Finishing Touches

by Patricia Scanlan

  Judy’s mother was so put out that it was only talking to Cassie that made Judy stick to her plan.

  ‘You’ll get on that plane, Judy O’Shaughnessy, if I have to put you on it myself,’ the older girl threatened. ‘It’s only for a few days and your mother will be fine, believe me. She can always ring Mam if she has to.’

  It was such a relief to get on the plane, away from the tensions of the flat and away from her mother. It really wasn’t working out, sharing with Barbara. Even though they had been friends for years, Barbara was not an easy person to live with on a day-to-day basis. Come live with me to know me, or words to that effect, someone had once said. Well, it was true of Barbara. When there had been just Aileen and Cassie and herself in the flat, it had been fun, but then Barbara had arrived and the whole atmosphere of the place had changed. It was amazing how one person could effect such a transformation. Barbara was so totally self-centred and blithely unaware of the fact that when you were living with other people you had to make an effort and make allowances. She was incredible, actually, and Judy didn’t know what she was going to do when Cassie left to go to London to live. Judy didn’t think she could cope with Barbara on her own.

  It had been so relaxing in London with Aileen . . . well, not relaxing, exactly! Her sister had whizzed her around showing her the sights, but it had been a terrifically exciting few days and Judy had enjoyed it immensely, particularly the shopping for clothes. The icing on the cake had been Andrew Lawson’s dinner invitation, in honour of which she had bought a little black number in Richard’s Shop. Judy glanced at her watch as she struggled into the hall with her duty-free bags and case. She’d have to get a move on, as the only flight she could get had left her very stuck for time.

  Rushing into the bedroom, she came to a halt at the sight of Ian Murray sitting bare-chested in Barbara’s bed, surrounded by beer cans and empty plates, and Barbara glaring at her, quite shameless in a black negligee that hid nothing at all.

  ‘What are you doing home?’ Barbara demanded. ‘You weren’t supposed to be home until tomorrow!’

  Judy was speechless. Barbara was making her feel like a culprit.

  A rare anger ripped through Judy. After all, it was her bedroom as well as Barbara’s and she was paying exactly the same rent.

  ‘I want to get changed, Barbara! If you don’t mind . . . Detective Murray,’ she said coldly.

  ‘Uh, oh right,’ muttered the embarrassed detective. ‘If you could just excuse me until I get dressed.’

  ‘Certainly,’ Judy snapped icily. The cheek of that Barbara one trying to make her feel bad about coming into her own bedroom! By golly, when she got her on her own there was going to be the mother and father of a row. Judy marched into the kitchen to put the kettle on for a badly needed cup of tea. On the table, the bare carcase of a cold chicken sat in lonely splendour. Judy picked at it absentmindedly as she waited for the kettle to boil. Her eyes widened as a thought struck her. When she flung open the fridge door her suspicions were confirmed. Her chicken had been devoured. She had cooked it specially so she would have something to eat on her arrival home from London, not realizing that she was going to be wined and dined by Andrew Lawson, and now Barbara and beady-eyes had gone and scoffed it. It really was the last straw! Judy decided. The straw that broke the camel’s back. Some things were going to change – and how!

  Twenty-Five

  ‘Cripes, would you look at the radiant bride! What the hell is the matter with you?’ Aileen flung her arms around Laura, who was standing with Cassie in the arrivals hall in Dublin airport.

  ‘It’s good to see you. You look great,’ Laura grinned, hugging her friend back.

  ‘Can’t say the same about you, dear. You need the services of a fairy godmother . . . or a beautician! Hi, Cassie! How’s the girl?’

  ‘All the better for seeing you, you rip!’ Cassie laughed, as she too was enveloped in a great bearhug.

  ‘Lead the way to the bar, women. I could murder a Bloody Mary,’ Aileen said, her eyes dancing with pleasure at the sight of the girls. ‘I think the pilot was suffering from Parkinson’s disease. It was a hell of a jumpy flight.’ Aileen rolled her eyes dramatically and Cassie thought to herself that, really, her friend should have pursued an acting career. She would have won an Oscar by now.

  Ten minutes later, seated at a quiet table in a corner of the bar, they sat sipping their drinks, glad to be in one another’s company.

  ‘Well, what’s the news? Has anyone disembowelled Barbara yet?’ Aileen asked cheerfully as she took a slug of her Bloody Mary The other two guffawed. Judy had told her sister about the unmerciful row that had ensued on her unexpected arrival from London. As a result of this, Judy was now sharing a bedroom with Cassie, and Barbara was still in a huff almost a month later.

  ‘Except for the fact that Judy is going to a dinner-dance and staying over at Andrew Lawson’s, you’d be sharing Barbara’s room tonight,’ Cassie informed her.

  ‘A lucky escape, then. I must remember to thank the suave Mr Lawson when I see him,’ Aileen smiled. ‘I’m looking forward to tonight.’

  ‘So am I,’ Laura said emphatically. ‘I might as well warn you, girls, I’m going to get pissed as a newt.’

  ‘That’s a fine attitude for the bride-to-be to have, I must say,’ Aileen remarked. ‘What’s wrong with you, anyway? I thought you’d be on cloud nine. You don’t seem very happy about getting married, if I may say so.’

  ‘I’m not!’ Laura retorted glumly as she dolefully popped a couple of peanuts into her mouth. Aileen arched an incredulous eyebrow at her friend and caught Cassie’s eye. Cassie shrugged her shoulders and threw her eyes up to heaven.

  ‘Why not, for heaven’s sake? If I were marrying someone like Doug Donnelly I’d be ecstatic. He doesn’t by any chance have a twin brother, does he?’ Aileen demanded.

  ‘It’s not Doug, it’s the marrying of him. If you know what I mean,’ Laura sighed. ‘Do you know what the parish priest had the nerve to say to me?’ Laura sat up straight. ‘He told me that I was to give myself totally to Doug. Mind, soul and body!’

  ‘So! What’s so awful about that? Sounds rather delicious to me. And getting the priest’s blessing to do it too. What more could you ask?’ Aileen was mystified and Cassie stifled a giggle. She had heard all this a hundred times before.

  ‘The point is, Aileen, he didn’t tell Doug to give himself totally to me, mind, soul and body!’ Laura was almost spluttering with indignation. ‘And then he had the nerve to tell me not to trouble Doug with trivial little problems like if I’d burnt my fingers getting his dinner, until he’d had time to relax after his hard day at work. He told me I could mention it casually in conversation later on. Did you ever hear anything like it? What about my hard day at work? He didn’t tell Doug not to tell me about his burnt fingers when he’s getting my dinner! That old fart is living in cloud-cuckoo-land.’

  ‘Yes, well, that is a bit much, I agree,’ Aileen murmured soothingly, trying to keep her face straight and avoid Cassie’s eyes.

  ‘I should have got married in a registry office. It’s what I wanted to do all along. Isn’t that what I said to you, Cassie?’ Laura turned to Cassie for confirmation.

  Cassie answered her friend patiently. ‘Yes, Laura, but your mother would never have coped with that. You know how she’s setting such store by this wedding. And doing everything properly.’

  ‘Oh Lord! Don’t talk about my mother and doing the right thing. She’s driving me round the twist: Da won’t sit beside the priest at the top table as etiquette says he should and she’s going bananas,’ moaned Laura.

  ‘Have another drink!’ urged Aileen.

  ‘I have to go to the loo first. I’ll get another round on the way back.’ Laura sighed deeply, excusing herself from the table.

  ‘Boy, am I glad you’re home!’ Cassie grinned ruefully. ‘I just can’t do a thing with her. I’ve never seen her so uptight.’

  ‘Sounds like a terminal case of pre-wedd
ing nerves to me,’ Aileen grinned. ‘How’s Doug coping?’

  ‘Just wishing to get the whole palaver over so Laura can get back to normal. At least he’s got a nice family. That father of hers is an out-and-out bastard, Aileen. I know she’s dreading going up the aisle on his arm. She resents it because she really hates his guts. She’s just going through this charade for her mother,’ Cassie sighed.

  ‘Ah, poor old Laura, that’s tough going. Imagine your wedding being so awful that you just want to get it over and done with? It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?’ Aileen’s eyes clouded with concern for her friend. ‘We’ll make a real fuss of her. I’ll get at her tomorrow and give her a massage and a facial and by the time I’m finished with her she’ll be a new woman.’ Aileen smiled at Cassie and took her left hand in hers to examine the sparkling solitaire. ‘How’s Robbie? Have you set a date yet?’ She studied her friend intently. She had never seen Cassie looking so well and happy. Her eyes sparkled, her skin glowed, her chestnut hair with its glints of gold was a shining, luxuriant mane. ‘Love suits you, Cassie,’ Aileen said quietly. ‘I wish I could meet someone . . .’

  ‘You will, Aileen. One of these days when you least expect it, he’ll be there,’ Cassie assured her earnestly.

  ‘I know I’m supposed to be a liberated career woman and all that and I’d never say it to anyone else but you but there are times I’d give anything to be married,’ Aileen confessed. ‘I’d like to be married to a nice strong manly man who’d put his arms around me and take care of me and tell the world to go to hell! But the trouble is, I just can’t find a nice manly man. They’re all married! I wonder if I’m looking for a father figure?’

  ‘Probably,’ smiled Cassie, who had never met anyone like Aileen for analysing herself and others.

  Aileen ran her fingers through her titian curls and sighed. ‘Frankly, I wish I’d grown up in the Fifties. There were real men around then, Cassie. I was watching a film with Rod Taylor in it the other day and, girl, he was in his prime. What a jaw-line! What a body! And those eyes! And what have we got today? David Bloody Cassidy and John Travolta. I ask you? Tragic, isn’t it?’ Aileen laughed. ‘Don’t mind me, Cassie, it’s just when I see the pair of you all settled I get a bit panicky. Daft, isn’t it?’

  ‘No, it’s not a bit daft. There’s no shame in wanting to get married, for heaven’s sake, no matter what the feminists say,’ Cassie retorted.

  ‘You’re right! Rod Taylor, I’m heading your way,’ chuckled the redhead as she made room for Laura, who had arrived back with another round of drinks.

  ‘Or Richard Burton, or Peter Finch, or Burt Lancaster,’ Cassie mused, thinking of manly men of the Fifties.

  ‘What are you on about?’ enquired Laura curiously.

  ‘We’re selecting a manly man for Aileen,’ Cassie giggled lightheartedly.

  ‘Oooh! How about Sean Connery?’ Laura suggested.

  Aileen rolled her eyes and crossed her long shapely legs. ‘Stop it, you’re making me randy,’ she breathed.

  ‘Well, I don’t know about you pair but I’m starving, so drink up and let’s hit the Sunflower,’ Laura instructed crisply. She’d been looking forward to their Chinese meal since Cassie had suggested it a couple of weeks back.

  A few hours later they were seated at a window table in the Sunflower Chinese restaurant on O’Connell Street. The lights of the capital’s main thoroughfare below them were reflected in the polished curved glass of the window. It was early evening and there were only a few other diners besides themselves. In the background soft music played as the waiters murmured in Chinese among themselves. Cassie was secretly pleased to see that Laura was much more relaxed as she tucked into her pork chow mein.

  They had planned how they would spend this last evening together, and both girls were going to stay the night in their old flat in Ranelagh with Cassie. They lingered over their meal, catching up on all their affairs, and then they drove back to the flat to change for a night out on the town.

  They were dancing on a crowded dance-floor in Sachs nightclub a couple of hours later, thoroughly enjoying themselves. They couldn’t remember the last time the three of them had been out together with no boyfriends or fiancés to cramp their style.

  ‘He looks quite manly,’ Cassie giggled, nudging Aileen and indicating a suave man standing at the bar.

  ‘Hmmmm,’ approved Aileen. ‘Excuse me while I go flirt.’

  Ten minutes later she was back, wide-eyed. ‘You’ll never guess who that was!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Who?’ Laura and Cassie were agog.

  ‘That was Father Paul!’

  The girls stared at her blankly.

  ‘Remember! Father Paul whom we all fell in love with at the retreat years ago at school. And guess what?’

  ‘What!’ The other pair was astounded.

  ‘He wants to see me home! He’s left the priesthood!’

  ‘Oh Aileen!’ they shrieked with laughter. Trust her!

  ‘He’s gone to the loo. Come on, let’s get the hell out of here. I don’t think I could cope! I’m getting too old for this!’

  Snorting with laughter they made their way out of the nightclub in double-quick time and hailed a taxi. They piled in and laughed the whole way home.

  Cassie and Aileen had gone to bed but Laura, who was sharing her old room with Barbara, found herself unable to sleep. She had really enjoyed the day with the girls and she still had tomorrow morning, the eve of the wedding, with them, while they waited for Robbie to arrive with the wedding cake. Then she would head home to Port Mahon for the wedding that was costing a fortune. It really galled Laura to have to spend her hard-earned money on things like the organist’s fee and flowers for the church, when she hadn’t wanted this church wedding or all the palaver. Thank God for Robbie’s friend who was a chef and was making the wedding cake for half-nothing.

  She slipped out of bed and went down to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. It was strange being back in the flat with the girls. She had got used to living in the apartment in Donnybrook with Doug. She wished he were here with her now to tell her to stop worrying about this blasted wedding. Doug never let trivialities like weddings bother him. He was too busy plotting and planning his next deal. Laura smiled. Doug was consumed by his business deals. He was the hardest grafter she had ever met. He had been making a deal the first time they had met. She threw a piece of cardboard box into the still-red fire and watched it blaze with a little smile on her face.

  Doug Donnelly! He was something else. He walked into her life while she was waiting tables in Capri. He was so intent on his conversation with his companion as they were leaving their table, that he bumped right into Laura and caused her to spill half the scalding contents of a coffee-pot all over her left hand and arm. It had been so painful that she cried aloud as blisters formed on her skin. Doug was horrified. She sustained quite a bad burn and he insisted on taking her to a hospital casualty department. They were there for hours. It being late on a Friday night, the place was packed with brawlers and boozers and accident victims and, although Laura was in pain, she had to wait until the worst cases were treated before she was finally taken care of.

  Her escort introduced himself to her as Doug Donnelly and, in spite of her discomfort, she took note of the concerned eyes ringed by a sweep of long black lashes. She had seen him wining and dining various people in the restaurant. He was obviously a businessman, she decided, after she had seen him in a few times. Tall and well-built, he had a strong handsome face, and Laura found herself giving him several covert admiring glances. But that was all she was ever able to do because she was kept so busy.

  Sitting beside him in the casualty department, her arm and hand throbbing painfully, her black-and-white uniform stained with coffee, Laura had felt pretty miserable. She had urged him to go away, saying that she would get a taxi home, but he wouldn’t hear of it. They didn’t get out of the hospital until after 3 a.m. and when she asked him in for coffee, to her surprise he ag
reed.

  Oh lordy, I hope the place is tidy, she thought in panic as she struggled to get her key in the door. Her left hand was bandaged and useless.

  ‘Let me,’ Doug offered kindly, taking the key from her and inserting it in the lock. The first thing Laura saw as she entered the sitting-room was Aileen’s supper dishes. She’d kill Aileen in the morning. She was always leaving dirty dishes about, despite Cassie’s and Laura’s protestations. ‘Sit down,’ she invited the man at her side, while she discreetly edged the dishes under the armchair with her foot.

  ‘Don’t you think I should make the coffee?’ Doug suggested, indicating her bandaged hand.

  ‘Oh sure!’ Laura had forgotten her infirmity. While he made the coffee, she slipped into the bathroom for a quick check. Just as well she did, she decided, as she observed the wooden clothes-horse in the bath, festooned with a variety of bras, pants and tights. It was hard to get clothes dry these days and the girls had to resort to the clothes-horse. Laura pulled the shower curtain. Some things were best kept unseen when a girl was trying to make an impression.

  The dawn was breaking and the milkman had left his milk bottles on the doorstep before Doug finally left. He and Laura had started to talk and completely forgotten about the time. Exchanging life stories, they had found they had a lot in common. Doug had as much ambition as Laura and was currently in the process of setting up his own video production and facilities company. Hence all the business meetings in Capri. These meetings he was having would decide whether or not he was going to have his own company and it was an incredibly important time for him. Laura was fascinated by the complexity of his plans, particularly the legal aspects. Having done a little company law, she was able to ask some very pertinent questions. It was a stimulating, lively conversation and when he asked her out for a meal she accepted with pleasure. ‘As long as it isn’t Capri,’ she said jokingly.