And it would be. It always was.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
‘Did anyone ring for me, Aoife?’ Anna burst through the door of the apartment.
‘No,’ Aoife said gently, but the dreaded word alone seemed to cut through the room like a poisoned spear.
‘Oh right.’ Anna was subdued. ‘And you were here all the time, were you?’
‘Well, I went to the shops just the once. Er . . . he might have been trying to get through then.’
‘Yeah, maybe you’re right,’ Anna said, her voice dropped, catching emotion as it did so. She had never felt so let down in her life. The party was only days away and it now looked like her escort would be a definite no-show. Why, she wondered. What had she done wrong? If she knew, it would all be a lot easier to understand.
‘There’s probably a good reason why he hasn’t phoned,’ Aoife said encouragingly. ‘But that isn’t to say he won’t, you know.’
But no amount of kind words or positive thinking could disguise the fact that Darren hadn’t bothered his ass dialling her number.
‘Would you like to see my new dress?’ Anna tried to change subjects. The one I’m going to turn up in. Alone.
The following day dragged for Anna. Nothing made sense any more. What was God playing at up there? Some people asked for miracles and got them. All she’d wanted was a suitable man for the night. That was all. That and her health, of course. And her own business maybe one day. And happiness for all her friends and family. And to have no more homeless teenagers on the streets. Of course all those things were far more important than getting some idiot of a man to bring along to the party. Yes really, she should stop feeling sorry for herself.
‘Miss Browne wants to see you in her office,’ said Lorraine, one of the shop girls.
Anna made her way upstairs. What wonderful treasures would Miss Browne have in store for her? And who cared anyway? How was she supposed to be interested in sales and budgets at a time like this?
‘Sit down, Anna,’ Miss Browne motioned to the empty seat opposite her desk.
Anna obeyed. What was all this leading to?
‘Firstly I’d like to congratulate you on your performance since your arrival. Your standards are very high and you’ve certainly proved your capabilities in my absence.’
‘Thank you,’ Anna said stiffly. There was a but in here somewhere. There had to be. Miss Browne wasn’t in the habit of waffling on for nothing.
‘Anyway to cut straight to the point,’ the manager continued, ‘unfortunately we’re going to lose you now. They always seem to take the good ones away, I’m afraid.’
‘What do you mean?’ Anna was becoming extremely hot under the collar. Could somebody please open a window?
‘Head office would like to try you in your own store. As you know, we’re branching into the UK market at the moment.’
‘That’s right.’ Anna felt faint. Her own store. GOD!
‘The store is just outside London,’ Miss Browne continued. ‘It’s brand-new with completely new staff and we really believe you have it in you to manage it.’
‘Er, gosh . . . I don’t know what to say.’
‘You don’t have to give us your answer just yet. You have until Monday to think about it. That gives you the whole weekend.’
The weekend! The party . . . oh God . . . manager of a new store . . . OH GOD!
‘No phone calls?’
‘No.’ Aoife looked guilty as if it was her fault Darren hadn’t rung. ‘But sure you know yourself men have absolutely no conception of time.’
‘Yeah yeah.’ Anna flopped onto the small sofa. Tonight she should have been celebrating her promotion. So why was she so pissed off ? After all why had she thought Darren would turn out any better than the others?
It was typical. She’d always given men the undeserved benefit of the doubt. They were all the same though. Only the names changed. She wished she hadn’t slept with him. The thought of it was making her feel about as cheap as a used car. But worst of all was that Anna knew deep down, that if the phone rang now with Darren’s voice at the end of it, she’d forgive him.
But as the next couple of days wore on, there was no pretending that Darren was going to ring. He’d made his escape through the Emergency Exit. That was the end of him. Bye bye. She’d been a weekend fling. That’s all there was to it. A toy that he’d tired of. Bastard.
Anna went through the motions at work, trying to make herself as busy as possible. She’d go to England. She’d swim over if she had to. Anything to get out of this country for a while. She’d make a new start in England. Nobody would know her over there. Anna Allstone. The babe! A girl who took no shit from men. Yeah right!
Maybe she should give the Guinness Book of Records a call. Did they have a category for Most Dumped Woman? It was worth a try. Hey, it might even make her famous. She might start getting invited to chat shows to share her story with all her ‘sisters’ out there.
Ah sure, what was the point in moping? Who wanted to be part of a boring old couple anyway? The only reason Darren had seemed exciting was because she hadn’t really known him. All men were pretty interesting at first. Then you found out they were the same selfish git as the last fella. He still went out on a Friday with the lads, coming in bollixed afterwards, looking for a shag. And in the morning he’d wake up with a chronic hangover and ransack your flat for food. After that he’d sit on your sofa, and smoke your cigarettes while watching one rugby match after another on your TV.
At least Anna didn’t have to put up with any of that. She was looking forward to getting herself a snazzy one-bedroomed apartment in London. She could paint it a crazy-looking pink and fill her bathroom with make-up and all kinds of perfumes and face masks. She could leave the lid off the toothpaste and the toilet paper on the floor. God, it was going to be mad fun altogether!
Now she was beginning to cheer up. Who needed men anyway? Anna only had to look around Lolta’s to see that all the top female managers were single. Yeah, that was a fact. They didn’t waste precious hours alone with the radio, guzzling back wine and reminiscing on long-lost love. No way. They were too busy working and climbing the corporate ladder along with their male colleagues.
Instead of watching the phone they eyed sales reports, promotion possibilities and their competitors. And even though they didn’t have somebody to hug them in the evening, they could hug themselves in the knowledge that they’d a hefty bank balance and nobody to wreck their head over unironed shirts and uncooked meals.
Single women could watch Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing and Pretty in Pink over and over again if they wanted to. They could dance around the room to Destiny’s Child or eat an entire box of Milk Tray just because they felt like it and didn’t need some eejit of a man going to the ends of the earth to deliver the damn box.
Best of all, single women didn’t have to put up with men hinting that although they’d a great figure, they’d have an even better figure if they just went to the gym.
She was better off, Anna decided. She was now free to live life the way she wanted to. When her holidays came up she could head off to wherever she pleased and chat up who ever she wanted instead of having to go to some boring resort and rub cream on some man’s hairy back.
Oh yes, being single was pretty fantastic.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Anna drove from Galway to Dublin with a heavy heart. It was difficult to concentrate on the road. Okay, she was single now and had accepted that but it was still hard to completely banish Darren from her thoughts. She’d left several messages on his mobile. But no return calls followed. Nothing. He’d simply disappeared off the face of the earth.
She was glad to be leaving Galway for the weekend. Aoife was becoming distraught, persecuted by Anna’s persistent questions. Has he not rung yet? Were you here all day? Do you think he could have been trying when you were on the phone to your mother? Because even though Anna had come to terms with being single again, some doubts still niggle
d. Like maybe Darren had mislaid her number? Maybe his mobile phone had been stolen? Maybe he’d been sent to America on urgent business? Or been involved in a terrible accident and was lying on a life-support machine somewhere. There were a lot of maybes. But nothing could alter the fact that tomorrow was the big reunion and she’d be going alone. She’d had three months to get herself just one miserable man for this event and had failed. Unbelievable!
She could always ask Mark, she supposed, as she drew up to McDonald’s to break the journey. Mark would definitely come along and look the part. In fact he’d probably be honoured. And if she was completely honest with herself, although she’d rather die than admit it to anyone, deep down she secretly believed Mark had always kind of fancied her. He’d just probably never plucked up the courage to tell her how he really felt. He was probably afraid of rejection. Just like she was. She stopped the car. She was tired of driving. She was tired full stop. Tired of all the pretence. Tired of the games. Tired of ten years of denying how she really felt about Mark. It was time to stop messing about. It all made sense really when she thought about it. Of course Mark fancied her. That was the reason why his relationships never worked out. Those girls were never enough for a guy like Mark Landon. He needed a vivacious woman. He needed her. Anna was the woman for him. So why had it taken a harsh rejection from a player like Darren for her to see the light?
Thank God Darren had disappeared. That was the best thing that could have happened to her. This was fate. The more she thought about it the more everything made sense. She started up the car again. She wouldn’t be able to reach Dublin fast enough.
Should she ask him to the party tonight or leave it until tomorrow? Maybe it would be best not to ask him straightaway. The shock might be too great for him!
‘Hello, love.’
‘Hi, Mum’. Anna dragged her suitcase into the hallway and let her mother kiss the top of her head.
‘We’re so pleased for you.’ Mrs Allstone grinned from ear to ear. ‘We’ve told everybody about your promotion. All the neighbours and cousins know. I don’t think we left anybody out.’ She gave a little laugh.
‘Thanks,’ Anna produced a smile.
‘Your brother was delighted for you, of course.’
‘Was he?’ Anna asked, surprised.
‘And he’s just announced his engagement.’
‘Wonderful,’ Anna said. ‘And what a coincidence that both events should be announced in the one week,’ she couldn’t refrain from adding.
‘Now,’ her mother said, ignoring the comment, ‘come into the kitchen, I’ve baked you a chocolate devil cake. Your favourite.’
My favourite when I was about six years old, not now, Anna thought and obediently followed her mother into the kitchen.
‘Congratulations.’ Her grandfather almost spilled his tea. ‘When are you getting married?’
‘I’m not,’ Anna muttered. ‘I’ve been promoted.’
‘Oh,’ said her grandfather, immediately losing interest. He was of the old school, where a woman dutifully got married and didn’t entertain daft ideas that entailed going off to England to run a store.
‘Sit down and get a few digestives into you, you’re skin and bone.’
‘Do you think so?’ Anna felt like hugging him.
‘Are you looking forward to tomorrow?’ Her mother cut a generous slice of cake.
‘Not really,’ Anna admitted. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to meeting Victoria and her cronies but she was looking forward to having Mark on her arm. To think it had taken all this time for her to realize he was definitely the one.
‘Do you want to tell me about it?’ her mother said as she sat down.
‘I’m bringing Mark Landon,’ Anna told her. ‘It’s just that, I dunno . . . I’m not into this reunion thing at all.’
‘But surely you don’t have to bring someone,’ her mother seemed surprised, ‘I thought it was a reunion just for the girls.’
‘I wish it was, but Victoria has invited partners as well.’
‘I’m sure Mark will be delighted to escort you. He’s a lovely, lovely chap. Handsome too.’
Anna couldn’t believe her mother remembered Mark so well. She’d invited him to her debutante school graduation dance and had been a bundle of nerves before he arrived. She remembered her mother telling her to take deep breaths and to ‘be herself ’.
Mark had been the perfect gentleman, arriving with a pretty orchid and a huge box of Milk Tray chocolates. He’d stood patiently with Anna as her father took the usual fifty compulsory photographs and introduced him to the neighbours as ‘Anna’s young friend’.
He’d told her she looked beautiful, even though she felt like a waltzing Matilda in her big ballooning beige ball gown, and most importantly he’d ignored Victoria when she ditched her own poor escort in a failed attempt to get off with Mark.
That night had probably been the happiest night of her life. Mark had lavished attention upon her, making sure she’d enough to drink, pulling out chairs for her, dragging her onto the dance floor. But when he tried to kiss her at the end of the night, she’d turned away in case he was just feeling sorry for her and was kissing her out of pity.
‘I wasn’t going to invite him,’ Anna admitted.
‘But to be perfectly honest there’s nobody else I’d rather bring.’
‘Well, I always thought he was a perfect gentleman,’ her mother assured her. ‘You two always made a great couple.’
‘You’ve never said that before.’
‘Ah, you see,’ her mother smiled, ‘I knew that if you thought I liked him you’d do your best to get rid of him.’
‘But do you think he liked me? Even then?’
‘Darling, the boy was crazy about you.’
For the first time in her life Anna felt like hugging her mother.
As she sat alone in her old room listening to an old tape of Madonna’s and staring at a poster of Patrick Swayze that she’d never bothered to take down, Anna pondered on her mother’s words. Had it really been that obvious? Had everybody known Mark was mad about her? Why hadn’t anybody said anything? Now that she was definitely going to England a relationship between them wouldn’t be so easy. But then again, didn’t they say that true love conquered all? Somehow they’d be able to work it out.
It was late now. Her parents and grandad were downstairs watching The Late Late Show. Mark wouldn’t be in this late on a Friday night, would he?
Well, she might as well drive down to Ranelagh and see if she could catch him now. So what if he was going out? All she wanted was a few minutes to invite him to the party. She slapped a bit of foundation on both cheeks, said goodbye to her parents and got into her car. Jesus, was she mad or what? Don’t think about it, she thought. Don’t think about it or you’ll definitely change your mind.
She drove down the dual carriageway, her heart pounding. She tried to imagine Mark’s face when she told him how she really felt. Would he automatically sweep her up in his arms or would he take a minute to let it all sink in? God, it was exciting and at the same time terrifying. What if he insisted on following her to London? Or insist that she take another job in Dublin to be near him? Anna wasn’t sure she could do that. She’d worked too hard for this new position. Herself and Mark would really have to think this through properly.
She turned left at the lights in Donnybrook, up Eglinton Road and right towards Ranelagh. Please let him be in, she begged. Please, please let him be in tonight.
Slowly she drove past his front gate. A light was on in the front room. She parked the car a little further down the road and walked back, towards his house. She peered over the hedge. There was Mark sitting on the sofa watching the TV. Here goes, she told herself and took a deep breath. It’s now or never.
‘ANNAAA!!!’ a loud voice boomed in her ear.
‘Jesus, Grainne, you frightened the living daylights out of me.’
‘Aoife said you’d be up this weekend. I’m thrilled you came to see
us. Have you been waiting out here long? You must be freezing.’
‘No, not too long,’ Anna said, thanking God, it was dark and Grainne couldn’t see her face go crimson.
‘Come in,’ she said. ‘It’s just me in the flat. Sandra and Rich are out.’
‘Sandra and Rich!’
‘Oh Jesus.’ Grainne’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘I forgot you didn’t know. Sandra will murder me, so she will. She wanted to tell you herself so there’d be no hard feelings.’
‘Don’t worry, there’s no hard feelings,’ Anna laughed. Jesus, Sandra deserved a medal to put up with him. But different courses for horses and all that. ‘Is she getting on well with him?’
‘Yes, apart from him being constantly broke,’ Grainne laughed.
‘But he’s an actor,’ Anna said ironically.
‘So we keep hearing.’ Grainne opened the big green door. ‘Come in.’
‘Do you ever see Steve?’
‘Not any more unfortunately,’ said Grainne. ‘He’s studying his brains out. Pity, he’s a fine thing, you know.’
She followed Grainne up to the top of the house, past her old flat.
‘Who’s in there now?’ she asked quietly.
‘Some weirdo,’ Grainne said. ‘He’s always complaining about our noise. He must have no life, that’s all I can say.’
Anna sat down on a kitchen chair and accepted Grainne’s offer of a beer. She couldn’t believe she still hadn’t got to talk to Mark yet. The longer she left it, the harder it would be.
She really had to talk to him. It wasn’t such a big deal. He was mad about her. Everyone said so. Even her mum. And of course Claire had been saying it for years.
‘Rich has a contact that can get us parts in Fair City,’ Grainne broke her from her train of thought.
‘What kind of parts?’ Anna eyed her suspiciously.
Mr Right for the Night Page 22
