Mother of the Bride (26 page)

Amy grinned. She'd found the short vintage swirly cotton skirt
with its fifties print in the Camden Street market, and had teamed it with a black string top.

‘God, every time I go to the market it is just full of tat. I can never find anything,' moaned Lisa.

‘Amy could make a potato sack look good,' laughed Jess.

Amy was intrigued as Tara filled her in on her new job in a small film production company.

‘I'm working crazy hours, but I love it. The money is shite but the people are great. We are going to be doing a big new advertising campaign for one of the children's charities, and lots of celebs are going to be involved. My job is to look after the arrangements for some of them.' She grinned. ‘Then next month the crew are filming the music video for the new album by Roisin, the traditional singer. It's going to be shot down the West so I'll be in Kerry for a week or two helping out.'

‘Sounds great!' Amy was glad for her friend, as for the last year and a half she'd had a nightmare of a job in a small insurance company, working with a crowd of bitchy wagons who had made her life hell.

‘I'd prefer to be earning half nothing than to be working for that shower in Mulligan's and Molloy's again,' insisted Tara as she knocked back her vodka. ‘Rua might only be a small company but Dave, the boss, has big plans for growing it.'

At closing time the five girls finished their drinks and headed towards Harcourt Street. Tara and Jess and Lisa were arguing over which of the nightclubs they should go to.

Amy wasn't particularly in the mood for clubbing and would have happily gone home, but she didn't want to be a wet blanket.

‘Where do you fancy?' asked Lisa.

‘I really don't mind.' It was stupid, but Amy found it hard to think straight and make decisions about anything at the moment.

‘We're going to Roxy's.' Jess and Lisa beamed. ‘Orla and the others are already there.'

The club was heaving, the dance floor packed, as they made their way up to one of the lounges with its trademark striped couches and glass bars. Amy could feel herself relax as the music beat enticed them to dance.

Orla was with Nikki, and they were up dancing like crazy people. After another glass of wine they all got up on the crowded floor.

‘This is like when we were kids and used to go to Wesley disco,' teased Jess. ‘All dancing together!'

Amy remembered those days, and how innocent they had all been. Sneaking sips of gin or vodka or brandy from their parents' drinks cabinets, or a small bottle they'd all bought and shared, before legging it to the famed Southside junior rugby club disco, which ended, Cinderella-style, before midnight with the mums and dads coming to collect them all. When the DJ played ‘Light my Fire' by Take That they all gave a roar, laughing their heads off, remembering.

In the bathroom Amy tried not to comment when Lisa drunkenly went on about Dan. ‘Marriage is not the be-all and end-all, Amy. Simon and I think that living together is what is important. Not some stupid piece of paper!'

‘Butt out, Lisa,' warned Jess, who was trying to reapply a fresh coat of lip gloss.

Back outside Amy couldn't believe it when she spotted Liam Flynn on the dance floor.

‘Oh my God, Jess, what am I going to do?' she wailed. ‘Please go and see if Dan is with him.'

Jess had no interest in talking to Liam herself but grabbed Aisling, and the two of them went off in his direction while Amy turned the other way. She didn't want to meet Dan tonight.

A few minutes later they reported back.

‘They're with a big gang of guys, it's some sort of stag night. Will and Oisin are with them, too.'

‘What about Dan?'

‘I asked Liam,' said Aisling, ‘but he's too bombed. But I don't think Dan is with them, unless he's in the upstairs bar.'

Amy did her best to try not to think about it, but she was too conscious of Dan's friends being around her. The night was ruined as far as she was concerned, and a half-hour later she'd had enough and decided to head home.

‘Don't go!' pleaded Jess and Tara. ‘Just ignore them.'

‘Listen, I want to go,' Amy insisted. ‘Aisling wants to, too, so we'll share a taxi. I'll be fine and don't worry, Jess, I've your spare key.'

‘OK then, honey bunny, see you in the morning or whenever I get up.' Jess hugged her, then went back to chatting to a guy who used to be in college with her.

Outside the temperature had dropped and a row of taxis filled the street. Amy wrapped her jacket around her, glad of its warmth.

‘Hold on a second, Amy, I want to have a smoke,' pleaded Aisling, lighting up.

Smokers! thought Amy. The cold weather was absolutely no deterrent to her friend as she lit up and started an immediate conversation with two fellow smokers. Amy rested against the railings near the steps, waiting for her. As she glanced around she froze, disbelieving, as she recognized the familiar figure of Matt Kerrigan, just as he turned, too, and spotted her. She tried to hide, but there was no bloody escape.

‘Amy.' He grinned, moving away from the door and coming towards her.

Amy's knees almost buckled. She hadn't expected to see Matt Kerrigan, her old boyfriend, ever again. The last she had heard he was settled in Sydney, living the good life.

‘Matt!'

Matt Kerrigan kissed her on the lips before she could stop him. He tasted of cigarettes and beer, and gave her that warm full-lipped
sensation that he always used to. She felt herself flush. She hadn't seen him in over four years, and now he was standing right in front of her. Her ex-boyfriend: the guy who had dumped her and humiliated her and taken off to the far side of the world with barely a goodbye! Would this fecking nightmare of a night never end? Why hadn't she stayed home? Just sat in, watching crappy TV! This is what she got for trying to go out and pretend she was having fun!

‘You look great, Amy!' Matt said, and she knew he meant it. ‘I heard that you are getting married. He must be some lucky guy!'

Amy stuffed her hand in her pocket.

‘Is he with you?'

‘No!' she said abruptly. ‘It's just a girl's night out with Jess and Tara and some friends.'

‘The Famous Five, the old crew!'

‘Yeah!' She stopped talking, hoping he would move away, but instead he came and stood beside her.

‘You look more beautiful than ever,' he said, staring at her intensely.

‘You look well, too,' she said, trying to keep it light and wishing Aisling would finish her cigarette so they could go. ‘Life in Australia suits you.'

‘Oz is a great place.' He laughed. ‘But it's nice to be back in the old town for a while and catch up and see some old friends.'

Amy wondered if she qualified as an old friend. For eight weeks after Matt had left for Australia she had emailed him almost every day, without even a word of an acknowledgement from him. She'd been so hurt and upset. Eventually she had got the message when she had seen his photo up on Bebo with some beautiful beach babe – his new girlfriend!

‘Hey, do you want a drink?' He gestured for her to join him back inside.

‘No, thanks,' she said stiffly. ‘I'm just heading home.'

‘The night is young,' he coaxed. ‘I know it's been a long time,
Amy, and I was a right bastard to you, but it would be really nice to catch up.'

He was standing so close to her that Amy could feel the strong familiar beat of his heart. This was definitely not part of the plan.

‘I'm sorry, Matt, but I'm just going to get a taxi with Aisling,' she explained, calling to her friend, who looked suddenly like she had no interest in going home and was deep in conversation with another smoker, a thin weedy guy wearing a trilby.

‘Hey, Amy, this is Rory,' she said. ‘Imagine: he works in the computer section of the bank, and we've never even met before! He said a few of the guys from work are in Legs so we might go join them. Do you want to come along, too?'

‘No, Aisling, it's fine, you go, honestly.'

‘Are you sure?' Aisling's eyes widened when she recognized Matt, and she hesitated.

‘Hi, Aisling.' He grinned.

‘I'm fine,' assured Amy. ‘I'll get a taxi home. Matt and I just bumped into each other. I'll talk to you tomorrow.'

Watching her friend walk down the street, it never ceased to amaze Amy how smokers always met up with people when they were outside in the smoking areas of bars and hotels. God knows how many romances must have started that way!

‘Come on, Amy, forget going home,' enticed Matt. ‘If you don't want to go back inside the nightclub, fair enough, but there must be other good places to go! Is that great late-night Greek place we used to go to still open?'

‘Shut last year.'

‘What about the Chinese place?'

‘It's Thai now, and closes at eleven.'

‘What about Freddy's? Is that still there?'

Fifteen minutes later, despite her better judgement, Amy found herself sitting opposite her old boyfriend in Frederico's, the small
late-night café on Dame Street, perusing the menu after ordering a bottle of Chianti.

I must be utterly stark staring mad, Amy told herself. Why am I giving Matt Kerrigan the time of day, let alone talking to him and sitting down to eat with him? He broke my heart and stomped all over my emotions, and fecked off to Australia with never a care about me or our relationship.

‘It is so good to see you again, Amy,' Matt admitted, slowly filling her glass. ‘I often wondered how things were with you, and what would have happened if I hadn't gone away.'

‘That's water under the bridge, Matt,' she said quickly, not wanting to admit she was thinking the exact same thing.

‘We were such a couple,' he mused. ‘But we were so young – I wanted to get out of Dublin, to get away from my boring job and all the old crowd and places, see the world and have an adventure.'

‘And I wasn't part of it?'

‘No. I was a stupid, self-centred bastard,' he admitted. ‘I didn't want baggage like a lovely girlfriend.'

‘It was a long time ago. You made your life in Australia and I made mine here.'

‘So I gather,' he said, saluting her.

She felt a pang of déjà vu as they both ordered the pepperoni pizza, a house speciality, opting to share a side-order of tomato and olive salad.

Sitting here with Matt felt strangely comfortable as she asked him about Sydney.

‘Your mum told me that you work in one of the big banks there.' She smiled. ‘She's so proud of you.'

‘Ma loves coming out to stay and escaping the winter here. I work for Bank West. I'm one of their IT guys. The market is still pretty good there, and the lifestyle is great. I've got into water sports and am into sailing and surfing.'

‘Tell me about it!' she laughed. ‘My boyfriend is addicted.'

‘Good on him.'

Amy scooped a large slice of pepperoni into her mouth, conscious that Matt was looking at her.

‘When are you two getting married?'

‘That's the million-dollar question.' She shrugged. ‘And I wish that I knew the answer.'

‘I'll never figure you out, Amy.' Matt shook his head.

‘What about you?'

‘I got divorced last year.'

‘I'm sorry,' she said, feeling bad for him. ‘I'd heard rumours.'

‘It was mutual,' he said. ‘People make mistakes.'

She could feel him staring at her, just like he used to, as they finished off the Chianti and chatted about old times.

‘Matt, it's really late. I'd better go.'

‘I suppose I'm keeping you from that boyfriend of yours,' he groaned.

‘Not really,' she said slowly. ‘It's complicated.'

‘Let me take you home?' he offered as he paid the bill and tipped the waiter.

‘No, thanks, Matt, you're staying with your family. I'm in the other direction. I'll just get a taxi out on the road.'

She didn't trust herself to be alone with him, not when she felt so vulnerable and angry with Daniel. But still, bizarrely, Amy found herself giving Matt – the guy she had fallen for when she was twenty-two – her new mobile number as she waved down a taxi-cab. Fate had thrown them together tonight for a reason! Meeting up with Matt had happened out of the blue, and she had to admit that in the few hours she had spent with him she hadn't given a thought to Dan. Not one!

Amy smiled at the text message on her phone. Matt had texted her twice or three times a day for the past four days. She read it, not bothering to reply. Two can play at that game! She grabbed the graphics that had been done for the new cough medicine. She liked them, but they had to pass Norah's scrutiny before going to print.

She sipped some water before putting the folder together, and then got up and went into her boss's office. Norah was busy on the phone, but gestured to her to sit down. Norah had been away last week in Gran Canaria for a bit of sunshine with her family, and looked tanned and relaxed. Amy listened as she dealt with a major client, wondering if she herself would ever get to have an office of her own and be the one to make the big decisions about campaigns.

‘Hey, that work is great!' congratulated Norah, studying the green and pink graphics for the new peppermint-flavoured medicine. ‘The company should be really happy with that. It looks good, and gets the message across. I'm having lunch with the MD and their marketing people tomorrow, if you'd like to join us.'

‘Yes, please.' Amy grinned. Getting invited to a client lunch was a massive pat on the back, as Norah usually grabbed all the glory
herself and refrained from letting clients deal too much with junior minions.

‘Just between ourselves, Jerome Laboratories are thinking of launching a new range of over-the-counter vitamin products. It will be a huge spend and they'll probably want to sound us out on it tomorrow. Maybe you can do a bit of research on it tonight, check out competitors, market share and pricing before we meet them in Harvey's tomorrow.'