Sweet Tooth

"Won't you change your mind Denise? Sam has promised to do his frog dancing!"

Denise paused in unpinning her hair to fix her friend and fellow shopgirl with an indulgent smile. "You can ask as much as you like Pauline. My answer will be the same." She was determined to pamper herself tonight and she couldn't do so with a roomful of nosy girls. Her hidden treats wouldn't survive long if she had to share.

"I want to stay in this evening."

"Oh, leave her be," Clara huffed. The unhappy brunette reached for a waiting shawl, her voice dripping vinegar. "She gives all of her free wages to that Uncle of hers. Besides, Three Crowns would likely be too taxing on her country girl sensibilities anyway."

Pauline shook her head. "That's unfair and you know it Clara." The petite woman, known as a bundle of enthusiasm throughout the store, offered Denise a sympathetic look and took up a brush. Clara impatiently tapped a booted foot as she began to work on her friend's tangles. "Denise went with us almost every night last week."

"Well, I'll not be waiting here watching the pair of you play beauty parlour when I could be enjoying a drink."

"Don't let me stop you," Pauline grumbled sarcastically to her retreating back. Clara snorted in response and slammed the door, making the wash basin rattle on its stand.

"Never mind Clara. She's as sour as a lemon drop sometimes. Like that with all of us." Pauline squeezed Denise's shoulder and handed the brush back. "I think I caught all the snarls."

Before the other could thank her, Pauline scooted out of their room in a flurry of skirts.

She waited several moments, hearing several other shopgirls in the hall likely making their way out as well. When the last door latched and the remaining voices grew silent, she wandered to her bed.

Searching under the mattress, her hand brought out a small canvas bag.

Yes, she had little in the way of savings and gave some of what she earned to her Uncle...but there was one indulgence she allowed herself.

The waxed paper crinkled as she unwrapped the small, soft caramel and popped it into her mouth. She smiled as it dissolved slowly on her tongue, its smooth sweetness gone too soon. Before the taste had completely disappeared, her fingers were already untangling another.

As much as she loved the girls she worked with, there was one thing she knew she could never give up.

She couldn't give up her sweets.