Apartment 3B

by Patricia Scanlan

  *

  Simon hummed to himself. Thank God Cecily was in good form. She had been like an Antichrist lately. Of course that row at Martin’s wedding hadn’t helped. That Lainey had a mouth as big as the state of New York! Cecily had been right to get on to her about the carry on with Tony Mangan. It was ridiculous. They should have been married years ago, God knows they were going together long enough. It might be the Nineties, but Moncas Bay was a small enough place and people talked. The least they could do was to legalize things. Cecily had every right to remonstrate with his sister about her unseemly behaviour. After all it was Cecily who had to listen to the gossip about Lainey, while she was swanning around the capital doing the career girl. There had been no need for Lainey to attack Cecily so viciously. Mind she’d always had a very sharp tongue and a mighty temper. Simon sighed. It had been hell living with Cecily for the few months after the incident. But she seemed to be getting back to her old self. At least he’d had Máire to comfort him. She had been thrilled with the gold earrings he had bought her for Christmas. She was so easily pleased. It was a joy to be with her. Pity she had gone home to Wexford for Christmas. Still, she’d be back soon. Whistling cheerfully, Simon spooned a generous amount of caviar on to a cracker and ate with relish.

  *

  Máire Noonan smiled as the lamplight reflected in the sparkling diamond ring on her left hand. She turned it this way and that, watching it glow. Thomas had finally proposed on Christmas Eve and she had graciously accepted. She had been starting to get worried; after all they had been dating ten years and these farmers were awfully cautious. Anyway he’d had to wait until his mother died and he got his hands on the farm. His mother had hung on grimly to her only son, but she was gone now and Máire had him at last. Thank God she wouldn’t end up a spinster. Regretfully, she fingered one of the gold earrings in her ear. She’d have to tell Simon she was leaving to go home to look after her parents or something. She wouldn’t like to hurt his feelings by telling him she was engaged. Besides he might want all his presents back. He had been a more than generous lover. No, nearer the time that she was getting married, she’d tell him that she had to leave work to go home. It had been good all the years it had lasted. Now she had her reward for her patient wait for Thomas. Máire was going to become a married woman at last.

  TUESDAY 23 APRIL 1991

  The Viewing

  LIZ

  ‘I’ll have the deep cleanse facial with steam, the eyebrow shape, manicure and full leg wax, please, Susan,’ Liz said as she mounted the grey-carpeted stairs of the salon, accompanied by the extremely-attractive beautician. Dark and tanned, she always looked so well, and Liz had used her as a model for several sketches. Liz had already spent the last half-hour at the tender mercies of her hairdresser, Nikki, and now, with her still-to-be-dried hair wrapped in a white fluffy towel, she was ready to be beautified. They reached the pink and green haven where Susan worked miracles on her clients.

  ‘I’ll get you a cup of coffee,’ the beautician laughed. ‘You might need it before you’re finished.’

  ‘A cup of coffee is just what I need. Today’s the day of the viewing. I’ve left them to it.’

  ‘You were right. It’s awful having strangers poking around your house. By the time you’re finished here they’ll surely all be gone,’ Susan said sympathetically.

  ‘That’s why I’m having the whole works. It’s a great excuse!’ Lying back in the cream leather recliner as Susan went downstairs to get the coffee, Liz gave a deep sigh. She was doing the right thing, she was sure of it. John O’Malley, the estate agent, had arrived and she had left him the keys, much to his disappointment. He had been looking forward to a cosy chat. As she walked out of the complex she had seen a tall thin blonde woman get out of a car and look interestedly around her. She had a very sharp face and Liz, unreasonably, hoped she wasn’t one of the viewers. She saw the woman look at her watch. She must be one of them! Of Hugh and his mother there was no sign, but as she crossed the busy road to the hairdresser’s she saw Dominic’s car in the car-park, so he and Lainey must be there.

  Listening to the soothing music and the muted sounds of the hairdriers in the salon downstairs, she felt herself relax. Whoever bought it, she wished them well. She had made the decision to sell after much soul-searching and she knew that what she had decided was what she wanted.

  It had all happened very quickly, smoothly even, once she had made her decision. Poor Hugh, he had been hurt but not greatly surprised, when she told him that although she loved him she could not marry him and live in America with him. It had not been an easy decision to make. They had been together for a long long time, but his needs and hers were too far removed. If they married, the conflict could become too difficult to handle.

  When she had told him she wanted to have a child nevertheless, he had been horrified. Liz smiled as she remembered the expression on his face when she had told him.

  ‘Are you crazy, Liz? What would people say? Imagine if the newspapers got hold of it?’

  ‘Hugh, I couldn’t give a fiddler’s for the newspapers and I’ve never worried about what people say and I’m not going to worry now. I’ve wanted a child for such a long time, I’m thirty-four, I can’t leave it much longer.’

  ‘Don’t you think it’s being a bit selfish and hard on the child? After all you won’t marry me. I’m going to be living in America, you’re going to have to rear it by yourself.’

  ‘I’ve really thought about it and maybe you’re right, but Hugh, don’t you think it’s much better to bring a child into the world who’s going to be very much loved and wanted even if I am single, than to have an unwanted baby just because you’re married. I think there’s a lot of hypocrisy around, and who’s got the right to tell me I’m wrong? Anything that’s done with love can’t be wrong.’ She was pleading with him to understand.

  ‘Ah Liz, Liz, trust you to be different.’ Hugh shook his head, thinking that as long as he lived she’d always surprise him.

  Liz took a deep breath. ‘Will you think about it when I’m in Majorca?’

  ‘Are you sure you won’t marry me?’

  ‘Hugh, we’d end up at each other’s throats.’

  He smiled wryly. ‘I know you’re right, I wish you weren’t.’

  ‘We can always visit and keep in touch. You might get fed up in America and suddenly decide that domestic bliss is really what you’ve been wanting all along.’ Liz drew him close for a hug.

  Hugh hugged her back. ‘Miracles do happen.’

  She had gone off to Majorca in a happy frame of mind, knowing that at last she was doing something about setting change in motion. Incarna and she had had a lovely time just browsing through the shops and taking long energetic walks. As they were walking down into Santa Ponsa one afternoon Liz idly noticed a Se Vende sign. Peering through the wrought-iron gates she saw the little white-washed villa with its oval turquoise pool and its flower-filled courtyards and reflected that it would be a lovely place to live. And it was only five minutes from Incarna’s. Her eyes widened in shock. What was she thinking of? She hurried on after Incarna.

  All that night she lay thinking about the villa. It would be perfect, really perfect. The climate suited her so well, she would be free to paint as never before . . . and Majorca was only two-and-a-half hours from home. Casually, she mentioned the idea to Incarna.

  ‘What a wonderful, wonderful idea,’ the Spanish woman enthused. ‘Come let us go and find out all about it.’

  They had arranged a viewing, and Liz had fallen in love with the villa there and then. The views were magnificent and it was so peaceful. She could turn one of the bedrooms into a studio, there was a bedroom for the baby and one for herself and there was plenty of room for visitors. Don and Eve and Christine and Liam would be able to spend long sunny holidays here. Liz began to get excited. And the best thing was that the price was well within her means.

  ‘It’s a terrific idea,’ Eve admitted when Liz told her. ‘What will
you do with the apartment?’

  Liz hadn’t really given it much thought. ‘Well I can’t really sell it. I’ll need a base here. I’m not decamping totally.’

  ‘Hmm,’ mused Eve. ‘I know!’ she grinned triumphantly. ‘Sell it and come back to the granny flat. We’re not letting it any more – it’s too much hassle.’

  Liz beamed. ‘That’s a great idea, Eve!’ She thought for a moment and said slowly, ‘Well I don’t know. I didn’t tell you this but I’m not going to go with Hugh to America and I’m hoping to have a baby.’

  Eve didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘I was thinking that you’d do that eventually,’ she smiled. ‘And I think you’re right.’

  Tears welled up in Liz’s eyes. ‘Oh Eve, you’re the best!’

  ‘So are you,’ replied her sister-in-law, enveloping her in a hug. They talked about the baby for hours. Liz knew from being so deeply involved with her nieces that it was a huge and awesome responsibility to have a child and raise it, and even more so without having a partner to support you. She had sat worrying with Eve in Temple Street Hospital when Fiona was suspected of having appendicitis, and when Caitriona’s temperature had shot up to 104 and they couldn’t get it down. She had shared a few sleepless nights during teething time, and knew the worries that all mothers have. Liz had no rose-tinted view of having a child. She knew what was in store and she was prepared for it. It was not a decision she had taken lightly. Nevertheless she knew it was a decision that would fulfil her more than any other.

  To have a base at home with Don and Eve and the girls! What could be more perfect. It was this final slotting into place of the pieces of her life that convinced her she was doing the right thing. Christine was delighted for her when she told her of her plans. ‘No better woman to do it, and how thoughtful of you to provide me with a holiday home in the sun.’ Christine was in no hurry to have children, but she understood her sister’s deep desire for one. Her parents had been somewhat taken aback when Liz had broached the idea of single motherhood. But, supportive as always, and knowing their daughter as they did, they told her that if she felt it was the right thing for her they would help in any way they could. Liz knew that deep down they probably didn’t approve but their loyalty to her would never let it show, and she knew that once she placed their grandchild in their arms it would be loved and cherished by them as she was.

  When Hugh had heard of her decision to sell Apartment 3B and move to Spain, he was convinced she had gone crazy. ‘Give up everything that’s happening here for you? As well as having a baby! Girl, you really have flipped!’ He was letting his mews for a year until he saw what way things were going to go in America. She knew he didn’t believe she would really do it, but she went ahead and made the arrangements to purchase the property in Spain and set about finishing up her commissions. She had come off the pill and was hoping against hope that she would get pregnant. Hugh would be leaving for America in June and she had until then.

  As it happened she got pregnant very quickly. On Valentine’s Day, she was told that she was six weeks pregnant and she was so thrilled. Even Hugh, despite himself, was excited. ‘I’ll take him or her for the school holidays,’ he grinned boyishly, running his palm over her still flat stomach. ‘You will come out to visit, won’t you?’ he queried a little anxiously.

  ‘Of course I will, daddy Cassidy,’ she teased.

  ‘You’re not really going to sell 3B though, are you?’ he asked.

  ‘Hugh, as soon as everything is signed, sealed and delivered in Majorca I’m moving all my stuff back to the granny flat and I’m out of here,’ she reiterated. She’d give him a surprise one of these days. He’d come to visit and see the For Sale sign up and then he’d be convinced.

  It was the beginning of April before everything was settled in Majorca. A week later O’Malley, Costello and Ryan had a sign up announcing that Apartment 3B was for sale and Hugh found out that she was dead serious. ‘I really didn’t think you’d go through with it,’ he confessed. ‘So you’re going to sell?’

  ‘Yep!’

  He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. ‘I wonder would Ma like it here. She’s going on about selling the house and getting something smaller.’

  ‘Well, damn you, Hugh!’ Liz exclaimed angrily. ‘If I had known that I’d have just sold the place to you privately and not had to pay out a fortune to bloody estate agents.’

  ‘I only just thought of it now!’ he protested. ‘Anyway, haven’t you told Dominic that his girlfriend could look the place over. You’re better off in one way – at least you’ll get the best price.’

  ‘Ah Hugh, you should have told me you were interested,’ she said in disgust.

  ‘Don’t worry about it, Liz. It was just a thought. Maybe it’s not what Ma’s looking for. I’ll have to see.’

  ‘Here’s your coffee!’ Susan interrupted her reverie. Was Mrs Cassidy in the apartment now? What did Lainey think of it? Was the hard-faced woman one of the viewers? Who else was there? No doubt all would soon be revealed, Liz mused, as she lay back resting her palm lightly on her stomach, dying for the moment when she would feel the first flutter of her baby’s life. Then Susan began her soothing beauty treatments as Liz lay relaxed, looking forward to the future.

  HUGH

  So she had been serious about selling, Hugh thought, as he helped his mother into the front seat of his Saab and gently fastened the seatbelt around her. His mother was getting frail, he noticed. Liz’s apartment would be ideal for her. No stairs, a lift that went right to her front door. All mod cons. It would be perfect and if she liked it and the price was right she should have no problem disposing of the family home. It would be nice for him to know that his Ma was in Liz’s old place. It would be nice for his child as well. He couldn’t believe that Liz had got pregnant so quickly and he couldn’t account for the sense of exhilaration he had experienced when she had told him about it on Valentine’s Day. It was kind of exciting really and he didn’t care what he was doing in the States, he was going to be home for the birth and that was final. If he was going to be a father of a child he wanted to be there from the word go. Bonding was extremely important and it was as important for a father to bond as it was for the mother. He knew, he had been reading up all about it in some books he had borrowed from the ILAC library. Well after all, he was a journalist at heart, facts were important to him.

  There was nothing to say that he had to stay in America for ever or that Liz had to stay in Majorca. Maybe they could arrange something to suit them both – and the baby of course. He just wanted one bash at America and then he’d be satisfied. Then maybe they could work out something together. Whatever happened, Liz knew that she could always count on him for support and love in the rearing of their child. He would be as good a father as he could. It was the least the child deserved and, to tell the truth, he was rather excited by the whole thing. Driving into Mountain View, as he had done so many times over the years, he wondered if Liz would be there. He vaguely remembered her saying she was going to get her hair done. Anyway they would be meeting later.

  His mother seemed most impressed by the grounds. He smiled, watching her taking stock. The more he thought about it, the more he felt Apartment 3B was ideal for her. She’d have the two older ladies downstairs as neighbours; surely they’d have something in common. The church, shops and post office were right beside her. And there were plenty of buses seeing as she didn’t drive. It would be much better for her than rattling around in that old house by herself. He took her up in the lift.

  Liz wasn’t there but there were a few people looking around already. He should have thought about his mother buying it before Liz had put it on the estate agent’s books. Well, it was too late now. ‘It’s really lovely, son isn’t it? I’d love it,’ his mother whispered to him. He smiled down at her. Well that was that then. His mother wanted Apartment 3B and Hugh would just have to make sure that she got it!

  CLAIRE

  Claire had visited three clients and shampooed and set
their hair before she set off for her appointment to view Apartment 3B. She drove carefully in her little Fiesta. Well it wasn’t hers exactly; it was a company car, her and Rosie’s company car. It was just great being able to drive. It gave you such freedom. The years of waiting on buses and getting soaked in the rain seemed like a bad dream. All of the past few years seemed like a bad dream now. It was amazing how things had started to go right for her once she left Sean and started to be responsible for herself. CALL ’n’ CUT, her and Rosie’s business, had taken off beyond their wildest expectations. Every day they were getting more enquiries from potential clients.

  Buying their own salon had been ideal. They had a base for their operation that dealt with ordinary clients and Claire took care of the travelling part of the business. Business was so brisk that they were thinking they might even have to get in another stylist. They had been in operation since the end of January and Rosie was saying that they might break even in their first year of business!