Mr Right for the Night (32 page)

‘Well, it did  look  pretty  fishy to  me.  You  can’t blame me for losing it. But I shouldn’t  have resorted to spying on you. I don’t want  us ever to have that lack of trust  between  us again.’

‘Yeah well, I know  I was  going out  and  getting pissed too much. I suppose  work  was getting to me and I thought staying  out  all night  drinking  would solve my  problems.  But I guess I’m sick of waking up on other people’s floors with a hangover. I should have  done  that  as a student  and  got  it out  of my system like a normal bloke.’

Claire laughed,  ‘It’s not a great feeling, is it?’

‘Nope, come here to me and give me a big hug.’ Claire sat down on her husband’s knee. ‘So do you
think you’ll be able to get another PA or what?’

‘It’ll be difficult,’ Simon admitted. ‘A lot of them just like to come in and  look  at the clock or while away  the  hours  painting   their  nails.  Most  of  the temps don’t last the day.’

‘I could do it,’ Claire said suddenly,  ‘I mean,  you could train  me in.’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Why not? I want to get back into the work place anyway.  But the thing is I could only do it for a few months.’

‘How come?’

‘I’m pregnant.’

‘What!’

Claire couldn’t keep the smile off her face. ‘Yes, I
was just waiting  for the right moment  to tell you.’

‘I can’t believe it!’

‘Are you pleased?’

‘Pleased? Jesus,  Claire,  I’m over  the  moon.’  He placed  a  hand  over  her  tummy.   ‘This  is the  best possible  news  you  could  give me.’ Claire  relaxed. And then cried. The tears just wouldn’t  stop flowing down her cheeks. Everything was going to work out. She was so happy  she almost  felt guilty. Guilty that she’d despised Shelley so much. Guilty that the father of Shelley’s baby wouldn’t  be holding  her this very minute,  while the tears streamed  down  her cheeks, telling her he was the happiest  man alive. Guilty for suspecting  Simon of a crime he didn’t commit.

Thank  God  they  were going to be a real  family again.

Thank  God.

‘Are you the manager?’ An irate customer  drummed a  handful  of  knuckles  on  the  counter  in  front  of Anna.

‘Yes,’ Anna said, bracing  herself for a full tirade.

‘I bought  these slippers three months  ago and . . .’ Blah, blah,  blah.

‘We’ll refund  you the price of the slippers,’ Anna replied  wearily,  wishing  she  could  tell  the  angry red-faced  woman  to fuck off with herself.

The  store  was  crammed   with  frantic  late-night shoppers. Seven-thirty  couldn’t  come  fast  enough for  Anna.  She wanted  all these people  to go away and  leave  her  alone.  In  fact  she  wanted   them  to exit the world  altogether so that  herself and Darren  could have it all to themselves. She adored  the man. He was definitely her prince charming.

The Ferrari was waiting at the dot of seven-thirty. Anna slipped  into  the passenger  seat with  her little overnight  bag,  full of anticipation of the night  yet to come.

It was still bright  with no sign of rain, which was a miracle for Galway.  Darren  turned  on the engine and they headed  for Moran’s.

Moran’s   was  buzzing  with  tourists   and  locals. Anna  relaxed,   enjoyed  her  seafood  and  drank   in the  ambient   atmosphere. Back  at  the  hotel,  their lovemaking   was  more  passionate  than   the  night before. More  urgent.  More  frantic.  They practically ripped  the clothes off each other  between  glasses of champagne and room  service.

For  the  second  night,  Anna  slept  peacefully  in Darren’s  arms,  this time comforted by the fact that she didn’t have to set the alarm  clock.

She woke just after  ten to find the bed empty.  She heard the sound of running water from the bathroom.

‘Can I join you?’ she stood in the doorway naked.

‘Hey, come  on  in,’ he  called,  ‘I’ll allow  you  to scrub my back.’

She stepped into the bath and let him work a lather of soap  over her. The hot  water  sluiced over them. Then  she did  the  same  to  him.  She loved  all this. Being part  of a couple.  A real couple.  She was fed up  with  the  games.  Leave the  players  to  the  other women  in the  world.  She wanted  a real  man.  She
had
a real man.

Afterwards as they  sat  on  the  huge  bed,  drying each  other  off, Anna  told  Darren  that  she’d never felt this happy.  She confided that  she’d all but given up on finding Mr Right.

‘There’s a  lot  of  dodgy  men  out  there,’  Darren agreed. ‘You have to be careful.’

‘Then again  you c
an’t be too  wary,’ Anna  coun
tered.  ‘After all you  were  a dodgy  stranger  at  the airport.’

‘True,’ Darren  laughed.

‘So tell  me,’  Anna  tousled  Darren’s  damp  hair playfully,  ‘have you had many girlfriends?’

‘Not really,’ he answered  uncomfortably. ‘Now,’ he said, swiftly changing  the subject  and giving her bare bottom a playful slap, ‘are you getting dressed or what?’

‘Yeah,  yeah,  leave  me  alone,’  Anna  said  lazily.

‘But seriously though, have you ever been like really madly in love with anybody?’

‘I don’t  like to  think  too  much  about  the  past,’ Darren  said.

After lunch,  Darren  insisted  on hitting  the road. Anna  was  disappointed.  What   was  the  rush   all about?

‘I want  to hit the road  before the traffic,’ Darren explained  and then kissed her lips tenderly.

‘I’ll be up in Dublin on Tuesday,’ Anna said eagerly.

‘I’ve Tuesday  as well as Saturday  and Sunday off this week to make  up for last week’s workload. So we’ll be able to see lots of each other,’ she enthused.

‘Well, I’ll see what I can do. I’ve a load of meetings and stuff to get through next week so I can’t make any plans just yet.’

‘What about the weekend?’ Anna knew she should quit while she was ahead but somehow couldn’t find the lid to quash  her motormouth.

‘Saturday,  no – Friday?  Yeah,  we’ll definitely do something  on Friday.’

‘I was  hoping  we  could  meet  up  on  Saturday,’ Anna gushed.  ‘Some of my friends  are meeting  up and I was thinking  . . .’

‘I’ll see what  I can do.’ Darren  silenced her with a kiss.

And then he was gone.

Anna was glad when Aoife finally returned home that  evening.  She’d  spent  the  whole  day  moping about  the  place,  switching   on  the  TV  and  then switching  it off again.  She’d watered  Aoife’s plants at least three times and had made endless cups of tea she didn’t  even feel like drinking.  Why had  Darren  shot back  up to  Dublin  when  he could  have spent the whole day with her?

Had  she said something  or what?  Maybe  it was because he’d seen her without her make-up.  Maybe he felt she was hurrying things along too much. Then again he was the one saying
he
was mad about 
her
. It was baffling.

Unfortunately Aoife insisted she couldn’t chat for very long.  She said  she  was  already  feeling  guilty for  taking  the  rest  of  the  weekend  off  and  now she  intended  to put  her head  down  and  slog for a few hours.

She showed a slight
polite interest in Anna’s week
end before disappearing off to her room.  Anna was left  abandoned in the  sitting  room  with  the  heavy black phone  choosing  to remain  irritatingly  silent.

Maybe she should ring Darren  and thank  him for the fabulous  weekend.

Just a teeny weeny call.

No  way,
  a stern  voice boomed  inside  her  head.
Haven’t you learned your lesson yet, you thick eejit? Go out. Get busy. Do something useful, you clown
.

Okay, okay, I back down, Anna succumbed to the angry voice. She put on a heavy bomber  jacket and a pair of sneakers  and set off to march  the prom.

There 
was  no  point  in worrying  about 
trivial things.

Darren
was
mad
about
her.

He’d said so.

‘Mrs Murphy has agreed  to look  after  Andrew  on a  regular  part-time basis,’ Claire  told  her husband happily.

They were walking  in the Wicklow  Mountains, Claire pushing  Andrew’s buggy, Simon struggling with  Blackie’s lead.  Like an  ad  for  Flora,  Claire thought.  When  Sim
on had  suggested  Dún Laoig
haire pier, Claire
had swiftly suggested the moun
tains.  It wouldn’t do to bump into  Tom  just now. Claire  was  determined  to  take   her  little  secret to  the  grave.  Sure,  what  would  be  the  point  in telling Simon  anything  now? It would  only upset him.

Their marriage  might not survive it.

‘That’s great news,’ Simon smiled and bent down to release their  over-excited  dog from  his straining lead. ‘You’re a star.’

‘To be honest, I’m a bit nervous about  going back to the workplace again.’

‘You’ll be fine,’ Simon assured her. ‘You’ve brains to burn.  You’ve an honours degree, for God’s sake.’

‘Well, that’s  true,’ Claire  admitted. ‘Oh, I’m just being silly, aren’t I?’

‘You’ll be a massive support to me.’

‘What will we call the baby?’ She suddenly  didn’t want to be talking  about  work  any more.

‘If it’s  a  boy  we  could  call  him  Simon,  after me?’

‘Oh God, no. One Simon is enough,’ Claire laughed.

‘I don’t care if you call him Arnold Schwarzeneggar. As  long  as the  baby  is healthy,  I’ll be  one  happy man.’

On Monday evening she tried on her new dress.

‘Stunning.’  Simon  couldn’t  hide  his  admiration.

‘You look  sensational. Every man  in the room  will be hitting  on you.’

‘As long as you’re hitting on me too, I don’t care,’ Claire twirled to give the dress its full effect. ‘As long as you’re after me that’s all that  counts.’

The doorbell  rang.

‘Oh, that  must  be Anna.  I’ll get it.’ Claire  made for the door  and flung it open.

‘Are you going out?’ Anna looked  startled.

‘No, silly, this is what  I’m wearing  to the party. Come in. Do you like it?’

‘Wow, it’s amazing.’

‘What are you wearing  yourself, Anna?’

‘Me? Oh I haven’t a clue. What I’m going to wear is  actually  the  least  of my worries.  Oh  hi, Simon. Long time, no see.’

‘Hi,  Anna.  Now  if  you  two  ladies  will  excuse me, I’m sure you’ve loads  of things to be gossiping about.’

‘Well, he  looks  happy,’  Anna  said  brightly  and pulled up a chair for herself.

‘He’s every right to b
e,’ Claire grinned and instinc
tively moved her hand across her still impossibly flat stomach.

‘Is there  something  I should  know?’  Anna  asked warily.

‘God, where do I start?’

Claire told Anna about the pregnancy, about going back  to  work,   and  about   Shelley. 

Anna  listened, gobsmacked.
Claire had blossomed  since she’d last met her. Being pregnant suited her.

Still, rather  her than  me, Anna  decided  as Claire started  to give a vivid description of her latest bout of morning  sickness.

In turn,  Anna  spil
led the beans  on her new rela
tionship.

‘He sounds  almost  too good,’ Claire said.

‘I can live with too good,’ Anna replied.

‘But what  about  Mark?’

‘What about  him?’

‘Don’t you still hold a candle for him?’

‘No,’ Anna  said firmly, ‘I never held a candle  or anything  for him.’

‘I dunno  about  that,’  Claire teased.

‘Oh shut up, will you?’

‘So when are you meeting this fella again?’

‘His name’s Darren,’  Anna said huffily.

‘Does he know  you’ve the day off ?’

‘Yep.’

‘Well,  give  him  a  ring  now  so.  It’s  only  nine o’clock.’

‘But suppose  he wants  to meet up tonight?’

‘Well then  you  tell  him  you  won’t  be  able  to,’ Claire insisted.  ‘We’re meeting Alice and Olive.’

‘Olive Sharkey?’

‘Yeah, Alice ran into her and she’s dying to meet up.’

‘You have
got
to be joking,’ Anna fumed. ‘She was Victoria’s buddy in school. Don’t you remember her? The ultimate  yes woman.’

‘I’m sure  she’s chan
ged,’  Claire  said  diplomati
cally. ‘We’ve all changed in lots of ways, you know.’

‘Right,  anyway   I  don’t   think   I’ll  ring  Darren tonight. I’m a bit  wrecked  after  my journey  from Galway.’

‘Whatever  you think.  Well, I’m ready  when  you are.  Actually  come  in and  have  a peek  at  Andrew while I’m getting changed.  He’s got so big.’