Who is Alice?

by Miranda Manning

  When Cassandra put down the phone there was silence initially then they all spoke excitedly together.

  Alice immediately rang Séamus and was disappointed to hear that, now she was a woman of means she was no longer eligible for Legal Aid, but he recommended a friend so she was sorted.

  “That’s great, Séamus. I hope he can get working on this right away. We want a quick sale.”

  “God, you’re a fast worker when you get going!”

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet!” Alice said and the others were looking at her open-mouthed when she put down the phone.

  Alice and Cassandra spent the next few weeks in a flurry of activity.Alice had to be more careful with her money, given that she needed larger accommodation and her costs in setting up her kitchen would put a large hole in the money from the apartment.Now it was Cassandra who was offering to lend her money if she needed it.

  “I think I can manage,” she said, “but I will need your help to set up the business and if you still have nothing decided about your own future you would be an ideal person to help me out with the day-to-day stuff, until you do decide.”

  They decided on the houses on the Moycullen Road. Alice opted not to go for the commercial unit and enquired if she needed planning permission to run her business from her house.She did but was assured that there would be no hitches since her business wouldn’t involve extra traffic to the estate and the unit would be suitably designed.She would need Sinéad and Will for that and they agreed also to get her a person to do up the drawings to apply for the planning permission.

  The developer nearly bit off their hands when they said that they were interested in the houses and they persuaded him to reduce the price by a few thousand in each case.A cash buyer was unusual in the current situation and he certainly didn’t want to lose these sales.

  Alice continued to work for the hotel but was anxious to start her new business before she left The Coven to see what she could expect.

  “I’ll help with the website,” Cassandra said.“I have a bit of experience of that from my old life.”

  “That would be great.Do you know a designer?”

  “Not one we could use for this,” Cassandra laughed, “but I’d say if we put a notice in the IT Department of the University we could get a student who could do it for a good price.”

  “Great idea,” Alice said.

  “We can use my hosting company.They are quite good and not expensive.I have a contact there.”

  Alice took the girls to see their new home.It was just a shell when they saw it but she let them choose their rooms and she said they could choose their curtains, bed linen and floor coverings if they wished.They liked the place but she could see that they were apprehensive about the move.

  “Will we still see Eliza and Hugo?” Grace asked.

  “Yes, of course.We’ll invite them over and we can still go and visit.”

  “You can choose your furniture as well if you like but you’ll need a bit of advice from Sinéad,” she told them and soon they were chattering about colours and designs.Alice was glad that they were both too old for Barney.She wasn’t sure she could deal with being confronted by a purple dinosaur every morning when she called them for school.

  Cassandra went about her business quietly.She arranged for a student to visit Alice to speak about the website.When he came they all thought he was about sixteen but he was in third year in university so he must have been at least twenty.He and Alice arranged that she would cook some sample dishes and he would get a photographer to take pictures.Alice was also to prepare some sample menus and a tentative price list and he would do the rest. He was as cool as a cucumber and was prepared to work fast.

  “Thank you for giving us priority,” she said as she said goodbye to him at the door. “I really want to get this up and running within the next few weeks.Is it complicated?”

  “A piece of cake, if you’ll pardon the pun,” he answered with a grin and he put his laptop in his rucksack, jumped on his bike and cycled off.

  Alice felt old for the first time in her life.Her barrister and her web designer both looked like they were just out of school but she supposed that this view was influenced by the fact the she had spent thirteen years of her life in a relationship with a man who was old enough to be her father.

  The sale and purchase of the apartments and houses went through without a glitch.

  “There are some advantages to doing business in a recession,” Cassandra said chirpily.

  There was a small problem with the planning permission for the kitchen but the town planner had not fully understood that customers would not be coming to the premises other than to view the menus and make arrangements and that in general Alice would be taking the products off site. There would be no added traffic, no big delivery vans and no pollution since Alice would be using natural gas as her main source of energy.

  Sinéad and Will were great, taking all of the work out of doing the decorating.Alice arranged for the girls to go shopping with Sinéad and, while letting them make their own choices, she advised them about what would look nice.Alice was delighted and the girls came back to The Coven full of information about what their new rooms would look like.

  Precisely seven weeks after Easter, Alice, Grace, Orla and Cassandra were ready to move out of The Coven.No moving vans were required because they had come to The Coven in the clothes they stood up in and very little else and in the intervening five or six months they had not accumulated much.They were all sad to be leaving but had always known that The Coven was a temporary arrangement.Eliza and Hugo were particularly sad to see them go but this was a success story for The Coven.It was an added bonus that they had all become firm friends and they knew that they would continue to be part of each other’s lives for some time to come.Nonetheless there weretears shed the day they moved into Butterfly Grove.

  Eliza and Hugo said that they would have a party in four weeks to celebrate the move.Four weeks would give them all plenty of time to adapt to their new situation.They would invite Nicola to the party as well – after all, even though they had hardly seen her since before Saint Patrick’s Day she was very much part of their lives and without her they might never have met.

  Chapter 46

  The days that followed the move were strange for Alice.She had never lived in an estate before and she felt sort of exposed.It was a nice house but when she went out her front door she was immediately confronted with one of the neighbours.They were friendly in a superficial sort of way in that they saluted her but in a way that didn’t invite further conversation.There were plusses and minuses in that for her.She was used to not telling her business to her neighbours and if they didn’t speak to her that would be easy, but she felt that this was an opportunity for the girls to lead a normal life and she wanted them to befriend the neighbours’ children. But she soon relaxed when Grace found that several girls in her class were living nearby and suddenly had friends to play with and places to go after school. Orla was a bit slower to make friends but it looked as if she would before long.

  Alice was there less than a week when she got her first call in response to her website.She was beside herself with excitement.It was a small charity gig.They wanted her to provide finger food for an afternoon event which would have approximately a hundred guests.The function was four days away.

  “It’s quite short notice,” she had said to the customer.

  “I’ll be honest,” the woman said apologetically.“The usual caterer was double-booked and didn’t realise it until today.”

  “I’ll do it,” Alice said without hesitation.“It’s quite a small job anyway so it won’t be difficult.” She was not going to let on that she had never catered for a hundred people before, if you discounted the desserts for the hotel. The woman chose from the sample menu from the website and asked if Alice could also provide the wine.

  “I’ll speak to my wine merchant,” she replied and asked what wines the customer required.

 
“Whatever you recommend will be fine,” the customer replied and Alice put down the phone as soon as she could before she went into a panic.

  She rang Cassandra and asked for her help.

  “They’ve asked me to provide the wine as well!” she wailed.“And the woman said whatever wines I recommend.”

  “I’ll talk to James,” Cassandra said calmly as if James had been a lifelong friend rather than an ex-paying client. “He will recommend whatever is appropriate and he has contacts here that he can put me in touch with.You just get the ingredients for the menu and get to work.”

  Alice set to work making tartlets with Gruyère and spinach, frittatas, classic prawns, smoked trout, and tiny fruit baskets for dessert.James recommended and supplied the wine for the event and gave it to her at a good price, provided she would agree to have him as her wine merchant in the future.

  On the morning of the partyCassandra came to Alice’s early and they worked together on last-minute preparation and presentation.At two they had the van loaded and were ready to go to the venue.

  There were many familiar faces there, mainly women, and the head count was exactly one hundred.Alice and Cassandra served the food with some help from the organiser and her committee.It was like a big party though Alice understood that tickets were in the region of €50.A local poet read from her work and the conversation was lively. There was a string quartet playing in the background to add to the atmosphere. In general it was a very successful event and Alice made sure to leave her card in conspicuous places on the tables.She was paid by cheque before she left and resolved to lodge it in her newly opened work bank account the very next day.

  About a week after the charity event Alice got two calls in the one day.They were both a result of handing out cards at the charity event, one a lunch in a private house for ten people and the other was a surprise 50th birthday party at which there would be about seventy-five guests.The functions were about a week apart.Alice had to do desserts at the hotel for a function in the same week as the lunch but the week of the 50thbirthday was free and she decided to keep it that way.This was the biggest function she had done for which she would provide the whole meal from start to finish and she decided that it would be best if she had no distractions.In fact, in the interim, she turned down two small projects just so that she could concentrate on the party.

  She knew that she would have to plan meticulously.She was delighted she had Cassandra because the choice of wines for the charity event had been perfect and that was where she really didn’t have any expertise.She invited both customers to Butterfly Grove to discuss the menu.The woman who wanted the lunch asked her if she could come to her home and bring some sample menus with her and the other customer agreed to come to Alice’s premises.

  The lunch was a simple affair and Alice assured the customer that they would provide the perfect wines and the customer was happy to let her do so. The other woman was much more particular.She walked starchily into Alice’s kitchen and looked around.

  “Well, you’re very well set up,” she said as if she was surprised.

  “We aim to please. But, tell me, why did you choose us?”Alice asked.She was curious about why a woman for whom money appeared to be no object and who obviously had local connections would choose a company whose name wasn’t known to her.

  “Well, you did a very good job at the charity event last week and in any case my brother-in-law is very well known and I don’t want it getting around that his 50th birthday is about to happen.There is a danger it might be gate-crashed by every freeloader and wannabe that ever walked the streets of Galway.”

  “So, by using an unknown and not telling me who the person is, you feel you can avoid that?”Alice was amused at the cloak and dagger approach.

  “Exactly!You’re clever as well as being an excellent cook.”

  Alice accepted the compliment gracefully and she was glad that her premises was so well kitted out.

  “So on the day, how will we arrange it?”Alice asked.“Will you blindfold me and take me there and keep me in a darkened room?”

  “Not quite that clandestine.I’ll tell you where the party is on the morning.It’s a few miles outside Spiddal on the Connemara side. There’s a fairly large kitchen in the house, a large dining room and a large sitting room so it should be easy enough to set up.”

  Alice was beginning to get a bit nervous so without giving it much thought she said, “I usually ask for fifty per cent up front and fifty per cent on the night of the event.”If this was some sort of trick or a possible scam she didn’t want to be out of pocket.

  “Of course,” the woman said without hesitation, beginning to write a cheque.“Do you want me to include fifty per cent of the wine as well?”

  “No,” Alice said.“That will be fine. I won’t be able to price the wine until I speak to my wine merchant.I’ll ring you about that, to run his proposed selection by you, and let you know the cost within a week.”

  She was relieved that she had asked for the advance and glad that the woman didn’t seem to think it odd.

  The lunch party was a week away and the birthday party was the following week.It was the day before Eliza and Hugo had invited them for the farewell dinner.It would be nice to be back in the cocoon-like atmosphere of The Coven after such a big event.Alice started to plan. Cassandra came over and they discussed how they would organise things.

  The lunch was first and it was fairly simple.The customer had chosen a light consommé for a starter, with melon for the two vegetarians she was expecting.The main course would be chicken in sherry sauce with mushrooms and croutons served in a bed of rice with a side salad.For the vegetarians she chose a light potato-and-onion frittata and the client was insistent on the Fruity Fish Cake, which was on the website, for dessert.This was large cake in the shape of a fish, covered with Greek yoghurt and then decorated with a variety of fruits.Alice was amused as she had made this many times for children’s parties and it made a very colourful and attractive centrepiece but she hadn’t expected to be serving it to adults.However, it would serve at least twelve and she could add some homemade ice cream if required.

  They decided that Alice would do all the cooking and under her instructions Cassandra would do the presentation and the serving if necessary.

  Idly they wondered who they would be serving at the party the following week.

  “I hear Sting spends a lot of time in Connemara,” Cassandra said. “But I’d say he’s more than fifty.”

  “Yes.And so does Angelica Huston but I don’t think she has a man in her life.But, then again, what would I know?”

  They pondered a bit, considering Gabriel Byrne whose sister they knew lived in Galway though it was not the woman they were dealing with, whose name was Maureen Roche, and anyway he was over fifty as well.

  “Brendan Gleeson?” Cassandra wondered.

  “No way!He’s a Dub,” Alice laughed.“Though I suppose he could have a holiday home in Spiddal. But he’s too old as well. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  The lunch party was a great success and not a great deal of hard work.In fact they felt quite relaxed at the end of it all.They handed out their cards and Alice went back home to prepare some of the desserts for a function she had at the hotel the following night.

  “On Monday we will start thinking about the party,” she said to Cassandra and she spent the weekend concentrating on the girls, taking them to the pool and shopping and cooking their favourite food.

  At nine o’clock on the Monday morning Maureen Roche rang Alice.

  “My sister decided to go for a buffet in the end,” she said.

  She had been adamant up until now that it would be a sit-down meal and they had even agreed the menu.

  “I think that’s wise,” Alice said calmly.“No matter how big the house, seating seventy-five people around a table for a formal dinner, even in relays, would be difficult.This way we can have occasional tables dotted around the sitting and dining rooms and guests can eat
as they please.I will provide a few hot items and I’ll do a really nice potato soup which always goes down well. Though we’ll have to provide some seating at tables for those who go for that. Would you like to come over again and we’ll make a final decision?”

  “Very well. I’ll be there at ten.”

  “Don’t rush yourself,” Alice whispered to no one in particular after she had put down the phone.

  They spent two hours finalising the menu and Maureen ordered a crate of champagne along with a crate each of Joel Delaunay Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2009 and Château de Frances 2007.

  “Do you want some dessert wines – Tokaji perhaps?What about aperitifs or spirits?”

  “No thanks.There is plenty of that at the house and we have ordered a barrel of Guinness.What party would be complete without Guinness!”

  “Do you need us to bring silverware or glasses?”Alice asked.

  “Not at all!My sister is used to entertaining,” Maureen replied starchily as if it was stupid question.

  Alice was glad when she was gone.She now had a handle on what the client wanted and felt she could do it. Maureen had said she would ring on Friday morning and give her instructions on how to get to the venue.

  “We would like you to be there at around 5 p.m.,” she said.“People will start coming at around seven and the Birthday Boy is expected to arrive at eight.”

  Alice thought it prudent not to remind her that it was a long time since this guy was boy.Some people were so sensitive about age.

  She rang Eliza and asked if she and Hugo could pick up the girls on Friday and take them to The Coven.

  “They could stay overnight, if you like,” Eliza said.“We’d so enjoy having them.”

  “Thank you so much,” Alice replied.“It seems ages since we spoke. Cassandra and I are really looking forward to the party on Saturday.It will be great meeting up with Nicola again as well.”