Cecelia Ahern - P.S. I Love You

“I'm in Galway. The 'wards were on last night,” he said, as if she should know.

“Oh, sorry for my ignorance, but what awards were you at?”

“I told you!”

“No you didn't.”

“I told Jack to tell you, the bastard–” He stumbled over his words.

“Well, he didn't,” she interrupted him, “so now you can tell me.”

“The student media 'wards were on last night and I won!” he yelled, and Holly heard what sounded like the entire carriage celebrating with him. She was delighted for him.

“And the prize is that it's gonna be aired on Channel 4 next week! Can you believe it!” There were more cheers this time and Holly could barely make out what he was saying. “You're gonna be famous, sis!” was the last thing she heard before the line went dead. What was this odd feeling she detected running through her body? Was it . . . no it couldn't . . . could it be that Holly was experiencing a sensation of happiness?

She rang around her family to share the good news but learned that they had all received a similar phone call. Ciara had stayed on the phone for ages chattering like an excited schoolgirl about how they were going to be on TV, and eventually her story ended with her marrying Denzel Washington. It was decided that the family would gather in Hogan's pub next Wednesday to watch the documentary being aired. Daniel had kindly offered Club Diva as the venue so they could watch it on the big wall screen. Holly was excited for her brother and rang Sharon and Denise to let them know the good news.

“Oh, this is brill news, Holly!” Sharon whispered excitedly.

“Why are you whispering?” Holly whispered back.

“Oh, old wrinkly face here decided it would be a great idea to ban us from accepting personal calls,” moaned Sharon, referring to her boss. “She says we spend more time chatting on the phone to friends than doing business, so she's been patrolling our desks all morning. I swear I feel like I'm back at school again with the old hag keeping her eye on us.” Suddenly she spoke up and became businesslike. “May I take your details please?”

Holly laughed. “Is she there?”

“Yes absolutely,” Sharon continued.

“OK, well, I won't keep you very long then. The details are that we're all meeting up in Hogan's on Wednesday night to watch it, so you're welcome to come.”

“That's great . . . OK.” Sharon pretended to take her details.

“Brilliant, we'll have fun. Sharon, what will I wear?”

“Hmm . . . brand-new or secondhand?”

“No, I really can't afford anything new; even though you forced me to buy that top a few weeks ago, I'm refusing to wear it on the grounds that I am no longer eighteen. So probably something old.”

“OK . . . red.”

“The red top I wore to your birthday?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“What's your current state of employment?”

“To be honest I haven't even started looking yet.” Holly chewed the inside of her mouth and frowned.

“And date of birth?”

“Ha-ha, shut up, you bitch,” Holly laughed.

“I'm sorry, we only give motor insurance to ages twenty-four and older. You're too young, I'm afraid.”

“I wish. OK, I'll speak to you later.”

“Thank you for calling.”

Holly sat at the kitchen table wondering what she should wear next week; she wanted something new. She wanted to look sexy and gorgeous for a change, and she was sick of all her old clothes. Maybe Denise had something in her shop. She was about to call when she received a text message from Sharon.

HAG RITE BHIND ME

TLK 2 U L8R XXX

Holly picked up the phone and called Denise at work.

“Hello, 'Casuals,' ” answered a very polite Denise.

“Hello, Casuals, Holly here. I know I'm not supposed to call you at work but I just wanted to tell you that Declan's documentary won some student award thingy and it's gonna be aired on Wednesday night.”

“Oh, that's so cool, Holly! Are we gonna be in it?” she asked excitedly.

“Yeah, I think so. So we're all meeting up at Hogan's to watch it that night. You up for that?”

“Oooh, of course! I can bring my new boyfriend too,” she giggled.

“What new boyfriend?”

“Tom!”

“The karaoke guy?” Holly asked in shock.

“Yeah, of course! Oh Holly, I'm so in love!” she giggled childishly again.

“In love? But you only met him a few weeks ago!”

“Oh I don't care; it only takes a minute . . . as the saying goes.”

“Wow, Denise . . . I don't know what to say!”

“Tell me how great it is!”

“Yeah . . . wow . . . I mean . . . of course . . . it's really great news.”

“Oh, try not to sound too enthusiastic, Holly,” she said sarcastically. “Anyway, I can't wait for you to meet him, you'll absolutely love him. Well, not as much as I do, but you'll certainly really really like him.” She rambled on about how great he was.

“Denise, are you forgetting that I met him already?” Holly interrupted her in the middle of a story about how Tom had saved a child from drowning.

“Yeah, I know you have, but I would rather you meet him when you're not acting like a demented woman hiding in toilets and shouting into microphones.”

“Look forward to it then . . .”

“Yeah, cool, it's gonna be great! I've never been to my own premiere before!” she said excitedly.

Holly rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatics and they said their good-byes.

Holly barely got any housework done that morning, as she spent most of the time talking on the phone. Her mobile was burning and it was giving her a headache. She shuddered at the thought.

Every time she had a headache it reminded her of Gerry. She hated to hear her loved ones complaining of headaches and migraines and would immediately launch herself at them, warning them of the dangers and how they should take it more seriously and go see their doctors. She ended up petrifying everyone with her stories and they eventually stopped telling her when they felt ill.

She sighed loudly; she was turning into such a hypochondriac even her doctor was sick of the sight of her. She went running to her in a panic over the tiniest little things, if she had a pain in her leg or a cramp in her stomach. Last week she was convinced there was something wrong with her feet; her toes just didn't look quite right. Her doctor had examined them seriously and then had immediately started to scribble her prescription down on a slip of paper while Holly watched in terror. Eventually she handed her the piece of paper, and scrawled messily in that handwriting only doctors can perfect, was: “Buy bigger shoes.”

It may have been funny, but it cost her forty euro.

Holly had spent the last few minutes on the phone listening to Jack ranting and raving about Richard. Richard had paid him a little visit, too. Holly wondered whether he was just trying to bond with his siblings after years of hiding from them. Well, it was too little too late for most of them, it seemed. It was certainly very difficult trying to hold a conversation with someone who hadn't yet mastered the art of politeness. Oh, stop stop stop! she silently screamed to herself.

She needed to stop worrying, stop thinking, stop making her brain go on overdrive, and she certainly needed to stop talking to herself. She was driving herself crazy.

She finally finished hanging out the washing more than two hours later and added another load into the machine and turned it on. She switched the radio on in the kitchen and blared the television from the living room and went back to work. Perhaps that would drown out the whinging little voice in her head.

Seventeen

HOLLY ARRIVED AT HOGAN'S AND pushed her way through the old men in the pub to make her way upstairs to Club Diva. The traditional band was in full swing and the crowd was joining in on all their favorite Irish songs. It was only seven-thirty, so Club Diva wasn't officially open yet. Looking around at the empty club, Holly saw a completely different venue from the one she had been so terrified in a few weeks earlier. She was the first to arrive and settled herself at a table right in front of the big screen so she would have a perfect view of her brother's documentary, not that the place would be so crowded that anyone would stand in her way.