"98...99...100! And........rest!" said Jeremy after he and Barbara finished their keep fit routine down at Skye Fitness, the exclusive health club that Jeremy had become a member of through his contacts at work.
"Phew, I am ready to collapse into a heap!" said Barbara.
"Ah, not yet...today's a big day!" said Jeremy.
"The way I'm feeling right now I'm not sure I could even open the door of the shop" she gasped, looking for the nearest water cooler to get a drink form.
"I have good news on that front...for the first official opening day of Pack's Clothing I have found you a keen and dedicated shop assistant!"
"Oh yes, who's that?" she asked.
"Me" he said, proudly. "I've taken the day off so I will be your willing gopher. I have no idea about fashion but I can work a register, take inventories, do the accounts..."
"Jeremy, that is fab news!" she said, putting her arms around him. "It will be great...you and me...working together and I'll teach you everything you need to know about how to sell clothes"
"I will put myself into your capable hands" he said, giving her a little kiss.
They showered, dressed and on their way out of the health club they spotted an old friend: Bakko Jang. He was setting up his amplifier and tuning his guitar for another public gig. Jeremy had to go and see him as Bakko was a loyal and wise friend of his.
"Well, well, well if it isn't Sim City's cutest couple...how are you guys doing?" said Bakko, putting down his guitar.
"We're good...invigorated after some exercise" said Jeremy.
"Speak for yourself! I'm aching!" said Barbara.
Bakko let out a little laugh. "I hope you have enough energy for your grand opening today. Well done on getting it ready on time. I was down that way on Friday and had a little look in the window. Groovy place you've got there, Babs. I dig the style."
"Thanks Bakko. Could we tempt you to come along and visit later?" she replied.
"Maybe, guys, maybe...gotta gig at the Narwhal Arms later on but...this is one way I can help...I'll get the word out to all the people I meet and tell them about the shop. But get a load of you two: To think how far you have come since I first met you...well done guys; you're beautiful people."
Barbara was moved to go over and give Bakko a big hug, and Jeremy shook his hand vigorously.
"Hey, don't crush my strumming hand! That's my livelihood!" joked Bakko.
They said their goodbyes and headed over to the boutique. There it stood; now fully furnished, decorated and stocked. It was the first day of a new venture and Barbara gulped at the prospect of running a business that she was entirely responsible for.
"OK...this is it! I'm really nervous!" said Barbara, holding tightly on to Jeremy's hands.
"Teamwork, Barbara, teamwork...I'm here by your side" he replied. She nodded, reached for the key to the shop and opened the door. Her kingdom awaited inside.
"OK, erm...I know; can you check to see everything is in its right place and clean and switch on the radio for some background music" said Barbara.
"OK, what station? A little Mitch Miller or Lawrence Welk or even Perry Como if you want something more out there"
Barbara rolled her eyes. "None of that square stuff you listen to with your parents, Jeremy. I want a Carnaby Street vibe in here so we're going British Invasion. Something like The Who"
"I have no idea who. I don't know these British bands"
"I mean there's a band called The Who"
"The what?"
"Not The What...THE WHO!"
"I'll get cleaning" said Jeremy, puzzled as to why a band would call themselves something vague like 'The Who'.
Jeremy checked over the shop in such detail that Barbara had to hurry him up..."It's nearly 9am, Jeremy, quickly...get ready I'm going to flip the open sign" she said.
They watched the wall clock and counted down the last few seconds: 5...4...3...2...1 and OPEN! Barbara flipped the sign and jogged back to the cash register. Jeremy looked around, wondering where he should be in the shop.
And nothing happened for the first fifteen minutes. Barbara and Jeremy had primed themselves for the moment of opening they were motionless enough that anyone passing might mistake them for one of the mannequins. One very trendily dressed young woman walked past the shop, paused by the window and for a moment Barbara thought she would be their first customer, but in the end the woman walked on and off into the distance.
Eventually someone did enter the shop: A lady of Asian descent who was wearing a long, floral patterned dress. Jeremy recognised her.
"Hello...it's Officer Datta, isn't it?" he said.
"Yes it is...now I know you from somewhere, don't I?" she responded.
"I'm John Action's neighbour. We met once before"
"Oh yes, so this is your shop...is it?" she said, looking around.
"Well, it's my girlfriend's actually...I'm helping out for the day. Can I help with anything?"
Barbara came over to them. "Hello, I'm Barbara and welcome to Pack's Clothing."
"Well...I've been invited to something called a 'mod party' and I'm looking for a new party dress" said Datta.
"Well...I've been invited to something called a 'mod party' and I'm looking for a new party dress" said Datta.
"I've got this from here, Jeremy" said Barbara.
"Thanks" he replied, quietly. "I have no idea what you wear to a mod party"
Barbara took Prisha Datta and showed her various items that might be suitable for the event but it wasn't long before a second customer entered and Jeremy had to deal with him.
The young man looked intense and worried and his gaze darted from mannequin to shelf to display pedestal. With Barbara busy with Prisha, Jeremy felt he had to step up to the plate to help the man.
"Erm, hello. I'm Jeremy and I work here...well, I kind of help out here...it's my girlfriend's shop and...you don't actually need to know any of that except that I'm here to answer any questions and hopefully find what you're looking for"
The young man gave Jeremy a blank stare before eventually speaking. "Yeah, so my roomies tell me that they don't want to be seen in public with me whilst I'm wearing this T-shirt...shirts, really, I own 5 exact copies...and, well, you know what it's like with women..." he said gesturing to Barbara with his head. "There's this chick I share a house with and she's like really hot and groovy and...you know, man, I've got to dress to impress and all that scene."
"I think...I follow you" said Jeremy. "Dress to impress a woman..." he said, looking frantically around the shop. "...I think we can help you in that department...let's try....over there!" he said, pointing towards a couple of male mannequins. He spotted a brochure for the clothing supply company on the countertop and grabbed that: He needed a script to work from.
Meanwhile Barbara was giving advice to Prisha. "Now this peppermint green dress is the height of fashion at the moment..." she said, indicating the mannequin.
Prisha looked at it and hummed "I'm not sure...I have seen that exact dress around town and I want something more distinctive"
"OK...I think I have just the thing!" said Barbara.
The young man, who was named Mitchell, went into the changing booth to try on an outfit that Jeremy recommended. Mitchell stepped out of the booth to inspect himself in the mirror whilst Jeremy read the text from the brochure.
"This patterned shirt, made from a Dacron/Draylon mix is the cutting edge in male style, especially when teamed with these Crimplene slacks. Only $13.80 when bought with the shirt."
"I dunno, man" said Mitchell. "I think the shirt's too snug around my gut... I can see some of my belly hairs poking out"
Jeremy grimaced at the idea of "belly hairs" poking through a shirt. "I'm sure we can find something more suitable" he said, looking around the shop again.
Prisha still couldn't make up her mind as Barbara showed her more and more things to try on but another customer entered the shop, then another. "If you require any help, sir, just give me or my assistant a call and we'll be with you in a moment" she said.
"I'm still with this other guy!" said Jeremy, softly, to her.
"Just leave these new people to browse and if they look like they want to ask something, let them know you'll be along as soon as you can. Don't make them feel ignored" said Barbara.
As Jeremy and Barbara tried to help their most indecisive customers it turned out that Prisha and Mitchell helped each other. He was trying on a Corduroy suit with a brown turtleneck sweater underneath and this drew favourable comment from Prisha.
"I have a work colleague who wears those kinds of suits...and he's the coolest man I've ever met" she said.
Mitchell raised an eyebrow and said "Really?" He looked again in the mirror, sucked in his gut and stood in profile to inspect himself. "Yeah, I like the idea of this kind of suit but...I don't like the colour. What is this, mycelium?"
"I have a similar suit over here but in more a kind of orange...orangey brownish...well, something like that" said Jeremy, indicating another mannequin.
Meanwhile Barbara thought she'd hit the jackpot with Prisha. "OK" she asked the customer "how are you with short?"
"Short? As in mini short?" replied Prisha.
"Yes, mini...quite mini in fact. Would that present a problem?"
"Erm...." Prisha thought. "Well...I am proud of my Indian heritage so I like the long, flowing look with the hint of the traditional Hindi style. I've never worn a miniskirt though"
"OK, now you might not like this but give it a go" said Barbara, holding out a few blue wisps of nothing much. "It's mod...very mod. It's about the most mod dress I have in stock at the moment."
Prisha took it from Barbara's hands and felt the material. "My, this is so light, so delicate to the touch!" she said.
"Double layer chiffon over satin" said Barbara.
Prisha thought about it. Well, I'll try it for the material alone" she said and Barbara showed her the way to the changing room.
It was a nervous few minutes for Barbara as she saw yet another customer enter and she was keen to close the deal and sell her first item. Eventually Prisha emerged from the changing room and Barbara let out a gasp when she saw the dress on the customer.
"How do you like it?" asked Barbara.
"Hmmm" said Prisha, taking a few steps up and down and looking in the mirror. The fabric feels amazing but....wow, that's a lot of leg I'm showing. She looked herself up and down once more. Yes...YES...I like this a lot! I'll take it"
Barbara cheered inside and could hear the cash register ringing in her head. Jeremy too was having some luck. Mitchell had found something he liked as well.
"Yeah, I can dig this" said Mitchell.
"No resting on our laurels!" said Jeremy to Barbara.
As well as full outfits, accessories were selling well too: Men's shoes, women's earrings and sunglasses were shifting and eventually the division of labour was changed so that Barbara assisted the customers and made sales whilst Jeremy restocked items sold.
5pm came around and, as the last customer left with a purchase of a Dacron/Draylon patterned shirt Barbara could finally flip to shop sign to "closed". She turned to Jeremy and said "phew, what a first day! We had more customers than I'd expected. How did we do sales wise?"
Jeremy had the accounts book in front of him. "You might want to sit down for this bit of news" he said.
"OK, sock it to me" said Barbara.
"Now this is subtracting utility bills and restocking sold items but....the profit for today was....$534."
"Five...hundred...?" gasped Barbara.
"...and thirty four Simoleons...oh and 75 cents" said Jeremy.
"That's way above our projections! And that profit goes straight into our bank account?"
"It goes straight into our bank account"
Barbara was left speechless. Jeremy produced a bag from behind the counter. "Now I took the liberty of having a little trophy commissioned to celebrate your first sale...I thought it might look good hanging from that wall" he said, pulling a framed certificate with the words "CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST SALE: BARBARA DUBOIS, PROPRIETOR, PACK'S CLOTHING" written on it. He hung it on a spare picture hook on one of the walls.
Barbara was moved and called Jeremy over. "Tell me, lover, how much profit did we make today?" she said, grabbing him around the waist.
"Five hundred and thirty four Simoleons..." he whispered as her mouth drew close to his "and seventy....five....cents..."
"You're so sexy when you quote statistics!" she said, pulling him closer for a big kiss.
"Phew...I feel giddy!" said Jeremy.
"There's more where that came from..." said Barbara, seductively.
"No, seriously, I actually feel giddy...and hot...and nauseous"
"And you've got red blotches all over your face...we need to get you home this instant!"
Once back home Jeremy took a big gulp of medicine whilst Barbara made them a meal. Sitting next to each other on the sofa they looked back on a first, successful day of the boutique.
"I swear that Mitchell guy hadn't washed that shirt he came in with for weeks...maybe even months. I must have gotten a flea bite from it"
"I could not have got through this day without you; maybe a career in retail is beckoning?" she said, smiling.
"I was rushed off my feet I can tell you; I think I like my office desk just fine. But we did learn a lot today; you'll be fine tomorrow"
The two of them snuggled and unwound from the day's events. Barbara eventually decided to call it a night and headed to bed. Jeremy wanted to stay up a little bit later to watch the latest episode of The Saint.
No sooner had the words "may I present to Your Majesty the infamous Simon Templar", the familiar halo appearing above The Saint's head and the opening theme tune started, there was a knock at the door. Jeremy went to see who it was and found Suzy Kent on the front porch.
"Hey, Jeremy, I just dropped by to see how the grand opening went"
"Barbara's gone to bed but...yeah, it went really well. Well, that's what the balance sheet says" he said.
"Did you sell that trendy blue dress I told Barbara about?" Suzy enquired.
"Heck, I don't know what we were selling...she was the expert, I just muddled through. What is 'Dacron' anyway?"
Suzy laughed and Jeremy ushered her inside where he could tell her more about the day.
"It sounds like you guys had a great first day" said Suzy.
"We did...and I'll tell you now; that was the best day off I've ever had!" Jeremy replied.
Suzy turned to him and looked him in the eyes. "You're perhaps the finest man I know" she said.
Jeremy blushed. "I mean, what about Neil? What about your dad?" he blurted.
"You remind me a bit of both of them. You're Barbara's very own White Knight: All that's missing is the horse and the armour"
