If The Shoe Fits

The annual work ball was never something Charlie looked forward to. It was unnecessary, in his opinion, to get dressed up just to drink overpriced alcohol and eat tiny arrangements of olive tapenade on stale bread. If he had his way, he wouldn’t attend at all. He had been guilted into joining the festivities this evening under the promise of a blind date.

His boss Ronald Rellor, the owner of Rellor’s custom footwear, had been trying to find a nice man for either of his daughters and thought a ball would be the best place for Charlie to meet them. So, not wanting to upset his boss, Charlie agreed.

As he walked through the arch of balloons, taking in the shoe-themed decorations and floral arrangements, he looked to his left, where there stood a giant glass cylinder full of shoes and a sign instructing guests to guess the number of shoes for a chance to win their very own personalised pair of Rellor’s.

Charlie didn’t have to look very far for his blind dates as they made themselves known within 60 seconds of his arrival. Rachel Rellor was unnaturally tall and thin with hollow cheeks, while Rebecca Rellor was no more than 5 foot tall with a round face and matching mid-section. Both smiled nervously when introducing themselves and both turned to each other, giggling, when Charlie smiled his charming, sparkly white smile their way.

‘Can I get either of you ladies a drink?’ He motioned to the bar.

In unison, they both shook their heads and held up their full champagne glasses.

‘Right,’ he smiled again, ‘just me then.’

At the surprisingly crowded bar, he ordered a craft beer. He waved his card over the machine, trying not to widen his eyes at the cost. As he went to place his card back in his wallet, he dropped it to the ground. He bent down and as he stood back up, there sat before him a glass of red wine instead of the fruity pale ale he had requested. He attempted to wave down the bartender again but was being completely ignored.

He looked around to see if someone else may be able to assist and saw a woman in a sparkly cocktail dress with a similarly puzzled look on her face, holding a brown bottle of beer. He slid through the packed crowd, making his way over to the sparkly lady.

‘Don’t tell me,’ he pointed at his glass, then to her bottle, ‘you didn’t order that beer?’

She shook her head, smiling.

‘No, a merlot actually.’

‘I’ll swap you.’

Charlie gestured at the cylinder of shoes, taking a sip of his beer.

‘How many do you think?’

She laughed, ‘Now why would I give away the winning answer?’

‘Well maybe because you’d like to see me in a brand spanking new pair of kicks?’

Charlie was admiring the beauty spot on sparkly woman’s left cheek when he noticed the Rellor sisters making their way across the room towards him. Before he could ask the woman her name, she had finished her merlot, plopped the glass on the bar and made a beeline for the front door, stopping momentarily at the glass of shoes before dashing outside.

Rachel and Rebecca spent the rest of the night one-upping each other's stories while Charlie tried his hardest not to make it obvious he was looking at his watch.

In the office the following week, he couldn’t stop thinking about the merlot woman. There was something about her that he couldn’t put his finger on. He needed to know more. He asked everyone in the office, describing her face, the dress she was wearing, the beauty spot. No one knew who he was talking about.

He asked his boss, thinking surely he would know everyone who RSVP’d to the ball.

‘I don’t know what to tell you Charlie, I can show you the list of those who attended but she doesn’t sound like anyone who works here or their partners.’

Mr Rellor was about to make a delivery when he turned back.

‘But hey, speaking of the ball, my daughter is coming in today to pick up some shoes.’

He finished his lunch break, contemplating calling off sick for the rest of the day to avoid having to make small talk with whichever of the sisters won the guessing game. He could say his brother’s car has broken down and needs a lift. He could say he accidentally ate cheese and his lactose intolerant guts are playing up.

He was trying to calculate how much sick leave he had left when the woman he thought he’d never see again walked into the lobby.

‘Guy with my merlot.’ She smiled, walking over to the counter.

‘Girl with my beer, what are you doing here?’

She gestured behind Charlie. ‘Here to collect my shoes.’

‘Oh, right,’ he smiled wide, turning around. ‘Well I can help you with that.’

She followed him through to the backroom where the orders that were ready to collect lived.

He looked up the order number, found the box on the top shelf and gestured for the lady to take a seat.

Charlie kneeled down, opening the box.

‘Let me assist, please.’

She gently placed her foot on his knee.

It slipped on, perfectly.

‘A perfect fit,’ Charlie began fastening the clasp. ‘It’s so weird though, my boss said one of his daughters had won the guessing game.’

‘Well step daughter technically.’

She put out her hand. ‘Cindy’s the name. Cindy Rellor.’