friend?’ Leonard agreed. It didn’t take long,and a guy asked for photos of what he already had. Half an hour later a photo came back with a message, two shelving systems and a front counter, used but still in very good condition.
A phone call was made, some photos came through and the price seemed okay. Bijay’s guy insisted that it couldn’t be picked up, but had to be delivered. $120 for delivery… Leonard buckled. A sense of relief came over him. ‘When could it be delivered?’ Bijay’s guy said it could be there in two hours, so today. TBC…
No two days were the same in Darley Street; people come, and people go. Perhaps this time there would be a positive result.
