Chapter 26 Part II Tasin-7

I can't wait any longer When I got home that night there was a pile of mail waiting for me on the porch - but I ignored it because the package from 'Fine Frames' had arrived! I spent £100, pretty expensive, but it will obviously Get your £300 back in a few hours.The package contained a promotional brochure full of pictures of people who made their fortunes making fancy picture frames - some of them making £100,000 a year! It made me wonder what the point of being a journalist was. So, after dinner, I sat down in front of the TV and watched East Londoners and opened the kit.Susie has a party outside tonight, so it's easy to concentrate.

"Welcome to Britain's most alluring secret..." the brochure reads, "Fine Frame Home Workgroup! You can earn money from the comfort of your own home just like any other member. When you start this life's most profitable When you start your own business, please read the crafting instructions first, it is simple and clear, and can help you get the job done easily. Maybe you will use the money you earn to buy a car, a boat, or do something special for someone .Remember, how much money you make is entirely up to you!" Now I'm totally hooked.Why didn't I know this was happening before? It's a brilliant plan! I'll work my butt off for two weeks, then pay off all my debts, go on vacation, and buy a bunch of new clothes.OMG I can't wait any longer.

I started to unpack and suddenly a bunch of ribbons fell to the floor.Some are solid colors, some are patterned - pretty ugly patterns, actually.But, what does that matter? My mission is just to make picture frames and make money.I reached for the instruction manual and found it tucked under a stack of thin cardboard.Sure enough, it was surprisingly simple.All you have to do is glue some wadding on the cardboard border; then decorate its surface with ribbons to create a luxurious visual effect; finally glue a roll of rolling tape along the back to hide the joints, and you're done !It's so easy to make a picture frame for two quid.There are a total of 150 in the package, which means that if I made 30 every night for a week, I would make £300 in my spare time.

Alright, let's get started! Frame, padding, glue, ribbon, piping. Oh my! My God! Who designed these abominable things? The ribbon used to decorate the border and wrap the padding is simply not long enough; or at least you have to pull the ribbon very hard.But the ribbon is so brittle and thin that it snaps when pulled.I also got glue on the floor, and I broke two more picture frames while pulling the cardboard; the only picture frame that was actually finished looked crooked.i have done... I yawned and checked the time; I was taken aback. It's 11:30, which means I've been working for 3 hours.In all this time, I've only made one oddly shaped frame, and I'm not sure if they'll accept it.Two more were broken by me.I hate seeing these damn things.Anyway, what the hell do you want these silly decorative picture frames for?

At this moment, the door opened and Suzy came back. "Hi!" she greeted as she entered the living room. "How are you evening?" "Nope," I said sullenly, "I've been making this stuff..." "Okay, don't take it to heart," she said mysteriously, "Guess what I have to tell you? Someone has a crush on you!" "What?" I said in surprise. "Someone really likes you," she said, taking off her coat. "I just heard about it tonight. You'll never know who it is!" The name Luke Brandon jumped into my head, but I dismissed it immediately.That's ridiculous! Besides, how could Suzy know? What a stupid idea.How silly! Impossible.

She might have bumped into him at the movie theater, the idea flashed in the back of her mind.She knew him after all, didn't she? He might have told her... "It's my cousin!" she said proudly, "Tahin. He really likes you." Oh, for God's sake! "He's secretly infatuated with you," she went on, beaming with joy. "In fact, he's had a crush on you since the first day he knew you!" "Actually, that's not a secret..." I said sarcastically.Then, when Suzie looked up at me in surprise, I stopped.After all, I don't want to hurt her feelings.

"So you already know?" she asked. "Hmm." I said shrugging.What else can I say? There's no way I can tell her that her beloved cousin gives me goosebumps in disgust.So I just fiddled with the ribbon on the crappy picture frame in front of me.A pleasant smile spread across Suzy's face. "He really, really likes you!" she said. "I told him he should call and ask you out. You don't mind, do you?" "Of course not." I replied weakly. "That's awesome!" Suzy said, "If you two get married, can't I be a bridesmaid?"

"Yeah," I forced myself into a relaxed smile, "that's great!" All I could do, I figured, was say yes to a date out of courtesy and then cancel at the last minute.Let's hope Tachin goes back to Scotland or something on this, let's just forget all about it! But, to be honest, I'm fine without being in love! Now I have two reasons to be afraid of the phone ringing. However, to my relief, I hadn't heard anything from Tachin until Saturday, nor had Derek Smeez.They finally left me alone for a while. Sadly, I planned to make 150 frames this week - but so far I've only made three, and none of them look like the samples in the photos.One is that the padding is not enough, the other is that the corners are not aligned, and the other is that the front is stained with glue and dirt, which cannot be removed no matter what.I really can't understand why I find this so difficult.Some people can make hundreds of these frames every week without much effort.Ms. Smith of Layslip is even able to take her family on a yearly boat trip with the money she earns.Why on earth can they do it and I can't? It's just so frustrating.I mean, I'm not too stupid, am I? For God's sake, I already got a degree too.

Never mind, though, I told myself.Today is my first day at Ally Smith, so at least I can make some extra money there. I'm super excited about this.I'm starting a brand new career in fashion! I spent half the day choosing what to wear for my first day at work and settled on a pair of Jigsaw black pants, a cashmere (well, half cashmere) T-shirt, a A tight pink jacket.This coat is actually bought from Ally Smith. I'm happy with my look and look forward to a few words of appreciation from Dani when I get to the store.But she didn't seem to even notice.All she said was, "Hi. The pants and T-shirt are in the storage room. Find out what fits you and change in the locker room."

Oh, right.Now that I remember, all the clerks at Ally Smith wore the same outfits.Almost like... well, overalls.I reluctantly changed and looked at myself - to tell you the truth, I was so disappointed! The gray pants didn't suit me at all and the t-shirt was bland.I almost couldn't resist asking Dani if ​​I could pick another outfit - but she seemed busy so I gave up.Maybe talk about it next week! But even though I didn't like the look, I was thrilled when I stepped out of the dressing room and into the store.The spotlights are shining brightly, the floor is polished and bright; the music is playing, and there is an atmosphere of anticipation in the air.It's almost like a show.Looking at myself in the mirror, I whispered to myself, "What can I do for you?" Or should it be: "Need help?" I was determined to be the most charming clerk.People come here just to enjoy my service and I will build a rapport with all of my customers.Then I'll be featured in a special column in the Evening Standard's most popular stores.I might also be on TV.

No one has told me what to do yet, so go with your instincts, good! I walk over to a blonde woman who is tapping away on the cash register.I said, "Should I get started sooner?" "What?" she said without looking up. "I'd better learn how to use the cash register, no? Before the customers show up." The woman finally raised her head.To my surprise, she laughed out loud. "Cash register? You think you can go straight to the register?" "Oh," I blushed, "Well, I thought..." "You're a newbie, honey," she said. "You're nowhere near the checkout. Go to Kelly and she'll tell you what to do today." Fold the laundry; fold the damn laundry.That's what I'm here to do.Following the ass of customers, when they pick out wool sweaters and crumpled them up, I have to rush to refold them and put them back in place.By 11, I was exhausted - and frankly, not at all interesting.You know how dreary it is to meticulously fold a cardigan the way Ally Smith did it, and put it back on the shelf, all in a straight line? You just watch a customer randomly pick up another one, Pulling it apart to have a look, his face sank, and he threw it aside.It makes you want to scream at them, "Don't buy it if you're not going to buy it!" I even saw one girl pick out a cardigan that looked exactly like the one she was wearing! I mean, there's something wrong with her! And I can't chat with customers yet.It's like when you're a clerk they see right through you.No one asked me even a single interesting question like "Does this shirt go with these shoes?" or "Where can I find a nice black dress for under £60?" I was more than happy to answer questions like that ask questions.But what people asked me was: "Where's the bathroom?" "Where's the nearest ATM in Midland?" I didn't develop a rapport with anyone. Oh, how boring! The only thing that kept me going was a shelf in the back of the store that was stacked with clearance sale items.I sneaked closer to that rack and saw a pair of zebra print jeans, down from £180 to £90.I remember those jeans, I even tried them on.And now they're popping up here -- at reduced prices.I can't look away from myself.And it happens to be a size 12, my size. I mean, I know I really shouldn't be spending money, but it's half price; and the coolest jeans I've ever seen.If you buy it at Gucci, it will cost at least £500.Oh god, I want to buy those jeans, I want to buy them! I've been wandering behind, keeping my eyes on them.Just then Dani strode up and I jumped up guiltily.But all she said was, "Can you work in the fitting room now? Sarah will show you how to do it." No more folding laundry! Thank goodness! To my relief, things in the fitting room are much more interesting. Ally Smith has a very beautiful fitting area, which is spacious and divided into individual cubicles.My job was to stand at the entrance and check how many clothes everyone had with them when they went in.It was so much fun to see what other people were trying on.One girl bought a ton of clothes and kept telling me how her boyfriend told her to buy whatever she wanted because it was her birthday soon and he would pay for it. Wow, some people are just that lucky.But, never mind, at least I'm making money.It's eleven-thirty, which means I've made £14.40 so far.Not too bad, right? I could buy some nice makeup with it. How can I waste money on cosmetics? Of course not - that's not why I'm here, is it? I need to be sensible.What I'm going to do is buy that pair of zebra-print jeans—it'd be a crime not to buy them because they're half price—and I'll deposit the rest of the money in my bank account.I can't wait to put on those pants.I have a break at 2:30, and I'll sprint to the shelf in the sale section, take it to the staff break room, make sure the pants fit, and… Suddenly, the smile on my face froze, and so on.