Angel Kiss (8 page)

‘Please write your table number clearly on the top of each answer sheet, and hand them to the lovely Mary Reynolds at the end of each round.’ Mary gave a little wave to the crowd. ‘The best of luck to everyone,’ said Joe. ‘We’ll be starting shortly.’

Nick shuffled about in his seat, and for a split second his leg touched mine. It’s amazing how electrifying a touch can be when it comes from someone you really like.

Nick saw that Colin was holding a pen and had resumed his doodling, so he placed the bundle of paper in front of him.

‘You can write the answers,’ he said. ‘We’re table four.’

I watched as Colin began to print the number four clearly at the top of each sheet.

‘Right, round one,’ Joe’s voice hushed the crowd. We huddled together like a guerrilla group preparing to go into battle, each of us displaying that fiercely competitive streak that surfaces in even the most placid of people during the marvel that is the table quiz.

‘Question one.’

We leaned in closer together.

‘Who is the Roman goddess of love?’

During these huddles my head was dangerously close to Nick’s. I noticed how long his eyelashes were.

‘A haematologist specializes in the study of what?’

And how a freckle touched the centre of his top lip.

‘If you have myopia, what would you suffer from?’

And how there was hard skin on his fingertips from playing guitar.

‘Jacki … Jacki!’ Colin whispered loudly as he tugged at my arm.

‘Oh, sorry.’ I’d been entirely absorbed in my own thoughts and hadn’t heard the question.

‘Do you know what it is? Which spirit is used in a bloody Mary?’

I realized that I would have to stop thinking about how close I was to Nick and focus on Joe’s questions. After all, I did want to get at least a few questions right, or Nick would think I had no general knowledge.

‘It’s vodka,’ I whispered to Colin.

At the interval tea and biscuits were served. We seemed to have done moderately well in the first half, though not as well as I’d hoped. The questions were far more difficult than I’d anticipated. And of course I was distracted. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off Nick for more than a few seconds.

‘I’m going to get tea. Does anyone want anything?’ I asked.

Nick shook his head.

‘I’ll have a cup of coffee,’ said Colin. ‘A caramel frappuccino if they have it,’ he added with a smile.

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ I said with a laugh.

The refreshment table was at the back of the hall, so I started to battle my way through the crowd.

‘Is Lily coming tonight?’ an old lady in front of me asked her grey-haired companion as they approached the table. They were walking slowly and the two kids behind me were pushing
so much I came uncomfortably close to the old ladies’ perms. The smell of hairspray filled my nostrils.

‘No, she didn’t feel up to it. She misses Jim terrible, God rest him.’

‘He died very sudden, didn’t he, Molly?’

‘Oh yes, very sudden. It was quite a shock to us all … Can’t be easy for her, what with Beth’s birthday coming up and everything. Two teas, please, Angela.’

Beth.
There was that name again.

‘What would you like, love?’ said the lady behind the table as I approached.

‘A tea and a coffee, please,’ I said.

She poured them into two paper cups.

‘How much is that?’

‘Nothing. It’s free,’ she said.

Pleasantly surprised, I thought I ought to take a few biscuits too.

I fought my way back through the crowd and arrived with the cups and a fistful of biscuits. Nick was gone, presumably to the bathroom. As I approached our table, Colin, not noticing me coming, pushed his seat back to stand up. It was one of those situations that I could see happening in slow motion, but I was powerless to stop it. I managed to save the tea but the coffee splashed on to my top, turning the white to a muddy brown.

‘Argh!’ I blurted as the warm liquid seeped down my front.

‘I’m so sorry!’ said Colin, jumping up. ‘Are you OK? Are you burnt?’

‘No, it’s fine. Thankfully it’s not too hot.’ I put the tea down on the table. ‘I think I’ll have to go home and change though. It’s soaking.’

‘But the second half is about to start,’ said Colin, clearly upset. ‘Here, you can wear my shirt. No one will even notice.’

Colin pulled off the check shirt he was wearing over the white T-shirt and gave it to me.

‘Oh … OK, thanks.’ Colin was being so nice … I didn’t want him to feel bad about what happened so I took him up on the shirt offer.

I followed the signs for the toilets and arrived at the single cubicle. I joined the queue of five ladies waiting by the lime-green door. In front of me stood a woman and a young girl, probably aged four, with her light blonde hair sectioned into two neat plaits. She was singing quietly to herself while her mother chatted to the woman in front.

‘And, Lisa, how are you?’

The little girl looked up at the woman who was talking to her mother, and now to her.

‘Fine,’ she said sheepishly, and retreated behind her mother’s leg.

‘Ah, someone’s shy!’ said the woman. The girl resumed singing softly.

I was back in time for the second half, wearing the oversized shirt, and clutching my soaking wet top. So much for the perfectly planned outfit. I sat back down beside Nick.

‘I heard Colin didn’t like his frappuccino?’ he whispered.

I laughed but there was no time to respond as Joe tapped the microphone and the hall fell silent.

‘Round six, everyone, pencils ready.’

We huddled closer.

‘What famous song did the Hill Sisters write?’

The three of us looked baffled. Nick squinted his left eye when he was thinking.

‘Arsonphobia is a fear of what?’

And bit the nail on his right thumb.

‘A currier works with which material?’

And he smiled a little whenever he knew the answer.

The atmosphere in the hall was gradually tensing as the teams tried to make up for their mistakes in the first half. We picked up between us in the showbiz round and Nick knew all the answers in the sports round.

‘The final round is a bonus round, double points will be awarded for each question,’ said Joe. ‘Question one: in what year did work cease in the Avarna mines?’

Nick struggled to remember, his head now resting in his hand.

‘How many sheep are currently grazing in Maurice Kelly’s field?’

Colin rolled his eyes.

‘How many times has Avarna won the Tidiest Village title?’

Nick sighed.

‘What is the colour of the doormat in Mary Reynolds’s shop?’

‘Green,’ said Nick and I in unison.

‘Think we’re in with a chance?’ said Nick when Mary had collected the last of the answer sheets.

‘Doubt it,’ said Colin. ‘That Avarna round let us down. No one ever beats Father McCauley and the Eucharistic Ministers anyway.’ He pointed to a table on the other side of the hall where Avarna’s parish priest was looking particularly confident.

‘Sorry again. About the coffee,’ said Colin.

‘It’s OK, don’t worry about it.’ Secretly I hoped I’d be able to get the stain out. It was one of my favourite tops. I rolled up the shirt’s sleeves, trying to make it look a bit girlier.

‘Back in a minute, scuse me,’ Colin said as he left the table.

‘Sorry if this wasn’t very exciting,’ said Nick.

‘What? Are you kidding? I had a great time!’ It had been a lot of fun. I didn’t want it to end.

‘Well, if you thought this was good, wait till you experience the Avarna Fête next Sunday.’

‘Oh, really?’

Nick nodded. ‘They have it every year,’ he said. ‘I’ve had to listen to Mam going on about it all month. She helps organize it.’

‘Does she help organize everything?’ I joked.

‘Pretty much. She likes to keep busy. Anyway … you should come to the fête. David and a few of the lads will be there. I’ll introduce you.’ He smiled. That irresistible smile got me every time.

‘I will … probably. I was going to visit my friends in Dublin next weekend … but I might just stay here.’ I did want to see Hannah and the others, but I also really wanted to make new friends. And I really wanted to hang out with Nick.

‘Did I miss anything?’ asked Colin, coming back to the table.

‘No, they haven’t announced the results yet,’ said Nick.

‘Testing! Testing!’ said Joe.

‘Here we go,’ said Colin. ‘Fingers crossed.’

We finished an admirable third, beaten by Mum and her team of teachers in second place and Father McCauley’s team in first. Nick, Colin and I were each given a box of biscuits from Mary’s shop as a prize. Nick was noticeably unimpressed. Mum’s team won the hamper and the priest’s team got vouchers for Sunday dinner in the hotel.

‘That’s it, folks! Everyone is welcome to join us in Clancy’s!’ said Joe.

I looked around to try to spot Mum. She was probably going to the pub with her teammates.

I reluctantly got up from my seat. I really didn’t want to leave Nick. I liked being near to him even if I knew that I couldn’t do anything … But it was nice being that close. Close enough to touch.
Even though you can’t
, I said to myself.

‘That was great craic,’ said Colin. ‘Sure isn’t a nice box of biscuits better than nothing, Nick!’

Nick pushed him and Colin ran ahead.

‘Jacki, are you coming to the pub?’ asked Nick.

I was now.

‘Looks like they’ve got a bit of a sing-song going,’ said Colin. Mary, Joe and some others had formed a circle round the tables in the centre of Clancy’s and had just launched into a rendition of ‘Danny Boy’.

‘I love this song!’ said Mary, singing at the top of her lungs. Soon nearly everyone in the pub had joined in. I hummed along during the breaks in our conversation. Tonight had been so much fun up until now, but it had just taken a turn for the worse. Sarah had arrived, and she and Nick were whispering away to each other beside us. She was wearing a denim mini-skirt and a pale pink tank top and looked annoyingly pretty. I kept glancing at them, even though watching Sarah groping Nick was torture. I hated being jealous. It was one of the worst feelings in the world. My stomach was all twisted and I couldn’t think straight. I didn’t want to feel like this, but I couldn’t help it. I tried to hear what they were saying.

‘Will I show you my dress tomorrow?’ said Sarah.

‘Yeah, OK.’

‘You don’t seem that interested.’

‘No, I am. I am,’ said Nick, taking a sip from his drink and
looking around the crowded pub. Colin lowered my glass of Coke under the table and poured some vodka from his naggin into it. Joe had made an exception and allowed us to sit in the pub because of the night that it was, but there was no way he was going to allow us to order alcohol.

‘There’s a lot of competition this year,’ said Sarah.

‘I’m sure you’ll win,’ said Nick, disinterest evident in his voice.

‘Win what?’ asked Colin.

‘The Miss Avarna pageant,’ said Sarah, clearly expecting us to say something.

‘You know, the beauty contest they have at the fête,’ said Nick.

‘It’s so much more than a beauty contest!’ Sarah protested, shooting him an irritated glare. ‘They ask questions and –’

‘Is it time for the fête already?’ Colin interjected, trying to keep a straight face. Sarah still seemed to be waiting for someone to say how she was going to win.

I took a sip from my vodka and Coke, avoiding eye contact with Colin, who would have made me laugh.

‘Yes, it’s on next Sunday,’ said Nick.

‘Oh, right,’ said Colin. ‘Jacki, you should enter.’

I almost choked on my drink.

‘Closing date for entries was last week,’ said Sarah abruptly, flicking her black hair over her shoulder.

‘I don’t think it would really be my kind of thing anyway,’ I said. ‘I’d probably end up saying something really weird and embarrassing myself.’ I didn’t like the idea of people judging my personality – I did enough judging of it myself.

‘What will we sing next, Joe?’ shouted Mary. She was really
into the sing-song. I bet Mum would have enjoyed it too, but in the end she’d gone home because she had to get up early to meet the kitchen suppliers.

I texted to let her know we were enjoying a sing-song and that I’d be home in a while.

Joe thought for a moment, then launched into –

‘
I’ll tell me Ma when I go home the boys won’t leave the girls alone …’

Colin leaned over to me. ‘You’d beat Sarah anyway,’ he whispered. I doubted that very much, but I appreciated Colin’s remark nonetheless.

‘What do you get? If you win?’ I asked Sarah.

‘A trophy. And a spread in the paper. And the honour of being Miss Avarna, of course.’

Colin was trying so hard not to laugh. He elbowed my side and I kicked his shoe in retaliation, hoping Sarah wouldn’t notice.

‘What do you have to do?’ I asked, stifling a giggle.

‘Well,’ she said, ‘there are three judges, and they ask you a few questions about yourself, and then a few random ones, about politics and human rights and all that stuff. Then there’s a talent section.’

‘Like in the Rose of Tralee? When they do a dance or read a poem or something?’

‘Yes. Exactly.’

‘What are you going to do?’ asked Colin.

‘Sing a song.’

‘Oh, very good. Which one?’

‘“When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”. They like when you pick a traditional one. My cousin Ailish was apparently winning last
year until she did some sort of rap and it totally went over the judges’ heads. My sister won it before. She’s been giving me pointers.’

‘Can we talk about something other than the beauty contest?’ said Nick.