They had no more time to talk as the others filed in one by one and Sam returned with the dreaded exam papers.
They were all quiet, some of them reading through their manuals one last time. The usual chatter was missing and there was a sombre air in the room. They sat where Sam directed them. He was surprised to see how nervous they all were, with the exception of Zita
,
who seemed totally unconcerned.
Sam handed out an exam paper to each of them and then explained how to fill it out. Then he set the timer he
’
d brought with him for one hour, the time allotted for the exam. And with that they were off
.
He sat at a table at the front of the room, his laptop in front of him. He watched them
as they read all the questions first, as he
’
d directed, and smiled at their intent f
aces poring over the pages. There were fifty multiple-choice questions and as he read down through them he had no fears for his students. He had covered all of the subjects asked
,
although there were a couple of tricky questions included. Otherwise it was quite straightforwa
rd, for those who had studied the manual.
Hayley looked as if she might chew her pencil to bits as she pondered some of her answers
.
Ellie was finished first and one by one the others finished too
,
till finally Sam called time-up. He collected their papers and put them into the official envelope, sealing it and putting it in his briefcase. It would be on its way to London the following morning where the papers would be marked
.
“
Okay, everybody, that wasn
’
t so bad, was it?
”
he asked, grinning as he looked around at them.
They all started gabbling at once, relieving the tension that had built up and asking each other the answers to the trickiest questions.
“
It was much easier than I expected,
”
Rachel acknowledged
, “
but I
’
m still glad it
’
s over.
”
The others agreed with her.
“
Great!
”
said Sam.
“
But let me warn you, the Higher Cert exam is a lot more difficult, for those of you thinking of going on. Okay, take
five
,
everyone, while I set up the tasting wines
!”
Sam started opening bottles while Keith helped Ronan move the extra tables to the side.
The wines they tasted that night were superb and much too good to spit out so
,
by the time the party started
,
they were all in great form.
Ellie and Rachel set the food out on the side tables as Sam and Ronan opened some more bottles. Hayley had her manual out and was checking the answers to the questions that the others had been unsure of. By now most of them knew what questions they
’
d messed up and which ones they
’
d been lucky enough to guess correctly. They all seemed happy with how they
’
d done and so the party began.
“
How did you do in the exam, do you think
?”
Sam asked Ronan, as they were opening bottles.
“
I
’
m just worried about one question that I wasn
’
t sure about
.”
“
Only one? What one was that?
”
Sam was curious.
“
At what temperature should you serve sparkling wines?
”
“
What did you answer?
”
“
Between 7 and 8 degrees.
”
Ronan look at him anxiously
.
Sam grinned wickedly and said nothing.
“
Oh, damn, I got it wrong
,
didn
’
t I? It
’
s 8 to10, isn
’
t it?
”
Sam roared laughing.
“
No need to worry. You got it right.
”
He clapped him on the back as Ronan sighed with relief.
“
When will the results be back?
”
Ronan wanted to know
.
“
A month to six weeks. I thought we might organise a meal out somewhere and I
’
ll present the certificates then.
”
“
Great idea!
”
As the party got under way, Rachel came over to Ronan
to ask how he
’
d done in the exam. He
noticed that
she was drinking water.
“
You
’
re not drinking
,”
he observed.
“
Are you driving?
”
“
No. I came in a taxi. I
’
m just trying to pace myself.
”
She kept her voice low, not wanting anyone else to hear.
“
I
’
m trying to cut down on my alcohol intake.
”
She smiled wanly
.
“
I
’
m really pleased to hear that. Drinking can spiral out of control very easily.
I
’
ve seen it happen to some friends of mine. It
’
s a killer.
”
“
I know. I
’
ve started to realise that
.”
Everyone was in great form and the decibels in the room rose with every glass of wine that was poured. They were all relieved that the exam was over but a little sad that it was the last night of the course.
Shortly after the party started Zita came over to Rachel
. “
I
’
ve been working on the footage of what we shot last Thursday
,
and it
’
s excellent, really good. You come across great on camera and as for Carl
–
what can I say? I think we may do a programme on him alone in the autumn.
”
“
That
’
s wonderful. He will be pleased. When can I see myself
?”
Rachel asked.
“
I should be finished it by Friday. Can you call out to the station then?
”
“
Well, we
’
re off to France on Sunday so I
’
ll be up to my eyes, but I
’
ll make time.
”
Ronan
,
who was listening to this exchange
,
thought he saw a strange look flit across Zita
’
s face but was sure he must have imagined it.
“
Right, I
’
ll be in touch before Friday
.
I
’
m off now. Goodnight
,
Ronan
.
See you Friday, Rachel.
”
“
But it
’
s still early . . .
”
Rachel started to say but Zita had gone.
“
Weird!
”
Ronan observed.
“
Yeah, she
’
s been acting strange tonight,
”
Rachel agreed, worried that there was something the matter with her new friend.
“
I
’
ll call her tomorrow and make sure she
’
s okay.
”
The party continued on until after midnight but Rachel and Ronan left just after eleven. She insisted that her taxi drive through Raheny and drop him off. He was so tired that he didn
’
t object.
As the taxi pulled up at his house, Rachel leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
“
You truly are a gentleman, one of the kindest people I
’
ve ever met
,”
she said, her voice sincere and gentle
.
Gosh, twice in one day I
’
ve been told that
!
He smiled to himself, as he waved her goodnight and let himself into the house
.
Pity my wife never thought it, was his last thought as he fell into a deep sleep.
52
Sam was sending off the exam papers to be marked and he hoped they
’
d all done well. He
’
d chatted to all of them the previous night at the party and
,
from what Ronan had said
,
Sam thought that it was a possibility that
he
might even have scored 100%. That would be amazing. None of his previous students had ever scored that. 98% had been the previous best. He figured Ellie had done well too. She
’
d checked out the answers to some of the questions after the exam and she knew she had got two of them wrong for sure. He smiled to himself. For all her giggling and madcap ways she was really extremely bright and intelligent. Rachel and the young ones seemed very happy with what they
’
d done too. The only one who hadn
’
t discussed the exam with him was Zita. He
’
d often thought that her mind was a million miles away and wondered why she was on the course in the first place. She was an enigma. She
’
d been acting strangely after the exam. She was weird. He couldn
’
t figure her out at all. He didn
’
t give her another thought as he sent the papers off.
It was highly unlikely that she would want to go on any further whereas all of the others had expressed a wish to join the Higher Cert Course which would start in the autumn.
Carl and Zita passed another sex-fuelled night together on Tuesday and it was midnight before he could drag himself away. She tried not to think that she would have to live without him for the whole month of August but every time she mentioned it he shushed her. She was terrified that he would forget her, or rejuvenate his marriage – which she suspected
had cracks in it
–
or her worst fear of all, that he would meet someone new. He tried to brush her fears away but they were very real to her.
Thankfully, Rachel was in bed when he got home and he tip-toed into bed beside her, careful not to wake her. In fact, Rachel was wide awake and got the faint scent of perfume from him. She knew now without a doubt that he
was seeing another woman. Her instinct had been right. Well, this would be sorted out in
Cannes. She wasn
’
t goin
g through that scenario again! She was no fool
,
as Carl would find out to his cost.
She would not
‘
stand by her man
’
a second time. He
’
d used up that chance.
53
Ronan was in exuberant form as his redundancy cheque had arrived and was already safely lodged in the bank. It was such a relief to be able to clear off all his bills (well
,
Louise
’
s bills actually) and his overdraft. It was a burden lifted from his shoulders.
He still couldn
’
t believe that Louise had not been in touch. He assumed that no news was good news and wasn
’
t about to tempt fate by calling her. If she wanted anything he had no doubt that she
’
d get in touch. He had settled into his new life without her and
,
if truth be told, he was much h
appier than when they
’
d been together. He had peace now and he also had two new female friends, Fiona and Rachel, and Sam was turning into a great mate. Oisín was thriving and
every minute thing he did was recounted in Fiona
’
s
daily phone calls. The baby was seemingly the best baby ever born. Ronan was delighted that she was so happy.
On Friday afternoon Rachel went to the TV station to view the footage that Zita had taken. To her surprise, Carl wanted to accompany her.