‘Right you are. We have some good shops along the main street here.’
‘Yes, there’s a jewellery shop...’
The woman chuckled. ‘Yeah, love, I clocked you might be here for that. You and half of Instagram come over for Love Emmy x. Get your purse out. You’ll love it.’
Nina laughed. ‘Ahh, how did you know?’
‘Seen it all on this tram, love. Right you are, then. I’ll show you the best seat in the house. Only my opinion of course. Make your way down to the front there on the right. Let me tell you, that’s a view and a half. You won’t be disappointed. You’re welcome.’
‘Thank you,’ Nina said as, with Robby following her, she inched her way through the busy tram to the front where a bell with a long plaited rope sat in the middle, highly polished timber seats gleamed, and sliding paned windows let in a welcome breeze.
Neither Robby nor Nina said anything as they sat down and took it all in. The woman then proceeded to poke her head outthe window on the left side, looked to her left and right, yanked the rope hanging from the bell, and tucked her phone into her pocket as the bell rang out. ‘All stops, Darling Main. All stops. First stop, fire station, then all stops, Darling Main!’
As the tram trundled along, Robby put his hand on Nina’s leg and she smiled. They glided past a corner shop completely covered in ivy, rows of white houses, a building set back with a sign displaying ‘Doctors on Darling’ on the front, and a church surrounded by hydrangea bushes. The tram stopped here and there, the conductor continued to call out and ring the bell, and the blue of the water flicked in and out in the gaps between the buildings.
Nina whispered to Robby, ‘She was right. The view is really nice from here. You could sit on here all day long, going back and forth and watching the world go by. How nice.’
‘On a day like this, yes. We could have our lunch on here.’ Robby joked. ‘Coming here was worth it just for this.’
‘We’ll just stay on here all day.’
A few minutes later, they were at the right stop on Darling Street for the shop Nina wanted to go to. Every building was liveried in the same aqua blue and white as the floating bridge and the trams. White and blue bunting fell from what seemed to be everywhere overhead. A low, quiet rumble of the tram sounded as it trundled away and pretty dappled light filtered from the trees lining the side of the road. Darling Island was giving in the feels department.
Nina swooned as they got to the jewellery shop she’d seen many times on Instagram and all over social media. It looked so pretty from the outside, where an overstuffed cascade of faux flowers and greenery reached from the left-hand side of a door all the way over the top of the shop windows and back down the other side. A jumble of florals and leaves weaved their way in and out of the shopfront, tiny little white lights twinkled betweenthe flowers, and huge pink daisies dotted throughout drew the eye. A past-its-best high street jewellery store, it was not.
For a few minutes, Nina was unsure where to look first, so she just stood where she was, gazing at the shop, taking it all in. The window display was something else; beautiful old vintage books in haphazard stacks here and there, more of the same flowers weaved in and out of everything, vintage cake stands, and pretty pots full of unusual things. All of it showcased the most gorgeous, exquisitely designed jewellery. Everything felt as if it had all been meticulously curated at the same time as being a jumble of pretty things.
Nina had heard so much about the shop, Love Emmy x and had watched many a social media reel from effusive fans raving about the place. As she stood looking on, she shivered as it delivered one hundred and ten per cent.
She lifted her shoulders, pursed her lips, and turned excitedly to Robby as they stood by the window. ‘How lovely is this? I mean, can youbelieveit? It’s so, so, so nice! Right?’
Robby wasn’t quite as enthusiastic; clearly, jewellery shops covered in a plethora of flowers weren’t really his thing. Give him his due, he tried hard. But failed. Miserably. ‘Mmm. Yes, it’s lovely. Really nice. Love it. Great, really great.’
Nina laughed at the tone of Robby’s voice. She could tell he was pretending to be enthused when he really wasn’t that interested at all. ‘Don’t sound too enthusiastic all at once. You sound impressed. Not.’
‘No, no, I am. Honestly, it’s fantastic,’ Robby added, making a much more concerted attempt to appear enthralled by the jewellery shop. He took a step closer to the window and peered in. ‘Yeah, super nice. Fabulous.’
Nina pointed up the street where two blue and white trams were passing, one trundling towards the stop they’d just alighted from. ‘Why don’t you have a stroll up there while I go in? I’mprobably going to be ages by the looks of this place. I want to have a really long browse.’
Robby shook his head. ‘No, I’ll be fine. I’ll come in with you. All good.’
Nina was more insistent. The last thing she wanted was Robby hovering around her, wondering what all the fuss was about. She wanted to have a bit of a mooch, possibly a little chat with the owner she’d heard so much about, and not have to worry about what Robby was doing. She flicked her hand in the direction of the street. ‘You go on and I’ll see you in a bit. I’d rather be on my own…’
Robby didn’t need to be persuaded again. ‘Right, okay, yes, suits me. I’ll see you soon or whenever. Text me when you’re done.’
‘Will do, yep. See you later.’ Nina nodded as she pushed open the door.
An old-fashioned shop bell above tinkled as she walked into Love Emmy x, and she closed her eyes for a second as she was surrounded by lovely things and a gorgeous smell of bergamot orange scent enveloped her. Everything about the shop made Nina swoon as she gently closed the door behind her and stood on the doormat for a second, not knowing where to look first.
The shop was just as she’d read and seen on Instagram and hadn’t quite believed, but much, much better in real life. It was as if she’d stepped into a whole other world – a world where things were so different from the nasty, cheap jewellery stores gracing the overlit, shiny shopping centres up and down the country. This was a place you wanted to sit for a bit, have a nose here and there, and take your time to choose something special. As Nina’s eyes flicked around at the display cases, she couldn’t wait to part with some of her hard-earned cash fast enough.
Walking over to a vintage display dresser on the far side and peering in, a woman came through from the back. The womansaid hello, smiled, and asked if she needed any help. Nina said she was just browsing and so the woman left her to get on with it. Pretty harp music played in the background, the lovely smell continued to waft around, and Nina spent ages mooching from left to right to see what she fancied. She was having a thoroughly nice time and then some.
About ten minutes later, the woman pottered around behind one of the vintage display cases, dealt with a customer on the phone, and then asked Nina if she wanted a cup of tea. Surprised at being asked if she wanted tea in a shop, Nina wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t your normal occurrence to be offered a tea when shopping, not as far as she was concerned anyway. Spying the tea and coffee station over in the corner and a stack of vintage cups and saucers, she decided she would partake. ‘Yes, please, I’d love one, actually.’
The woman beamed and then joked. ‘I’m Emmy, by the way. Shop owner and all-around general dogsbody.’
‘Nina. Nice to meet you. I absolutely adore your shop.’ Nina heard herself gushing.
