She took a sip of her drink and put the glass down carefully in front of her. “I’ve been offered a job. I need to start in a month… in Singapore.”

* * *

There were three other women sitting around the table when Mary ushered Keely through to her back workroom. They were chatting over the top of the classical music playing from a sound system and the table was spread with cloths and tools, wires, beads and gems.

“Girls, this is Keely.”

They all looked up and under their scrutiny she wished she’d accepted Anna’s offer to tidy up. These women all looked so fresh.

“Bella is on the end, Claire next to her and Letitia.”

Each woman waved in turn.

“I’ll go and shut up the front of the shop now,” Mary said. “The girls will look after you.”

“Come and sit here, Keely.” Bella patted the empty chair beside her. “We’ve saved you a bit of space. We tend to spread out.”

Letitia reached across to pull in some of her things. She was younger than the others and her wrist sparkled with an intricate aqua-blue bracelet.

“That’s gorgeous,” Keely said. “Did you make it?”

Letitia held her arm closer for Keely to see. “Yes, I like working with fine detail and gems.”

“Her eyes are better than mine.” Claire peered at Keely over the top of her glasses.

Keely bent to get a closer look at the bracelet. It was made up of tiny bead flowers and the centre of each flower was a gem.

“Are they aquamarines?” she asked.

“Yes.” Letitia looked at Keely appreciatively. “You know your stones.”

“I use them from time to time but I’ve never made anything like that.”

“I prefer the beads,” Claire said. In front of her was a partly made necklace. It had a large, flat green bead in the centre and assorted smaller green beads either side, some with just a hint of mauve in them.

“And Bella is the nature lover.” Mary stepped back into the room. “Most of her pieces have shell or feathers or bark in them.”

“I was into weaving before I got into the jewellery phase.” Bella held up a plaited bracelet with small pieces of shell and tiny sea-green beads.

“Between us, I don’t think there’s a form of art or craft we haven’t tried at some stage.” Mary chuckled and the others all nodded in agreement.

“Now come on, Keely,” Bella said. “Your turn. Show us your wares.”

Keely hesitated. These women were obviously very talented. Her bracelets were no match for their work. She fumbled with the ribbon that tied her bundle of cloth together.

“Talk about pressure,” Mary said. “Don’t mind us Keely, just tip it all out.”

The ribbon came free and Keely unrolled the cloth and pulled out one of her finished bracelets.

The other women all leaned in for a closer look.