Mr Right for the Night (35 page)

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  gentle
man,’ 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,’  Gra
inne  said.  ‘He’s always  com
plaining 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.

‘Well, sitting  in th
e  background of the  pub  pre
tending to  talk,  you  know.  Will  I tell him  you’re interested?’

‘There’s not  much  point,’  Anna  sighed,  ‘if I’m going to England.’

‘Maybe he could get you put on
Coronation Street
or
EastEnders
?’

Anna laughed.  ‘Do you not think if Rich was that well connected, he’d get himself a job on one of those soaps?’

‘I s’pose,’ Grainne  agreed.

‘Grainne?’

‘Mmm?’

‘Do you know  Mark  across the road?’

‘The good-looking fella?’

‘That’s the one.’

‘Well, not personally  no.’

‘But you know  who I’m talking  about?’

‘Sure.’

‘Have you seen him recently with a girlfriend?’

Grainne   frowned.   ‘No,’  she  shook  her  head,
‘no,  I  don’t  think  so.  Why,  does  he  have  one? It’s  very hard  to  tell. He’s  always  with  someone, isn’t he? I wouldn’t mind him myself. He’s feckin gorgeous.’

‘I wonder  has he anyone now, though  . . . anyone special like?’

‘Why don’t you go over and ask him?’

‘No way. What  do you think  I am?’

‘Well, it  would  put  an  end  to  the  speculation,’ Grainne  was pragmatic.

The dull feeling inside Anna  was growing  all the time. Grainne  was right. If she went across the road and rang his bell, then she’d know for sure if he was single at the moment.  If he wasn’t,  then  what?  Oh God, she couldn’t  do this without any preparation.

‘Go,’ Grainne  urged.  ‘It won’t  be as bad  as you think.’

‘Right.’  Anna  got  to  her  feet. 
Anything to  get Grainne  off  her case
. ‘But if I’m not  back  in five minutes  you’re to come and rescue me.’

‘Sure,’ Grainne  promised.  ‘By the way, not being nosy  or anything,  but  have  ya the  hots  for him? I mean, are you going to ask him out or what?’

Anna  took  a deep  breath. ‘Something  like that. Wish  me luck,  okay?’  she said,  fidgeting  with  her fingers.

She skipped outside into the darkness,  determined not  to  be  overwhelmed by  all  this.  Even  Grainne  didn’t seem to think  it was much of a deal.

She walked  boldly  up  Mark  Landon’s  path,  her heart  pounding at a furious  pace. She wasn’t  a bit worried. Of course she wasn’t. At the end of the day Mark would  probably be over the moon.  But as she pressed a trembling  finger on the modern  doorbell, her stomach  a flurry of butterflies, she asked herself,
‘Anna Allstone,  what  the hell do you think  you’re doing?’ She stood  uneasily  in the doorway, riddled with nerves, and waited  for approaching footsteps.

Nobody came to answer  the door.

Maybe  he didn’t  hear  the bell. After all, the TV was on. It would  probably drown  out  the sound  of the doorbell.  She went  to ring again  but  something intervened. Waves of panic swept over her, making her  turn  on  her  heel and  walk  swiftly  back  down the path.

‘Chicken,’ Grainne  accused back in the flat.

‘It wasn’t a good time,’ Anna argued.

‘Well,  if  you  can  live  without knowing,   that’s fine.’ Grainne  grimaced.  ‘Personally  it wouldn’t  be me.’

‘Could you not ask him for me?’ Anna asked in a small voice.

‘Me? Sure  he’d  think  I was  a  nutter.   Can  you imagine  me  stomping   across  there  demanding to know his romantic situation? Don’t be silly, Anna.’ Grainne’s words  hounded her as she tossed  and turned in her old bed later that evening. She was silly, wasn’t she? The management at Lolta’s didn’t think so but  she knew  she was. She hid it well at work. She flounced  around  with  her sales charts  and  her power suits. But deep down, Anna Allstone wasn’t as brave as everyone thought. She still feared Victoria’s cutting  tongue  and dreaded  an entire evening in her showcase home. She still chose to drive home to the safety  of  her  parents’  house  rather  than  pour  her feelings out to Mark.

She sat up in bed suddenly craving a cigarette. Her parents  still didn’t  know  she smoked.  She dragged herself to the window,  opened it wide and lit herself one. She stared  out  into  the night.  This was where she  used  to  sit  and  wonder   about   all  those  guys in  college  that  she  loved.  Guys  that   didn’t   love her  back.  If  someone  had  told  her  then,  that   in ten  years’ time,  she’d be sitting  in this  exact  same position,  worrying about  more or less the same kind of thing,  she probably would  have topped  herself !