“Aoife, this is it. The perfect match. Well, on paper anyway. Still some tests to be done and then we’ll get on our way. Your new lungs are on route from England as we speak. It’s the start of a long road and a winding one. But, we’re here for you Aoife and we’ll do our best to make it as easy as possible.” Aoife grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Thanks Doc, I know you will do right by me.”
Aoife hugged her family one by one. Her younger sister Annie was subdued and teary, the complete opposite of her usual animated personality.
“You’ll be grand Aoife, stay strong. I love you. You know that don’t you? I can’t wait to have you back on your feet and giving hell to the lads. We girls have to stick together.”
“Hey, we’re not that bad!” her brother Darragh chipped in. He bent down to Aoife, and hugged her lightly.
“Love you sis. I’ll be waiting here for you.” He high fived Aoife and winked at her. “Gingers forever.”
“Love you too, Dar. You’re ginger, I’m auburn. Mind mama and daddy for me.”
“I’m actually strawberry blonde,” Darragh muttered loudly enough for them all to hear and moved out of the way to allow Rian in to say his goodbyes..
Aoife watched her brother Rian closely as he put his hand on her knee.
“Don’t you be worryin’ about us Aoife? Worry about yourself for once.”
Aoife looked up, her eyes filled with concern for her big brother Rian. Six foot five and brooding, he cut quite a remarkable figure. She saw two nurses passing by eyeing him up and nudging each other giggling. She worried about him the most. He was too closed in, too insular. She wished he’d lean on the others more. She nodded at him and winked. He squeezed her shoulder lightly.
She smiled as her granny O’Malley pushed through the crowd.
“Now girl, you’re an O’Malley and we are tough as nails. You’ll sail through this and be home in three weeks, please God. You’ve been getting away without doing chores and such for far too long, young lady.”
Aoife grabbed her grandmother’s hand when she heard the old woman’s voice break with emotion.
“Don’t. Not you. The rest of them I can take, but you have to stay strong. For me.”
The old woman wiped the sleeve of her blue cardigan across her eyes roughly.
“You’re right, silly stuff and nonsense. You’re as tough as old boots, Aoife. Don’t let me down now. And you have ‘The Bossman’ looking down on you too. He won’t let anything happen to you.”
Aoife smiled, “That’s more like it.”
She hugged her mama and dad to her chest and gave them both an enthusiastic thumbs up, too choked to speak. She felt her mama squeeze her hand and looked down at it. She marvelled at the beauty of her mama’s hands. Small and soft, those hands had so much love within them. So many strokes and caresses they had given. Never clenched in anger, never raised in frustration. Always loving, always comforting. She rubbed her left hand and raised it to her lips kissing it gently.
“Remember what I said to you earlier, Aoife. This is your time.”
Aoife nodded at her, her forehead creased in a frown. Rory knelt down beside the wheelchair.
“Are you frightened, Aoife?”
His heart broke when she nodded quickly.
“Look at me, Aoife. Don’t be afraid. We’ll be here for you the minute you wake up. We’ll be thinking of you and sending every good intention, when you’re awake and feel better I’ll bring you a cupcake. A homemade one.”
Aoife laughed. “I’m not twelve years old anymore, Ror.”
“Ah, I know.”
“Will you make one with chocolate frosting?” she asked grinning.
“Sure what else would I make it with? It has to be chocolate you know, or else it’s not a real cupcake.”
She giggled at him and he kissed her softly on each cheek. Rory was the most gentle of them all. He hid it well, only allowing those closest to him to see his vulnerability. Oh he was cut-throat in business, she had witnessed that many times. He was competitive and a natural born winner who didn’t suffer failure or fools gladly. But his soul was pure and good, he was a protector through and through and she loved him fiercely. He released her hand and stepped back to allow the nurse access to the wheelchair. The transplant co-ordinator smiled at them.
“Okay O’Malleys, it’s time to go. Aoife, we’ll take you up to the observation ward first and get you ready to go to theatre. Your family can wait in room three; we’ll be done in a few hours. A nurse will keep you posted on Aoife’s progress."
Granny O’Malley spoke up suddenly.
“Wait! Just one second, please. Everyone hold hands for a little prayer.” Annie and Rian started to groan and grumble and both were thrown a look that immediately silenced them.
“Heathens too. Come on, Annie and Rian.”
Annie and Rian gave each other a grin, but acquiesced all the same.
They formed a small circle around Aoife and held each other’s hands tightly.
“Go ahead mammy,” Gearóid O’Malley said to the older woman, his face pained and drawn.
“Lord, we ask you to protect our Aoife this evening and hold her in the palm of your hand. Bless her and keep her safe from harm. We need her here with us and ask that you make her well again. Your creation is perfection and we love and serve you alone.
We also pray for the soul of the person who so selflessly gave of him or herself. They shall forever be a part of our family. We will think of them often and praise their generosity. You have seen fit to take them from this earthly plain and we ask you to hold them close to you. To give peace to their family and friends. Thank you. Amen.”
A chorus of Amen followed and the family held each other closely as Aoife was led away.
Rory waited until she was through the double doors before he let out his breath. He turned his face towards his dad and smiled. April twenty third, a day they would never forget.
Cass let out a breath as she left the hospital, her face upturned to the spring sunshine. She looked around at the cars, moving in streams up and down the main road. Life continued as if nothing momentous had just happened. Surely there should be some sign, some indication that this beautiful soul had left the earth. She felt like screaming at the sun for shining, at the world for turning, at herself for living. Everything was joyless and empty now. April twenty third, a day they would never forget.
(Cass)
Three years later
Three things hardest to understand;
The mind of a woman,
the work of bees,
the coming and going of the tide.
Irish proverb.
Cass stretched her arms over her head and yawned loudly into the mirror. Her large breasts rose up about three inches.
“See, see! That’s where you should be girls.” She laughed, looked down at her boobs and shook her head. She hadn’t magically changed or improved during the night but gave herself a wink, threw a duck face to her reflection and blew a kiss anyway. She assessed her herself quickly as she scrubbed her face.
Long red curly hair, check. Freckles smattered lightly amid high cheekbones, arms shoulders and anywhere the sun touched her skin, check. Wide green eyes and full lips, check. Generous breasts, correction big tits spilling out of her camisole top. Er…check. Turning to the side she looked at her ample thighs and rotund belly.
“I love you, body,” she said aloud.
“And you are a wonderful machine.”
She raised her eyes to heaven and began to brush her teeth.
“Cass Evans, you are an idiot,” she announced through the foam in her mouth. She acknowledged that she was definitely becoming more and more like her mother every day. Not that she minded being a carbon copy of her mum, Alice. A very successful psychotherapist, Alice had encouraged Cass since forever to LOVE herself completely. Cass reckoned she was about halfway there allowing a little wiggle room for the odd burst of self-doubt and monthly bloat. Usually this was f
ollowed by body annihilation in spinning class which resulted in nothing more than a sore backside. Cass had long ago come to terms with the fact that her body could and would, always be described as voluptuous. And she was happy with that, happy in her own skin. She was healthy and she was alive. She was the lucky one.
It was undeniable that her mum and dad were pretty cool though, and Cass was genuinely grateful that they were the most loving and considerate people on the planet. Her dad was a tutor in an art college in Devon, not far from where she had grown up. He specialised in the renaissance artists and the women who were their muses. Not surprisingly, he possessed a built-in appreciation for buxom redheads.
Cass had a small inkling that her dad could also be classed as a ‘feeder’ and made the best damn chocolate cake this side of the western world. Cass loved her parents dearly, even if at times she was a bit secretly envious of their adoration for each other. Being the only child in the family since her brother Harry’s death, it sometimes felt isolating for her. Dressing quickly she began to panic, as usual having spent too long daydreaming and generally arseing around. She was once again on the cusp of being late for work.
Being her own boss, meant Cass always dressed casually for work. Black leggings and fuck-me boots, plenty of jewellery and a long tee were her uniform of choice. Working in the art scene suited her down to the ground. She could never do smart attire, it just wasn’t in her repertoire. Luckily, given the madness of London traffic, Cass lived only a two minute walk to work. That also made her continuous tardiness even harder to comprehend, according to her best friend and employee, Marie.
(Cass)
May your home always be too small,
To hold all your friends.
Irish proverb.
Walking onto Kirkland lane and heading towards the gallery, Cass noticed a sleek black SUV moving down the street at great speed. As it passed, she saw the little black kitten that had been hanging around the last few days dart suddenly across the road. The black SUV skidded to a grinding halt inches from the kitten. The kitten looked sheepishly at the wheels of the SUV and instead of running away, chose that exact moment to sit down and begin washing itself. A man jumped from the driver’s seat and started to shoo the kitten away with his shoe. Cass heard the kitten yelp as his foot made contact. Oh no, you did not! What the hell! It was at this stage Cass realised with some trepidation that she was going to get involved; regardless of how stupid it was to approach the vehicle. Ordinarily, Cass left the superhero stuff to her best friend Marie who was more prone to sudden bursts of bravery. But seeing him kick the kitten roughly made her blood boil. What a fuck-knuckle!
Storming over to the car, Cass started to yell at him. If there is one thing she could not abide, it was the mistreatment of those most vulnerable. This jackass was going to hear it one way or the other.
“Oi tough guy, what the hell do you think you are doing? You big bully!” Cass picked up the kitten and cradled it gently in her hands.
The short stout man turned around suddenly and stared at her as though she had two heads.
“Listen lady, I’m in a hurry here!”
“In a hurry. Really?” she repeated incredulously, jiggling her shoulders in her most ghetto bitch pose.
“Well maybe if you left earlier, you would get to your destination on time rather than bombing it down the street like you’re driving the flipping bat mobile.”
She snorted loudly in his general direction trying to keep the squirming kitten from running away. Ah hello kitty, a bit of cooperation please. I’m saving your arse here!
Cass kept her eyes trained on the driver as she dropped and picked up the kitten a few times, finally snuggling it in-between her boobs in an effort to keep it still.
“Poor kitty got a big fright, a big fright! Yes you did. Yes. You. Did. What is that bad man doing? Bad, bad man in a big silly car.”
The driver stared open mouthed at her and then dropped his gaze to her breasts which as usual were threatening to pop out of her top. As she rubbed the kitty in-between them, and murmured soft words reassuringly into the black fur, she felt his eyes on her and looked up to meet them. She squinted as she followed his gaze, until it landed on her boobs. The bloody cheek of it!
“Have I something on belonging to you, Mister?’ she asked raising her eyebrows and jutting her chin out giving him ‘the look.’
“No. But you certainly seem to be wearing that kitten quite well,” a deep voice drawled from the back of the SUV.
Cass stepped back and craned her neck in an effort to see who was behind the blackened window of the car. She hadn’t even realised the driver of the car had a passenger. The door opened and she watched mute as a big Italian leather shoe dangled in mid-air for a few seconds. The shoe was promptly followed by a pair of grey suit trousers, a black fitted shirt, a body and a man. A very-very tall and very-very hot man! Holy shit on a stick!
Cass touched her face quickly to see if there was drool or leftover breakfast on her chin, and tried to stop the usual facial explosion of hot redness that she was cursed with. Epic fail. Having lived in London for a little over eighteen months now, she had seen plenty of good looking men in the city, but this guy…this guy! Towering over a foot above her own petite 5ft 2inches, he was built like a brick shit-house. Black shiny hair, cut long on the top and short at the back and sides flopped down over his right eye.
As if on cue, he ran his fingers through his hair pushing it back. Cass gaped at the movement and darted her eyes back to the kitten. She looked up quickly, glanced to her left and right and wondered if she was being set up for a hidden camera show. Gorgeous, sexy, attractive, all the adjectives in the world seemed too paltry to describe him. She looked up at his face and took note of the sharpness of his cheekbones, the stubble, the wide set eyes and strong jaw-line. She was surprised by the intensity of her attraction him. Her body was reacting to their closeness, and she didn’t appreciate it one little bit. He was staring at her. Why are you staring? The driver scurried back to the taller man and looked up at him with a lapdog expression on his face. His ridiculous chauffeur’s hat was too big and it kept dropping down over his eyes. Cass felt a giggle threatening to burst from her throat and bit her top lip between her teeth. The driver spoke in a hushed whisper to the tall man. Cass assumed he was an important client and pursed her lips.
“Apologies, Sir. I’ll have this taken care of in a moment. Listen, girl…. You-”
“Don’t you patronise me, Sir.” Cass fumbled with the daft kitten and tried to put her hand on her hips while holding it. She watched as the sexgod smiled behind his hand, then rubbed his stubbled jaw and began to whistle softly between his teeth.
And then he looked at her. He stared straight into her eyes, cocked his head to one side and suddenly held his hands up in mock submission.
Cass raised one eyebrow at him. Yeah big boy, you’re hilarious.
“Please accept my most sincere apologies, Miss?”
He put out his hand for her to shake and ran the other one through his hair again, tossing it. Bloody hell! Thought Cass.
“Evans. My name is Cassidy Evans.” Cass made no attempt to take his outstretched hand and instead made a ‘tutting’ noise as loudly as she could and shook her head.
Irish. He’d have to be. Typical! Hot and with a ‘fuck me’ accent to boot. Accents are the devil. Every girl knows that the right accent can guarantee that a man will get his leg over. Every. Damn. Time.
Cass felt a bitchy sense of self-satisfaction as his eyes widened in surprise when she left his hand hanging limply in mid-air. He adjusted his facial expression quickly to a cool and disinterested mask. Obviously not used to being rebuffed, Cass thought. Well, there ya go Mister sexy arse. Cass congratulated herself for taking one for the feminist movement. It didn’t feel too much like a win, admittedly.
She failed miserably at trying to hide her inner evil smirk and it was proving impossible to keep the giddiness from her face.
“M
iss Evans, please accept my apology. My driver should not have been so quick to remove the kitten without checking first to see if it was okay.”
The driver looked at Cassidy and then glanced back to his boss. He lifted his shoulders and dropped his eyes looking surprised. He looked as though he was about to argue, until sexy put his hand up in front of his face and muttered ‘Shush.’
Denied. A bit of Cass wanted to high five sexgod for cutting off the little twerp. Sexgod looked at his driver and spoke sternly. “I think an apology is in order, don’t you.”
“Am. Yes-” the driver stuttered. “Yes of course, is the kitten okay Miss-”
“Cassidy Evans. Miss Cassidy Evans,” said the sexgod in an exasperated tone, never taking his eyes from Cass.
“Yes. Apologies Miss Evans. The kitten, is it all right?”
Cass sniffed and looked down her nose at the kitty kicker. She held up the kitten and made a performance out of inspecting her paws and ears “Why yes, I believe she is, Duffy is just fine now, just a little shook up. Thank you for your concern.”
“Duffy?” queried the sexgod. He moved closer to her side and touched Duffy, tickling her ears. Holy shit! He smells really good.
His leg came to rest against Cass’ thigh and she felt the muscles of her leg begin to quiver. Their eyes clashed and held each other until she was forced to look away from him.
“It is your Kitten then, Cassidy?”
He bent his head to one side and raised his perfect black brows at Cass, before smiling at her with straight white teeth. Bet an orthodontist had a field day with those choppers. Damn good work, damn good.
“Officially, no. But, she has been hanging around for the last two days and I have been feeding her. So I guess she has kind of adopted me.”
“How do you know her name is Duffy then?”
“Because she told me.”
“She what?” He stopped mid rub and frowned at her.
Cass was enjoying this far too much.
“I’m kidding, relax! I just think she looks like a Duffy, don’t you think, yeah definitely a Duffy?”
Juice: The O'Malleys Book 1, contemporary Adult Romance Page 3
