Cecelia Ahern - The Gift & Thanks for the Memories

‘Joyce, it’s Thomas. I just left your young man off at the airport.’

‘Oh, thank you so much. Did he get the envelope?’

‘Eh, yeah. About that: I gave it to him all right but I’ve just looked in the back seat of the car and it’s still there.’

‘What?’ I jump up from the kitchen chair. ‘Go back, go back! Turn the car around! You have to give it to him. He’s forgotten it!’

‘You see, the thing is, he wasn’t too sure on whether he wanted to open it or not.’

‘What? Why?’

‘I don’t know, love! I gave it to him when he got back into the car before we got to the airport, just like you asked. He seemed very down and so I thought it’d cheer him up a bit.’

‘Down? Why? What was wrong with him?’

‘Joyce, love, I don’t know. All I know is he got into the car a bit upset so I gave him the envelope and he sat there looking at it and I asked him if he was going to open it and he said maybe.’

‘Maybe,’ I repeat. Had I done something to upset him? Had Kate said something to him? ‘He was upset when he came out of the Gallery?’

‘No, not the Gallery. We stopped off at the blood donor clinic on D’Olier Street before the airport.’

‘He was donating blood?’

‘No, he said he had to meet somebody.’

Oh my God, maybe he’d discovered it was me who’d received his blood and he wasn’t interested.

‘Thomas, do you know if he opened it?’

‘Did you seal it?’

‘No.’

‘Then there’s no way of my knowing. I didn’t see him open it. I’m sorry. Do you want me to drop it at your house on the way back from the airport?’

‘Please.’

An hour later I meet Thomas at the door and he gives me the envelope. I can feel the tickets still inside and my heart falls. Why didn’t Justin open it and take it with him?

‘Here, Dad.’ I slide the envelope across the kitchen table. ‘A present for you.’

‘What’s in it?’

‘Front-row seats to the opera for next weekend,’ I say sadly, leaning my chin on my hand. ‘It was a gift for somebody else, but he clearly doesn’t want to go.’

‘The opera.’ Dad makes a funny face and I laugh. ‘It’s far from operas I was raised,’ though he opens the envelope anyway as I get up to make some more coffee.

‘Oh, I think I’ll pass on this opera thing, love, but thanks anyway.’

I spin round. ‘Oh, Dad, why? You liked the ballet and you didn’t think that you would.’

‘Yes, but I went to that with you. I wouldn’t go to this on my own.’

‘You don’t have to. There are two tickets.’

‘No, there aren’t.’

‘There definitely are. Look again.’

He turns the envelope upside down and shakes it. A loose piece of paper falls out and flutters to the table.

My heart skips a beat.

Dad props his glasses on the tip of his nose and peers down at the note. ‘“Accompany me”,’ he says slowly. ‘Ah, love, that’s awful nice of you—’

‘Show me that.’ I grab it from his hands, disbelievingly, and read it for myself. Then I read it again. And again and again.

‘ Accompany me? Justin .’

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

‘He wants to meet me,’ I tell Kate nervously, as I twirl a string from the end of my unravelling top around my finger.

‘You’re going to cut off your circulation, be careful,’ Kate responds, motherly.

‘Kate! Did you not hear me? I said he wants to meet me!’

‘And so he should. Did you not think that this would eventually happen? Really, Joyce, you’ve been taunting the man for weeks. And if he did save your life, as you’re insisting he did, wouldn’t he want to meet the person whose life he saved? Boost his male ego? Come on, it’s the equivalent to a white horse and a shiny suit of armour.’

‘No it’s not.’

‘It is in his male eyes. His male wandering eyes,’ she spits out aggressively.

My eyes narrow as I study her closely. ‘Is everything OK? You’re beginning to sound like Frankie.’

‘Stop biting your lip, it’s starting to bleed. Yes, everything’s great. Just hunky-dory.’

‘OK, here I am,’ Frankie makes her announcement as she breezes through the door and joins us on the bleachers.

We are seated on a split-level viewing balcony at Kate’s local swimming pool. Below us Eric and Jayda splash noisily in their swimming class. Beside us Sam is sitting in his stroller, looking around.

‘Does he ever do anything?’ Frankie watches him suspiciously.

Kate ignores her.

‘Issue number one for discussion today is why do we have to constantly meet in these places with all these things crawling around?’ She looks at all the toddlers. ‘What happened to cool bars, new restaurants, shop openings? Remember we used to go out and have fun? ’

‘I have plenty of fucking fun,’ Kate says a little too defensively and loudly. ‘I am just one great big ball of fucking fun,’ she repeats, and looks away.

Frankie doesn’t hear the unusual tone in Kate’s voice, or does hear it and decides to push anyway. ‘Yes, at dinner parties for other couples who haven’t been out for a month either. For me, that’s not so fun.’

‘You’ll understand when you have kids.’

‘I don’t plan to have any. Is everything OK?’

‘Yes, she’s “hunky-dory”,’ I say to Frankie, using my fingers as inverted commas.

‘Oh, I see,’ Frankie says slowly and mouths ‘Christian’ at me.

I shrug.

‘Is there anything you want to get off your chest?’ Frankie asks.

‘Actually, yes.’ Kate turns to her with fire in her eyes. ‘I’m tired of your little comments about my life. If you’re not happy here or in my company, then piss off somewhere else, but just know that it’ll be without me.’ She turns away, her cheeks flushed with anger.

Frankie is silent for a moment as she observes her friend. ‘OK,’ she says perkily and turns to me. ‘My car is parked outside; we can go to the new bar down the road.’

‘We’re not going anywhere,’ I protest.

‘Ever since you left your husband and your life has fallen apart, you’ve been no fun,’ she says to me sulkily. ‘And as for you, Kate, ever since you got that new Swedish nanny and your husband’s been eyeing her up, you’ve been absolutely miserable. As for me, I’m tired of hopping from one night of meaningless sex with handsome strangers to another, and having to eat microwave dinners alone every evening. There, I’ve said it.’

My mouth falls open. So does Kate’s. I can tell we are both trying our best to be angry with her but her comments are so spot on, it’s actually quite humorous. She nudges me with her elbow and chuckles mischievously in my ear. The corners of Kate’s lips begin to twitch too.

‘I should have got a manny,’ Kate finally says.

‘Nah, I still wouldn’t trust Christian,’ Frankie responds. ‘You’re being paranoid, Kate,’ she assures her seriously. ‘I’ve been around there, I’ve seen him. He adores you and she is not attractive at all.’

‘You think?’

‘Uh-huh,’ she nods, but when Kate looks away, mouths ‘gorgeous’ to me.

‘Did you mean all that you said?’ Kate says, brightening up.

‘No.’ Frankie throws her head back and laughs. ‘I love meaningless sex. I need to do something about the microwave dinners, though. My doctor says I need more iron. OK,’ she claps her hands, causing Sam to jump with fright, ‘what’s this session’s meeting been called for?’

‘Justin wants to meet Joyce,’ Kate explains, and snaps at me, ‘Stop biting your lip.’

I stop.

‘Ooh, great,’ Frankie says excitedly. ‘So what’s the problem?’ She sees my look of terror.