It's All About Him

by Colette Caddle

  Dee giggled.

  '—anyway, I thought you were very articulate and composed, and you put your argument across quite well. You might have looked more authoritative with your hair up and I don't know where you got those boots from, but apart from that I think you made quite a good job of it. I hope Sam is well. Good bye.'

  Next, Dee was surprised when Julia's voice rang out.

  'Hi, Dee. I'm up at the nursing home and we've all been watching you on television. Weren't you marvellous? I had no idea you were such an authority on food. Anyway, the girls here want me to tell you that you looked great and well done. That's from me, too, of course. Not sure about those boots, though. Bye-bye, Dee, see you soon. Love to Sam.'

  And lastly, Dee froze when she heard Neil's voice.

  'Dee, Mum just called to tell me about your television appearance. Well done, she says you were great. Sam's a lucky boy to have you. See you soon . . . I hope. Bye.'

  'Wow, was that Neil?' Lisa turned to look at her.

  Dee nodded. 'He shouldn't really have left a message; Sam could have heard it.'

  'Does Sam know his dad's name?' Lisa asked.

  'Yes, of course.'

  'Maybe you should phone Neil and tell him to be more careful.'

  Dee sighed. 'I'll send him a text later.'

  'It was nice of him to call, I suppose,' Lisa offered.

  Dee grinned. 'Careful, you just said something positive about him!'

  'Don't hold it against me.' Lisa handed her a cup of tea.

  'Thanks.' Reaching into her bag, Dee pulled out her mobile phone and switched it on. Immediately it started beeping as message after message came through.

  'You're popular,' Lisa laughed.

  'I know, it's amazing, everyone seems to have been watching the programme.'

  Lisa took a sip of her own drink. 'You'll be in demand now.'

  Dee laughed. 'Well, if they're all willing to give me five hundred euros for twenty minutes work I won't object.'

  'You'll be able to give up the day job and become a lady who lunches, albeit healthily,' Lisa joked.

  Dee sighed. 'It will be a very long time before I can afford to give up the day job.'

  Lisa immediately picked up on her tone. 'What's up?'

  Dee's eyes met hers. 'Things are a bit of a struggle at the moment; funds are low, as they say, and Ronan wants to expand his menu.'

  'Well, that's good . . . isn't it?'

  Dee shrugged. 'It would be, except he wants me to take on an assistant. He's afraid that the café is too dependent on me and if I get sick or am knocked down by a bus, he's up a certain creek without a paddle.'

  'I see.' Lisa nodded. 'And you can't afford an assistant?'

  'No, if I pay someone else I'll just about break even. I'd be better off giving up the catering altogether and getting a job as a cook. At least then I wouldn't have the worry or responsibility of running things.' Dee dragged a weary hand across her eyes, smudging her beautiful eye make-up.

  'What if Happy Days moved to another premises, would that help?' Lisa said quietly, her eyes riveted to Dee's.

  'No! Oh, God, no, Lisa, I don't want that at all.'

  Lisa visibly relaxed. 'Thank God for that.'

  'But I might have to increase your rent,' Dee said quickly before she lost her nerve. Lisa nodded. 'That's fair enough.'

  Dee stared. 'It is?'

  'Sure. I mean, you haven't increased it since we opened and that's over three years ago now. How much were you thinking of?'

  Dee pretended to consider the question. 'Annual inflation is usually about five per cent, isn't it? So if we say fifteen per cent, would that be okay?'

  Lisa grabbed Dee's pad and scribbled down some figures. 'I'm not sure about that.'

  Dee's heart sank. If she couldn't agree a reasonable figure with Lisa she didn't know what she would do, and the fact that she'd brought up the whole issue would probably come between them and ruin their friendship.

  'It doesn't seem enough.'

  'Excuse me?'

  Lisa smiled. 'I said, it's not enough. You supply and cook all the food and you help out in the crèche. It's a routine we've sort of slipped into over the years and never formalized and maybe we should. I'm sure your accountant would be a lot happier if we did.'

  Dee rolled her eyes. Her accountant, a conservative old buzzard, had been a friend of her father's and he came in once a year to prepare her tax returns and give her a lecture on the proper way to run a business which was basically not the way she was doing it. 'I don't want to impoverish your business in order to prop up mine,' she said now.

  'We have to put our heads together and work something out. Happy Days is a successful business and so is Deli Delights, yet we're both working harder than ever. I'd love to take on another person and then we could increase the number of children, thereby increasing income, and at the same time giving Martha and me some more free time. I'm terrified of losing Martha to another crèche and I think I will if I don't reduce her workload soon. Also, I'd like to be able to offer the older children more variety and take them out on trips and that's just not feasible at the moment.'

  Dee stared at her. 'You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you? Why didn't you say something before?'

  Lisa reddened. 'I thought you'd want me out. Your business is doing so well I was afraid you'd want to expand and there wouldn't be space any more for Happy Days.'

  Dee shook her head emphatically. 'No, whatever the future holds I want it to include Happy Days. It's important for Sam that you're here,' she smiled at her friend, 'and for me.'

  'I'm glad to hear it.' Lisa stood up. 'Look, I need to get back to the troops but do you want to talk again later?'

  'Why don't I make you dinner and we can talk then?' Dee offered.

  'Great.'

  'Right, just let me get changed and I'll give you a hand with the kids.'

  'You don't have to do that—'

  Dee grinned. 'I know, but there's no way I'm going to get any real work done today so I may as well be in there with you guys.'

  Lisa laughed. 'I won't say no. The children will be delighted to have a TV star to play with.'

  Lisa left and Dee read the text messages on her phone as she finished her tea:

  WHAT A WOMAN!! PROUD OF U!! XX LAUREN U WER GRT, DEE, WELL DONE. DINNER 2NITE 2 CELEBRTE? PAULA SAYS SHE'LL BABYSIT. X. CONOR

  Dee replied immediately:

  SORRY, GOT A MEETNG WITH LISA. CAN WE DO IT FRIDAY? X. DEE

  She decided to text Neil before she forgot. It would be a disaster if he called again and Sam answered or overheard the name.

  NEIL. TNX FOR GD WISHES BT PLEASE DON'T PHONE AGAIN – SAM MIGHT BE HERE. DEE

  She pressed send and within a few seconds got a reply.

  SO SORRY, DEE, NEVER THOUGHT. WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN. NEIL

  She sighed, relieved, although he now had her mobile number, she realized. Still, it looked as if he was keeping to his word. He hadn't been in touch in the three weeks since his surprise visit and she did appreciate that. She would arrange to see him again soon, she decided. She'd had time to get used to the fact that he was back in Ireland and she wanted to talk to him, question him, study him, and see if he really deserved to be part of her son's life. She would have to meet him in the city, though, Banford was too small and she didn't want to risk Sam seeing them or hearing about Neil's visit from a nosy neighbour.

  If they eventually met, it would be in controlled circumstances and Dee would be the one in control.

  Her phone beeped and Dee read the message that Conor had sent back.

  FRI IS FINE. PAULA BOOKD FOR 8. X.

  'GREAT, XX,' Dee typed and pressed send. Then, after she had put her mug in the sink, she went upstairs to change into more practical clothes for playing with children. As she walked through the hall, the phone rang and she went across to answer it.'Happy Days Crèche?'

  'Dee?'

  'Yes?'

  'Dee, it's Carolyn Maher from Seven TV.'


  'Oh, hi, Carolyn.' Dee crouched on the bottom stair and smoothed her skirt down over her knees.

  'I just wanted to say thank you for coming on the show, you were really great.'

  'Oh, thanks, you're very kind.'

  'No, seriously, the phone hasn't stopped ringing and we've got a ton of emails and texts and most of them are about you.'

  Dee cringed. 'Did I upset some people?'

  'On the contrary, a lot of the messages are from people saying that they learned more about food in twenty minutes than they ever had before. As for the whole salt argument, you really touched a nerve there. One woman said that when the programme ended she went through her whole larder and sat down and cried when she realized how much salt she was feeding her children.'

  'And we never even got to tell them about sugar,' Dee said regretfully.

  Carolyn laughed. 'I think you have a lot to say, Dee, and one show isn't enough to do it. We're thinking of having a regular spot every week on the show about nutrition and diet.'

  'That's a great idea,' Dee said, delighted.

  'So will you do it?'

  'Sorry?'

  'Be on the show every week?'

  'Oh, Carolyn, I don't know—'

  'Obviously it would involve some research and more of your time, so we would pay you more.'

  'Really?'

  Carolyn laughed. 'Why don't you come in some time tomorrow and we can talk about it?'

  Dee swallowed hard. 'I suppose there would be no harm in talking.'

  'About eleven-thirty?'

  Dee could hear a smile in the other woman's voice. 'I'll see you then.'

  'Oh. My. God.' Lisa took a gulp of her wine. 'Oh. My. God.'

  'I know.' Dee poured a glass for herself and sat down next to Lisa on the sofa.

  She had spent the afternoon with the children and they'd gone out to the garden for an energetic game of leapfrog. Sam had adored having his mother around and it had made Dee more determined than ever to make some changes to her life. She would not get rich at the expense of time with her son. Putting all of her worries firmly to the back of her mind she had thrown herself into the childish games and, though she was tired and sore at the end of it, she felt happy.

  Now Sam was tucked up in bed fast asleep, there was a homemade pizza in the oven, and she'd just told Lisa her news.

  Her friend was gobsmacked. 'I wonder how much they'll pay you.'

  'No idea,' Dee said, 'but it will have to be good if I'm to spend time on research and then there's the travelling. They're unlikely to send a car for me every week.'

  Lisa sighed. 'Oh, it would be nice if they did. I could get really used to being driven around.'

  Dee laughed. 'Me too, but I won't hold my breath.'

  'So she wants to do a regular spot about diet?'

  'Yes, and general nutrition. I don't know why she's asking me. I'm sure Polly would have been a much better choice.'

  'Maybe Polly will be doing it too,' Lisa reasoned.

  Dee nodded excitedly. 'You could be right; after all, there is always a panel of guests.'

  'On the other hand it could be Ann Baker.'

  'No!' Dee groaned.

  'No,' Lisa agreed, laughing. 'One, as a minister she wouldn't have the time – or she shouldn't have the time – and two, she was rubbish.'

  Dee stood up and went to the oven to check on their pizza.

  'This forces our hand a bit,' Lisa observed. 'We need to cut you some slack if you're going to do this.'

  Dee closed the door of the oven, turned down the temperature slightly and rejoined her on the sofa. 'Yes and I'd better find a cook. Ronan is going to be on my case until I do.'

  'Ronan's an interesting character, isn't he?' Lisa mused. 'He comes across all easy going and relaxed, but there's a tough enough businessman underneath.'

  'You'd better believe it,' Dee agreed. 'He has a softly, softly approach but he's a force to be reckoned with. I like him.'

  'And his son,' Lisa nudged her.

  Dee grinned. 'Yeah, him too.'

  'Pity about the mother-in-law.'

  'Oh, Julia's not so bad. She left a nice message on the phone today although she didn't like your boots.'

  'Bitch.'

  Dee laughed. 'She'll be so impressed if I'm on telly all the time.'

  'You're going to have to go shopping,' Lisa announced.

  'Why?'

  Lisa rolled her eyes. 'Well, you can't wear the same skirt every week.'

  Dee's face fell. 'I hadn't thought of that. What a pain, I don't have the time or the money for shopping.'

  Lisa's eyes lit up. 'Maybe they'll give you an expense account or they'll dress you from their wardrobe department.'

  'Oh, right. One week I'll be dressed as Snow White and the next I'll be Goldilocks.'

  'You nut,' Lisa laughed. 'They must have ordinary, everyday clothes for their newsreaders and weathermen.'

  'Weather people,' Dee corrected. 'Do you really think so?'

  'Absolutely. That beautiful redhead that reads the nine o'clock news is in a different outfit every night; the clothes must be supplied as part of the job.'

  'I hope you're right.'

  'But,' Lisa looked her in the eye, 'that's not what we're here to discuss.'

  Dee raised an eyebrow at the businesslike tone her friend had adopted and grinned.

  'No, it isn't, Ms Dunphy, so let's talk business.'

  Chapter 15

  Dee was woken at five-thirty by Sam. 'What is it, sweetheart?' she asked when she opened her eyes to see him standing by her bed.

  'There's a funny noise in my room, Mummy.'

  Dee pulled back the covers. 'Want to come in here?'

  He nodded eagerly and scrambled up on to the bed.

  Dee tugged him in beside her and pulled the duvet up around their ears. 'Now, close your eyes and go to sleep.'

  'Is it nearly morning time?' he asked.

  'Nearly, but there's still time for a little sleep.' It had been a late night and Dee prayed that her son would go back to sleep for another hour.

  'Mummy, what was that?' he whispered, his breath warm on her face.

  She sighed. 'It's just the water gurgling in the pipes, now go to sleep.'

  'Mummy?'

  She opened her eyes and looked into his, less than two inches away. 'Yes?'

  'My toes are cold.'

  She took his tiny feet between her hands and rubbed them gently. 'Now, go to sleep!'

  He smiled, closed his eyes tightly and snuggled even closer. Dee closed her eyes too and inhaled his unique smell, felt his small body squirm against her and wondered how she'd ever got to be this lucky.

  They only got thirty minutes more sleep in the end and Dee's eyes were tired and sore but she still felt excited and upbeat at the prospect of her meeting with Carolyn Maher. She had arranged the food for the children's snack and lunch, just in case she didn't get back on time, and she would deliver Ronan's order on her way to the studio.

  'On the way to the studio.' She giggled to herself at how cool that sounded and covering the chicken and broccoli pie with tin foil, she went upstairs to dress. Though she wasn't going to be on TV this time, there was a chance that she might be meeting some important people, so she'd done the sensible thing and asked Lisa what she should wear. They'd had several glasses of wine at that stage and Lisa waded through her wardrobe, tossing clothes left and right and complaining loudly about Dee's lack of taste, obsession with practicality and, most importantly, lack of quantity.

  'Is this it?' she had asked incredulously.

  'Yes,' Dee said defensively, 'it's all I need.'

  Lisa looked at her and shook her head sadly. 'Don't you have any mistakes tucked away?'

  Dee frowned.

  'You know, those impulse buys,' Lisa prompted, 'the sparkly tops, impossible heels, slinky dresses that you never actually have the courage to wear.'

  Dee shook her head. 'I had the dress I wore for our last night out but I caught it in
the taxi door when I was getting out and it ripped.'

  Lisa sighed. 'Seven TV are going to have their work cut out with you.'

  Dee slumped on to her bed and watched miserably as her friend held up pair after pair of jeans and tracksuit bottoms. 'Maybe I should cancel.'

  'You will not! We'll find something, don't you worry.'

  And they had, but as Dee dressed in the simple white shirt, jeans and hacking jacket, she had her doubts.

  'Accessories is the solution,' Lisa had pronounced and arrived in that morning with chains for Dee to drape around her neck, a large silver bangle to go on her wrist, and huge silver hoops for her ears.

  She had also insisted that Dee use more make-up than usual. 'You saw how fabulous you looked after they made you up in the studio,' she'd insisted when Dee expressed her reservations, 'and make up and jewellery is the only way to carry off an outfit like this.'

  And so Dee had carefully applied smoky-grey eye-shadow, eyeliner and tons of black mascara and some pale pink lip gloss. When she went down to the crèche to show Lisa her efforts, it was her son's reaction that said it all.

  'Mummy, you look like a princess,' he'd said, wide-eyed, coming forward to throw his arms around her waist.

  'Thank you, sweetheart,' she'd murmured, bending to kiss the top of his head.

  'Smashing,' Martha had said, grinning excitedly. Lisa had told her where Dee was off to and she couldn't believe that she might end up working with a celebrity.

  'What shoes are you wearing?' Lisa demanded.

  'My trainers?' Dee said uncertainly.

  'No!' Lisa shook her head furiously. 'That would ruin the whole effect. Wear your cowboy boots.'

  'But they're ancient.'

  'I'll give them a quick polish and they'll be fine.'

  'It's okay, I'll do it,' Dee protested as Lisa bustled to the door.

  'While you're wearing a white shirt? I think not! Where are they?' Lisa added as she made a beeline for the door.

  'Er, in the cupboard under the stairs – I think.'

  'Right, stick on a video for the kids and I'll be back in a minute.'

  Sam's eyes widened. 'We can watch telly?'

  Lisa nodded. 'But only if you're all as quiet as mice, okay?'

  Sam and the other children nodded and, whispering and giggling, they curled up on the rug in front of the TV while Dee put on Postman Pat. When the children were engrossed in their programme, she crossed the room to the baby section and bent to tickle a baby lying under a play gym.