Are You Ready?

by Amanda Hearty

  ‘Are you here to help, too?’ she asked Tom, who looked great in a pinstripe suit and blue shirt.

  ‘No, not in this suit! I just popped into John’s after work to drop back a DVD of his, when he roped me into coming here, with the promise of a pint after.’

  ‘Well, let me get the alcohol rolling, then,’ laughed Sarah. She opened the fridge and pulled out some beers. Tom relaxed and took off his suit jacket.

  ‘So tell me about this wedding invite that is spurring Mel to think you are the next Monet!’

  Sarah blushed, but showed Tom the invite.

  ‘Well done, Sarah,’ he said approvingly. ‘It looks fantastic. I don’t know much about art, but you obviously have great talent, good luck with it.’

  Sarah appreciated his honesty, and knew that paint-by-numbers was about as arty as he and his brother John got. At least he was trying to be supportive. While John and Sarah’s mum were busy over at the shed, Tom and Sarah chatted about their godchild, Mel and John, and the latest Quentin Tarantino film. Tom was so relaxed and just a regular Dublin guy, he didn’t have an interest in the arts like Hugh, but he was happy to have a beer and chat about sport or Sarah’s family. Eventually John made it back into the kitchen having fixed the shed door.

  ‘Why does my brother get the beers while I do all the work?’ John asked, as Sarah handed him a cold Budweiser.

  ‘It’s because Sarah thinks I’m the best-looking, of course. Charming and single, who could resist! Isn’t that right, Sarah?’ Tom joked.

  Sarah felt herself blush again. She was mortified by Tom’s remark. She had Hugh now, and tried to think of him rather than the lads who were now teasing each other about their fashion sense.

  ‘Well, did you hear about Sarah?’ Sarah’s mum said as she opened a pack of Bakewell tartlets for the boys. ‘She is off to meet Hugh’s family this weekend in Galway. I’m telling you, John, we could have another wedding to be planning!’

  Sarah didn’t think she could blush again so soon, but she did. Why did mum say that now, right in front of Tom and John? she thought, fuming. She tried to change the subject to baby Fiona, which always worked with her mum, but she still felt awkward, and was glad half an hour later when the lads excused themselves and headed to Dalkey for a pint. Sarah went to bed feeling guilty she wasn’t prouder that Hugh wanted her to meet his family in Galway; but she just didn’t want everyone thinking she was about to be married – it was a while away yet.

  98

  Ali couldn’t believe her wedding was only a few weeks away! She felt time was speeding up. The last few weeks had been a blur: of finalizing wedding songs, trying to write wedding speeches, and buying clothes for the big honeymoon. She was up to her eyes in contracts; she had barely seen Robin all week, because she had to work so late every night. Her boss was really piling it on her. It seemed to be her tactic to make sure Ali had time for work and nothing else when she was in the office. Ali thought this unfair: everyone knew brides had to do some wedding jobs between nine and five. How else could she research Hawaii online, or print off rough copies of her wedding booklet? She knew her interest in work had been poor recently, but the wedding just did consume all her thoughts and actions. Her aim this week was to get her wedding booklet finalized and printed. She needed two hundred copies, though, so it would be hard to print them while her boss was snooping around. She would have to do it after work hours, or during lunch. Just then Mary walked in, her nun-like bun looking tighter than ever.

  ‘Ali, we’ve a case that we’ve to take and to do free of charge. I’m against it, but the powers that be say we have to. They say we need to be seen to be doing some pro bono work, it’s good PR for the firm. I’m going to pass the client over to you, there is no point wasting one of the senior partners on a freebie job, but don’t forget you need to be up-to-date with all your own work, too. Just try to do this case as quickly and cheaply as you can.’ And with that she tossed Ali a file with information on the case.

  Ali would normally have been curious about the job, but she happened to be online chatting to a travel expert in Hawaii who was recommending places for her to eat at and visit. She placed the file in her ‘to-do’ pile and ploughed ahead with the online chat, all the while looking deep in thought, so that Mary wouldn’t suspect anything.

  It wasn’t until the next day, when Ali got a message that a Mr Fleming had been trying to contact her that she knew she had better flick through the case notes and then call him right back. She was meeting a make-up artist in Brown Thomas at 1 p.m., to discuss make-up options, so she decided this guy better be quick on the phone, she had things to do.

  She opened the file and started reading about him. He was forty-two, lived in Dublin and had two kids. His problem was the custody of and access to his children. Ali wasn’t sure how her company were supposed to help, as family law was not really their area, but the more she read the more she slowed down and started taking notes. It seemed Paddy Fleming and his then girlfriend Trish had had two children while they lived in a nice-enough estate in Lucan. Things had been going well until he was laid off in work. He had found it hard to get a new job, and as time went by he had become more disheartened, and had begun betting a little and drinking too much. Even so, he had still looked after the kids all day and had never drunk around them. But with him unemployed, it hadn’t been long before his girlfriend had found someone new and had upped and left him. She was now married and living in a well-to-do area in South Dublin, and had prevented almost all contact between the kids and her ex-partner. As they had never been married he didn’t have many legal rights, and the fact that Trish could now afford a great solicitor meant Paddy couldn’t surmount all the legal barriers she had set up. Ali didn’t know what to think about the case: she had heard of this kind of thing happening before, but she wasn’t sure there was much she could do to help the man. As she went to close the file she saw a letter that Paddy had enclosed. Along with it were some photos of what must have been him and his two young children. The kids were the spit of him – blond hair and fair freckled faces – and in the photos they were all hugging and laughing, and Paddy was beaming with joy. You could imagine how hard it would be for him, not to be allowed to see them. She put the photos down and read the letter. In it Paddy described how he felt, and how not having the kids was sucking the life out of him, how they were all he cared about, how Trish had exaggerated his drinking and betting and made him out to be a lowlife scum, and how she had bamboozled his legal team until they couldn’t fight her any more. Paddy said he just wanted one last chance to be a part of his kids’ lives. Ali picked up the phone and rang him, and after two minutes of talking to the soft-spoken man she knew what she had to do. She rang the Elizabeth Arden counter in Brown Thomas, cancelled her long-awaited appointment and agreed to meet Paddy in a local bagel bar for lunch in an hour’s time.

  Within five minutes of talking to Paddy, Ali knew she had to do her best to help him. He held his head in his hands as he explained how the child custody meetings had been full of lies. How he had turned down many jobs, as they would have meant being away long hours from the kids, and how he couldn’t have done that, he was a hands-on dad and needed to play, talk and eat with them every night. How, when he finally had got a good job, Trish hadn’t cared: she had met someone richer and ‘better class’ and had grabbed the kids and gone. How Trish didn’t even work herself now, and yet had a nanny to look after their children: ‘She never did like getting her hands dirty.’

  ‘I would gladly look after them every day, but even once a week would give me hope,’ Paddy whispered.

  As Ali headed back to the office, she rang an old classmate of hers who used to specialize in family law and they agreed to meet for drinks after work. Ali used to dream of cases like this, but after years of conveyancing and checking the legality of planning permissions she had forgotten what it was like to help someone who really needed it. As she saw her wedding booklet on her desk, she felt embarrassed. I’ve been so caug
ht up in the wedding that I’ve forgotten what’s important in life, she thought guiltily. She was so lucky to have a man who truly loved her, and would never do to her what Trish had done to Paddy, and she was lucky to have great friends and family who would help her out. Paddy had no one. She remembered what her boss Mary had said to her about doing the case as quickly and cheaply as she could, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to spend her whole working day on it, but she knew it needed that. I’ll just have to work after hours on it, she thought. She had planned to spend her evenings working on the wedding, but this afternoon had made her feel guilty about that, so instead she copied her wedding booklet onto a CD, and ran down to the local printer.

  ‘It will cost a good bit to proof it and print out two hundred copies, you know,’ said the sales assistant.

  ‘I know,’ Ali said as she reached for her credit card, ‘but I’ve more important things to do than wait for copies to print.’ And with that she headed back to the office and to the long night of work that lay ahead of her.

  99

  Ben was at home in his living room trying to show his dad how to play Tiger Woods Golf on his PlayStation 2.

  ‘How do I pick the nine iron, Ben?’ asked Joe.

  Ben didn’t have a clue, he was only used to playing soccer, rugby or car-racing games, but as Joe couldn’t play golf or even go for a pint nowadays, Ben had thought it would be nice if they could do something together apart from watch TV or eat. So when he had seen the new Tiger Woods computer game advertised he had raced into HMV to buy it, knowing how his dad missed the excitement of playing real golf. Ben was trying to read the game manual as Joe picked Padraig Harrington as his player, and Augusta as his golf club of choice.

  ‘Well, I never thought I would get to play in the US Masters,’ Joe laughed.

  Ben eventually worked out how to tee off and so they started. It took Joe a while to get the hang of using the game controller, and for him to realize that actually swinging the controller like it was a golf club would not help Padraig win anything! Maura had a friend in for a cup of coffee, and Ben went into the kitchen to get some biscuits for his dad, but just before he opened the door he could hear her talking about him.

  ‘Ben is just so responsible now, such a grown-up. I knew he had it in him, we are both so proud of him.’

  Ben couldn’t believe it. All he had ever heard for years was how he had to ‘grow up’ or ‘get real’, and now at last his mother was boasting about what a man he had become. He was chuffed. He knew playing computer games might destroy this brand-new grownup image, but as he headed back to the living room laden down with chocolate chip cookies and tea he didn’t care. He was learning you could be a grown-up and have fun, too.

  After an hour of trying to play golf against the likes of Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, they decided to call it a night.

  ‘Don’t worry, Dad, you will get the hang of it soon,’ Ben said, as he unplugged the TV.

  ‘Oh, I’m not worried, Ben. Sure, don’t I have all day to practise while you are out at work slaving away,’ Joe laughed. ‘But tell me, Ben,’ he asked, ‘how are you really finding being back working as an accountant?’

  Ben wasn’t so sure what to tell his dad. Yes, there were days when he loved being his own boss, and felt chuffed at getting work off to clients on time, but there were other days, too (a lot of other days), when it was hard to be responsible for the whole company, for all the staff, their wages, the office, the clients, and make sure the business ticked over as well as his dad had done for the last twenty-five years. He decided to be honest and tell his dad, tell him he had up and down times.

  ‘That’s just life, son. Not every day will be the same, but that’s the fun of it, also. Life would be boring if every day was the same – if every meeting was alike, every round of golf equal, every person similar – that’s just the way it is. If the positives weigh up the negatives, that’s the main thing.’

  Ben knew his dad was right, and he was gradually getting the hang of the company, and realized he was the envy of many of his friends, who only dreamt of running their own businesses.

  ‘I know, Dad, and I know I should have said this a long time ago, but I’m sorry. Sorry for just not realizing how important me entering your business was to you, for just not getting it. But I get it now, I really do, and I’ll make you proud.’

  ‘You already have, son,’ Joe said, taking another biscuit. ‘I just wish you had someone special to share all the joys with, a nice girl. What about that Laura girl? She seemed nice.’

  ‘I messed up there, Dad. It’s over. I’ve been seeing someone else, but I’m just not sure about her.’ Ben stopped before going into much detail; he loved his dad but didn’t feel too comfortable telling him about Nikki.

  ‘Well, Ben, life is too short to be with someone you’re “just not sure” of. The second I met your mother I just knew, and I still know. Every day I thank God for her. She might drive us all demented sometimes, but I couldn’t live without her.’ And with that Joe headed up to bed, leaving Ben sitting thinking about work and girlfriends until way past his bedtime.

  100

  The next day Ben was meeting Nikki for lunch. Between rugby, helping out at home, work, and catching up with his friends he hadn’t spent much time with her lately. But as usual she was so laid-back Ben couldn’t tell if she cared or not. Ben had always thought he would want a girl who was like him – laid-back, not overly dying to hang out all day long, not looking for much commitment – but now that he had exactly that he realized he would prefer someone who really made him feel they were glad he was there. But Nikki was always busy: as she worked on a popular magazine, she was always at the latest launch party, or promotional event, or just checking out celebrities. Ben had been to some of the events, and they were great fun, with lots of free drinks and food – but he felt they were both holding back on spending much time alone, just one-on-one.

  They had agreed to meet at a local Italian, which served quick yet tasty lunch dishes. Ben ordered the spaghetti carbonara, Nikki the tuna Niçoise salad. She looked fantastic in a tight-fitting skirt and black shirt, with her hair tied back and sunglasses perched on her head. Ben could only spare forty-five minutes for lunch, but tried to catch up as much as he could within that. He told Nikki about his dad and work, while she told him that the captain of the Irish soccer team had been spotted out drinking the night before a match. It was interesting to know, but as Ben tried to turn the conversation to more personal things she just talked faster about people he didn’t care about. It was frustrating, but he kept thinking she might just be nervous; they didn’t really know each other that well. Even the few times he had stayed over at her place after a night out, they had normally ended up having breakfast with her flatmates and chatting to them. Ben knew something was missing, but then as Nikki walked him back to his office and gave him a hug and kiss he forgot all his worries: lunchtime kissing! She handed him an invite to the launch party of a new aftershave the next Saturday in Krystle nightclub.

  ‘It will be fun! I’ve to work for the first hour or so, as we want to get pictures of celebs, et cetera, but after that I’m free to dance the night away with you.’ And with that Nikki was gone.

  Ben took the invite and thought to himself, Well I can’t turn down a free drinks party, and sure, we can see how things go on Saturday. But as he walked back to his office, he kept thinking of what his dad said about knowing you had the right girl. Ben wasn’t sure about Nikki.

  101

  Molly and Sarah were having dinner and drinks in the 40 Foot bar in Dun Laoghaire, after working up an appetite by walking the harbour pier. Sarah was telling Molly how she was off to Galway the next day, once Hugh had finished work.

  ‘Are you nervous about meeting his family?’ Molly asked.

  ‘Of course! But he’s met all of mine, and after the way he “met” baby Fiona I suppose it is only fair to give his family a go,’ Sarah replied. As she sipped back her Heineken shandy, Molly
laughed.

  ‘Well, as long as none of them poo in your face, it should be fine!’ And with that the girls collapsed in fits of laughter, until their food arrived. Although Sarah suddenly felt a pang of guilt for telling her friend about the baby Fiona and Hugh poo incident, as she had promised Hugh she would tell no one.

  ‘I got a text today from that guy Will, saying he was going to the gig of some rival band on Saturday night and did I want to go,’ Molly said, keeping Sarah up-to-date on her love life. Sarah didn’t say much.

  ‘You don’t like him, do you?’ Molly asked her oldest friend.

  Sarah put down her fork.

  ‘It is not that, Molly. I want you to be happy, especially after the shock of breaking up with Luke, but I still just don’t know about Will. I’m sure he is talented and fun, but he is so different from Luke or any other guy you have dated. Are you sure you know what you are doing?’

  ‘No, I don’t, that’s just it. The other day, after that gig, when I was so hungover I thought I would die, I was ready to forget all about Will. I thought: Yes he is cute, and fun, and so different from me, but it’s too different. But then when I got that text today I thought: Is this it? Could he be the only guy out there who likes me? And if he is then I’m stupid not to give him a chance. I don’t want to be single and living at home for ever. I love my job, but I need more than work.’ Molly stared out of the large glass window at the harbour and boats.

  ‘Molly, there are tons of guys who like you. You just need to open your eyes – and your heart – to them. Don’t settle for the first guy you meet after Luke. Trust me, there will be others.’

  Molly didn’t know if she agreed with her friend, but she decided to drop the conversation. Instead they talked about what they would wear to Ali and Robin’s upcoming wedding.