by Liz Gavin
When she saw the couple, she sat across the aisle from them.
“Hey, good to see you again. What are you doing here?”
“We’re celebrating our wedding anniversary.”
“Good for you.”
“Good morning, Keira,” Paul O’Hallon. “Can I sit here beside you?”
“Absolutely. Paul, these are Sylvia and John Burtonderry. This is Paul O’Hallon.”
Sitting down he told them he was on vacation and the little group of four people spent the day together. The tour was amazing and she was actually glad to see familiar faces and to have people to share those wonderful moments with.
On the second day, Keira had planned a tour to Ring of Kerry. Sylvia, John and Paul took the tour with her and they ended up having another excellent day.
Keira and Declan texted and talked a lot while she toured Cork and the surrounding areas. She had left Dublin nine days before but it felt like an eternity for both of them. Their phone talks were getting hotter and naughtier. She missed Declan like crazy and she wished he were actually there with her, that he could hold her and kiss her. She wanted him.
Declan was also frustrated with their physical distance. If on one hand, the phone calls and the messages had brought them together, letting them know each other better. On the other hand, he felt miserable when they hung up. He wished Keira were back in Dublin. Then, he would take her out, woe her, and make love to her until kingdom come.
After another of their phone calls, Keira went to bed. Unable to sleep, she looked up at the ceiling and counted the cracks. She rolled over and buried her head under the pillow.
This room is too quiet.
She stretched her arm out and turned on the radio alarm clock. A nice song filled the air. It was one of her favorite songs, about making memories. As the throaty voice of the band’s lead singer invaded her mind, she closed her eyes, getting lost in the images that the lyrics evoked, which lulled her to sleep.
She dreamed she was in her bedroom in Boston. She was alone on her bed. She felt sad and wanted to cry. All of a sudden, as it often happens in dreams, Keira wasn’t in her room anymore. She was at her sister’s house. Megan sat on her couch in the living room, staring into space. She looked sad. She had been crying because her eyes were red and puffy. Keira sat beside her and threw her arm around her older sister’s shoulders.
“What happened, Meg?”
Megan ignored her and kept looking ahead. Their parents entered the room and hugged Megan but ignored Keira.
“What’s going on here? Why don’t you talk to me, guys?”
She got no answer from any of them.
Again, the scene changed, and she was on a busy street, in a large city she didn’t recognize. It looked European. She walked by a newsstand, and glanced at the newspapers on display, trying to find out where she was. She felt her heart sinking when a headline caught her eyes – “Young American dies in Ireland”. On the front page, right below the headline, there were two pictures: her graduation picture, and one of Declan in handcuffs.
She woke up screaming and sat on the bed, out of breath. It took her a few seconds to recognize the hotel room and figure out she had had a nightmare. She drank some water from the bottle that she kept on the night table and went back to sleep.
It had been ten days since Keira had left Dublin and Declan sat on his couch, staring at his phone, trying to decide what to do. He checked his watch.
It’s not even seven in the morning. If I call her again, I’ll seem too needy. I don’t want that. Maybe I should write something clever without showing her that I can’t keep her out of my mind.”
As he weighed out his options, Jennifer’s picture popped up on his cell phone’s screen. He frowned and picked up the call.
“What’s up, Jenny? Is something wrong? Why are you calling me so early?”
“You tell me if there’s something wrong, mister. You haven’t called since our breakfast two weeks ago. I knew this time of day I’d get you before you went out to work. How did it go with the American? What’s her name? Kim?”
“Keira. Nothing happened, Jen. She’s still traveling. You caused quite an impression on her.”
“Really? How so? We’ve never met.”
“She saw us outside the coffee shop and thought I was cheating on her. She was so pissed off she hung up on me. It took her three days to talk to me again.”
“That’s great news!” Jennifer squeaked.
“Are you kidding me, Jennifer? I totally freaked out and you say it’s good news.”
“It is good news, silly. If she weren’t falling for you, she wouldn’t react like that.”
“Well, you might be right. Can you believe she got a ride with a couple, completely strangers I might add, when her car broke down on the way to Waterford?”
“What happened, exactly?”
Declan told her the part of the story he knew, expecting Jennifer would agree with him that Keira had been reckless. To his surprise, Jennifer didn’t see things the same way.
“What’s the big deal? People do that all the time. There was no cell service. How was she supposed to call for help?”
“Would you have done the same, Jen?”
“I have done that and you know it.”
“Really? When did you do it? I don’t remember.”
“When we were dating, I traveled to Cork for Christmas and you stayed here to work, remember? I had two flat tires on the way. The first one, I changed myself. But, the second one was the problem because I didn’t have another spare tire to replace it. My cell’s battery had gone dead. I got a ride on a motorcycle. The guy dropped me at a gas station and I got somebody to fix the tires.”
“Yeah, right. Now, I remember,” Declan confessed, a little embarrassed. “I don’t know, Jen. That was different. You’re Irish. You know our roads very well. Keira is a foreigner.”
Jennifer laughed at his comment but stopped when she noticed he wasn’t laughing.
“Are you serious, Declan? I’m sorry. I thought you were joking. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard from you. And that’s saying a lot because you’re always saying stupid things.”
“I’m not! Besides, I don’t see why it’s so funny. She could’ve been attacked or something. There are too many weirdoes out there, you know.”
“It’s funny, my dear blind man, because you can’t see what’s right in front of you. There’s no difference between my story and Keira’s. Except, that you didn’t freak out when I got that ride, even though we were dating at the time.”
She waited for his reply, which never came. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Seriously, Declan. Nothing?”
“What do you want me to say? I don’t follow you.”
“Gosh, you’re such a bright guy, except when it comes to love. You didn’t freak out about me because you weren’t head over heels in love with me.”
“Get out of here, Jen.”
“I’m sorry, my friend, it’s official! You’re so overprotective of her because you have feelings for her.”
“I barely know Keira. How can I have feelings for her?”
She didn’t say anything for a while and Declan thought she had hung up. He was about to say something when Jennifer talked again.
“Declan, I’ll state the obvious here, but somebody’s got to do it. We’d known each other forever before we dated, but that didn’t help us fall in love with each other. We love each other, dearly. But, we were never in love with each other. Time means nothing when love finds us.”
It was Declan’s turn to be quiet, considering what she had just said.
“I don’t know, Jen. I don’t want to rush things. It’s too soon to say if either one of us is in love or not.”
“Nobody rushes love. It just happens, sweetie.”
That phone conversation haunted Declan for the rest of the morning. At work, he was distracted. Even though, Harry and Màire had always gotten him covered, they were runni
ng out of patience.
“You’ve got to pull yourself together, man,” Harry said when Declan spilt the third drink over the counter. “Let me clean this mess up. Take some minutes out to cool off.”
Declan went to the employee lounge where Màire was taking her morning break.
“What have you done this time?”
He plopped down beside her on the couch and closed his eyes.
“Nothing.”
“Harry must be pissed off at you, if he’s sent you away.”
“How do you know he’s mad at me? Maybe I just needed some time.”
“On a busy morning like today? Forget about it. The bar’s packed but he preferred to stay alone, which means you must have really gotten to him. Come on. Spill it!”
Declan looked at his coworker, tempted to ask her advice. She was a good-looking, experienced woman. She could probably help him more than Jennifer because they hadn’t been romantically involved.
“Is it the American beauty, Declan? I’ve got to tell you, man. You haven’t been the same since she left.”
“Is it that obvious? Gosh!”
“Don’t be embarrassed. Everyone feels stupid when they’re in love.”
Declan rolled his eyes. Enough with this bullshit! I’m not in love with a stranger.
Not wanting to offend Màire, he kept his mouth shut. It was useless because she didn’t give him time to say anything. Her face got red and her eyes seemed to bore holes in his skull. She was also pissed off at him.
“And don’t you dare roll your eyes at me, mister! Maybe you don’t see it but there’s clearly something going on with you. You’ve changed. That’s a fact. Perhaps, you should take some time off to get to the bottom of this - whatever ‘this’ is,” Màire got up and stomped out of the room even though her break wasn’t over yet.
“Apparently, nobody wants me around today,” Declan mumbled.
He stayed in the lounge for a while longer, considering the advice she had given him before he had found the courage to ask for it.
What if they are right? What if I’m falling for Keira? What should I do? She’s too young and innocent. I have too much baggage. A lot of heartache and hurt in my past. Would I harm her beyond repair if I stuck around? Should I let her go before it’s too late?
On the morning of her tenth day on the road, Keira woke up feeling depressed and exhausted. After that horrible nightmare, she hadn’t gotten much sleep. She crawled out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom. She took a shower and thought about calling or texting Declan, if nothing else, for moral support. Feeling a little better after the shower, she changed her mind about texting Declan. She realized he would worry about her; and, since he was miles away, he could don’t do anything to help her.
As she went downstairs, she hoped she’d bump into Sylvia or John in the dining room. Since they were staying at the River Lee Hotel, she could use a couple of friends to cheer her up. Watching the stunning views through the glass windows from her table wasn’t working. When the waitress was serving her breakfast, Paul appeared at the doorway, and spotted her.
Walking over to her table, he had a big grin lighting up his handsome features
“Good morning, Keira. Do you mind if I join you?”
“No, not at all. Grab a seat.”
“So, what are your plans for today?’ he asked her, after he had sat and ordered his food.
“I haven’t planned anything for today, yet. I figured I’d do some shopping in the morning. Tomorrow, I’ll start my trip back to Dublin, so I’d better take it easy today.”
“Aren’t you going to meet with your friends?”
“I don’t know what Sylvia and John are doing. I haven’t talked to them today.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean these friends. I meant the ones you were supposed to meet with in Waterford. Remember?”
Keira looked puzzled. She had no idea what he was driving at. Before she could ask him what he meant, the waitress returned with his breakfast, and while she served Paul, it dawned on Keira. On the way from the Wilskinsons’ farm to Waterford, she had told Paul she would meet with friends there. She was a little afraid of him, then. Now that she got to know him better, the whole thing sounded silly. But, she didn’t want to offend him. She stretched the truth a little further.
“Oh, yeah! I remember, now. We had a great time there but they live in Waterford and couldn’t leave work to come to Cork with me. I’m very happy for having met Sylvia, John and you. Otherwise, I’d be alone here.”
She hid her face behind the steaming cup of coffee, hoping he’d think her red face was caused by heat from the beverage, not from her embarrassment. For a couple of minutes, Paul just stared at her and didn’t reply. She was starting to feel uncomfortable under his penetrating gaze when he smiled at her.
“Yes, of course. People have to work, right?” he also drank from his cup of tea but kept his eyes fixed on her face. For a split second, Keira thought his smile looked more like a smirk. His expression changed when he looked up and greeted John, who had just stopped by their table.
“Hey, man! How are you today? Would you like to join us?”
John and Sylvia sat down to have breakfast with them and Keira thought to herself.
Gosh! I’m on edge today. I’ve got to relax! I’m on vacation!
She did her best to calm down and ended up having a great time with her new three friends. John was a very funny man and Sylvia was a sweet lady. Keira already knew that but she was surprised to discover that Paul was a charming, intelligent man, as well. He and John got along very well and made Keira and Sylvia laugh so hard they couldn’t breathe.
“Oh, stop, please! I can’t take it any longer!” Sylvia begged her husband, still smiling and wiping the tears from her eyes.
“You’re killing me, here,” Keira added, putting her hand over her chest. “I can’t see straight. I’ve got tears in my eyes from laughing so hard at you, guys.”
“In that case, we’ll behave,” Paul replied with a playful wink. “You have a long drive back to Dublin, tomorrow. You’ll need to see straight.”
“Also, I have to cross out some items from my shopping list, today. If you’ll excuse me, guys, I need to leave you.”
“Oh, that’s a shame you have to go, honey.”
“Why don’t you come with me, Sylvia? I’d love some company.”
“I’d love to go with you. But, we’ve got to go on this tour we’ve already booked,” Sylvia patted John’s hand and smiled adoringly at her husband. It was clear that skipping the tour was not an option for her. “Why don’t you go shopping with Keira, Paul? Have you got any plans?”
“Actually, I don’t, Sylvia. If you’d like some company, Keira, I’d love to go shopping. I have to buy some souvenirs for my family, too.”
“Yeah, that’d be great, Paul,” Keira agreed. “Tell you what, I’ll go upstairs to grab my stuff while you finish your breakfast. We’ll meet in half an hour at the lobby. Deal?”
“It’s a date. See you,” he agreed.
Sylvia stood up and said, “John, I need to go up to our room. Take your time to finish your breakfast.”
“I will,” he winked at her.
Keira and Sylvia got inside the elevator and the older woman put her hand on Keira’s arm and squeezed it a little.
“I’m glad to see you’ve found a fine young man for yourself, Keira. I was worried about you when you left my house. You looked so sad. But now, you seem very happy.”
“What do you mean?” Keira was surprised at the comments because she hadn’t mentioned Declan to Sylvia.
“Paul, obviously. He’s quite a catch! Don’t tell me you’re not interested!”
“In fact, I’m not available,” she winked and held the elevator door to get out of it because when it reached her floor.
“Hmm, I see. There’s a boyfriend waiting for you back home, right? Good for you.”
“Yeah, something like that. See you later. Have a great day, sweeti
e.”
“You, too.”
Keira and Paul met at the hotel lobby and went for a stroll along St. Patrick’s Street – or ‘Pana’ as the locals call it. She admired the surrounding buildings; the curious, winding street. She had read somewhere that the street had been built over an arm of River Lee, which had resulted in its odd shape.
On a Saturday such as that, St. Patrick’s Street was bursting with people. Keira didn’t mind it, though. She had always loved watching people and in Ireland she could do that and hear their enchanting accent at the same time. She was walking on air.
They walked along the street for almost an hour as she bought things for her family: a silver and gold Triskele pendant on a delicate silver chain with matching earrings for her mother, a set of crystal wine glasses for her father, and a gorgeous designer purse for Megan.
After another half-hour or so, she hadn’t found anything for Declan. She had stopped at countless windows. Nothing had gotten her attention. She wanted to buy something special for him, but didn’t know what, exactly.
They walked around for a while longer browsing more windows. Keira was having a really hard time picking something up for him. In a street where one could literally find anything, she was on the verge of giving up when Paul stopped, turned to her and asked, “Don’t get me wrong here, Keira, I’m having a blast spending time with you. But, we’ve been in and out of all kinds of stores and you haven’t bought a thing. What exactly are you looking for now?”
“That’s the thing, Paul. I don’t know,” she scoffed.
“Is it for you? Do you want to buy souvenir from Ireland? There are many nice stores on the next block.”
“No, it’s not for me. It’s a gift for a friend.”
“Maybe I can help you out with it. Is this friend a man or a woman?”
“A man.”
“Young or old?”
“Around twenty-five, I guess,” she blushed a little and looked around to try to hide it from Paul’s piercing eyes. She had just realized she didn’t even know Declan’s age and wondered what else she didn’t know about him.
