Then again, perhaps not.
Momma seemed satisfied with my explanation that things had just not worked out between me and Mr Amos, although she thought it a wasted opportunity - she wanted me to have a rich husband. Still, happiness is what really counts, she said, with a note of sadness in her voice.
When I finally got back to the factory there was a message left on my desk - could I see Mr Amos as soon as I got in.
As I walked towards David Amos's office I felt like a schoolgirl who had to go to see the head teacher. I was sure that the fruitcake special would not still be working by now — after all, he had not seen me for a few days. I knocked on his door.
Mr Amos was sitting behind his big desk with a large" black eye. Standing next to him, smiling and wearing dark glasses and a hat, was Sabina. She had her arm around his shoulders.
'I hope you are well now, Anna.' said Mr Amos.
'Yes, thank you, Mr Amos,' I said. (I thought calling him 'David' might not be the best thing to do at this point. I could see Sabina wasn't pleased to see me.) 'I hope you are well yourself,' I added quickly.
'My eye hurts a bit — your waiter could hit hard!' he said with a little smile.
So could Sabina, I thought, as I remembered how she had hit him. But I said nothing.
'Anyway,' Mr Amos said, 'I managed to calm tbem down so that there was no more trouble and the police
were not called. Your waiter had been partly to blame, too, so they accepted my apologies — at a price, of course. At least the name of Amos Cosmetics didn't appear in the newspapers.
'And, as for that other matter of my strange behaviour towards you - I can't explain what affected me. I mean, a man like myself and a woman like . . . I mean . . .' he looked towards Sabina.
Sabina finished it off for him.
'He means that a rich and handsome man like him could not possibly fall in love with a nobody like you when he has a beautiful girl like me. Isn't that right, David?'
'You express it so well, darling,' he said.
Sabina continued: 'So David wants you to accept a bit of money to make up for any disappointments you may have had, then you can go back to making perfumes at the factory again. Right, David?'
'Absolutely, darling,' said Mr Amos before turning to me again. 'Well, Anna, I hope that has helped to ... er ... clear things up a little. I'm sorry there had to be this, er, confusion. I hope this has sorted things out between us.'
I stood watching Sabina smile as she put her fingers down his collar.
'Well, Mr David Amos,' I said, 'perhaps you can use your famous expert nose to sort this out, too!' I had reached into my handbag for something to throw when I saw Sabina laughing. I took the top off the first thing I found and threw everything that was in the bottle all over the front of Sabina's dress.
'Take that and him too, you horrible little woman!' I shouted.
When I looked at my hand it was holding the now empty bottle of fruitcake special. The room was already beginning to fill with its smell. I got out before Mr Amos lost control of himself again, out of the office and out of my career at
Amos Cosmetics.
Sabina, of course, would now enjoy all the extra attention she would get from strange men, thanks to the fruitcake special. I'm not sure that Mr David Amos would enjoy the competition, though.
It happened sometime later, shortly after I had begun to work at the factory where they made Intrigue. I was trying to make a fruitcake (I mean you never know!) when Momma and I heard a knock at the door.
'Momma,' I said, 'if it's Aunt Mimi with news of another "perfect boy" for me, tell her I'm not interested.'
'It's not Aunt Mimi, dear,' said Momma. 'Who is it?' I asked.
'I think you'd better come see for yourself,' Momma said.
I went to the front door. It was Armstrong, the pizza delivery man. He was holding up a pizza box which had 'Armstrong's Peachy Pizzas' in big letters on the front.
Armstrong now owned the pizza company.
He explained that he'd fallen in love with me when he first delivered pizza to us, but he wanted to be a success before asking me out. He said I deserved no less. Then he gave me some flowers. I never really noticed before, but Armstrong is quite good looking: a bit short maybe, a little thin on top - but nobody's perfect.
'Momma, get the man a drink,' I said, enjoying his smile. And the smell of fruitcake went past us and out the door.