“Could you come and give me a hand in the kitchen for a sec, Jess?” Her smile was sweet but her tone was saccharine and Jess was not fooled.
“Um, yeah, of course.” She dragged her heels behind her friend.
“Where’s Harry tonight?” Maybe a change of subject would stave off the bollocking she was about to receive.
“At his Nana’s and don’t try to fob me off. It’s bloody well him, isn’t it?” Brianna hissed once they were out of earshot.
Jess didn’t say anything, studying the floor tiles beneath her feet instead.
“For God’s sake, Jess, why didn’t you tell me you were dating the man who wants to tear down our community centre!”
“Shush, Brie, keep your voice down! I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d go mad, that’s why. Please don’t say anything.”
“I won’t make a scene—my mammy raised me better than that. But you should have told me instead of putting me on the spot like this. I am not happy with you.” Brianna prodded her in the chest and Jess had the grace to look shamefaced. “I knew there was something up with you where he was concerned but I just put it down to his being a bit too good to be true and you being wary. I mean it’s a 1986 cabernet and I never forget a pretty face. Really, Jess?”
It had been a bit cringe-worthy. “I’m sorry, Brie; I really am. Could you please try to keep an open mind about him tonight, though, for me? I know that if you just give him a chance, you’ll see past all that other stuff and you’ll like him. The community centre—well, it’s just business to him; it’s not personal.”
“Don’t push your luck because it feels pretty bloody personal to me right now,” Brianna muttered, piling little pieces of brown toast with oysters atop them on to a platter.
Jess decided to take her friend’s advice and not push her luck. Brianna not giving out to him was the best she could hope for under the circumstances and as her friend carried the nibbles through to the dining room, she arranged her own face into a cheery smile and marched out to join Nick and Pete. Somehow they would all get through the evening. It could have been worse—at least Nick had been none the wiser as to whom Brianna was.
IT HAD BEEN A MOST peculiar dinner party, Jess concluded as she hugged Pete and Brianna goodnight. The food had been delicious—Brianna had done them proud on that front—but she had also artfully steered the conversation away from Nick’s line of work and talked about Harry for most of the night. Granted, he was a fascinating subject at the best of times but being a childless couple, the topic of children wasn’t one Nick and Jess could contribute much to. In fact, Jess had thought if Brianna kept it up, Nick would be heading for the snip on his way home. She was sure he had been in danger of nodding off at one point. For his part, he had sneaked in the odd golfing titbit whenever Brianna paused in her monologue to draw breath, which wasn’t often.
She had managed to stick a few jibes in, too, about the importance of having somewhere in the community to meet up with others when you were at home with a small child twenty-four/seven. Pete, bless him, puzzled by the strange undercurrent at the table, had gabbled on about his latest project at work. Jess had tuned out as she always did when Pete got started on that subject but at least it was a topic Nick could relate to. She’d been on tenterhooks all night and had hardly said a word through dinner but to put a positive spin on the evening, at least they had gotten through it with no showdown of clashing opinions. It might have been awkward but at least it had been civil and the food, judging by everybody else’s clean plates, had been great.
Waving their hosts goodbye from where they stood backlit in the front door, Jess decided she’d phone Brianna and thank her in the morning for keeping quiet. It wouldn’t have been easy for her, she thought, sliding into the passenger seat. The temptation for her to slip Nick a dodgy oyster or spit in his chicken parmigiana must have been huge. She crossed her fingers and hoped Nick didn’t come down with any food poisoning symptoms in the next twenty-four hours as he got behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.
Jess glanced over at him and was startled by the thunderous expression on his face. Before she could ask what the matter was, he had gunned the engine into life and taken off down the street at a rate of knots that would have impressed a Concorde pilot. Oh dear, she cringed, hoping Brianna and Pete had already gone inside. Nick’s hasty exit would not endear him further to her friend because last year she had spearheaded the “Slow Down in our Community” campaign.
“Nick?” Jess asked, clutching at the sides of her seat. “Is everything ok?”
She saw his bottom jaw muscles clench and he slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “No, it’s bloody well not! I don’t know what you were playing at, Jessica, but that holier-than-thou friend of yours is the main rabble-rouser holding up my Bray project. She’s costing me a shitload of money.”
Jess squirmed. “I know. I’m sorry but she’s not holier-than-thou; she’s just very committed to her cause. You must see her side of things?”
He turned to glare at her, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. “So you knew then? And no, I don’t see her side of things at all. Bloody do-gooder.”
Jess studied her own hands, which were now clenched in her lap. “I twigged awhile back but I didn’t know how to tell you or her.” She looked over at him. “I really am sorry but come on, Nick, be fair. I feel awful for not saying anything but what you do with your work—well, it’s nothing to do with me—us. And Brie is a grown woman who backs her own causes. I didn’t want to get caught up in the middle.”
“So you said nothing while I confided the problems I was having with my project.” He shot her look of pure disgust and shook his head. “I recognised her as soon as she opened the door and let me tell you, it took supreme willpower on my part not to turn and walk away but I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. I figured maybe you didn’t know what your little pal gets up to in her spare time so I kept quiet and played nice for your sake. It’s a shame you didn’t show me the same courtesy.”
Neither said a word for a moment until Nick made her jump. “Jesus, Jessica!” Spittle flew from his mouth. “Have you any bloody idea how much money I have tied up in this?”
Jess squeaked. “A lot?”
“A tonne and I stand to lose the lot thanks to that stupid cow and her cronies.” His voice was a snarl. “I can’t stomach women like that; they have no life outside the home so they create their own little dramas.”
“Hey!” Jess didn’t like his tone at all; it was pure venom. This was a side of Nick he obviously kept well-hidden underneath his smooth veneer. “She’s not a cow—she’s one of my best friends and for what it’s worth, I think she has a point. That community centre is a good thing—it brings people together. The only people who will benefit from a shiny new apartment complex are the developers.”
It was a barbed comment and Jess was certain that were it physically possible, Nick would be emitting steam out of his ears. She decided it was best, considering he was behind the wheel, to keep her mouth shut for the duration of the ride home. So, they sat in tense silence until he pulled up outside Riverside Apartments. She was about to say a curt goodnight when he was upon her. Pulling her to him by her hair which he had wrapped his hand in, he began kissing her so roughly it made her mouth and teeth hurt. He shoved his free hand up her top and groped at her breasts. Jess could feel the violence lurking just beneath the surface and it took her a moment to react.
“What do you think you’re doing? Get off me!” She shoved him off her and managed to open the car door, all but falling out onto the pavement. Scrabbling to her feet, she slammed the door shut and then, with one last sneer in her direction, he was gone, leaving nothing but smelly exhaust fumes in his wake.
Jess hurried inside and headed for her apartment. As she closed the front door behind her, she leaned against it for a moment, feeling sick at what had just happened. How could she have misjudged him so badly? She breathed deeply for a few minut
es and then burst into tears as the shock hit her—the way he had turned on her like that had really frightened her.
As her heart rate slowed to its normal beats per minute, she made herself a milky cup of sweet tea, shoving down a couple of chocolate biscuits that had somehow survived the week in her pantry. The sugar hit made her feel better and taking the mug through to the living room, she sat down on the settee, nursing it between both hands. Nick’s reaction had shocked her; she could see now why he was so successful at what he did because using bully-boy tactics was obviously second nature to him. Needing to tell someone what had just happened in order to make it a reality in her own mind, she picked up the phone and punched out Nora’s number.
She answered after the sixth ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Hey, Jess! I was just saying goodbye to Ewan. God, I can’t wait until he gets back—only five days to go. I tell you, Skyping just doesn’t have the same allure as phone sex. You feel kind of silly peering into a computer screen, making lusty noises. What are you doing home, anyway? I thought you’d be spending the night at Nick’s.”
Jess let out a little sob. Life sucked.
“What’s up?” Nora asked, alarmed.
It all came flooding out and when she’d finished, Nora announced she would personally hunt Nick Jameson down and cut his gonads off. Jess wouldn’t put it past her and she spent the next five minutes trying to dissuade her friend from becoming the next Lorena Bobbitt.
“He didn’t get the chance to do anything that bad; it was just the way he did it. He was so angry with me, Nora; it was horrible. It was like being mad at me turned him on or something. Ugh.” She shuddered at the memory.
“God, I’m so sorry, Jess. I had no idea he was a sicko. I feel awful pushing you at him the way I have been—it’s just that he seemed so nice. I only wanted you to be happy.”
It was a sentiment she had heard a lot lately. “I know you did and I thought he was nice, too,” Jess replied despondently. “Appearances can be deceptive but you know, Nora, if I am honest, I think I knew something wasn’t right with him. He reminded me way too much of a Galaxy chocolate bar.”
“Smooth, you mean?”
“Yeah and if you have too much of it, you feel sick.” She burst into tears. “What’s wrong with me? Why do things like this always happen to me? If the men I meet aren’t losers then they are nut cases. It’s not fair.”
“Hang tight, sweetie. I am on my way over.”
True to her word, Nora arrived half an hour later with a bottle of wine tucked under her arm. By the time she tucked Jess into bed sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning, neither girl was feeling any pain. Nor did they have any voices left, having screeched so loudly to Melissa Etheridge that the neighbour had banged on the wall.
The next day being Sunday, Nora telephoned Brianna to fill her in on what had happened. Then after a spot of name dropping, she managed to get them a lunchtime seating at Peploes, the popular wine bar on St Stephens on the Green.
“A long lazy liquid lunch is just what you need,” she insisted, marching Jess off to her room, ignoring her protests about not being hungry as she told her to get dressed. “Rug up, though; it looks pretty fresh outside.”
Stepping onto the pavement outside Riverside Apartments, the two women were hit by an arctic blast and Jess was glad she had taken Nora’s advice and dressed warmly. Tucking her hands into the sleeves of her coat, she picked up Nora’s brisk pace, the cold air clearing her head as they marched down the Quays.
They arrived at the oh-so classy eatery opposite the Green bang-on mid-day. Brianna, eager for the unexpected time out from family life, was already there waiting with a glass in hand at the bar. As the threesome were greeted and led over to their sumptuously laid table, Jess decided Nora had been right. This was just what she needed and after glancing at the menu, she decided she was starving after all. She would have to splurge on a starter and a main, oh and quite possibly dessert, too! It all sounded just too delicious.
Over wine and an entrée of Brie aux Filo, Jess apologised to Brianna.
“I’m sorry for putting you on the spot the way I did last night. I wasn’t a very good friend, putting myself first like that.”
“Ah, don’t be silly. You have every right to date who you want. I was out of order sounding off at you the way I did. I just wasn’t expecting to know Nick when you arrived last night, that’s all, and you weren’t to know what an arse he was. Though...” she added with a wink, “I did try to tell you he sounded a bit too good to be true.”
“Like a Galaxy bar,” Jess and Nora chorused.
“Good parallel. You need a man who is a bit rough round the edges, Jess, but he’s got to have a heart of gold like yours, too.”
Jess was assailed by an image of Owen as Brianna, obliviously smearing her toasted brioche with pate, asked, “Hey, have you told your mammy it’s all off?”
“There’s no point because it’s too late to stop her coming now; her flights are all booked. Anyway, a wasted trip will serve her right for being so gung-ho about marrying me off.”
“She’ll be devastated.”
“She’ll get over it,” Jess muttered.
“When does she arrive?” Nora asked.
“This sodding Tuesday, can you believe it? I tell you, girls, we’ll drive each other mad spending all that ‘quality’ time together. A few days I can do but two weeks under the same roof?” She shook her head.
“We’ll help keep her busy,” Brianna assured her and Nora nodded her agreement.
“Yeah, it will fly by, you’ll see.”
“Thanks.” Jess wasn’t convinced.
“You know, I feel pretty stupid, too.” Nora changed the subject. “I thought Nick was perfect for Jess. It goes to show what an appalling judge of character I am. I hope I haven’t made the same error of judgement in Ewan.”
“Ewan is not Nick! Besides, you said they hardly know each other these days,” Jess stated firmly and glad to take the spotlight off herself for a moment, she asked, “Have you told him how you really feel about adventure sport yet?”
“I was going to wait until he got home next week but I blurted it out last night when we were Skyping in between—”
“Spare us the gory details—we’re eating, thank you very much. So what did he say?”
Nora looked coyly at them. “You were both right; he was great about it. He said I should have told him instead of putting myself through the paces like that but that any girl prepared to do what I had done to impress him was worth having around. I am going to be his cheerleader from now on and watch from the sidelines, which suits me just fine.”
“Oh Nora, that’s great! Do you know, I still can’t quite believe you are dating a movie star.”
“Me neither,” Brianna reiterated.
Nora smiled and then dropped her gaze, studying her glass for a moment. “I don’t think of him like that. I did at first but once you’ve seen someone sit on the loo first thing in the morning, it kind of brings it home that it’s just a job. Albeit a very well-paid and glamorous one but at the end of the day, it’s just a job and he is only human.”
“Albeit just a fecking gorgeous one and I want to propose a toast.” Brianna slurred slightly; she wasn’t used to wine in the middle of the day. “To the best friends a girl could have.”
“To the best friends a girl could have.” The girls raised their glasses and clinked.
“It’s my turn now!” Nora insisted, holding her glass up again. “To rough and ready men with a heart of gold for Jess and to the lovely Pete and to Ewan.”
“To the man for me, wherever he may be, and to the lovely Pete and Ewan,” Jess echoed as they did another round of clinking. Then Brianna and Nora looked at her expectantly. “Your turn.”
“Okay—um, here goes. To slimy, bad tempered freaks with erectile dysfunction not getting their own way—long live the Bray Community Centre!”
“Yay! That’s the
attitude, Jess—get mad, not sad.” Nora leaned over and patted her hand before raising her glass along with Brianna. “Long live the Bray Community Centre! Now then, can we get down to some serious drinking?”
The three women laughed and charged their glasses.
“You know, Jess, I am a firm believer in getting right back on your horse and riding it or in your case the pig, so what about it? How does the land lie with your pig farmer chap?”
“Stop calling him my pig farmer, Nora; his name’s Owen.”
Over the second bottle of wine, Jess’s tongue well and truly loosened as she filled her friends in on what had happened in the barn during her mercy dash to Ballymcguinness.
“I knew there was more to it!” Brianna shrieked, causing heads to turn.
“You sly old thing, you making out you were only concerned with the piglet’s health. How is porky by the way?” Nora said.
“It’s Wilbur, as you well know, and I don’t know how he is because I haven’t heard from Owen since then.”
Then both girls asked, “So what are you going to do about it?”
Jess shrugged as her dish of Dublin Bay prawn risotto was placed in front of her. “Nothing. What can I do? He made it pretty clear it was a spur of the moment mistake and he never phoned me when Amy’s story ran. If he wanted to talk to me that would have been his cue to call, surely?”
“I thought I told you that you should ring him.”
“I did but he wasn’t there, remember? So I left a message. He’s never phoned me back.” Jess shrugged but the girls weren’t buying her affected indifference.
“Well, I think you should try again.” Nora pointed a fork full of potato smothered in rosemary at her.
“Yes, me too.”
“No bloody way. I do have some pride, you know.”
“Barracuda” broke out, much to the shock of their fellow diners and, blushing, Jess rescued her phone from her bag. “You can bloody well change this back to a normal ringtone, Nora Brennan.” She glanced at the caller display and paled. “It’s him. Oh my God, it’s him.”
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