Yasmin sprang to her feet, eyes blazing. ‘Abusive? How dare you accuse me of that! You never even met me before. I would never hurt a living creature. I don’t even touch the slugs in my vegetable pots.’
‘Oh, so now you’re comparing us to slugs?’ Trev shook his head in disgust. ‘If a man spoke about controlling a woman like that, we’d be locked up. And I speak from experience. I met enough men like you in prison to know where that attitude leads.’
Yasmin looked as though she was indeed on the verge of doing something abusive. ‘Men like me!’ she yelled. ‘Prison!’ She waved her hands around in frustration before jabbing one arm forward and poking Trev in his belly, which was about her shoulder height. ‘Take that back! This is nothing like the same and only an ignorant fool would say it is.’
I’d only met Trev twice before. I knew that none of his convictions had involved violence, but who knew what being poked and insulted might trigger. Besides, who knew what defensive skills Yasmin had picked up in her past. She might not be the one at risk here. I quickly got up and attempted to insert myself between them. ‘She was talking about dogs,’ I said firmly to Trev, before turning to Yasmin, holding my hands out to create some distance between them. ‘He overheard the woman say “husband”， and thought you were talking about men.’
‘What?’
‘Eh?’
My two ReadUp clients eyed each other suspiciously for a moment.
‘You thought I was saying a woman must be the boss of a man?’ Yasmin asked, eyes narrowed.
‘You thought I accused you of mistreating animals?’ Trev replied, his expression easing a millimetre.
‘Ollie’s dog stole a roast chicken off someone’s kitchen table,’ Yasmin replied.
‘What? Sounds like she needs to show it who’s in charge.’
‘Precisely!’ Yasmin said, folding her arms.
‘Ms Tennyson.’ An icy blast cut across the library as Irene Jenkins stomped towards us, her face mottled with indignation. ‘Explain… this!’
‘Oh, it was nothing to do with her,’ a now amused Trev responded. ‘Just a mix-up between this lady and myself. You see, I thought—’
‘I am not interested in what you thought,’ Irene ground out between clenched teeth. ‘What I see is Ms Tennyson’s clients on the brink of a public brawl in my library.’ She glared at me with eyes like deadly lasers. ‘Raised voices. Aggressive language. Physical assault. I don’t know where to begin. Not that I didn’t foresee this happening.’
‘Irene.’ I stepped to one side, hoping to draw her away for a private conversation before she revealed quite how prejudiced she was about ReadUp using the venue.
She didn’t follow me, instead breaking her own rules and raising her voice to ensure that I, and everyone else in the library, could hear. ‘I suggest that your next lesson is teaching them to read this.’ She held out a copy of the library rules. Or, more accurately, her unofficial, unenforceable library rules.
‘I shall of course be reporting this to my superior,’ she said, before marching back to the reception desk.
‘Excuse me.’ An older woman looked nervously at Yasmin. ‘I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.’
Irene, filing returned books onto a nearby shelf, twitched her pointy ears and tutted.
‘I was wondering if you did classes?’
‘Yes.’ Yasmin nodded. ‘I’ve just started with the ReadUp programme. It is very helpful.’
‘No.’ The woman shook her head. ‘I meant dog-training classes.’
‘Oh?’
‘Only, my dog won’t walk nicely on the lead. He pulls so hard he sounds as if he’s choking on his collar, and it’s agony on my bad back. I’d love to know how to stop him yanking all the time.’
Yasmin smiled. ‘It sounds as though you could benefit from a one-to-one training session. If you give me your number I can let you know the next available slot.’
The woman hesitated.
‘I provide a free initial consultation. And we very rarely need a second.’
The woman sagged with relief. ‘Thank you. I would be so grateful.’
Once details had been exchanged, and the woman left, Yasmin turned back to me and Trev, a grin on her face. ‘A new venture!’
‘Yasmin, I’m not sure you can just set yourself up as a dog trainer.’
She shrugged. ‘I think I just did.’