Finishing Touches

by Patricia Scanlan

  ‘I’m going home sick. I don’t feel well,’ Aileen announced.

  ‘Aah!’ said Mr Alden, who didn’t like to be bothered with such things. ‘Do you think you’ll be able to resume duty tomorrow?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Aileen said truthfully. If Liam did half the things he planned to do, she mightn’t be able to walk tomorrow. The thought of it sent a hot spurt of pleasure coursing through her veins. ‘I’ll ring in,’ she said hastily, anxious to be gone.

  ‘Well, leave a sick note and send in a doctor’s certificate if you’re out longer than two days!’

  Typical, thought Aileen, closing the door none too gently after her. You could be dying on the spot and all they’d care about would be their blooming sick notes and certs. She had a good mind to take a week off. God knows she deserved it. Mr Alden sat on his arse from Monday to Friday doing next to nothing while she was swamped with work. Well, today she was going to forget such an entity as Mr James Alden existed. Not stopping to chat, she told Mrs Hardy she was going home sick. ‘You know yourself,’ she whispered.

  ‘You should take a glass of brandy for them period pains. It could be your Ethiopian tubes. That’s what was wrong with me!’

  Not wishing to get into a discussion about Mrs Hardy’s Fallopian tubes, Aileen just nodded and flew out the door. She drove to Killiney where Liam was waiting in the foyer of the Killiney Court Hotel.

  They spent the rest of the day in bed!

  Restlessly Aileen got up from her lounger. ‘I’m going for a swim,’ she told Cassie and Laura, who seemed engrossed in their books. If Liam were here now, she knew they’d be making love. But it wasn’t enough any longer. She was fed up waiting for the phone to ring, fed up with plans being suddenly broken because Monica, his menopausal wife, wanted to visit her parents, or go shopping, or was having friends over and he just couldn’t get out of it. She was fed up going to hotels or making the most of the occasional night when Laura and Cassie would not be staying in the flat. She was fed up being accommodating and having to make sacrifices. She had even given up her drama nights on many occasions when Liam was free to see her. Most of all she was fed up waking up alone. Not once in their relationship had Liam been able to spend a whole night with her. Surely if he loved her as much as he said he did he would want to leave his wife and live with her, especially if Monica were the pain he made her out to be. His children were practically grown up. They’d be doing their own thing soon enough and Monica would be free to watch Dallas and Dynasty and Knots Landing and Coronation Street to her heart’s content.

  They couldn’t go on like this. He must want to change things. The thing that frightened Aileen was that she wasn’t sure if he wanted to change things or not. From his point of view he had the best of both worlds: her to make him feel young and good about himself and a wife to look after him. Diving into the surging surf, Aileen promised herself that things were going to change when she got back from her holidays. Liam was going to have to make a choice!

  Twenty-One

  Reluctantly Laura closed the covers of her book. She hated coming to the end of a novel that she was really enjoying and Brian Cleeve’s Cry of Morning was an engrossing read. It was a real page-turner about life in Dublin in the boom times of the Sixties and she was sorry to finish it. Beside her, Cassie was up to her ears in Valley of the Dolls, while Aileen had gone for a swim. Maybe she’d go for one herself in a minute.

  The warm breeze rippled across her tanned body. Even though it was very hot, there was always a lovely island breeze to help cool you down. Laura was really glad they had come to Greece. She had been a bit worried when Aileen was talking about going to Egypt. She’d never have been able to afford that. This holiday was her treat to herself for the last two years of slogging and, God, she had slogged her guts out. But it had paid off. Laura smiled broadly. She had done really well in her exams, second class honours, grade one. Only Ted Nolan had done better than her. Maybe if she didn’t have to work part-time and could have spent more time studying, she would have done better. But it couldn’t be helped. She had to work to supplement her grant, unlike Ted, whose father was a gynaecologist and who was absolutely rolling in money. Well, her finals were coming up next year and she was aiming for a first.

  It would be tough going from now on. Financially as well as academically. She wouldn’t be able to go and work in the States next summer. That time would be spent studying for her autumn finals. That was why she had worked from dawn until dusk this year in America. It had been one hell of a summer and she had come back home worn out but happy with the amount she had earned. With careful budgeting she’d manage fine. This holiday was a godsend though. It was great to forget about studying and working. And it was such a treat to eat out and for her to be waited on for a change. Waiting on tables was no easy job, especially in America. People there wanted service – and fast. She had been run off her feet. Fortunately she was used to waiting tables in her waitressing job at Capri, the Italian restaurant she worked in at home, although the pace wasn’t as hectic as it had been at Jacques, the seafood restaurant where she worked on Nantucket Island. That had been an experience and a half! Exhausting wasn’t the word for it. Nantucket was a lovely place, though. She was glad not to have spent another season in New York. The humidity in August in New York had almost killed her the first year. At least there was a sea breeze in Nantucket. She had been lucky to get the job.

  She was waitressing in Boston when a girl she knew from college had bumped into her one day and told her that her brother-in-law had opened a new restaurant in Nantucket and was looking for waitressing staff. Laura jumped at the opportunity. She had heard so much about the beauty of Nantucket Island, situated twenty miles south of the southeast tip of Cape Cod. Shaped like a pork chop, it was only fifteen miles long and two and a half miles wide. All she’d need was a bike to explore it.

  She had taken the bus from Boston and the steamship from Hyannis Port and found herself in a whole new world.

  Jacques was divided into two sections, a very exclusive restaurant where gourmet food was the order of the day and the clients wore only designer label clothes, and downstairs where Laura worked, which was less expensive, more informal and more family-orientated. The food was fabulous and Philip, the owner, made sure his staff ate well, because they sure as hell had to work hard. Laura had never tasted anything to equal the chowder and the succulent Nantucket Bay scallops.

  Despite working from early morning until after midnight, Laura managed to explore the whole island during her time off. There were no buses and everybody cycled around on those cute old bikes with the baskets on the front. For some reason, they always reminded Laura of Katharine Hepburn. The island was a cyclist’s dream with special bike paths and she particularly liked the Cliff Road and Hummock Pond Road. The names fascinated her, especially the street-names in the town: Easy Street, India Street, New Whale Street. Quince Street with its quaint old houses was her favourite. Exploring the town itself had been a pleasure.

  Nantucket was once a great whaling port and thriving commercial centre. Retired whalers had built fine mansions that retained their elegance. She had visited the Whaling Museum, the Jethro Coffin house, the oldest house on the island, built in 1686, and the old mill dating from 1746. It was all fascinating and Laura promised herself that some day when she had money she was going to come back as a tourist, with nothing else to do but explore this lush, beautiful island with its long sandy beaches and low undulating hills, carpeted with heather and blueberry bushes and flowering plants.

  All in all it had been a pretty good summer, she decided, sitting up and looking at Aileen swimming up and down. She had worked damn hard and saved a lot of money, but she had really enjoyed Nantucket and was relishing her holidays. It was just like old times with the girls, before they had started their romances. Laura sometimes envied Aileen and Cassie their carefree existence. They had their jobs and secure salaries while she had a further year of study and she wasn’t even sur
e of getting a job then. It would be nice to have a boyfriend, too. Sometimes she felt a little lonely when she heard them making plans, but although she had been asked out many times by guys at college and clients from the restaurant where she worked, Laura knew that nothing must stop her from achieving a first. She had done well in her exams this year; she must do better at her finals. After that she could have all the romances she wanted.

  Standing up, she smiled at Cassie, ‘Come on, let’s dunk Aileen for the crack.’

  ‘You’re on!’ grinned her friend, laying aside her book. Laughing, they ran down the beach and dived into the sea after their shrieking flatmate.

  ‘Where will we go tonight?’ Cassie asked as she concentrated on trying to get the varnish on her toenails and not on her toes. She was sitting on the balcony with Laura and Aileen, wrapped in a fluffy white bath-towel. They had all had showers and were beautifying themselves for their night on the town. It had become a ritual they enjoyed, relaxing after their showers rubbing lashings of moisturizer on their tanned bodies as they chatted and laughed about the day’s events. Then when they were dressed, they would sip a cool drink and watch the sun sinking into the Aegean, a spectacular sight that never failed to delight them.

  ‘I think we should go to Vasileo’s,’ Aileen said, as she twirled around in front of the mirror to inspect her tan.

  ‘Fine,’ agreed Laura, who was, as usual, the first to be dressed. ‘Is that OK with you, Cassie?’

  ‘Sure, the food there is scrumptious.’

  ‘So are the waiters,’ giggled Aileen, remembering the flirtation she had carried on with a gorgeous brown-eyed hunk a few evenings previously.

  ‘Aileen O’Shaughnessy, you behave yourself tonight,’ warned Cassie with mock severity.

  ‘Huh! Do you hear who’s talking?’ Aileen sniffed indignantly as she covered herself from head to toe in Johnson’s Baby Lotion. ‘You and Stavros weren’t doing too badly. Wait until I get home and tell Robbie all about it.’

  ‘Don’t you dare!’ Cassie exclaimed in horror. Robbie wouldn’t like it to think she had been flirting with another man.

  ‘That’s changed your tune, miss,’ laughed Aileen. ‘Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.’

  Cassie gave a sheepish grin. ‘It’s just that Robbie’s special.’

  ‘Do you hear that, Laura?’ Aileen arched an eyebrow. ‘Robbie’s special. We’d never have guessed, would we?’

  ‘Oh never!’ grinned Laura, pouring out their drinks. ‘You’d never think that for a minute.’

  ‘Funeee!’ Cassie waved her fingers in the air to dry her nails.

  Aileen flopped into the chair beside Cassie, eyes glinting mischievously. ‘Are we talking about walking-up-the-aisle special?’

  In spite of herself, Cassie blushed scarlet.

  Aileen sat bolt upright. ‘Laura, did you see that? Look at her! Cassie Jordan, what’s going on here? There’s more to this than meets the eye, or I’ll eat my hat.’

  Cassie met Laura’s gaze. ‘Well! What is the story here?’ Laura asked softly. ‘Is Robbie the one?’

  ‘I think so,’ Cassie admitted, smiling.

  ‘Have you taken the big step?’ Aileen enquired discreetly.

  Cassie laughed at her euphemism. ‘Yep.’

  ‘And you never told us!’ chorused the other two indignantly.

  ‘Well, I kept meaning to, I just never seemed to find the right time.’

  Laura raised her glass. ‘Two down, one to go.’

  ‘Laura, you’re the last of the three vestal virgins unless you’ve been doing something we haven’t heard about in Nantucket.’

  Laura shook her head. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, Aileen. You’ll be the first to know. And speaking of things we don’t know about, what’s the story about this Liam guy. You’re playing him very close to your chest.’

  ‘You can say that again,’ Cassie agreed. Mind, she would never have had the neck to approach Aileen about Liam in such a direct manner as Laura had.

  It was Aileen’s turn to blush in a most uncharacteristic manner.

  ‘Come on, spill the beans!’ demanded Laura, laughing.

  Aileen took a gulp of her drink. ‘Well, he’s an architect . . . and . . . um . . . he’s older than me. He’s forty-five, although that’s not . . . that old,’ she added a little defensively, noting their surprise. ‘And, well . . . he’s married.’ It all came out in a stammering rush and she was so glad that at last she had told them. Now she stared anxiously at her friends.

  ‘Oh. Ahh . . .’ Cassie was momentarily stuck for words. She and Laura had discussed the mysterious Liam and come up with a few scenarios but, surprisingly enough, the idea that he might be married had never crossed their minds.

  ‘You’re not serious, Aileen!’ Laura exclaimed in disgust.

  Aileen felt the blood drain from her face at the sight of Laura’s accusing face. Her heart sank. She might have expected Cassie to be a bit shocked, but she thought Laura would have taken the news in her stride. Laura was so . . . well . . . hard wasn’t exactly the word, tough maybe. Of them all, she had seen much more of life, what with her travels and her studies. Aileen was very taken aback by her reaction.

  ‘Oh I know, I’ll probably be consigned to hell’s fires,’ she said airily, her tone a little brittle to hide her hurt and dismay.

  ‘Oh for God’s sake, Aileen! That’s typical of you. Can’t you be serious about anything?’ Laura seemed to be keeping her temper with difficulty.

  ‘Look, forget I said anything,’ snapped Aileen, getting up from her chair. ‘It’s really none of your business anyway and I’m not in the humour for one of your bossy lectures.’

  ‘Oh grow up, Aileen!’

  Aileen spun on her heel and faced her friend.

  ‘No! You grow up, Laura. What the hell do you know about it? You’ve never had a relationship in your life. All you care about is getting a first-class honours—’

  ‘Oh come on, let’s not have an argument,’ interjected Cassie hastily as she saw tempers rising.

  Aileen exploded. ‘She’s not going to stand in judgement on me, Cassie! The trouble with Miss high-and-mighty holier-than-thou virgin here is jealousy. We’ve done it and she hasn’t, because she’s afraid of her life of getting involved with anyone. There’s a free space where sex is concerned on her precious timetable!’

  Laura’s face reddened with fury. ‘You fuck off, Aileen O’Shaughnessy! At least I don’t have to resort to stealing another woman’s husband. That’s the lowest of the low. And I don’t sleep with every Tom, Dick, and Harry just because I can’t control my hormones.’

  ‘You bitch!’ Aileen’s eyes widened. ‘I’m not stealing anyone’s husband,’ she fumed. ‘She doesn’t give a damn about her marriage. All she wants to do is sit and vegetate in front of the TV. If the marriage were working Liam wouldn’t be looking for companionship elsewhere and—’

  ‘Huh!’ snorted Laura. ‘What a convenient answer. Is that how you justify it to yourself? Is that how he justifies it to you? What about all the years that woman supported him when he was making it to the top? What about the sacrifices she’s had to make? And what’s he going to do now? Trade her in for a new model because the old one is a bit worn from having performed her wifely duties? It makes me sick!’

  ‘Laura, calm down!’ ordered Cassie. This was getting out of hand.

  The other girl turned on her, shaking with emotion. ‘Don’t you tell me what to do, either. I suppose we should be honoured that you were actually able to make the supreme sacrifice and come on holidays with us. We’ve seen precious little of you lately, now that you have your precious Robbie! Except when you have your fights with him and then you come running back to us.’

  ‘Laura!’ exclaimed Cassie in disbelief, hurt and stunned by what her friend had just said.

  ‘Oh, leave me alone!’ Grabbing her bag, Laura rushed across the room.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Cassie asked sharply, trying to keep the h
urt out of her voice. She felt sick. One minute they had been laughing and teasing – and now this. In all their years of friendship they had never had a scene like this. Oh yes, they’d had their tiffs and got over them. But this was different. There was a lot of resentment and bad feeling surfacing here.

  ‘I’m going out. I want to be by myself!’ Laura snarled, slamming the door behind her.

  Aileen burst into tears. ‘Bitch!’ she sobbed. ‘Who does she think she is? Do you think I’m a slut? I’ve only had two relationships. That’s not excessive for someone of my age!’

  ‘Of course I don’t think you’re a slut,’ Cassie said wearily.

  ‘At least you don’t judge people,’ Aileen sniffed.

  ‘Who am I to judge anybody?’ Cassie gave a watery smile. ‘Do you think I’ve been . . . neglecting you and Laura because of Robbie?’

  ‘Well, you’ve been spending lot of time with him,’ Aileen conceded. ‘But that’s understandable,’ she amended, seeing Cassie’s stricken face. ‘Laura just doesn’t understand what it’s like to want to be with someone but she could try and make some effort to understand, instead of mouthing off like that.’

  Cassie sighed. ‘She really lost the cool tonight.’

  ‘Yeah, and she’s lost a friend too,’ Aileen said grimly.

  ‘Don’t be hasty. She might come back and apologize,’ Cassie said, trying to understand what had caused Laura to fly off the handle.

  ‘She can go to hell!’ swore Aileen, pulling a sundress over her head. ‘Will we just go to the taverna? I don’t feel like going into Mandraki.’