Cecelia Ahern - P.S. I Love You

Denise just held her hands up helplessly and shrugged.

“Thanks for coming, Daniel.” Holly turned to him, ignoring the other two.

“No problem at all, I was glad to come.”

It was weird seeing him out of his usual wintery clothes; he was dressed in a navy vest and navy combat shorts that went just below his knees with a pair of navy trainers. She watched his biceps as he took a slug of his beer. She had had no idea he was that fit.

“You're very brown,” she commented, trying to think of an excuse for being caught staring at his biceps.

“And so are you,” he said, purposely staring at her legs.

Holly laughed and tucked them up underneath her. “A result of unemployment, what's your excuse?”

“I was in Miami for a while last month.”

“Ooh, lucky you, did you enjoy it?”

“Had a great time,” he nodded, smiling. “Have you ever been?”

She shook her head. “But at least us girls are heading off to Spain next week. Can't wait.” She rubbed her hands together excitedly.

“Yes I heard that. I'd say that was a nice surprise for you.” He gave her a smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

“You're telling me.” Holly shook her head, still not quite believing it.

They chatted together for a while about his holiday and their lives in general and Holly gave up eating her burger in front of him, as she could find no easy way of eating it without tomato ketchup and mayonnaise dribbling down her mouth every time it was her turn to speak.

“I hope you didn't go to Miami with another woman or poor Ciara will be devastated,” she joked, and then kicked herself for being so nosy.

“No, I didn't,” he said seriously. “We broke up a few months ago.”

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that,” she said genuinely. “Were you together long?”

“Seven years.”

“Wow, that's a long time.”

“Yeah.” He looked away and Holly could tell he didn't feel comfortable talking about it, so she quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, Daniel,” Holly lowered her voice to a hushed tone and Daniel moved his head closer. “I just wanted to thank you so much for looking out for me the way you did after the documentary. Most men run away when they see a girl cry; you didn't, so thank you.” Holly smiled gratefully.

“No problem at all, Holly. I don't like to see you upset.” Daniel returned the smile.

“You're a good friend,” Holly said, thinking aloud.

Daniel looked pleased. “Why don't we all go out for drinks or something before you go away?”

“Maybe I can get to know as much about you as you know about me.” Holly laughed. “I think you know my whole life story by this stage.”

“Yeah, I'd like that,” Daniel agreed, and they arranged a time to meet.

“Oh, by the way, did you give Ciara that birthday present?” Holly asked excitedly.

“No,” he laughed. “She's been kind of . . . busy.”

Holly turned around to look at her sister and spotted her flirting with one of Declan's friends, much to Declan's disgust. Holly laughed at her sister. So much for wanting Daniel's babies.

“I'll call her over, will I?”

“Go on,” Daniel said.

“Ciara!” Holly called. “Got another pressie for you!”

“Ooh!” Ciara screamed with delight and abandoned a very disappointed-looking young man.

“What is it?” She collapsed on the grass beside them.

Holly nodded over at Daniel. “It's from him.”

Ciara excitedly turned to face him.

“I was wondering if you would like a job working behind the bar at Club Diva?”

Ciara's hands flew to her mouth. “Oh Daniel, that would be brill!”

“Have you ever worked behind a bar?”

“Yeah, loads of times.” She waved her hand dismissively.

Daniel raised his eyebrows; he was looking for a bit more information than that.

“Oh, I've done bar work in practically every country I've been to, honestly!” she said excitedly.

Daniel smiled. “So do you think you'll be able for it?”

“Ooh, would I ever!” she squealed and threw her arms around him.

Any excuse, Holly thought, as she watched her sister practically strangling Daniel. His face started to turn red and he made “rescue me” faces toward Holly.

“OK, OK, that's enough, Ciara,” she laughed, dragging her off Daniel. “You don't want to kill your new boss.”

“Oh sorry,” Ciara said, backing off. “This is so cool! I have a job, Holly!” she squealed again.

“Yes, I heard,” Holly said.

Suddenly the garden became very quiet and Holly looked around to see what was happening.

Everyone was facing the conservatory and Holly's parents appeared at the door with a large birthday cake in their hands singing “Happy Birthday.” Everyone else joined in and Ciara jumped up, lapping up all the attention. As her parents stepped outside, Holly spotted someone following behind them with a huge bouquet of flowers. Her parents walked toward Ciara and placed the birthday cake on the table before her and the stranger behind slowly removed the bouquet from his face.

“Mathew!” Ciara gasped.

Holly grabbed Ciara's hand as her face went white.

“I'm sorry for being such a fool, Ciara.” Mathew's Australian accent echoed around the garden.

Some of Declan's friends smirked loudly, obviously feeling uncomfortable at this open show of emotion. He actually looked like he was acting out a scene from an Australian soap, but then again drama always seemed to work for Ciara. “I love you! Please take me back!” he announced, and everyone turned to stare at Ciara to see what she would say.

Her lower lip started to tremble and she ran over to Mathew and jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

Holly was overcome with emotion and tears welled in her eyes at the sight of her sister being reunited with the man she loved. Declan grabbed his camera and began filming.

Daniel wrapped his arm around Holly's shoulders and gave her an encouraging squeeze. “I'm sorry, Daniel,” Holly said, wiping her eyes, “but I think you've just been dumped.”

“Not to worry,” he laughed. “I shouldn't mix business with pleasure anyway.” He seemed relieved.

Holly continued to watch as Mathew spun Ciara around in his arms.

“Oh, get a room!” Declan yelled with disgust, and everyone laughed.

Holly smiled at the jazz band as she passed and looked around the bar for Denise. They had arranged to meet up in the girls' favorite bar, Juicy, known for its extensive cocktail menu and relaxing music. Holly had no intentions of getting drunk tonight, as she wanted to be able to enjoy her holiday as much as she could the next day. She intended on being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for her week of relaxation, thanks to Gerry. She spotted Denise snuggling up to Tom on a comfortable large black leather couch in a conservatory area that overlooked the River Liffey. Dublin was lit up for the night and all its colors were reflected in the water. Daniel sat opposite Denise and Tom sucking fiercely on a strawberry daiquiri, eyes surveying the room.

Nice to see Tom and Denise were ostracizing everyone again.

“Sorry I'm late,” Holly apologized, approaching her friends. “I just wanted to finish packing before I came out.”

“You're not forgiven,” Daniel said quietly into her ear as he gave her a welcoming hug and kiss.

Denise looked up at Holly and smiled, Tom waved slightly and they returned their attention to each other.

“I don't know why they even bother inviting other people out. They just sit there staring into each other's eyes ignoring everyone else. They don't even talk to each other! And then they make you feel like you've interrupted them if you strike up a conversation. I think they've got some weird telepathic conversation going on there,” Daniel said, sitting down again and taking another sip from his glass. He made a face at the sweet taste. “And I really need a beer.”