Cecelia Ahern - P.S. I Love You

“Wow, that's very interesting,” Daniel said dryly.

“So what is it that you do, Dermot?” she said, turning to look at Daniel.

“Sorry, my name is Daniel actually. I'm a publican.”

“Right,” she nodded and looked away. “Awful weather we're having these days, isn't it?” she addressed the table.

Everyone fell into conversation and Daniel turned to Holly. “Did you enjoy your holiday?”

“Oh, I had a fabulous time,” she answered. “We took it easy and relaxed every day, didn't do anything wild and weird.”

“Just what you needed,” he smiled. “I heard about your near-death experience.”

Holly rolled her eyes. “I bet Denise told you that.”

He nodded and laughed.

“Well, I'm sure she gave you the exaggerated version.”

“Not really, she just told me about how you were surrounded by sharks and had to be airlifted from the sea by a helicopter.”

“She didn't!”

“No, not really,” he laughed. “Still, that must have been some conversation you were having to not notice you were drifting out to sea!”

Holly's face blushed a little as she recalled that they had been talking about him.

“OK everyone,” Denise called. “You're probably wondering why Tom and I invited you all here tonight.”

“Understatement of the year,” Daniel mumbled, and Holly giggled.

“Well, we have an announcement to make.” She looked around at everyone and smiled.

Holly's eyes widened.

“Myself and Tom are getting married!” Denise squealed, and Holly's hands flew up to her mouth in shock. She did not see that one coming.

“Oh Denise!” she gasped, and walked around the table to hug them. “That's wonderful news!

Congratulations!”

She looked at Daniel's face; it had gone white.

They popped open a bottle of champagne and everyone raised their glasses as Jemima and Jim or Samantha and Sam or whatever their names were made a toast.

“Hold on! Hold on!” Denise stopped them just before they started. “Sharon, did you not get a glass?”

Everyone looked at Sharon, who was holding a glass of orange juice in her hand.

“Here you go,” Tom said, pouring her a glass.

“No no no! Not for me, thanks,” she said.

“Why not?” Denise huffed, upset that her friend wouldn't celebrate with her.

John and Sharon looked at each other and smiled. “Well, I didn't want to say anything because it's Denise and Tom's special night . . .”

Everyone urged her to speak.

“Well . . . I'm pregnant! John and I are going to have a baby!”

John's eyes began to water and Holly just froze in shock in her seat. She did not see that one coming either. Tears filled her eyes as she went over to congratulate Sharon and John. Then she sat down and took deep breaths. This was all too much.

“So let's make a toast to Tom and Denise's engagement and Sharon and John's baby!”

Everyone clinked glasses and Holly ate dinner in silence, not really tasting anything.

“You want to make that time eleven o'clock?” Daniel asked quietly, and she nodded in agreement.

After dinner Holly and Daniel made their excuses to leave and nobody really tried to persuade them to stay.

“How much should I leave toward the bill?” Holly asked Denise.

“Oh, don't worry about it.” She waved her hand at her dismissively.

“No, don't be silly, I couldn't let you pay for it. How much, honestly?”

The woman beside her grabbed the menu and started adding up the price of all the meals they had bought. There had been so many and Holly had only picked at her own and had even avoided eating a starter so she could afford it.

“Well, it works out as about fifty each, and that's including all the wine and bottles of champagne.”

Holly gulped and stared down at the thirty euro in her hand.

Daniel grabbed her hand and pulled her up. “Come on, let's go, Holly.”

She opened her mouth to make the excuse of not bringing as much money as she thought, but when she opened the palm of her hand and looked at the money, there appeared to be an extra twenty.

She smiled at Daniel gratefully and they both headed out to the car.

They sat in the car in silence, both thinking about what had happened that night. She wanted to feel happy for her friends, really she did, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of being left behind. Everyone else's lives were moving on except hers.

Daniel pulled up outside her house. “Do you want to come in for a tea or coffee or anything?”

She was sure he would say no and was shocked when he undid his seat belt and accepted her offer. She really liked Daniel, he was very caring and fun to be with, but right now she just wanted to be alone.

“That was some night, wasn't it?” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. Holly just shook her head with disbelief. “Daniel, I have known those girls practically all of my life, and I did not see any of that coming.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've known Tom for years too and he didn't mention a thing.”

“Although Sharon wasn't drinking when we were away,” she hadn't listened to a word Daniel had said, “and she did throw up a few mornings, but she said it was seasickness . . .” She trailed off and her brain went into overdrive as things started to add up.

“Seasickness?” Daniel asked, confused.

“After our near-death experience,” she explained.

“Oh, right.”

This time neither of them laughed.

“It's funny,” he said, settling down into the couch. Oh no, Holly thought; he's never going to leave the house now.

“The lads always said that myself and Laura would be the first to get married,” he continued. “I just didn't think that Laura would be getting married before me.”

“She's getting married?” Holly asked gently.

He nodded and looked away. “He used to be a friend of mine, too,” he laughed bitterly.

“Obviously he's not anymore.”

“Nope,” he shook his head. “Obviously not.”

“Sorry to hear that,” she said genuinely.

“Ah well, we all get our fair share of bad luck. You know that better than anyone.”

“Huh, fair share,” she repeated.

“I know, there's nothing fair about it, but don't worry, we'll have our good luck too.”

“You think?”

“I hope.”

They sat in silence for another while and Holly watched the clock. It was five past twelve. She really needed to get him out of the house so she could open the envelope.

He read her mind. “So how're the messages from above going?”

Holly sat forward and placed her mug down on the table. “Well, I've another one to open tonight actually. So . . .” She looked at him.

“Oh right,” he said, jumping to attention. He sat up quickly and put his mug down on the table.

“I better leave you at it so.”

Holly bit her lip, feeling guilty at ushering him out so quickly, but she was also relieved he was finally going.

“Thanks a million for the lift, Daniel,” she said, following him to the door.

“No problem at all.” He quickly grabbed his coat from the banister and headed out the door.

They gave each other a quick hug.

“See you soon,” she said, feeling like a right bitch, and watched him walk down to his car in the rain. She waved him off and her guilt immediately faded as soon as she closed the door. “Right Gerry,” she said as she headed toward the kitchen and picked up the envelope from the table.

“What have you got in store for me this month?”

Thirty-one

HOLLY HELD THE TINY ENVELOPE tightly in her hands and glanced up at the clock on the wall over the kitchen table. It was twelve-fifteen. Usually Sharon and Denise would have called her by now, all excited to hear about what was inside the envelope. But so far neither of them had called. It seemed news of an engagement and a pregnancy beat the news of a message from Gerry these days. Holly scorned herself for being so bitter; she wanted to be happy for her friends, she wanted to be back in the restaurant right now celebrating their good news with them like the old Holly would have done. But she couldn't bring herself even to smile for them.