A Girl's Guide to Fairy Tales

Chapter Six (part 1)

Chapter Six - Maddie

I couldn’t help but smile every morning when I got to work.

It wasn’t because I loved my job, because the reality was I hated it, but because I could watch at least one colleague try and park in what were essentially the smallest parking spaces in the world.

The private car park at the back of Alfred Lambert Solicitors and Estate Agents was for the privileged few and every other minion had to scour the surrounding streets for those elusive city spaces, which cost at least two hours wages for the entire day.

However after months of asking persistently, the powers that be had granted me permission to park my hot pink scooter outside the back door – by the bins only, but it allowed me to save a little bit extra for all my cake-making experiments.

On this particular morning, with the meringue-like clouds floating overhead, I enjoyed watching the finance director park his brand new red BMW equidistant from the lines in order to maximise the available space between car doors. He pulled forward and backwards so many times, it was as if he was doing the motor equivalent of the Hokey Cokey.

He cut the engine, signalling the end of the dance and proceeded to open the door in slow motion. Mr Baxter was not the lithest of men, meaning the space he had painstakingly created was severely diminished by the size of his gut. I quickly delved into my bag to make out I was looking for my key fob rather than watch his momentary tummy-tuck.

Thud.

My body tightened as I restrained a laugh but I relinquished as his harsh expletive bounced off the red brick walls around me. It fell silent and I quickly beeped myself into the one hundred-and-something year-old building.   

The coffee machine was out of order as usual and so I headed straight for the kitchen, which the resident IT man had been forced to call his office for the last two-years.

‘Morning Brian, how are you on this fine SIO Wednesday? ’ I asked as cheerily as I could. SIO, meant Shit it’s only Wednesday and had become a running joke between us.  We had Kill me now it’s Monday, Kill me again it’s Tuesday, Bugger me it’s Thursday and of course Thank fuck it’s Friday.

‘Good morning Madeline, I’m all the better for hearing your dulcet tones.’

‘You’re such a charmer you know that?’ I flashed him a toothy smile while I grabbed the grime covered kettle and filled it with water.

Only then did I notice the array of colourful cards on his desk, covered with sixes and zeros. ‘Brian! Why didn’t you say it was your birthday?’

‘Dearest Madeline, you’ll understand when you get to my age that the less people who know how old you are, the younger you feel.’

‘Don’t be daft! You don’t look a day over fifty-nine.’

He chuckled. ‘The next time your computer crashes, don’t come crying to me.’