Behind Every Cloud (26 page)

Once inside Kitty
’
s it was obvious that all his colleague
s
were there with their spouses and families. David introduced
her to everyone and they all welcomed her warmly. Ellie was delighted to see Anna and Mike whom she
’
d met at the Buckleys
’
dinner party. It seemed so long ago now.

“
How are you?
”
she asked Anna, who moved over to make room for her on the seat.

“
Great! I was wondering when you
’
d get roped into these Sunday brunches,
”
Anna laughed.

“
You mean you meet here every Sunday?
”
Ellie asked, surprise in her voice.

“
Like clockwork.
”
Anna could see that Ellie didn
’
t know that fact. Seeing the dismay on the younger girl
’
s face, she patted her hand gently.
“
Don
’
t worry, Judith never comes
.
Frank does sometimes, but usually it
’
s only the younger set
.”

Ellie didn
’
t know what to think. She was annoyed at David for not telling her. She looked at him now, smiling and laughing with his colleagues. He seemed like a different man. He seemed . . . she searched for a word . . . at home! It was strange to see him so at ease and in good form. All they
’
d seemed to do lately when they were together was argue. E
llie wondered if it was her fault.

The other women were very friendly to her and some of the small kids adorable. She took one of the babies on her knee.

“
Ellie
’
s getting married in six months
,”
Anna informed the other women.

“
Oh, God love you,
”
Mandy, the youngest of them said.
“
I
’
m just recovering from my wedding last year. I
’
m sorry now I didn
’
t elope.
”
She rolled her eyes to heaven as the other women laughed.

“
Where are you having your reception?
”

“
In Clontarf Castle. I live just around the corner from it.
”

“
Well, good luck with all the organising,
”
Mandy said.
“
You
’
ll lose half a stone from all the stress.
”

“
Don
’
t be put off by her,
”
Anna laughed.
“
We had a great day at her wedding.
”

“
Where did you have your reception?
”
Ellie asked.

“
Fitzpatrick
’
s in Killiney, of course. They do a brilliant job there.
”

“
I had my reception there too,
”
Anna joined in.

“
Me too,
”
another girl piped up.
“
They
’
re by far the best and they make it very personal with lots of nice touches
other hotels don
’
t give you.
”

Ellie pressed her lips firmly together. She had no doubt that what they said was true but it wasn
’
t for her. She was beginning to feel like she had stepped into the world of the Stepford Wives. What one did, they all did. While they were all very nice, it felt like an exclusive club – one Ellie wasn
’
t sure she wanted to join
.

David sat down beside her. He had a huge plate loaded with everything an Irish breakfast could offer. Ellie felt ill just looking at it. She was bouncing the baby on her knee and the little girl was gurgling with happiness.

“
You obviously have a way with babies,
”
Joanne, the mother of the baby observed.
“
Do you plan to have any?
”

“
Oh, yes
,
lots,
”
Ellie smiled at her and shook her hair at the little girl who grabbed it in her tiny fist.

David stopped eating long enough to butt in.
“
Not lots exactly, but one or maybe two, eventually,
”
he said.

Ellie looked at him strangely. They
’
d never discussed it but he knew she loved children and she
’
d assumed he
’
d want a big family too. She felt uneasy. She
’
d thought they
were both on the same wavelength but lately his ideas seemed to have undergone a major change. They definitel
y needed to sit down and
have a serious talk.

Louise woke with a hangover on Sunday morning after
all she
’
d had to drink at Rachel
’
s party but it didn
’
t dim her spirits as she remembered what Madame Farah had told her. She took two Nurofen, which helped, and then rang Melissa to see if she would go to Liffey Valley Shopping Centre with her that afternoon. Although Melissa had already made other plans, she cancelled them. Her sister was forever berating her for jumping whenever Louise clicked her fingers but Melissa couldn
’
t help herself. Louise had always had that effect on her.

When Ronan heard that she was going out he decided to go to the golf club and see if he could get a game. He was surprised that Louise was in such good form. Maybe taking her to Rachel
’
s party had been a good idea after all. It had certainly lifted her spirits.

To Melissa
’
s surprise Louise hardly bought anything, just a bottle of perfume. All she really wanted to do was talk about her upcoming date with Alan. Melissa had never seen her best friend so exhilarated. She seemed really keen on this guy. Seemingly they
’
d been texting each other regularly and according to Louise he was just as keen. Melissa felt uneasy. She
was worried that Louise might get hurt or
,
even worse, mess up her life.

Rachel was also suffering from a hangover but she
’
d promised her parents that she would be over to have brunch with them and collect the children. There was a bottle of champagne half-full in the fridge so she made herself a bucks- fizz as the hair of the dog. No point in wasting the champagne, she figured. She felt much better after a second one. Mmmm
. . .
champagne and orange juice was a wonderful pick-me-up.
She really should have it more often.

Carl had already left for his weekly golf game and she left Olga to supervise the caterers and cleaners who were busy cleaning up in the garden.

Zita was up and about early on Sunday morning and after
a bracing cycle arrived home to drag Marcus out of bed and down to the Chatham Brasserie for brunch. They sat sipping Bloody Marys as they waited for their food to arrive.

“
Mission accomplished,
”
Zita smiled as she raised her glass to him.

“
Yeah? What do you mean?
”

“
Well, Mr Carl Dunne gave me his card last night and I naturally gave him mine. I said I
’
d call him this week.
”
She was grinning broadly now.

“
My God! How did you manage that
?”

“
Easy. I told him I wanted to interview him for a TV programme
.”

“
Oh, you scheming bitch!
”
He laughed.

“
He also told me
,
as we were dancing,
”
she added, her eyes glittering brightly,
“
while his hard-on was pressed against me
,
that I was the most exciting woman he
’
d ever met.
”

“
Well, I
’
ll drink to that.
”
He clinked his glass to hers.
“
How thrilling
!”
He was practically dancing in his seat now.
“
You sure know how to haul them in,
”
he laughed.

They chatted over brunch about the party the previous evening.

“
To be honest, I hadn
’
t expected it to be much fun but it was great,
”
he admitted.
“
They
’
re a good bunch, your wine crowd.
”

“
Yeah, they
’
re not so bad. It was just the partners that were gross. That awful Louise – what a nightmare – and Ronan is so sweet.
”

“
Yeah, I like him a lot but that David – Ellie
’
s fiancé – what a dork! I can
’
t imagine what she
’
s doing with him.
”

“
He
’
s a pain in the arse alright. They
’
re getting married soon,
”
Zita told him as she speared another crab cake with her fork.

“
If he doesn
’
t bore her to death in the meantime,
”
Marcus remarked, rolling his eyes.

Their conversation was interrupted by a text coming in on Zita
’
s phone
:
Really enjoyed meeting u last night, it read. Look forward to ur call
.
Cxx

She saved the message and handed the phone to Marcus
. He beamed at her.

“
Poor Carl. He doesn
’
t realise he
’
s met his Jezebel.
”

“
His Waterloo, more like.
”
Zita laughed wickedly.

22

Ronan knew the moment he walked into the office on Monday morning that something was wrong. It didn
’
t take long to find out what it was. The managing director called the staff into the conference room to tell them that the business would be closing down the following Friday.

“
We
’
re truly sorry to have to do this but we can
’
t survive in this economic climate any longer. We have done our best to keep afloat as long as possible but it
’
s become unsustainable. I know this is a hardship, especially to those of you with families to support and mortgages to pay
,
but there is unfortunately no other option open to us. I
’
m so sorry.
”
He looked around the room at the stricken faces and wished he could have been anywhere else on earth at that moment. It was the most difficult thing he
’
d ever had to do in his whole career.
“
You will of course get twelve months
’
severance pay and the best reference possible. I do hope that you all find other employment quickly although it is a tough world out there right now. I thank you all for your service and loyalty to this company.
”

With that, he left the room, tears in his eyes.

They looked at each other in stunned silence. They
’
d known for some time that redundancy was a distinct possibility but had hoped against hope that it wouldn
’
t come
to pass. Now it had.

“
Christ!
”
Ronan was the first to break the silence.
“
What are we going to do now?
”

“
Get a job in McDonald
’
s,
”
said one of the others
.

They
’
d all sniggered when they
’
d heard of architects and solicitors queuing up for a job in the fast
-
food chain some months ago. It didn
’
t seem so funny now.