4. I Want to Break Free

Standing outside the front doors of Biba looking up at the department store instantly flashed Lettie back to her teenaged self, staring up at the building in hopes of someday working there. Now those dreams had come and gone. It all seemed impossible.

Lettie had worked at Biba from '72 until leaving for maternity leave when Bernie was on the way. Since then, when not chasing around three youngsters, she did in-home hemming, sewing, and other projects, as well as pressing and ironing. It wasn't all that thrilling, but it was work with clothes, so she didn't complain - except for when Mrs. Clayton complained about Lettie's work, which was most often. Brian had heard many a rant from his wife about their neighbour, to which he fully agreed.

Now, standing before her favourite building in her thirties, she was filled with fond memories.

"Excuse me." A sudden voice broke into her thoughts. Turning around, she found a woman standing behind her. "Are you going inside?"

It was then Lettie realized she was just standing there blocking the doorway. "Oh, yes, so sorry. I was day dreaming." Without further ado, she stepped inside and headed right through to the ladies fashion department.

"Excuse me, is Genevieve in?" she asked the young woman at the cash desk.

"Afraid not, she's been swamped with meetings lately."

"Ah, I see." Lettie remembered those days well. "No worries then."

"Would you like to leave a message that I can pass along to her?"

"Oh, yes, thank you. Could you tell her Juliette May was asking after her, and hopes she's doing well."

The girl scribbled the note down. "Alright Love, will do."

"Thanks so much."

She was disappointed that she didn't get to see her former mentor, but also understood. She had known Genevieve to be constantly busy when she worked alongside her.

She wandered around a little like she always loved to do. She walked past the very cash desk Mary always worked at, where Lettie had officially met Freddie and where she'd seen Brian again and helped him with his choice of clothing. That all seemed like so long ago. The memories made her smile.

She didn't stay much longer - she had work to do at home.

"Oh Mrs. May! Mrs. May!"

Speaking of said work - as she was pulling down the drive and into the driveway, she spotted Mrs. Clayton sitting on her front porch, and was hoping she could avoid her neighbour. Wishful thinking, apparently.

"Mrs. May!"

Definitely caught. There was no getting out of this - whatever it was - now. Lettie slammed the car door a little more forcefully than necessary and put on a smile.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Clayton." Perhaps the old woman just wanted to say hello to her neighbour, but this was unlikely.

"Mrs. May, come here."

Suppressing a sigh, Lettie crossed the street. Unlikely indeed.

"Hello Mrs. Clayton, how are you doing?"

"I just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten about my washing."

How could I have forgotten? And does she really feel I'm so incompetent? "No Ma'am, I haven't forgotten."

"Good. That's all."

In other words, 'Go away.'

Lettie was about to say something alone the lines of, "Alright then, have a nice day," but then wondered, why bother? So giving one last stiff smile she turned and hurried back to her own house, where, once inside, she gave a loud groan.

Yes, she had dealt with her fair share of snobbish customers during her years at the department store, but even then none so much so as Mrs. Clayton.

Said neighbour had a run in a pair of her stockings. That was Lettie's latest project as well as the rest of the neighbour's washing.

So after getting the kids to bed, she settled down to get some work done.

"Did the kids need something?" she asked Brian. "I thought I heard them."

"Bernie making a fuss again, saying he wasn't tired."

"Ah, of course. I shouldn't be surprised."

"How's it going?" He nodded to her sewing.

"Well, as it turns out, it's a much more complicated run than she initially said."

"Lettie, Love, you've got to get some sleep."

"I know, but I'll feel so much better if I get the bulk of this finished tonight."

"If you work much longer, it'll be tomorrow."

"It's that late?"

Brian nodded. Casting a quick glance down at her watch, Lettie found that he was right.

"Ugh, bollocks." She rubbed a hand over her face.

"Come to bed, Love. You'll be fresher in the morning."

"Yeah." She set the stockings and sewing needle down and proceeded to ready herself for bed.

"You don't have to pretend you enjoy it," Brian said as they climbed into bed.

"Oh but I do enjoy it - most of it. Yes, a lot of it does come with dealing with our more than unpleasant neighbour, but a lot of it doesn't. Like last year when I helped with that flower girl dress for the wedding Billie Parker was going to. That was so fun. I love doing that. Not every job will be so thrilling, and not every person easy to deal with, but if I still love what I do at the core of the job, which is working with clothes, then that's what matters."

The truth was, it was much deeper than that. Oh, sometimes she missed the department store dearly - now was definitely one of those times.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)