‘Just a little bit,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve not been sleeping too well, and the train was busy on the way back tonight, so three hours from London Paddington crammed against the door did nothing for my neck. I really should get a new desk chair for what passes for an office in London, too.’

‘You should take better care of your back and neck,’ Holly chided. ‘If you hang on a minute, I’ve got some fantastic rosemary and peppermint essential oil. Just get someone to massage it in. It’ll help you sleep, too. Although it sounds like you’re doing enough of that at work!’

‘Er, OK,’ Charlie said.

Holly noted with amusement Charlie’s sudden look of discomfiture that didn’t seem to have anything to do with his professed neck pain. Grinning, she opened the door to her shop. ‘Come in while I dig that oil out.’

As she pushed open the shop door, Holly realised that, much like a lot of her customers, ComIncense seemed to both fascinate and unnerve Charlie. She’d seen it a lot since she’d opened the shop; people were drawn to ComIncense because of its outlandish range of dried herbs, sights and scents, but also terrified that they would do, say or buy something that was wrong or inappropriate, or even break something. Most of the time, she tried to quell these worries with her own friendly presence (it was useful to be approachable to make sales, after all, despite what some of her fellow business owners believed), but for a moment, devilry won with Charlie as she saw him looking around.

‘Of course, the latest thing in relaxation is Shamanic Dolphin Choir music,’ she said as they wandered back through the shop. ‘I’ve sold a lot of CDs of that lately. People find the sixteen-part delphinidae harmonies do wonders for stress.’ She glanced back over her shoulder and was inwardly tickled to see Charlie’s face registering that familiar look of intrigue, discomfort and incomprehension that tended to happen when some of the more reserved clients looked too closely at her stock. ‘Perhaps I can lend you a couple of CDs to try out?’ She paused and pushed her advantage a little, staring into his eyes intently, as if selling Shamanic Dolphin Choir music was her complete raison d’être.

‘Um… yeah, thanks,’ Charlie stammered. ‘Sounds, er, great.’

At his look of stammering incomprehension, Holly burst out laughing, unable to keep up the charade any longer. ‘It would be,’ she smirked. ‘If I hadn’t totally just made it up.’

Charlie, obviously relieved, grinned back. ‘Thank Christ for that. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe the things I’ve had foisted on me to try out since I took this job. I think I can live without the singing dolphins.’