Double Wedding Page 18

  The front door opened and Katie poked her head around the sitting-room door. ‘Very glam,’ she complimented. ‘Nice dress, Carol,’ she said magnanimously.

  ‘Thanks,’ Carol said curtly.

  ‘Have a glass of champers,’ Mike offered.

  ‘Oh, lovely. Where did that come from?’ Katie asked, giving Sean a shy smile. He smiled back at her and winked.

  ‘I bought it. I’m a working man now, not a penniless student. It’s great,’ Mike declared, pouring her a glass.

  ‘Well, cheers, and have a great night.’ Katie raised her glass to them.

  ‘Pity you’re not coming,’ Carol said, straight-faced. But there was no mistaking the barb. Sean shot her a glance but said nothing.

  ‘Been to one, you’ve been to them all,’ Katie drawled. ‘I’m not really the dinner dance type.’

  ‘No, you’d prefer a barn dance or a harvest hooly, you little culchie, you,’ Mike slagged.

  ‘Oh yeah, under a harvest moon and a starry sky if possible,’ Katie sighed.

  ‘Are you a country girl at heart?’ Sean asked, surprised.

  ‘I sure am.’ Katie nodded, draining her glass.

  ‘And this country girl’s been on her feet all day in A & E and the only place she’s going is her bath and bed. Night, all.’

  ‘Goodnight,’ they chorused, with the exception of Carol, who took another sip of her champagne.

  ‘We should head off,’ Jessica suggested, and obediently the others drained their glasses and trooped out to the waiting taxi.

  It was a giddy group that piled out of the car at the hotel, and they entered the function room laughing and joshing. Carol studied the table plan and found their table, and the men went off to the bar to get the drinks.

  ‘Is he here? You look,’ Carol urged as she sat down at their assigned table, which had two other couples.

  Jessica looked around, waving at people she knew. And then she saw Gary sitting with a petite redhead at the committee’s table.

  ‘Yep, he’s here all right. He’s sitting at the top table with a redhead,’ she murmured discreetly.

  ‘Knew it,’ Carol snapped and her lips tightened. ‘Wasn’t I right? Didn’t I tell you?’

  ‘So what?’ soothed Jessica, her heart sinking at the other girl’s change of form.

  ‘Bastard,’ Carol muttered.

  ‘Don’t let him see that you’re annoyed. That would be playing right into his hands,’ Jessica advised.

  ‘Don’t worry, I won’t,’ Carol said exasperatedly, and Jessica felt like telling her to get lost. Back to normal, she thought wryly, wishing the other girl’s good humour had lasted for the night.

  Mike and Sean returned with the drinks and Carol put on her best act for them. She laughed and joked and was the heart and soul of the party and all the while kept her gaze studiously averted from Gary’s table.

  Sean looked at her intently a few times, noting the heightened colour in her cheeks and the determined gaiety she was projecting.

  They ate the tasty meal that was served and laughed and banged the table when the spot prizes were drawn, and when the music started all of them got up, eager to get on the dance floor.

  ‘Enjoying yourself?’ Sean asked as he spun Carol around the floor.

  ‘What? Oh, sure,’ she said distractedly, trying to get a glimpse of Gary and his new woman.

  ‘Over to the left, near the band,’ Sean said drily.

  ‘What?’ Carol looked at him, perplexed.

  ‘Your ex is over near the band on the left-hand side and he’s dancing with a redhead. That’s who you were looking for, isn’t it?’

  Carol had the grace to blush. ‘Sorry,’ she murmured, embarrassed at being so transparent.

  Sean sighed. ‘Forget it, Carol. And my advice to you is to forget him too. Give yourself a break and start afresh.’

  ‘Easier said than done.’ Carol shook her head.

  ‘She isn’t a patch on you,’ he murmured.

  ‘Who?’

  ‘The redhead.’

  Carol laughed, genuinely amused. ‘You’re lovely,’ she said, and planted a big kiss on his cheek.

  Sean smiled down at her. ‘You’re one complicated woman,’ he informed her. And she laughed again and nuzzled in against him for the slow set that had just started.

  * * *

  Gary chewed his lip and tried to ignore the carry-on of Carol and her culchie copper out on the dance floor. She was smiling up at him, laughing and kissing him, and he wanted to rampage through the couples on the dance floor and tear her out of his arms and drag her out of the hotel and ask her what the hell she was playing at. He was consumed with jealousy at the sight of her, as sexy as hell in that black number, wrapping herself all around that man, who was doing nothing to discourage her.

  ‘What’s wrong? You look like a demon!’ Sandie, his date, asked. She was a rep with a software company and she’d always flirted with him when she was in the office. She’d been thrilled when he’d asked her to the dinner dance. Sandie didn’t, of course, realize that Carol was there. Gary hadn’t got into the nitty-gritties of his relationships with her.

  ‘Sorry, touch of indigestion. All the stress of organizing this damn thing,’ he lied.

  ‘Oh, you should try a brandy and port or something. Very good for the tum,’ the redhead assured him.

  ‘Right, maybe I’ll go to the bar and get one. Can I get you anything?’ he asked, leading her off the dance floor. She was an awful chatterbox and he was finding it irritating.

  ‘I’ll have a brandy Alexander,’ she announced giddily.

  Expensive date, Gary thought crossly as he made his way to the bar. He saw Sean and Carol leaving the floor and craned his neck to see where they were going. Damn! They were going outside. He couldn’t very well follow them. It would look too obvious. That fucker was probably taking her outside to give her a good grope, if not more. The thought made him almost spit. He stood at the bar and took a slug of his brandy. Sandie could bloody well wait for hers; he was going to get smashed, he decided. What else could a man do?

  What a bummer the last few weeks had been. Carol giving him back his ring. Jen screeching down the phone at him like a fishwife and calling him all the names under the sun when he’d phoned a few days after the incident at the club, to see if she was still coming to the dinner dance as his guest. He’d never get the chance to warm his slippers under her bed again, he reflected, still shocked at the dockers’ language she’d used.

  And it was all Carol’s fault, and he was bloody well going to tell her before the night was out, he decided recklessly, draining his brandy goblet in double quick time.

  He made his way outside, where couples sat at tables enjoying the balmy breeze and twinkling lights across the bay. Carol and the copper were standing on their own and he was pointing out something in the sky to her.

  Gary marched over to them and tapped Carol aggressively on the arm. ‘You! I want a word with you. What the hell are you playing at? What are you doing with this clodhopper? You should be with me. You were engaged to me. We were supposed to be getting married,’ he ranted.

  ‘Calm down,’ the copper said quietly.

  ‘You butt out of it. What will you do . . . arrest me?’ Gary sneered, squaring up to the other man.

  ‘Stop it, Gary, and grow up,’ Carol snapped, furious. ‘How dare you make an exhibition of yourself and drag me into it? Go and sober up.’

  ‘I miss you,’ he muttered. ‘What’s he got that I haven’t?’

  ‘Ah, stop it, Gary, and don’t annoy me – you’re pissed and I don’t appreciate it,’ Carol said coldly. ‘Come on, we’re going home, Sean.’

  ‘What’s wrong – are you afraid I might flatten him?’ Gary jeered.

  ‘No, you idiot. I’m afraid he might flatten you.’ She looked at Sean. He was perfectly composed. ‘Let’s go, will we?’

  ‘Sure, whatever you want,’ he said calmly.

  Gary watched them walk back into
the function room. ‘That told them,’ he muttered. ‘The coward was afraid to fight me.’

  ‘There you are!’ said Sandie crossly. ‘Where’s my brandy Alexander?’

  ‘Sorry, had to deal with a problem. It’s on its way,’ he mumbled, wishing heartily that she were on hers. What had he seen in her? No class, not like Carol had, and he’d lost her to a culchie. Feeling desperately sorry for himself, Gary made his way to the bar and ordered himself another double brandy.

  * * *

  ‘Sorry about that,’ Carol apologized.

  ‘Not your fault. He was pissed.’

  ‘How did you keep your cool? I was afraid you were going to clock him!’ she marvelled.

  Sean laughed. ‘Never lose your cool with a drunk, it’s one thing you learn on the job. Do you want to go home?’

  ‘I think so. I don’t want him annoying me for the rest of the night. Do you mind?’

  ‘Not really. Katie’s right, once you’ve been to one you’ve been to ’em all.’

  ‘Oh, she only said that because she couldn’t get a man,’ Carol said dismissively. ‘I just need to go to the ladies’. Will you go and organize a taxi at reception?’

  ‘Sure,’ he said politely.

  ‘I’ll just tell the others we’re going,’ Carol said, disappearing off to look for Jessica and Mike.

  * * *

  Sean stood on the steps of the hotel, hands in his pockets, looking up at the stars. In the bright city lights he could just make out the Plough and Orion’s Belt. In Sligo on a starry night, the sky seemed so near you could almost reach up and touch the velvety blackness. He knew exactly what Katie meant when she’d said she was a country girl at heart.

  He frowned, remembering Carol’s treatment of the other girl. It was a side of her that wasn’t very attractive. She’d been downright rude. He sighed. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said that Carol was a complicated woman. Too complicated for the likes of his country boy’s heart, he thought ruefully as he saw her coming through the doors.

  ‘Here’s the taxi. That was good timing.’ He took her arm and they walked to the taxi. She was quiet on the journey home and he was glad. He wasn’t in the humour for idle chit-chat.

  ‘You’re coming in, aren’t you?’ Carol asked, surprised when he made no move to get out of the taxi when it pulled up outside her door.

  ‘I think I’ll call it a night, Carol. I’ll phone you tomorrow,’ he said evenly.

  ‘Oh. Oh, OK.’ She was crestfallen, he could tell, but he just wanted to go home to bed and have a think about things. He gave the taxi driver his own address and sat back in the seat and gazed unseeingly through the window.

  Carol liked him, but mostly she liked using him to make Gary jealous, he acknowledged grimly, and that wasn’t on. She’d spent the evening trying to watch her ex surreptitiously. He wasn’t a fool, and it annoyed him. He should cut his losses, he decided. If Carol wanted to engage with Gary she could do it on her own time. He’d had enough.

  * * *

  Carol slid the black dress over her shoulders and slipped out of her underwear. She smelt of stale smoke and perfume, so a quick shower was on the cards. She was a little dismayed that Sean hadn’t come in with her. He’d been a little subdued on the ride home. It must have been the scene with Gary. Drunken prat. She frowned as she stood under the spray and soaped herself. He’d made a real exhibition of himself tonight. She lifted her face to the spray. What bliss it was to have her own bathroom. She’d hated using the shared bathroom in her old flat with its dirty, chipped bath and yellowing plastic shower tray.

  So Gary missed her, did he? Or was that just drink talking? If he missed her so much why didn’t he phone her and ask her to get back with him? Of course he didn’t have her new address, now, she thought forlornly. That would put paid to that little idea. But he could always call her at work if he wanted to.

  She’d accidently dropped her mobile phone down the loo months ago and had not yet replaced it. It had annoyed him that she hadn’t got a new one. She’d kept meaning to and she wished she had one now.

  Carol lathered shampoo into her hair and rubbed it in hard. She didn’t know what to make of this evening really, but she had the feeling that she’d annoyed Sean. Carol sighed. He was a man, wasn’t he? And no man liked playing second fiddle. But she couldn’t help that she still had feelings for Gary. Sean would simply have to make allowances, she thought crossly, as she stepped out of the shower and began to towel herself dry.

  * * *

  ‘Who the bloody hell’s on the phone at this hour of the morning?’ Mike groaned as he leapt out of bed and went downstairs to answer the phone. He had a fine hangover and he’d been woken from a deep sleep.

  ‘Who was it?’ Jessica asked groggily, emerging from under the duvet when he came back a few minutes later.

  ‘It was bloody Gary looking for Carol’s new phone number.’ Mike yawned volcanically and dived back into bed.

  ‘You didn’t give it to him, did you?’ Jessica demanded.

  ‘Of course I did. It must be something urgent for him to be ringing at half eight on a Sunday morning.’

  ‘For God’s sake, Mike, you should have checked with her. Maybe she didn’t want him to have her number,’ Jessica spluttered, hardly able to believe her ears.

  ‘Don’t be daft, Jessie. Of course she wants him to have her number. She spent most of last night looking over Sean’s shoulder for him.’

  ‘Oh no! What does he want with her?’ Jessica groaned. ‘Just when she was getting over him. Sean’s perfect for her.’

  ‘No, he’s not, even I can see that,’ Mike retorted. ‘He’s far too calm and stable to give her the drama she needs. Carol’s a drama queen, Jessie. She thrives on it. You know that. What difference does it make anyway whether Gary has her number or not?’ Mike grabbed her and threw his leg over her.

  ‘Ah, stop.’ Jessica pushed him away. ‘I know exactly what’s going to happen. She’s made him so jealous he’s going to ask her to come back to him and she’ll only agree if they get married in September with us. You wait,’ she wailed.

  ‘Did you ever think of writing a novel?’ Mike scoffed. ‘Because you have a vivid imagination.’

  ‘No, I haven’t,’ Jessica said unhappily. ‘I just know Carol!’

  * * *

  ‘It’s half eight on a Sunday morning, and where did you get my number from?’ Carol snapped when she recognized the voice at the other end of the line.

  ‘It doesn’t matter. And I know you’re awake. You never sleep in. Look, Carol, I need to see you. We need to talk. Seriously,’ Gary declared emphatically. Her eyes began to sparkle. ‘Is that bloke with you?’

  ‘That’s none of your business,’ Carol said coolly.

  ‘Well, get rid of him and give me your address. I want to see you.’

  ‘Did it ever cross your mind that I might not want to see you?’ Carol retorted.

  ‘Don’t play games with me, Carol, you want to see me as much as I want to see you.’ Gary was in no humour to be trifled with. Carol was silent, trying to judge how far she could push it.

  ‘I’ll meet you at the big glasshouse in the Botanics at twelve o’clock.’

  ‘Why can’t I come to your new flat?’

  ‘Because you can’t,’ she said crisply. ‘Yes or no?’

  ‘OK,’ he said grumpily.

  ‘See you then,’ she said airily and put down the phone. Her heart was racing. He was crawling back to her. She had him where she wanted him. Did she want him back, was the big question. She padded into her small but spotless kitchenette and poured herself a glass of orange juice.

  She knew that whatever decisions she made today were going to have a lasting impact on her life. Dating Sean had been a revelation to her. His niceness left her unsure. Sean was no challenge. Gary was. She’d never be bored with Gary or he with her. Life with him would be a roller-coaster, but better a roller-coaster than a boring flat road with no hills. That would suit Mike
and Jessica but not her, never her, unfortunately, she thought with a sigh.

  She and Gary had some deep invisible bond and even if she were with another man he’d always be in her head, she reflected. Jessica would call her a fool for giving up someone as nice and as good to her as Sean, but she didn’t understand that, deep down, Carol couldn’t cope with a nice man and that was the be-all and end of it.

  She ate a leisurely breakfast, had a shower and slipped into a pair of skin-tight jeans and trainers. She pulled a black sleeveless lycra top over her head and tucked it into her waistband. She looked fit and sexy, she approved, studying her reflection in the full-length mirror in her wardrobe. She smoothed some tinted moisturiser on to her face, dusted some brown and gold eyeshadow on to her eyelids, mascara’d them and applied some lipstick and a spray of perfume. She pulled on a lilac peaked cap, tucked her sunglasses into her waistband and glanced at her watch. Eleven forty-five. A nice leisurely jog up to the Botanics should keep him cooling his heels for a while, she thought calmly, stepping out of her flat and closing the door behind her.

  It was a glorious day. A fresh southerly breeze had replaced the sultry weather and the skies were clear blue with just the tiniest cotton buds of clouds drifting by. Carol got into her rhythm and began to enjoy her run. She always felt so in control when she was running, and today she felt even more in control. Today was the day when she took charge of her life for good. If Gary didn’t marry her in September he was out of her life. At least she’d have Sean to fall back on, she comforted herself.

  Fifteen minutes later she jogged through the big green wrought-iron gates that led into the Botanic Gardens. She kept running straight towards the enormous sprawling glasshouse and saw Gary pacing up and down. She slowed to a trot, grinning. ‘Gotcha!’ she muttered.

  He saw her and walked towards her. ‘You jogged!’

  ‘Of course I did,’ she replied coolly, but she was glad to see him.

  Gary shook his head. She was a cool cookie for sure. Any other woman would have been dolling herself up to the nines trying to make an impression, he thought.