God, the building was so huge. The corridor was so wide. She was so small.

How could she ever do this?

"Come on, Mary", the little voice in her head said. "It's just a shopping centre."

Mary nervously touched her hair. It was dirty blonde, curly and short: it used to be straightened and long, but she had gone to the hairdresser's for a small makeover. Kitty and Lydia had assured her that it would be the best haircut for her, and she had agreed it looked good on her. She almost looked girly.

A tall, thin and athletic woman breezed past her. She was heavily perfumed and made up, her pink little dress showed long and perfectly tanned legs and her heels made "click click clack" as she walked by. Her hair was golden blonde.

Mary sighed.

"It's okay", the little voice chanted. "You don't need heels, perfume and skin tan to get this job at the bar."

But still. She wished she could be a little bit more like that perfect woman. A little bit more like Jane. Or Elizabeth.

And a little bit less like the average girl that she was.

She knew that nobody would call her beautiful. At most she could be considered cute; but she didn't smile often. So she looked like anybody's serious, boring little sister. And that she probably was. Witty banter with strangers, flirty conversations with boys, jokes else than sarcastic were unknown to her. Her clothes were discreet, shapeless and hid her androgynous figure. Maybe she should go buy some new clothes with Kitty and Lydia, after all.

Where was the Crock Bar anyway? Marcus, the manager, had sent her a map of the shopping centre and even written directions over the phone. The problem was, she had no idea where she was right now.

It would have been better if Marcus had been here. He was the father of a friend of a friend. She did not know him well, but at least it would have been one familiar face in Harrogate. But Marcus was on holiday, and he was being replaced by a temporary manager that she knew nothing about.

Mary looked around her, searching for a sign with a big red point reading "You are HERE". There was none. Well, she would have to ask that man leaning against the wall. He seemed bored and was staring into space, so it would probably not bother him if she disturbed him for a little while.

And he didn't look mean. Plus, if he tried to harm her, she would only have to yell to get attention.

She slowly came closer. "Um, hello?" she tried. "Excuse me, sir?"

Why wasn't he turning around? He surely had heard her. Maybe he was in a fool mood. And he was rather well-built.

Mary shivered and stepped back. She was supposed to get to the bar at 8, so she still had ten minutes left to find her way.

Just then, the man turned around.

Correction: he seemed angry and was glaring at her. And he was very cute, too.

There are days where you hate the world. Everything, even the innocent passerby who smiled dumbly at you, the birds that were singing too loudly, the blue sky that was just too blue. Today was one of these days for Luke.

The day before, he had joined the traditional Sunday family lunch. It was going smoothly until his mother had started talking about what she had heard from some ladies at a party. He had seen red. Did she think him capable of dating a girl like Cheryl, sleeping with her and then coolly breaking up? He was no heartbreaker; if Cheryl fancied spreading fake sob stories just to get his attention, he would not stop her from losing her time. But that his mom would believe it? A painful argument had ensued, Lester Senior had sided with his wife to declare that Luke was a sinner, was leading his life astray, etc.

Then, later in the evening, he had received a call from his father's assistant - his dad had not even deigned to call his depraved son - ordering him to go to Harrogate and supervise the Crock Bar there. He had been told that Mr. Lester was worried for him, wanted him to take some rest and take some easy work. He had held back an acerbic answer, namely that he was also Mr Lester, co-CEO of Crock Food and not some stubborn kid.

But what irked Luke most was that there was already a temp manager in Harrogate's Crock Bar. A lady. Acquainted with his mother. And he didn't need anyone to play matchmaker for him. Relaxing holidays! And how!

What was that girl over there doing anyway? Was she waiting for her boyfriend? From the way she nervously studied her phone, he supposed that she was reading a message - or maybe she was expecting one. Why was everyone obsessed with love? It was disgusting! He resolutely turned his back on her.

As anger was simmering in his brain, he heard someone call him and turned back around.

It was the phone girl.

God, what did she want? Had she recognized him? Was she the temp manager?

"What?" he barked.

Then suddenly, he noticed something very strange. The girl looked terrified. Her hazel eyes were wide open and gazed at him apprehensively, and she was slowly backing away. Her mouth opened and closed again, repeating something that sounded like "sorry".

That was new.

He had officially turned into an ogre.

"I'm sorry," he said in a gentler tone. "How can I help?"

The girl didn't look any less frightened.

"Um, I'm really sorry", she stammered. "Do you know where we are?"

She thrust her phone in front of her, as though she wanted to put some space between us.

He saw a map of the Victoria shopping centre. With a Crock Bar point. The message had been sent by Marcus Hurtado, who he knew was a Crock Bar manager.

So this was the temp manager. A girl that looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She looked no more than twenty, and her clothes were those of a teenager.

He definitely needed to have a little talk with his mother.

Besides, since when did his mom start hanging out with girls wearing oversized glasses, pretty little blouses, flowered skirts and BenSimon sneakers?

"So you're going to the Crock Bar?"

She stared at him suspiciously, as though he was some kind of dangerous stalker.

"Um..."

"Look," he interrupted, slightly annoyed by the girl's behaviour, "I'm going there too. How about you follow me?"

"O... okay. Thank you very much", she added after a moment.

Well, at least she was not as talkative as his mother's other acquaintances. Maybe he would actually relax this summer.

Mary quietly followed the man, trying not to question his intentions too much. He was surely just a customer. Definitely not an employer. Otherwise he would not be dressed like that, casual but still smart. Moreover, he looked quite rich.

After a few minutes of silent walk, the two arrived at the Crock Bar.

Mary found it very pretty. The large glass windows let the light in the shop, the design was modern and stylish, and everything was bright and clean. Well, at least she would be working in an sthetic environment.

Two boys were busy behind the counter, two other boys were cleaning the ground and the tables, and yet another boy was talking with... the bombshell she had seen a few minutes before.

What was she doing here?

Anyway, the other employees were wearing uniforms, they looked her age and seemed nice enough.

She heard the man gasping in surprise.

"So you're not the temp manager?"

"Um," she replied, unsure if he was even talking to her. "No."

"So you're a customer?"

"No, I've just been hired for the summer."

"What a shame," she heard him mutter, but it was probably not intended for her to hear it. Still, it was rude.

Just then, the woman saw them and got up. She walked to the man. Click click clack.

"Hi!" she said, and even her voice was perfect, like those voice-offs in TV documentaries. She put a hand on the man's arm and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad to meet you, finally! Your mother was lovely. Please, say hello to her for me, next time you'll see her!"

"She's not in Harrogate," the man cooly replied, disengaging his arm from her grip. Obviously he was not half as glad to meet her. "And I think that this is the girl you've hired for the summer," he said, pushing her forward.

"Oh, hi!" the woman said, in no way unsettled. "I'm Kelly, the temp manager!"

"Hello," Mary replied, reassured by her enthusiasm. "I'm Mary Bennet. Do you need the..."

She awkwardly tried to fish out Marcus' letter in her bag. The sulky man stared at her while Kelly continuously smiled.

"It's okay! Don't bother about that. It's nice to meet you, Mary!"

She stepped forward and hugged her affectionately.

"We're both new here, and we're the only girls," she whispered in her ear. "I hope we'll be friends!"

Dumbstruck, Mary hesitantly hugged her back. Kelly looked like Jane.

Behind Kelly's shoulder, she saw the stranger raising his eyebrows and smiling amusedly at them.

"Hi Mary," he said, waving his hand. "I'm Luke Lester, the temp co-manager."

A few hours later, Mary had finished her first shift of the summer. It was not too exhausting working in the morning. There were few customers, and those who came ate breakfast in silence and disappeared without any further demands. At noon, it was a bit busier: businessmen, young people, families came for lunch, and as a result there was also more noise.

But Mary liked it. The job was not too difficult to understand, although it was exhausting, it was nice to bring a smile to all those faces, and Kelly and the guys were lovely. She did not dare get near Luke, though. He was a bit frightening this morning, and she felt uneasy around him.

As she got out of the shopping center, on Station Parade, she called Elizabeth. Her half-sister answered quickly.

"So? How was it?"

"It was great," Mary reassured her. "The coworkers are really nice and that's a great thing. There are five boys: Patrick, Hugh, Tim, Sunny and Oliver. We're gonna catch a drink together some time in the week. Turns out I'm the only one new here." Marcus had hired her for the only catering job at the bar. She made a mental note to herself: thank him later and buy him chocolate or whatever he liked.

"No girls among the employees?"

Mary smiled. Typical of her firmly feminist sister.

"Nope, sorry. But there's Kelly, the manager. And she's super nice. I was stressing so much over that, so... whhoooh! Though she uses way too many exclamation points."

Lizzie laughed.

"Hey, Mary?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I'm really proud of my little sister, don't you?"

Moved, Mary smiled and let out a soft "thank you".

"How about your apartment in Bradford?"

Mary had chosen that city, mainly because it was cheap and she could get to Harrogate and to Elizabeth's boyfriend's country house in one hour by car.

"Dunno, I haven't seen it yet. I'll see you at five, okay?"

"Take care, Mary, see you."

Mary smiled and hung up. She still had to call Kitty and Lydia, Jane, Anna and her mom.

"Hey, Mary! Wait!"

Oh no. Luke Lester.