“Did you notice everyone in here has jet-black hair?” Annabel whispered when the waitress was out of earshot.
“This is the capital of the French Basque region. The people are totally different here to the rest of France. Did you notice the white and red everywhere?”
“Now that you come to mention it, yes,” Annabel was amazed that it had taken her so long to make the link. Red and white bunting hung from the coat stand at the back of the restaurant and the Basque flag was displayed above the wooden bar.
“Confit of duck looks good,” Kate said, licking her lips.
“I might go for a salad,” Annabel said, her eyes scanning the menu.
“That’s why you are a size ten and I’m a fourteen.”
“What does it matter?” Annabel smiled, secretly delighted at the remark.
“Do you have to work hard to keep your shape? I’ve given up!”
“I go to the gym at least three times a week when the kids are at school and then I play tennis another morning, so I suppose I am fairly fit. I had to give up the glass of wine with my dinner – that was really piling the calories on.”
“I’d rather die than give up my wine in the evening,” Kate grinned.
“But you’re an artist – it probably helps you paint,” Annabel nodded.
“I do most of my work early in the mornings, the light is better. So down to more interesting matters – have you any gossip from the old homeland?”
Annabel had to stop and think for a while. “Well, since our twenty-year school reunion, there’ve been about three divorces and even a complete swap-over.”
“Tell me more.,” Kate was getting interested and hardly acknowledged the waitress as she placed a carafe of rose and two glasses down on the table.
“You like to order?” the little waitress interrupted with her hands resting firmly on her hips.
“Eh, yeah. The confit of duck and house salad, s’il vous plaît,” Annabel replied.
“Go, on,” Kate urged before the waitress got a chance to leave the table.
“Do you remember Julie Synnott, who was married to Conor Lynch?” Annabel leaned over the table.
Kate nodded.
“They were friendly with his neighbour Wayne, who married Jane.”
“I remember Wayne and Jane getting together,” Kate said with a grin.
“Well, they’re after swapping over and are due to marry each other’s partners as soon as the divorces come through.”
“What about the kids?” Kate asked.
“They are all very happy with their new dads and the couples still go out as a happy foursome. They’re all going on holiday together this summer. That turned some heads in Howth when the news broke!”
“I’d say it did,” Kate said, taking a sip from her glass. “Things have definitely changed from the Ireland I knew.”
“It’s unrecognisable!”
“I know now why I always get Mum and Dad to come over to France. Mind you, it’s just been Mum lately – Dad’s not keen on flying as you know.”
Annabel felt a blush rise in her cheeks.
“Do you ever wish you’d lived abroad?” Kate asked. “Though you’re hardly going to now at this stage.”
“I’m a home bird, me. After Dad died I always felt I had to look out for Mum. I mean, Vicky and Lucy are hardly going to look after her from Washington and New Zealand.”
“That’s what you get for being the reliable member of the family,” Kate berated her jovially.
“I don’t mind. It has its benefits – Mum is only around the corner, and she’s great for baby-sitting.”
“How does Colin feel about his mother-in-law being in such close proximity?”
“It suits him because he doesn’t get home before eight most nights and then he plays golf all day Saturday. We really only get to talk on a Saturday night and most weekends we are entertaining or going to other people’s for dinner. Sunday lunch is always in the golf club and then he reads the Sunday papers and I bring the kids for a swim.” Annabel sounded listless. She ran her finger along the rim of her wineglass before taking a sip. “That’s the routine.”
“I know you’ve carved a comfortable life for yourself, Annabel, but are you not a bit bored?” Kate leaned over the table and stared intensely at her friend. “You had such potential in school.”
“We don’t all want to be living in different places with contractual husbands,” Annabel quipped. Kate’s remark had really hurt and, although she felt she was a bit harsh in her response, she did not need judgement from her Bohemian friend.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Annabel. Come on, you know me well enough by now!”
“Yeah, sorry,” Annabel said, shaking her head. “Maybe you touched on a nerve.”
The dark waitress brought over a basket of bread in the crook of her arm with the girl’s lunches resting in each hand. The carafe of wine was refilled once more and by the time they had sated their appetites the world was a much mellower place.
“I think my tattoo is bigger than yours, Kate.” Annabel pushed her chair back and had a quick peek at her newly inked ankle.
“Optical illusion,” Kate smiled as she took her leg out from under the table and put it next to Annabel’s. “You have skinnier ankles.”
The two laughed – both high on the fact that they were spending this precious day together.
“I can’t believe I’m here at three o’clock on a Friday afternoon. Taylor has to be collected from piano at this time,” Annabel grinned.
“Sounds like you deserve a break,” Kate smiled. She took a sip from her wine and turned her head sideways to look out the window as a familiar figure came into view. She started waving furiously, to Annabel’s amusement.
Suddenly Nico’s towering figure became clear from the other side of the glass. Kate beckoned at him to join them. Nico appeared to be limping slightly as he made his way over to the women’s table. He took a chair from an empty table and dragged it over to theirs.
“Fancy meeting you again,” Kate grinned. “We’ve only just got our lunch – would you like to have some?”
Nico smiled over at Annabel. He looked even dishier in daylight.
“No, thanks, but I’ll have a drink with you, if I’m not interrupting.”
“Not at all,” Kate beamed. “Sure he isn’t, Annabel?”
“It’s nice to see you again,” Annabel smiled coyly.
“So what brings you to Bayonne?” Kate was keen to find out if Brett was with him.
“I went to see a doctor about my knee. I stretched a ligament this morning which has put an end to my surfing for this week,” he sighed.
“That’s a shame,” Annabel said, as she took a sip from her glass.
“Do you drink rosé?” Kate asked, as she filled an empty glass on the table.
“Yes, thank you,” Nico said, taking the glass from her and raising it in the air in appreciation.
“Is Brett out riding the waves?” Kate asked.
“He has been surfing since nine o’clock this morning,” Nico informed her. “He is one of the fittest guys I know,”
“I’ll vouch for that,” Kate said under her breath. “So, Nico, have you got any plans for later?”
“Not yet.”
“Do you want to meet up like last night, and maybe we could get to the casino this time?” Kate giggled.
“Sure!” Nico smiled over at Annabel who was remaining very quiet. “We have to meet some guy for dinner but we will meet after – about nine thirty?”
“That sounds good,” Kate smiled. “Why don’t we go to Desperados again?”
“That’s fine,” Nico said, looking over at Annabel. “See you later then.”
Annabel nodded as he disappeared out the door.
“That was a bit of luck, wasn’t it?” Kate grinned. “I think he’s got the hots for you, Annabel!”
Annabel said nothing as she tucked into the remainder of her lunch. Kate ordered coffees and when they
were finished they paid the bill.
“Do you want to go back to Biarritz, or stay here?” Annabel asked.
“I’m happy to go back, if you’ve got everything you want?” Kate said.
The two women, complete with tattoos and a pot of fois gras to show for their excursion, sat silently on the bus. There was no need to talk. They were as comfortable in each other’s company as they could possibly be.
This holiday was bliss. Annabel was fretting a little about the situation with Nico but decided not to allow that to spoil this precious time in Kate’s company. She would cross the Nico Bridge when she came to it that evening. Now she was happily looking forward to putting her tired feet up back at the hotel – that tattoo did ache in fact! – a luxurious leisurely bath, then perhaps a stroll on the promenade and a drink in a stylish bar, before enjoying another relaxed and intimate evening meal with her dearest friend.
Luckily for her present peace of mind, she had no inkling of the catastrophe that was to befall their friendship in the wake of that evening meal, or that the handsome young surfer and her episode of guilty passion were the least of her worries.
Chapter 4
Saturday 11th March, 11.15a.m.
Kate couldn’t concentrate on her novel. It had been an enthralling read on the journey to Biarritz but it seemed dreary on the return leg. Everything seemed different. How she perceived her relationship with her father and how she felt about her parents’ relationship. She was hurt by what her father had done. But she was even more hurt by her best friend. There wasn’t an important moment in her life that she hadn’t considered Annabel in its making. The fact that it was over twenty years ago that she had betrayed her and never said a word rubbed salt into the wound. She must have been laughing at her all this time.
Underneath the rhythmic hum of the train’s wheels Kate faintly heard her mobile ring out. She took it from her pocket and was thankful for caller identification. She switched it off immediately on recognising Annabel’s number. How could she talk to her ever again?
It was hard to remember back to the ferry trip across St George’s Channel – twenty years was a long time. If only she hadn’t gone off with that French youth! And to think her father must have known then of her own promiscuous activities and condoned it . . .
Annabel was in the tiny shower when Kate turned the handle on their cabin-door the next morning.
“I’m so sorry for disappearing all night,” she said sheepishly through the tiny bathroom door.
“That’s okay,” Annabel called out. “I’d a great night’s sleep.”
“Annabel, I think I’m in love, that guy is the most delicious creature that God created.”
Annabel stepped out of the tiny bathroom dripping water and drying her hair with an off-white towel.
“What about poor Shane?”
“Annabel, what Shane doesn’t know won’t hurt him – anyway I keep telling you that ours is a non-jealous type of relationship.”
“You mean, he’s so crazy about you, he’ll forgive any little misdemeanours you’re likely to get up to?”
“Annabel, you make me sound like a slapper” Kate berated.
The appalling nerve of her! When all this time Annabel was the slapper. She wanted to go to Annabel roar and shout and scream at her but decided that it was best for the moment to let it all settle down – until she figured out what to do.
* * *
Back in Biarritz, Annabel gave her key slowly over to the receptionist and paid her half of the bill. Her head throbbed and her stomach ached and she realised that it was more than a hangover that had her feeling this way.
“I hope you had a nice stay?” the receptionist beamed.
“Lovely, thanks,” Annabel gave a wry smile in return. “Could you call me a taxi for the airport, please?”
“Of course.”
Annabel waited in the small foyer where only two nights ago she had stood with her best friend and the two surfers. If only she could turn the clock back. She vaguely remembered Nico putting her to bed the night before but wasn’t bothered about him. She was no longer concerned about any guilt she might carry home after her indiscretion. All she cared about was Kate and explaining her story properly – without the influence of alcohol. If Kate realised how much Annabel adored her father maybe she would feel differently. There was nothing sordid about their love affair and they both did what was best for their loved ones in the end. Surely Kate could see it from their point of view?
A taxi driver entered the foyer and the receptionist pointed over in Annabel’s direction.
“Bonjour,” he said with a nod of his head and took her case with courtesy.
Annabel sat silently in the back of the Mercedes Benz all the way to the airport. She was used to travelling in Mercs – Colin always had one as his company car. She was going back to the life she knew so well. But everything seemed different now. She’d had a brief sample of what she was missing all these years, the other night with Nico. That passion was never there in her relationship with Colin – and now the thought of making love to her husband again sickened her right through to the pit of her stomach. She would love to have the guts to do something about it but it would mean giving up so much – security, position, comfort. At the moment though, none of those seemed very important. All that really mattered was Kate, and making amends to her.
The car pulled up to the Departures Hall and Annabel paid the driver his dues. The airport was so small and convenient that in only minutes she was passing through the tiny duty-free, after checking her bags in.
“Madames et Monsieurs, votre vol au Dublin, est près á l’embarquement,” a voice called over the tanoy.
Annabel joined the small queue. Most of those around her were business people with briefcases in hand. Not many holidaymakers this time of year.
Inside the plane, the cabin crew were allocating passengers to their seats. Annabel stood back – next to the cockpit door. She was in no hurry to be seated, or to return home to Dublin for that matter. The captain squeezed out through the cockpit door before making his final arrangements with the red-cap before take-off.
“Annabel!”
She turned her head and was confronted by Shane Gleeson, looking spruce in his black uniform with four gold bars on his cuffs.
“I don’t believe it,” she said as she threw her arms around his neck and they embraced warmly.
“Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes, Annabel – you look great!”
“The way I feel this morning I don’t think that’s true! But you don’t look too bad yourself, Mr Gleeson,” she grinned. “Who’d have thought all those years ago on Dollymount Beach that we’d meet this way . . . and hey, I was just with Kate! She lives in France now.”
His eyes lit up on the mention of Kate’s name. “I met her, a couple of years back. I suppose she’s busy with her husband and the boys?” He gave a sombre nod of his head.
“Actually, she recently split up from Stefan,” Annabel said.
“I don’t believe you!” He looked pleased at this news. “God, there’s so much I’d love to talk to you about,” he said with a shake of his head. “If this was pre-nine-eleven I could have you up in the cockpit and we’d have a great old chat but we have to be so careful now with security regulations.”
“That’s fine,” Annabel smiled.
“I have to go – talk later?”
“Sure,” Annabel smiled.
Shane took his paperwork from the red-cap and went back into his tiny cell-like cockpit.
Annabel took her window seat and started to read her copy of Hello magazine. She couldn’t concentrate on anything much as she could hear Shane’s voice over the intercom.
Shane and Kate. Maybe she could get the two of them in touch again. He seemed very interested when she mentioned that Kate’s relationship with Stefan was over. Meeting Shane was a godsend. She needed a way to break back into her friend’s life.
The Boeing 737 settled into a cruise
at thirty-eight thousand feet and Annabel ordered herself a brandy and ginger ale. So what if it was only eleven-thirty in the morning? She always associated flying with brandy, especially when she was on her own and had a chance to drink it in peace. She crossed her legs and the tattoo on her ankle caught her eye. It was the only physical link between herself and Kate and she was so glad now that she had made her go through with it. They were meant to be friends forever, and the engraving on her ankle was testament to it. She reached down and brushed her fingers over the marks. The Third Eye was very significant to them both – especially at the very beginning of their relationship.
“Is there anybody sitting there?” Annabel asked, standing with her mousy blonde curls and pressed school uniform, before a table for two occupied by a single girl..
The girl looked up from under her mop of black hair to see who the voice belonged to. She clearly wanted a table to herself so she could spread her books and bags around, but the class was filling up and it looked like she was going to have to share her table.
Without answering, she moved her bag off the chair and stuck her head back into her book.
Annabel didn’t know at the time but Kate was still angry with her parents for leaving their lovely home on the other side of the city. Thirteen was a horrible age to start all over again and make new friends.
“Hi, I’m Annabel, I’m new to Howth – all the other girls seem to know each other, don’t they?”
She gestured around the room at the girls sitting on the edge of desks and huddled around each other relaying the news from the summer holidays.
The girl looked up at Annabel once more and grunted.
“I’m Kate,” she replied.
“I love that drawing on your bag – is it meant to be the sun?” Annabel asked.
She was delighted to have someone to talk to, no matter how reluctantly.
Kate clicked the roof of her mouth with her tongue. “It’s The Third Eye,” she droned.
Annabel didn’t want to ask what The Third Eye was, but she made it her business to find out when she got home, that evening.
Two Days in Biarritz Page 6