Cecelia Ahern - How to Fall in Love

‘Adam!’ she called from the bridge, but he didn’t look up at her. Ignoring her, he stayed in character and continued his jovial Where’s Wally jaunt, goofy and geeky with his funny walk, swinging his cane cheerily, his oversized rucksack on his back.

She roared with laughter. Passersby gave her strange looks, but she didn’t care. If she’d been able to stretch her vision to see beyond the trees he disappeared behind, she would have stopped laughing. She would have seen the couple who’d been in the dark street near the restaurant the previous night, again breaking into laughter when he felt it was safe to abandon the Wally persona. Everywhere she saw that one man, she didn’t see the woman behind him, with him, beside him, urging him on, supporting him. If she had, she might have wondered then who the display was really for.

‘Come on, you crazy man.’ I pulled Adam’s Wally hat off and threw it in his face. ‘Let’s get out of here, I’m hungry.’

‘Hungry?’ he asked in mock surprise. ‘I can’t believe it, we’re healed.’

We sat together, me eating salad, but a little more elaborate than usual with walnuts in it, and he with his hot chicken dish. In no time at all we’d both cleared our plates.

I burped under my breath and Adam laughed. ‘Look how far we’ve come,’ he said.

He gave me a look that made my stomach flip. Then the knowledge of how this was to end made me lose my appetite all over again. Thankfully I was distracted by a phone call from Oscar, who needed to chat to me while he sat on the bus. Afterwards, reminded of my role at quite the perfect time, I got back to business.

‘Today I’m feeling …’ I looked at him for more.

‘Today I’m feeling … stuffed?’

‘It’s not a quiz, you know, you can’t get the answer wrong.’

He thought about it. ‘Today I’m feeling … happy. Restored. No not restored, renewed. Like I’m me, but a better version of me.’ He looked at me intently. ‘Does that make sense?’

I couldn’t help it, I had to look away otherwise my eyes would reveal too much to him. Instead of meeting his gaze I focused on the salt and pepper canisters that I was idly pushing around the table. ‘Good. I take it this is because you believe you have won Maria over again?’

He seemed confused by the question.

‘What I’m asking is, are you ready to move on and get to the rest of business?’

He breathed in. ‘That didn’t go so well at the hospital.’

I had no answer for that. I started picking at my salad again. ‘Why did you have a meeting with your cousin Nigel? He claimed that you talked about a merger.’

‘I wanted to see him. I hadn’t set eyes on him since we were twelve – can you believe that? The bad blood between Bartholomew’s and Basil’s was all between our fathers as far as I was concerned. My grandfather’s will specifically states that if I don’t take over the company, it falls to Nigel. I wanted to know what his intentions were, what he would do for the company.’

‘You wanted a truce.’

‘It didn’t even occur to me that we needed a truce. Like I said, as far as I was concerned the quarrel was between our fathers, not us. I was looking for a way out, Christine. I wanted him to say he’d run the company exactly the way it should be run. Instead, he started talking about a merger, as if we were doing the deal right there and then.’

‘And you told him no?’

‘I listened. I mean, would it be so bad if Bartholomew and Basil united? It was my grandfather’s name so it would be fitting, and we’d leave all the bad blood behind us, start fresh. Merging the companies would help both brands. If there wasn’t a rift, my father would agree in a heartbeat. But Nigel’s just as bitter about the family firm as my uncle Liam. He wants to merge the two companies, then sell up. He said that way we could both get out of the business, spend the rest of our lives lying on a beach somewhere.’

Adam looked as if he wanted to punch a wall, the aggression was building up again. I put a hand on his arm for a moment.

‘But selling up sounds as though it would solve a problem for you.’

‘I don’t want to run the business, but there’s no way I want to be responsible for running it into the ground either. A lot of people are relying on me. I’d like to see Basil’s end up in the right hands, so it stays a going concern. I owe my father and my grandfather that much at least.’ He ran his fingers through his hair, exhausted by the whole affair.

‘You think your sister would sell the company?’

‘Lavinia would hold out ten years to qualify for her inheritance, then she’d sell it to the highest bidder, whoever that might be. But in order to do that, she’d have to come home, whereupon she’d be locked up – by me, if no one else, after what she did.’

‘Adam,’ I spoke gently. ‘If you had jumped, if you do jump, where would that leave the business?’

‘If I jumped, Christine, I wouldn’t have to worry about this sorry mess any more, that’s the bloody point.’ He threw money on the table, stood up and left the restaurant.

I sat before my dad at his desk. He was staring at me blankly.

‘Say that again?’ he said.

‘Which part?’

‘The whole thing.’

‘Dad, I’ve been talking for ten minutes!’ I shrieked.

‘And that’s precisely my point, you. You were talking for too long, too boring, my mind wandered. And can you explain why we have eggs smashed all over our garden since Tuesday?’

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose for calm. ‘It’s part of his therapy.’

‘But you are not a therapist.’

‘I know that.’ I felt defensive.

‘So why isn’t he seeing a therapist?’

‘I’ve asked him to, but he won’t.’

Dad was silent, all joking aside for once. ‘You’ve taken on a lot here, Christine.’

‘I know that. But with all due respect I haven’t come here to be lectured on what I choose to do or not do with someone who needs help. Now, can we get back to the subject, please.’

‘Yes, I’m wondering what that was again.’

‘Dad, stop pulling her leg,’ Brenda warned from the back of the office.

I turned around and saw both of my sisters had sneaked in unnoticed. ‘Is nothing private in this family?’

‘Of course not,’ Adrienne said, moving into the room to sit at the desk with us. Brenda quickly joined.

‘Christine, my darling pet lambykins,’ Dad began, reaching out to hold my hands in his. ‘You do know that, when I leave the company, and the universe, I do not expect you to suddenly be at the helm. Of the company, that is, not the universe.’ He looked searchingly into my eyes. ‘I’m concerned about you. You’ve always been the one who thinks, while your sisters and I do, but these past few weeks you’ve been getting caught up in an awful lot of doing and not so much thinking.’

I sighed. ‘You’ve missed the point. I’m not talking about me. I know I don’t have to take over the company.’

‘She’s talking about the suicide guy,’ said Brenda, busy tucking into a packet of crisps.

‘His name is Adam,’ I snapped. ‘Have a little respect.’

‘Ooo-oooh,’ the three of them said in unison.

‘Have you kissed yet?’ Dad asked.

‘No,’ I frowned. ‘I helped him get back with his girlfriend. And next I’m going to sort out his job. I need help, what do you guys think? Can you help me? I don’t understand the legal stuff.’

They all shrugged.

‘You’re useless!’ I said, getting to my feet. ‘I know people who go to their families for advice and they actually help.’

‘That’s in the Hollywood movies,’ Dad said dismissively. ‘You need to talk to a lawyer about this problem.’