Cecelia Ahern - P.S. I Love You

Holly nodded and joined them at the table. “Have you found a job yet?” she asked Richard.

He shook his head sadly and looked as though he were going to cry.

“Well, I did.”

He looked at her disgusted that she could say such a thing. “Well, I know you did.”

“No Richard,” she smiled. “I mean I got you a job.”

He looked up at her in surprise. “You what?”

“You heard me,” she grinned. “My boss will be calling you tomorrow.”

His face fell. “Oh Holly, that's very nice of you indeed, but I have no interest in advertising. My interest is in science.”

“And gardening.”

“Yes, I like gardening.” He looked confused.

“So that's why my boss will be calling you. To ask you to work on his garden. I told him you'll do it for five thousand; I hope that's OK.” She smiled at him as his mouth dropped open.

He was completely speechless so Holly kept on talking.

“And here's your business cards,” she said, handing him a large pile of cards that she had printed up that day.

Richard and her parents picked up the cards and read them in silence.

Suddenly Richard started laughing, jumped out of his chair pulling Holly with him, and danced her around the kitchen while her parents looked on and cheered.

“Oh, by the way,” Richard said, calming down and glancing at the card again, “you spelled

'gardener' wrong. It's not 'gardner,' it is 'gard-en-er.' ” He spoke slowly. “See the difference?”

Holly stopped dancing and sighed with frustration.

Forty-one

“OK, THIS IS THE LAST one, I promise, girls!” Denise called as her bra was sent flying over the changing room door.

Sharon and Holly groaned and collapsed onto their chairs again.

“You said that an hour ago,” Sharon complained, kicking off her shoes and massaging her swollen ankles.

“Yeah, but I mean it this time. I have a really good feeling about this dress,” Denise said, full of excitement.

“You said that an hour ago too,” Holly grumbled, resting her head back on the chair and closing her eyes.

“Don't you go falling asleep on me now,” Sharon warned Holly, and her eyes immediately shot open.

They had been dragged to every single wedding gown boutique in the city and Sharon and Holly were exhausted, irritated and extremely fed up. Whatever excitement they had felt for Denise and her wedding had been drained from their systems as Denise tried on dress after dress. And if Holly heard Denise's irritating squeals one more time she would . . .

“Oooh, I love it!” Denise shrieked.

“OK, here's the plan,” Sharon whispered to Holly. “If she walks out of there looking like a meringue sitting on a bicycle pump we are going to tell her she looks beautiful.”

Holly giggled. “Oh Sharon, we can't do that!”

“Oooh, wait till you see!” Denise shrieked again.

“On second thought . . .” Holly looked at Sharon miserably.

“OK, are you ready?”

“Yes,” Sharon groaned unenthusiastically.

“Ta-da!” She stepped out of the dressing room and Holly's eyes widened.

“Oh, that's so beautiful on you,” gushed the sales assistant who had been hovering nearby.

“Oh, stop it!” Denise cried. “You're no help to me at all! You've loved every single one of them.”

Holly looked at Sharon uncertainly and tried not to laugh at the look on her face; she looked like there was a bad smell in the air.

Sharon rolled her eyes and whispered, “Hasn't Denise ever heard of a thing called commission?”

“What are you two whispering about?” Denise asked.

“Oh, just about how pretty you look.”

Holly frowned at Sharon.

“Oh, do you like it?” Denise squealed again and Holly winced.

“Yes,” Sharon said unenthusiastically.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think Tom will be happy when he looks down the aisle and sees me walking toward him?” Denise even practiced her walk just so the girls could imagine it.

“Yes,” Sharon repeated.

“But are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think it's worth the money?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“It'll be nicer with a tan, won't it?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, but does it make my bum look enormous?”

“Yes.”

Holly looked at Sharon startled, realizing she wasn't even listening to the questions anymore.

“Oh, but are you sure?” Denise carried on, obviously not even listening to the answers.

“Yes.”

“So will I get it?”

Holly expected the sales assistant to start jumping up and down with excitement screaming

“Yessss!” but she managed to contain herself.

“No!” Holly interrupted before Sharon said yes again.

“No?” Denise asked.

“No,” Holly confirmed.

“Do you not like it?”

“No.”

“Is it because it makes me look fat?”

“No.”

“Do you not think Tom will like it?”

“No.”

“Do you think it's worth the money, though?”

“No.”

“Oh.” She turned to face Sharon. “Do you agree with Holly?”

“Yes.”

The sales assistant rolled her eyes and approached another customer, hoping for better luck with her.

“OK then, I trust you two,” Denise said, sadly taking one last look at herself in the mirror. “To be honest I wasn't really that keen on it myself.”

Sharon sighed and put her shoes back on. “OK Denise, you said that was the last one. Let's go get something to eat before I drop dead.”

“No, I meant it was the last dress I would try on in this shop. There's loads more shops to go to yet.”

“No way!” Holly protested. “Denise, I am starving to death and at this stage all the dresses are beginning to look the same to me. I need a break.”

“Oh, but this is my wedding day, Holly!”

“Yes and . . .” Holly tried to think of an excuse. “But Sharon's pregnant.”

“Oh, OK then, we'll get something to eat,” Denise said, disappointed, and headed back to the changing room.

Sharon elbowed Holly in the ribs. “Hey, I'm not diseased, you know, just pregnant.”

“Oh, it's the only thing that I could think of,” Holly said tiredly.

The three of them trudged into Bewley's Café and managed to grab their usual spot by the window overlooking Grafton Street.

“Oh, I hate shopping on Saturdays,” Holly moaned, watching as people bumped and crushed one another on the busy street below.

“Gone are the days of shopping midweek, now you're no longer a lady of leisure,” Sharon teased, as she picked up a club sandwich and began stuffing her face.

“I know, and I'm so tired, but I feel like I've earned the tiredness this time. Unlike before when I just used to stay up late watching insomniac TV,” Holly said happily.

“Tell us about the little episode with Gerry's parents,” Sharon said with a mouthful of food.

Holly rolled her eyes. “They were just so rude to poor Daniel.”

“I'm sorry I was asleep. I'm sure if John had known that's what it was about he would have woken me,” Sharon apologized.

“Oh, don't be silly, it wasn't a really big deal. It just felt like it at the time.”

“Too right. They can't tell you who to see and who not to see,” Sharon gave out.

“Sharon, I'm not seeing him.” Holly tried to get the record straight. “I have no intentions of seeing anyone for at least another twenty years. We were just having a business dinner.”

“Oooh, a business dinner!” Sharon and Denise giggled.

“Well, it was that and it was also nice to have a bit of company.” Holly smiled. “And I'm not bitching about you two,” she said quickly before they had a chance to defend themselves. “All I'm saying is that when everyone else is busy it's nice to have someone else to chat to. Especially male company, you know? And he's easy to get along with and he makes me feel very comfortable. That's all.”