Are You Ready? (17 page)

‘Molly, you have barely spoken all day today. What is wrong, pet?' she asked.

Molly didn't know where to start. She didn't really know why Luke was so cross and unhappy with her and she was also embarrassed about telling her mum that everything was not going swimmingly with him. She sniffled, trying not to cry.

‘Mum, I think Luke might not want to be with me any more.' And with that all the worry and tension
that had been building up inside her came rolling out, and tears streamed down her face.

‘Oh Molly, I'm so sorry. Tell me what is wrong,' her mum said. She poured Molly a cup of tea, and started slicing the chocolate fudge cake that she had made earlier. Molly explained about the arguments and about how, even though Luke had been supportive at the start, he now seemed to resent her new job and passion for cooking.

‘You know, Mum, one of the hardest things I ever did was quitting my funds job. I was leaving a job I'd trained and studied for for years. I was frightened of change, but I told myself I had to cope with it. And after I started work here I thought everything was settled at last. But now it seems I've got to adjust to even more change: my relationship with Luke may not last otherwise. I do love him, Mum, but I'm so worried about what's going on between us at the moment.'

‘I know you love him, pet. Luke is a lovely guy. He's been so good and patient – he's a saint – but now he has to understand that you are at an exciting time in your career. It is a busy time, but it is fulfilling, too. I'm so proud of you. But now that things are beginning to settle and you are finding your own niche, maybe Luke is the one finding it hard.'

‘Do you think so?' Molly considered.

‘You just need to talk to him calmly and quietly, love.' And with that Molly's mum went back to making fresh salads for the café, as it had started to fill up for
the lunchtime rush. Molly spent all day thinking about what her mum had said, and didn't even look at Scott Williams or any of the café's sandwich order clients as she did her deliveries. All she wanted to do was get home, and talk to Luke.

Molly had left work early, so she and Luke could have the whole evening to talk. They needed to sort through this mess. She decided to prepare Luke his favourite meal: fillet steak, mash and pepper sauce. Even though Molly loved fish, and was always trying to get Luke to try new dishes, he still loved his steak; so she started to peel potatoes to prepare the mash. She had butterflies in her stomach: she knew their talk that night would not be easy. She didn't even know where to start, but something had to happen, had to change. She could not feel guilty every time she had to work, she needed Luke to understand that. She needed someone to congratulate her when she got new offers, not someone who would sulk at how her catering might affect his weekend plans. Luke walked through the door at 7 p.m., and Molly could see he was surprised that the table was all set and the food almost ready. He made no attempt to give Molly his usual welcome-home kiss, but she said nothing, just poured him some wine.

‘What's all this for?' Luke asked suspiciously, as he sat down and started to eat some of the fresh bread Molly had cooked while waiting.

‘Well, I just thought we needed to spend a nice evening in together and talk properly.'

Luke said nothing as he buttered his bread. When Molly started mashing the potatoes he finally broke his silence.

‘You know making mash or frying a steak is not going to make up for all this time we keep losing, due to your extra work commitments. I'm not that easily bought off,' he said snidely.

Molly was shocked by his tone, but sat down opposite him, and after a sip of wine replied. ‘Luke, I'm not trying to bribe you with food. We need to talk, and I thought you might like this meal. There's no need to be cruel about it.'

‘OK, Molly, I'm sorry for saying that. But let's be honest: you care more about food and your work than me nowadays.'

Molly felt like she was listening to a broken record. ‘Luke, why are you acting like a spoilt child? You must understand that for the next few months my work will be very important. I need to work hard to pay my aunt back for being so good and taking me on, and I also need to start taking extra catering jobs on in order to get more experience and cash.'

‘But what about us, Molly? I mean, one minute I've us booked into a scuba-diving course and the next you say you prefer a cooking course? Where does that leave our scuba holiday?'

‘I don't know, Luke. I just have to do the cooking course. I'll try to get some extra scuba lessons in before we go away, I promise. But even if I can't dive that much when we are away you still can. It's not the end of the world.'

‘It is to me, Molly. One minute you are not going diving, next you won't be coming on the holiday. I know how this will work out.'

Molly could not understand his childishness and bad temper. As she put the steaks on to fry, Luke poured himself more wine. Neither of them said anything until the steaks were cooked and Molly had served them with the mash and pepper sauce on the side.

‘Thanks,' Luke mumbled.

Molly tried to change the conversation, and told Luke some of the funny things that had been happening in the café. He didn't seem that interested, but maybe that was just the wine, she thought.

‘Oh, Molly, I forgot to tell you. Louise and Bryan have invited a gang of us down to their house in Brittas Bay the weekend after next. It'll be fun, spending time with our friends together. You haven't seen any of the lads in ages, what with your work and all.'

Molly ignored the little dig, but said she would love to go, maybe the fresh air and walks along the beach were just what they needed. It wasn't until she was telling Luke about Sarah's new man from Galway, that she suddenly remembered Sarah's sister Mel and the christening.

‘Oh, Luke, I just remembered. I can't go to Brittas
that weekend, I've Mel's christening party on the Saturday. I'm sorry.'

Luke slammed down his knife and fork. ‘I knew it was too good to be true. You have no interest in me, our friends or holidays. Just forget it, I'll go alone. Good luck with the christening.' And with that he grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.

Molly looked at his plate: his steak and mash were only half-eaten. He had to be very upset to abandon his favourite meal. Oh God? What have I done? she worried. And as she cleared the plates she struggled not to cry.

Sarah sat in her back garden, her long legs stretched out, a sketch pad in her hand, trying to get ideas for Ali's wedding invite. She still couldn't believe she'd agreed to do it, but Ali's confidence in her had made it impossible to refuse. It was a lovely warm evening, and Hugh had dropped by, with the intention of taking her out for dinner, but before Sarah had had time to get her handbag, her mother had grabbed him.

‘Well, with a man finally around the place, why don't we crack open the barbecue, and fling some steaks on? I can make a nice salad, and we've potatoes, too.'

It wasn't so much a question, as an order, so Hugh was now trying to get the ancient barbecue lit. Sarah laughed as she heard her mum explaining how it didn't matter that one of the barbecue legs had broken, and had to be propped up with a brick.

‘We have cooked more burgers, steaks and marshmallows on this beauty than any fancy barbecue.'

As Hugh helped Sarah's mum prepare the food, Sarah sipped her beer. She knew better than to interrupt her mother's interrogation of Hugh. He might as well get it over with now, she thought. Her mum had been asking her questions non-stop about Hugh, and how their relationship was going. Sarah didn't have all the answers, it was still early days, but she knew she liked Hugh, and enjoyed spending time with him.

Over dinner Hugh unwound and told them more about his childhood in Galway, summer days in Clifden, and part-time jobs in many of the touristy pubs and bars. ‘I still miss the place, it's such a great city, and I make a point of going home as often as I can. Don't get me wrong, Dublin has its advantages: if it wasn't for living here and my discovery of the Stone Studio I might never have met Sarah!'

Sarah blushed, but secretly loved the way that Hugh was open, and not afraid to say what he felt in his heart. He was so different from most guys. Maybe it was because he was not from Dublin, or because he was confident and yet kind at the same time. As Hugh helped clear the table, and put the left-over salads into the fridge, Sarah's mum started washing some strawberries and whipping cream. Sarah felt totally relaxed. Maybe it is these beers, she thought, but having Hugh rattling around the kitchen with Mum feels normal and right. It calmed her, and as she watched her mum lead Hugh around the garden to show him her different plants and garden ornaments, Sarah was inspired to try a different design for the wedding invite. It just needs to be simple, she thought,
simple and elegant. And so she began drawing the back of a bride and groom walking up the aisle, with their clothes and hair flowing, and yet intertwined. As she drew more she realized she was on to something, that Ali would like it. Hugh was inspiring her again, just the way he had when he'd left that blank canvas outside the art gallery. She put aside her beer and took out her paints and brushes.

Ali and Robin were on their way down to Kilkenny for the weekend. They were doing their ACCORD marriage guidance course in Kilkenny city at the weekend, and it started on Friday night, so they had both finished work early. But all the same, they were hitting all the Friday traffic on the M50.

‘We are going to be late, Robin, I knew we should have taken a half-day off.'

‘Ali, you know I've to start conserving my holiday days for the actual wedding.' Robin sighed.

As Ali fretted over the traffic, and tried to phone her mum to say they might not have time to go home for a family dinner before the course, Robin turned up the radio. Everyone was talking about the big football match on Saturday afternoon. It was a sore point for Robin: he was gutted that he would be ‘locked up with a priest and crazy engaged couples' instead of watching the match in his local pub. He had no interest in doing the course, but Ali was excited, saying she had heard it was a very interesting
experience and most couples really enjoyed it.

‘Obviously they're a bunch of nerds,' Robin had remarked. But Ali had not laughed, so now, as they started slowing at the traffic tailback, he was trying to just go along with the idea of the course, despite having to miss the biggest football match of the year.

Finally they made it to Kilkenny city, and Robin managed to find a place in the Kilkenny community centre car park, and they rushed into the hall. Luckily the course had not started, so they grabbed two chairs and sat down. As people moved chairs and took off their coats, Ali could see that everyone was eyeing each other up. They were trying to see how old everyone else was, how anxious or bored they looked at having to do the course, and, most importantly, sizing up each other's engagement rings.

There were about thirty couples there, and a wide range of ages. Ali and Robin ended up beside one of the oldest couples. The girl introduced herself and her bored-looking boyfriend. She had a strong Kilkenny accent, and had begun telling Ali her wedding plans, when Ali asked how soon they were getting married.

‘In two and a half years,' the girl exclaimed. ‘I don't know how I'll get it all done by then.'

Ali could see Robin's face drop in shock, and before she could stop him he had turned to the girl.

‘Why are you doing this course now, then, if you're not getting married for ages? It's crazy.'

The girl took great offence at this, and started sounding off about all the things she had to do –
finding matching napkins and place-mats, making her own veil and typing her mass booklets, as well as losing two stone in weight – and how she wouldn't expect Robin to understand how great it was to be able to cross something off your ‘to-do' list. And with that she turned her chair away from Ali, and begin chatting to another girl.

‘Well done. No one will like us, Robin, if we behave like that.'

‘We are not here to make friends, Ali, just relax.' And before Ali could say anything else, the course supervisors entered the room.

The two female coordinators introduced themselves and explained what would be happening over the course of the weekend. Robin was immediately surprised that there were no priests. He had thought it would all be about religion and God.

As if they could read his mind, one of the women said: ‘I know some of you are probably surprised there are no priests here, because it was your local church which encouraged you to do this. Well, even though a priest will meet you all to answer any questions you may have about the ceremony or the law, we like the course to be run by people who are married and have experienced its ups and downs.'

As they explained the different areas that they would cover over the weekend – from children to money worries and in-laws – they also handed out booklets that everyone would have to fill in.

‘But do not worry, your book will be secret, only seen by you and your fiancé.'

Thank God, thought Robin, as he flicked forward and saw he would have to answer questions on what first attracted him to his partner, and what he disliked about her family. There were also questions on sex, getting pregnant and arguments. This is going to be interesting, Robin thought to himself, and looked at the clock. Interesting, but long; he sighed.

Ali was fascinated by the course, she had always loved doing personality tests in magazines, and this was like one huge one, it was almost fun. She noticed they had to answer questions on the personalities of their parents; family traditions; things they would like to bring from each other's families into their own, new family; and things they wouldn't. It was also interesting to hear the supervisors talk about their own marital experience, and offer tips on healthy relationships. If only Robin would enjoy it more. Ali saw him look at his watch again. He seemed to like filling out the questionnaires, but not be that bothered by what his answers meant, and not that concerned about the things they needed to change in their relationship. At the coffee break, she tried to bring this up with him, but was surprised when a girl she hadn't seen since she was about twelve came over and introduced herself. Herself and Ali had been in primary school together, and as the two girls swapped engagement stories, the boys comforted each other about how tough it was going to be tomorrow to miss the match. Robin enjoyed talking to the other lads on the course, and mentioned to Ali that a few were going for drinks later on.