Cecelia Ahern - P.S. I Love You

“Well, before everybody goes disappearing,” Holly's father announced loudly over the chatter.

The table grew silent. “I would like to propose a toast to our beautiful daughter Ciara, as this is her welcome-home dinner.” He smiled at his daughter and Ciara lapped up all the attention.

“We missed you, love, and we're glad you're home safely,” Frank finished. He lifted his glass into the air, “To Ciara!”

“To Ciara!” everyone repeated, and they finished off what was in their glasses.

As soon as the door closed behind Richard and Meredith everyone began to leave one by one.

Holly stepped into the chilly air and walked to her car alone. Her mum and dad stood at the door waving her off but she still felt lonely. Usually she left dinner parties with Gerry, and if not with him then she was returning home to him. But not tonight or the next night or the night after that.

Eight

HOLLY STOOD IN FRONT OF the full-length mirror and inspected herself. She had carried out Gerry's orders and had purchased a new outfit. What for, she didn't know, but several times every day she had to drag herself away from opening the envelope for May. There were only two days left until she could, and the anticipation left her no room to think of anything else.

She had settled on wearing an all-black outfit to suit her current mood. Black fitted trousers slimmed her legs and were tailored perfectly to sit over her black boots. A black corset that made her look like she had a bigger chest finished the outfit off perfectly. Leo had done a wonderful job on her hair, tying it up and allowing strands to fall in loose waves around her shoulders. Holly ran her fingers through her hair and smiled at the memory of her time at the hairdresser's. She had arrived at the salon with her face flushed and out of breath. “Oh, I'm so sorry, Leo, I got caught on the phone and didn't realize the time.”

“Don't worry, love, whenever you make an appointment I have the staff trained to pencil it in for half an hour later. Colin! ” he yelled, clicking his fingers in the air. Colin dropped everything and ran.

“God, are you taking horse tranquilizers or something? The length of your hair already, and I just cut it a few weeks ago.”

He pumped vigorously on the chair, raising Holly higher. “Anything special tonight?” he asked, attacking the chair.

“The big three-oh,” she said, biting her lip.

“What's that, your local bus route?”

“No! I'm the big three-oh!”

“Of course I knew that, love, Colin! ” he yelled again, snapping his fingers in the air.

With that, Colin appeared from the staff room behind Holly with a cake in his hand, followed by a row of hairdressers joining Leo in a chorus of “Happy Birthday.” Holly was dumbfounded.

“Leo!” was all she could say. She battled the tears that were welling in her eyes and failed miserably. By this stage the entire salon had joined in and Holly was just overwhelmed by their show of love. When it was over everyone applauded and normal business resumed.

Holly couldn't speak.

“Christ Almighty, Holly, one week you're in here laughing so hard you practically fall off your chair and the next visit you're crying!”

“Oh, but that was just so special, Leo, thank you,” she said, drying her eyes and giving him a huge hug and a kiss.

“Well, I had to get you back after you mortified me,” he said, shrugging her off, uncomfortable with the sentimentality.

Holly laughed, remembering Leo's surprise fiftieth birthday party. The theme had been “feathers and lace” as she recalled. Holly had worn a beautiful tight-fitting lace dress and Gerry, who was always game for a laugh, had worn a pink feather boa to match his pink shirt and tie. Leo claimed to have been excruciatingly embarrassed, but everyone knew he was secretly delighted with all the attention. The next day, Leo had rung every guest who had attended the party and left a threatening message on their machine. Holly had been terrified to make an appointment with Leo for weeks after that in case he butchered her. Word had it that business was very slow for Leo that week.

“Well, you enjoyed the stripper that night anyway,” Holly teased.

“Enjoyed? I went out with him for a month after that. The bastard.”

A slice of cake arrived in front of each customer and everyone turned to thank her.

“Don't know why they're thanking you,” Leo muttered under his breath, “I'm the one who bloody bought it.”

“Don't worry, Leo, I'll make sure your tip covers the cost.”

“Are you mad? Your tip wouldn't cover the cost of my bus fare home.”

“Leo, you live next door.”

“Exactly!”

Holly pouted her lip and pretended to sulk. Leo laughed. “Thirty years old and you're still acting like a baby. Where are you off to tonight?”

“Oh, nowhere mad. I just want a low-key, nice quiet night out with the girls.”

“That's what I said at my fiftieth. Who's going?”

“Sharon, Ciara, Abbey and Denise, haven't seen her for ages.”

“Ciara home?”

“Yeah, her and her pink hair.”

“Merciful hour! She'll stay away from me if she knows what's good for her. Right missus, you look fab, you'll be the belle of the ball–have fun!”

Holly stopped daydreaming and returned her gaze to her reflection in her bedroom mirror. She didn't feel thirty. But then again, what was being thirty supposed to feel like? When she was younger, thirty seemed so far away, she thought that a woman of that age would be so wise and knowledgeable, so settled in her life with a husband and children and a career. She had none of those things. She still felt as clueless as she had felt when she was twenty, only with a few more gray hairs and crow's-feet around her eyes. She sat down on the edge of the bed and continued to stare at herself. There was nothing about being thirty worth celebrating.

The doorbell rang and Holly could hear the excited chatter and giggles of the girls outside. She tried to perk herself up, took a deep breath and plastered a smile on her face.

“Happy Birthday!” they all yelled in unison.

She stared back at their happy faces and was immediately cheered up by their enthusiasm. She ushered them into the living room and waved hello to the camera being held by Declan.

“No, Holly, you're supposed to ignore him!” hissed Denise, and she dragged Holly by the arm onto the couch, where they all surrounded her and immediately started thrusting presents in her face.

“Open mine first!” squealed Ciara, knocking Sharon out of the way so hard that she toppled off the couch. Sharon froze in horror, unsure of how to react, then she burst into giggles.

“OK, calm down, everyone,” said the voice of reason (Abbey), struggling to help up a hysterical Sharon. “I think we should pop open the bubbly first and then open the pressies.”

“OK, but as long as she opens mine first,” pouted Ciara.

“Ciara, I promise to open yours first.” Holly spoke to her as though she were addressing a child.

Abbey raced into the kitchen and returned with a tray full of champagne flutes. “Anyone for champers, sweetie darlings?”

The flutes were a wedding gift and one of the glasses had Gerry and Holly's names inscribed on it, which Abbey had tactfully removed from the set. “OK, Holly, you can do the honors,” Abbey said, handing her the bottle.

Everyone ran for cover and ducked as Holly began to remove the cork. “Hey, I'm not that bad, everyone!”

“Yeah, she's an old pro at this by now,” said Sharon, appearing from behind the couch with a cushion on her head.

The girls all cheered as they heard the pop and crawled out from their hiding places. “The sound of heaven,” Denise said dramatically, holding her hand up to her heart.