“Show me,” Elizabeth said, twisting around in the passenger seat.
“No! I’m not showing it to you. You should just take my word for it, I’m not a baby anymore, you know.”
Declan snorted and Ciara elbowed him in the ribs. “Shut up, you.”
“Ciara, just show Mum the passport so you can put her mind at rest,” Holly said tiredly.
“Fine,” she huffed, lifting her bag onto her lap. “It’s in here, look Mum . . . no, hold on, actually it’s in here . . . no, actually maybe I put it in here . . . oh fuck!”
“Jesus Christ, Ciara,” Holly’s dad growled, slamming on the brakes and turning the car around.
“What?” she said defensively. “I put it in here, Dad, someone must have taken it out,” she grumbled, emptying the contents of her bag in the car.
“Bloody hell, Ciara,” Holly moaned as a pair of knickers went flying over her face.
“Ah shut up,” she grumbled again. “You won’t have to put up with me for much longer.”
Everyone in the car went silent as they realized that was true. Ciara would be in Australia for God only knew how long, and they would all miss her; as loud and irritating as she was.
Holly sat squashed beside the window in the backseat of the car with Declan and Ciara. Richard was driving Mathew and Jack (ignoring his protestations), and they were probably already at the airport at this stage. This was their second time returning to the house, as Ciara had forgotten her lucky nose ring and demanded that her dad turn the car around.
An hour after setting off, they reached the airport in what should have been only a twenty-minute drive.
“Jesus, what took you so long?” Jack moaned to Holly when they all finally trudged into the airport with long faces on them. “I was stuck talking to Dick all on my own.”
“Oh give it a rest, Jack,” Holly said defensively, “he’s not that bad.”
“Ooh, you’ve changed your tune,” he teased, his face all mock-surprise.
“No I haven’t, you’re just singing the wrong song,” she snapped, and she walked over to Richard, who was standing alone watching the world go by. She smiled at her oldest brother.
“Pet, keep in touch with us a lot more this time, won’t you?” Elizabeth cried to her daughter as she hugged her.
“Of course I will, Mum. Oh please, don’t cry or you’ll get me started too.” A lump formed in Holly’s throat and she fought back the tears. Ciara had been good company over the last few months and had always succeeded in cheering Holly up when she felt that life just couldn’t be worse. She would miss her sister, but she understood that Ciara needed to be with Mathew. He was a nice guy and she was happy that they had found each other.
“Take care of my sister.” Holly stood on the tips of her toes to hug the enormous Mathew.
“Don’t worry, she’s in good hands,” he smiled.
“Look after her now, won’t you?” Frank smacked him on the back and smiled. Mathew was intelligent enough to know it was more of a warning than a question and gave him a very persuasive answer.
“Bye, Richard,” Ciara said, giving him a big hug. “Stay away from that Meredith bitch now. You’re far too good for her.” Ciara turned to Declan. “You can come over anytime you like, Dec, maybe make a movie or something about me,” she said seriously to the youngest of the family and gave him a big hug.
“Jack, look after my big sis,” she said, smiling at Holly. “Ooh, I’m gonna miss you,” she said sadly, squeezing Holly tightly.
“Me too,” Holly’s voice shook.
“OK, I’m going now before all you depressing people make me cry,” she said, trying to sound happy.
“Don’t go using those rope jumps again, Ciara. They’re far too dangerous,” Frank said, looking worried.
“Bungee jumps, Dad!” Ciara laughed, kissing him and her mother on the cheeks again. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll find something new to try,” she teased.
Holly stood in silence with her family and watched as Ciara and Mathew walked hand in hand out the door. Even Declan had a tear in his eye but pretended his eyes were watering because he was about to sneeze.
“Just look at the lights, Declan.” Jack threw his arm around his baby brother. “They say that helps you sneeze.”
Declan stared up at the lights and avoided watching his favorite sister walking away. Frank held his wife close to him as she waved at her daughter constantly while tears rolled down her cheeks.
They all laughed as the alarm went off when Ciara walked through the security scanner and was ordered to empty her pockets, followed by a frisk.
“Every bloody time,” Jack laughed. “It’s a wonder they agreed to let her into the country at all.”
They all waved good-bye as Ciara and Mathew walked on until her pink hair was eventually lost among the crowd.
“OK,” Elizabeth said, wiping the tears from her face, “why don’t the rest of my babies come back to the house and we can all have lunch.”
They all agreed, seeing how upset their mother was.
“I’ll let you go with Richard this time,” Jack said smartly to Holly and wandered off with the rest of the family, leaving Richard and Holly standing there slightly taken aback.
“So how was your first week at work, darling?” Elizabeth asked Holly as they all sat around the table eating lunch.
“Oh, I love it, Mum,” Holly said and her eyes lit up. “It’s so much more interesting and challenging than any other job I’ve done, and all the staff are just so friendly. There’s a great atmosphere in the place,” she said happily.
“Well, that’s the most important thing, isn’t it?” Frank said, pleased. “What’s your boss like?”
“Oh, he’s such a doll. He reminds me so much of you, Dad, I just feel like giving him a big hug and a kiss every time I see him.”
“Sounds like sexual harassment in the workplace to me,” Declan joked, and Jack sniggered.
Holly rolled her eyes at her brothers.
“Are you doing any new documentaries this year, Declan?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, on homelessness,” he said with his mouth full of food.
“Declan.” Elizabeth scrunched up her nose at him. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.”
“Sorry,” Declan said and spat the food out on the table.
Jack burst out laughing and nearly choked on his food while the rest of the family looked away from Declan in disgust.
“What did you say you were doing, son?” Frank asked, trying to avoid a family fight.
“I’m doing a documentary on homelessness this year for college.”
“Oh very good,” he replied, retreating back to a world of his own.
“What member of the family are you using as your subject this time? Richard?” Jack said slyly.
Holly slammed down her knife and fork.
“That’s not funny, man,” Declan said seriously, surprising Holly.
“God, why is everyone so touchy these days?” Jack asked, looking around. “It was just a joke,” he defended himself.
“It wasn’t funny, Jack,” Elizabeth said sternly.
“What did he say?” Frank asked his wife after snapping out of his trance. Elizabeth just shook her head dismissively and he knew not to ask again.
Holly watched Richard, who sat at the end of the table eating his food quietly. Her heart leapt out to him. He didn’t deserve this, and either Jack was being more cruel than usual or else this was the norm and Holly must have been a fool to find it funny before.
“Sorry Richard, I was just joking,” Jack said.
“That’s OK, Jack.”
“So have you found a job yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“That’s a shame,” he said dryly, and Holly glared at him. What the hell was his problem?
Elizabeth calmly picked up her cutlery and plate of food without a word to anyone and quietly made her way into the living room, where she turned the television on and ate her dinner in peace.
Her “funny little elves” weren’t making her laugh anymore.
Thirty-eight
HOLLY DRUMMED HER FINGERS ON her desk and stared out the window. She was absolutely flying through her work this week. She didn’t know it was possible to actually enjoy work so much. She had happily sat through lunch breaks and had even stayed back late to work, and she didn’t feel like punching any of her fellow employees in the face yet. But it was only her third week, after all; give her time. The good thing was that she didn’t even feel uncomfortable around any of her fellow colleagues. The only people she had real contact with were Dermot and Wayne, the guys from layout and design. The office had developed a lighthearted banter and she would often hear people screaming at each other from office to office. It was all in good humor and she loved it.
She loved feeling like she was a part of the team, as though she were actually doing something that made a real impact on the finished product. She thought of Gerry every single day. Every time she made a deal she thanked him, thanked him for pushing her all the way to the top. She still had her miserable days when she didn’t feel worthy of getting out of bed. But the excitement of her job was dragging her out and spurring her on.
She heard the radio go on in Chris’s office next door and she smiled. On the hour every hour without fail, he turned on the news. And all the news seeped into Holly’s brain subconsciously. She had never felt so intelligent in her life.
“Hey!” Holly yelled, banging on the wall. “Turn that thing down! Some of us are trying to work!”
She heard him chuckle and she smiled. She glanced back down at her work again; a freelancer had written an article on how he traveled around Ireland trying to find the cheapest pint and it was very amusing. There was a huge gap at the bottom of the page and it was up to Holly to fill it. She flicked through her book of contacts and an idea came to her immediately. She picked up the phone and dialed.
“Hogan’s.”
“Hi, Daniel Connelly, please.”
“One moment.”
Bloody “Greensleeves” again. She danced around the room to the music while she waited. Chris walked in, took one look at her and closed the door again. Holly smiled.
“Hello?”
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Hiya, it’s Holly.”
“How are you doin’, Holly?”
“I’m grand, thanks, you?
“Couldn’t be better.”
“That’s a nice complaint.”
He laughed. “How’s that snazzy job of yours?”
“Well, actually that’s why I’m calling.” Holly sounded guilty.
“Oh no!” he laughed. “I have made it company policy not to employ any more Kennedys here.”
Holly giggled, “Oh damn, and I was so looking forward to throwing drinks over the customers.”
He laughed. “So what’s up?”
“Do I remember hearing you say you needed to advertise Club Diva more?” Well, he had actually thought that he was saying it to Sharon, but she knew he wouldn’t remember that minor detail.
“I do recall saying that, yes.”
“Good, well how would you like to advertise it in magazine X?”
“Is that the name of the magazine you work on?”
“No, I just thought it would be an interesting question, that’s all,” she joked. “Of course it’s where I work!”
“Oh of course, I’d forgotten, that’s the magazine that has offices just around the corner from me!” he said sarcastically. “The one that causes you to walk by my front door every day, and yet you still don’t call in. Why don’t I see you at lunchtime?” he teased. “Isn’t my pub good enough for you?”
“Oh, everyone here eats their lunch at their desks,” she explained. “So what do you think?”
“I think that’s very boring of you all.”
“No, I mean what do you think about the ad?”
“Yeah sure, that’s a good idea.”
“OK, well, I’ll put it in the November issue. Would you like it placed monthly?”
“Would you like to tell me how much that would set me back?” he laughed.
Holly totted up the figures and told him.
“Hmm. . . ,” he said, thinking. “I’ll have to think about it, but I’ll definitely go for the November edition.”
“Oh, that’s great! You’ll be a millionaire after this goes to print.”
“I better be,” he laughed. “By the way, there’s a launch party for some new drink coming up next week. Can I put your name down for an invite?”
“Yeah, that would be great. What new drink is it?”
“Blue Rock, it’s called. It’s a new Alco pop drink that’s apparently going to be huge. Tastes like shite but it’s free all night so I’ll buy the rounds.”
“Wow, you’re such a good advertisement for it,” she laughed. “When is it on?” She took out her diary and made a note of it. “That’s perfect, I can come straight after work.”
“Well, make sure you bring your bikini to work in that case.”
“Make sure I bring my what?”
“Your bikini,” he laughed. “It has a beach theme.”
“But it’s winter, you nutter.”
“Hey, it wasn’t my idea. The slogan is ‘Blue Rock, the hot new drink for winter.’ ”
“Ugghh, how tacky,” she groaned.
“And messy. We’re getting sand thrown all over the floor, which will be a nightmare to clean up. Anyway, listen, I better get back to work, we’re mad busy today.”
“OK, thanks, Daniel. Have a think about what you want your ad to say and get back to me.”
“Will do.”
She hung up and sat quietly for a moment. Finally she stood up and went next door to Chris’s office, a thought occurring to her.
“You finished dancing in there?” he chuckled.
“Yeah, I just made up a routine. Came in to show you,” she joked.
“What’s the problem?” he said, finishing off what he was writing and taking off his glasses.
“No problem; just an idea.”
“Take a seat.” He nodded to the chair in front of him. Just three weeks ago she had sat there for an interview, and now here she was putting ideas forward to her new boss. Funny how life changed so quickly, but then again she had learned that already . . .
“What’s the idea?”
“Well, you know Hogan’s around the corner?”
Chris nodded.
“Well, I was just on to the owner and he’s going to place an ad in the magazine.”
“That’s great, but I hope you don’t tell me about every time you fill a space, we could be here all year.”
Holly made a face. “That’s not it, Chris. Anyway, he was telling me that they’re having a launch party for a new drink called Blue Rock. A new Alco pop drink. It has a beach theme, all the staff will be in bikinis and that kind of thing.”
“In the middle of winter?” he raised his eyebrows.
“It’s apparently the hot new drink for winter.”
He rolled his eyes. “Tacky.”
Holly smiled. “That’s what I said. Anyway, I just thought it might be worth finding out about and covering. I know we’re supposed to raise ideas in the meetings, but this is happening pretty soon.”
“I understand. That’s a great idea, Holly. I’ll get one of the lads onto it.”
Holly smiled happily and stood up from her chair. “By the way, did you get that garden sorted yet?”
Chris frowned. “I’ve had about ten different people come down to look at it. They tell me it’ll cost six grand to do.”
“Wow, six grand! That’s a lot of money.”
“Well, it’s a big garden, so they have a point. A lot of work needs to be done.”
“What was the cheapest quote?”
“Five and a half grand, why?”
“Because my brother will do it for five,” she blurted out.
