Cecelia Ahern: Girl in the Mirror

But.

She should have asked.

JULY 2010

‘Stop calling me.’ Lila laughed down her mobile phone. ‘It’s bad luck or something to talk to each other.’

‘It’s bad luck to see each other and that’s a load of crap too,’ Jeremy replied. ‘I just got worried you weren’t going to show up. You weren’t answering your phone.’

‘I wasn’t answering the phone because I knew it was you and it’s bad luck. And of course I’m going to show up, would you stop worrying?’

‘It’s not bad luck and I wasn’t worrying till you didn’t answer the phone.’

They both laughed.

‘Hold on, I’m on the road to Grellie’s, I need to concentrate, I’m putting you on speakerphone.’

‘Anyone in the car with you?’

‘Just me and the dress.’

‘Hello, dress, can’t wait for you to be on the hotel bedroom floor tonight.’

Lila laughed. ‘For the amount it cost me I’m never taking it off. I better go, I’m down the Bishop’s Gap.’

‘That’s your business,’ Jeremy joked as everybody always did about the steep terrain en route to Ellie’s property. ‘But one more thing before you go. Take a deep breath first.’

Lila groaned in advance.

‘The hotel manager called. He thinks the ballroom would look more exquisite - his word not mine - if the mirrors were left as they are.’

‘No. I didn’t spend all that money on black fabric to not cover them up. And Grellie’s bedroom - is he planning on uncovering the mirrors in there, too?’

‘No, he’s okay with the bedroom, it’s just the ballroom. He’d like the guests to see the room properly.’

‘It’s my bloody wedding not his.’

Silence. Then.

‘Honey … she won’t even know.’

‘Jeremy.’

‘Sorry.’

‘I can’t believe you even said that.’

‘I know, I take it back. I’m sorry.’

‘Well in that case I’m putting goat’s cheese back on the menu so your mother can be cured of her imaginary allergy to it,’ Lila fumed.

‘Lila. Calm down. I said I’m sorry. I know. I completely understand. I adore Ellie as much as you do. I was just trying to look at a bad situation positively.’

‘There is no bad situation. Call him back and tell him he’s to put the curtains back up or I’m doing it myself.’

‘Okay, I’ll do it. Now calm down and concentrate on that road.’

Lila calmed herself, waited for her blood to stop boiling.

‘Well, two hours from now, you’ll be my wife,’ he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

‘Then I can reveal my true colours and stop acting like this perfect saint now that I’ve snared my man,’ she said, then laughed evilly.

He laughed. ‘This is you as a saint?’

She smiled. Looked at herself in her mirror. She looked happy. She was happy. Had never been so happy.

‘I love you, monkey,’ he said.

‘I love you, hippo,’ she said, smiling at herself in the mirror.

She hung up just as Grellie’s house came into view and the excitement rushed through her. She couldn’t think of anybody more appropriate to spend the special morning with and also to accompany her up the aisle.

The front door was open before the engine had stopped and though she couldn’t yet see Grellie through the wild garden, she could sense her excitement too. It drifted out from the black-and-white weather-beaten arch above the door, through the bluebells and nettles, hydrangea and dandelions. It skipped over the cracked, randomly dotted flagstones in the grass and greeted her at the creaking gate, which hung from one hinge.

She carried the dress over her arms as though carrying an exhausted sleeping child home. As soon as she neared Grellie she held the dress out.

Grellie’s hands automatically reached out and felt for the fabric. Her old fingers moved gracefully like a ballet dancer on point, over the silk.

‘It’s ivory,’ Lila whispered, not wanting sound to take away from Grellie’s senses.

Grellie was quiet as her fingers inspected the dress. Lila closed her eyes, listened to the waves crashing below, and the wind’s effect on the overgrowth and if she wasn’t about to marry the man she loved, she almost would have wished for that moment to be frozen in time.

Grellie’s fingers moved across the fabric like a concert pianist and as soon as she had finished her piece her fingers stopped moving, she clasped them together and held them to her smiling face.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she said.

Lila hung the dress up in Grellie’s bedroom and returned downstairs to the kitchen to join her. True to form, Grellie had filled the conservatory with home-baked goods.

‘Grellie.’ Lila laughed. ‘I told you not to, I won’t be able to eat this, I won’t fit into my dress.’

‘Oh I know,’ Ellie apologised, ‘I just didn’t know what to do with myself so I got up at three and started baking.’

‘ Three ?’

‘I couldn’t sleep.’ She laughed. ‘I’m so excited. Oh, Lila.’ She grabbed her hand and held it in both of hers. They were warm from their baking duties. ‘Your mum and dad would be so proud.’

‘Oh don’t,’ Lila said, taking her hand back and wiping the corner of her eye. ‘You’ll ruin my makeup.’

‘You have it on already?’

‘Louise did my hair and make-up this morning. My hands were shaking so much I didn’t trust myself,’ Lila lied.

Ellie was quiet for a moment as she realised why. Of course. She would need to see her reflection to do her hair and make up.

‘How do you feel about going out today?’

Ellie hadn’t gone beyond the boundaries of the house’s grounds for over fifity years. Since the incident.

‘You know what? I feel excited.’ Ellie grinned.

‘I wish mum and dad could be here.’

‘They will be. They’ll be front row, I’m sure. Your dad was never one to miss out on a party. Front row of every feis and recital to see his girl.’

‘Third best in Europe,’ Lila said, and they laughed.

She was referring to the time Lila had come third in her Irish-dancing competition and her father had raved to everybody how his girl was third best in Europe. The fact of the matter was that Lila was last. Only three girls had entered the competition.

‘Oh what will he be saying about me today?’ Lila half laughed, half cried.

‘Best bride in the church,’ Ellie deepened her voice and imitated him. ‘Definitely, definitely the best bride in the church.’

They both laughed.

‘Oh, Grellie, what would I do without you? You’re my saviour.’

‘Oh and I without you my love.’

They embraced.

‘Now, enough of this nonsense,’ Ellie said pulling herself together. ‘Let’s get you into this dress before Jeremy thinks you’ve changed your mind.’

‘Ooh,’ Lila squealed with excitement, ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

She ran up the dark wooden stairs breathless with excitement as she had so many years as a child, her feet landing on the worn patches in exactly the right places. She entered Grellie’s bedroom and smiled at the sight of her dress hanging on the door of the wardrobe. Despite the open curtains, the room was dark. The mirror over the dresser had a black sheet over it, the full-length mirror on the wall was covered with plywood. Lila had a pang of regret that she couldn’t see herself fully dressed with her hair and make-up. The first people to see her would be those in the church, she realised. She could have lipstick on her teeth for all she knew.

Well she couldn’t have that. Not on her wedding day.