Steve unbolted the door and opened it wide as he let her out. She stopped in front of him on the street under the lamps.
“Steve . . .” she started.
“Cara.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “What is it?”
“Well, little Aoife asked me to suss out if you might fancy her a wee bit?” She laughed. She was drunk, she realised, as the cold air hit her. Her head was spinning a bit.
He shook her gently. “Me?”
She now put out her hands and rested them on his shoulders and shook him back. “Who, me? Yes, you. Couldn’t be. Then who?” she sang to him now and laughed harder.
“Honestly, Cara, how long have you known me? You really think Aoife is my type of girl? Don’t get me wrong, she’s so sweet and an absolute gem to work with but no, not like that.”
They both stood looking at one another now.
“Ahh look, you know well I’ve only got eyes for you.” Steve swallowed hard and tightened his grip on her now and she lay her head on his left arm.
“Ah, Steve, you never said . . . I didn’t know, well, not really . . . but it’s too late now . . . I’m with someone else, so let’s not go there.” She dropped her arms and looked into his kind eyes.
“I’m sorry I had a go at you over Seán’s death this morning. It’s just I worry about you. You are too trusting. Regardless of my feelings towards you, I don’t like that Alex guy, Cara – he gives me the willies.”
She smiled at him and rubbed his cheek, then blew him as kiss as she turned and wobbled and then steadied herself.
“Here, let me hail you a cab. We can talk about this again. When we are both a bit more sober? What?”
“No. We can’t talk about it again, Steve.” She raised her hand now and kept it in the air. “I think I need a bit of a stroll, okay?”
“Be careful, Cara. I don’t like you wandering the streets at this hour.”
She turned and walked back towards him now and hugged him tightly. “I think you are a great guy, Steve, I really do.” She kissed his cheek and turned away again.
Steve was searching the empty Quays for a taxi light.
“I think I’ll be okay!” she yelled back now, arms still waving in the air, and happily headed down the Quays, hiccups now arriving to walk with her. “I do think you are a great guy, Steve, but your timing sucks!” she said out loud to herself and she laughed and then snorted as she wobbled along her way.
Chapter 16
“Okay, so the meeting today is as always to keep the lines of communication open.” Jonathan sat under the twinkling red fairy Christmas lights in the elegantly decorated conference room. He had no intention of mentioning the possible auction of the hotel until he was one-hundred-per-cent sure. These things could change up to the very last minute. He had a meeting in London with the conglomerate in a couple of days. He had to ignore the rumours. He needed to concentrate on the here and now. He couldn’t take in what could happen; it was too hard for him right now.
“December is upon us at last and the festivities are planned so I’m pretty confident we are all on the same page.”
“If I may, sir,” Big Bob spoke up. “I was wondering why the rota for Christmas Day isn’t posted in the back office yet?” He was chewing on a piece of paper like he always did.
“Well, okay, there is that!” Jonathan laughed now. “I need volunteers to work that day. I hate asking you at all, I really do, but as you all know it’s the nature of the job.”
To Jonathan’s utmost surprise Big Bob’s hand went up, immediately followed by old Mrs Reilly’s, then Tiff’s and then Mike’s.
“I’m free too,” Cara said.
“And me!” Sandra piped up now, waving her chocolate-shortbread biscuit in the air.
“Really?” He laughed again. “Well, that’s just fantastic, lads and lassies, and I will as always ask Delphine to prepare all our Christmas dinners and we can sit down later on in the evening once the band starts and celebrate, okay? Cara posted a notice in Louise’s and O’Dwyer’s so we have a load of locals to work bars, kitchen, room service and so on, but I do need my core team as we are full to capacity and with a waiting list. Very well – that’s settled.
“Now on to other business. As you all know the Brophy-Burrows wedding is today. I know Cara has it all in hand but, just in case, we all need to watch her back. They will all be here at one o’clock for the pink champagne reception. The rain is sleeting now unfortunately but the forecast is to clear so I have left the red carpet in the reception area, rolled up. We will leave that until the last second.” He poured some cream into his coffee cup now and Mrs Reilly leaned across and stirred it for him.
Cara’s palms were sweating and she was suddenly nervous. Her reputation depended on the success of this wedding. She didn’t think she had left any stone unturned. She had been up half of the night going over and over her checklists. Jonathan had dropped her back home with the paints and had left them at the side of the house for her. She hadn’t asked him in. He had been exhausted too. He had yawned a goodbye to her as she thanked him and told him she’d see him tomorrow.
Jenny was upstairs in the bridal suite getting ready and Cara was going up to her after this meeting.
“We need a load more champagne glasses, Jonathan,” Mike said, looking at his list in front of him.
“I’m on that, Mike. I’m waiting for a delivery from Hines. We have to buy more though – I was shocked we had such a small supply. Anyway, Charlie’s dropping them up later.” Jonathan sipped his coffee. “Cold,” he mouthed to Cara and she laughed before pulling out her notepad and jotting down some notes.
“Okay, that’s it then, I think?” Jonathan said and they all nodded in agreement and pushed back their chairs. “Good luck today, everyone. Let’s make it the best day of Jenny and Max’s lives.”
Sandra looked miles away, Cara noted, when the two women fell into step as they headed for the door of the conference room.
“After you!” Sandra smiled at Cara.
“Thanks.” Cara slipped out first, although the doors were wide enough for three people to get through, and Sandra followed.
The rich carpet was soft and silent beneath their feet.
“You okay, Sandra?” Cara looked up at the other woman as they walked.
“Don’t ask, Cara!” Sandra replied without looking at her.
Cara tightened the bobbin on her low ponytail and decided to say no more. She knew what it was like when people kept asking her if she was okay. Sometimes people just wanted to be left alone.
“Good luck with this event – I hope you rock it,” Sandra said now as she slipped in behind the reception desk.
Guests were streaming down for breakfast, and by the look of some of the heads they must have had a really late night last night. Cara couldn’t understand that. The night before a wedding? I mean, surely it ruined the big day if you had a massive hangover?
She quietly made her way into the breakfast room and spotted Jenny’s mam and dad, John and Mary.
“Good morning, Father and Mother of the Bride!” She crouched down beside their seats and gave them a huge confident smile. “Everything okay with your stay so far?”
“Ah, it’s super, Miss Byrne.” John wiped his mouth with the white linen napkin. “Really super, love. She couldn’t have asked for a better hotel. I asked for an iron at eight o’clock this morning, thinking I’d get it after breakfast sometime – it arrived at six minutes past eight, didn’t it, love?” John turned to his wife who was smiling.
“It did, love. It was truly a miracle.” Mary kept a poker-straight face and Cara stifled a laugh. “The staff have all been amazing, Cara.” Mary poured more tea into John’s teacup.
“Lovely!” he acknowledged his wife’s action gratefully. “And another thing – the free newspapers, nice touch.”
“Well, I’m popping up to see Jenny now so enjoy your breakfasts and, please, John, call me Cara.”
Cara stood and said good morning t
o some of the other guests as she made her way to the lift. The gold doors opened and she was about to press the button for the second floor when Jonathan stepped in.
“Third, Cara, please.” he leaned against the gold bar in front of the mirror as the doors closed.
His presence was all-consuming this morning, Cara felt. He was so calm and so masculine. He smelled divine. She sniffed the air – inconspicuously, she hoped.
“You’re doing great, Cara,” he said.
“Thanks, Jonathan – you’re so kind.”
“Things are a bit crazy my end at the moment, Cara, but –” His phone rang out in his pocket and he dug it out and answered it.
“Ah, how’s tricks, Dermot?” he said as the lift door opened on the second floor and Cara got out.
Jonathan was smiling at her as the lift doors slowly closed.
She rapped on Jenny’s door three times.
It was opened by Angela, her sister and only bridesmaid. She looked stunning in a beaded one-shoulder emerald-green dress with a simple thin green satin hair-band in her shoulder-length curly brown hair. “Come in, come in, Cara!” she called, full of excitement.
Must be wonderful to have a sister, Cara thought. She entered the room and stopped in her tracks.
“Da-da!” Jenny stood up and took Cara’s breath away.
She looked so beautiful. Her blonde hair was scraped off her beautiful young face in a tight bun with white glittering diamante beads spread throughout her hair, and her make-up was subtle and fresh as her face glowed with happiness. She wore a halter-neck crystal-studded wedding gown that made her waist look tiny and then fell in gathers and gathers of white lace to the floor. She lifted the gown to show Cara her magnificent sky-high white strappy sandals. She had small diamond earrings and a small diamond bracelet on her left hand and that was it. She was perfection.
“Oh my God, Jenny, you are absolutely stunning!” Cara said as her eyes filled up with tears.
“Go on out of that with the tears, you mad thing!” Jenny gathered her skirts up and made her way over to Cara. “Thanks so much for talking Max into making the speech. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. It was so important. Here, get a picture of us both, Angela, will you?” Jenny draped her arm over Cara’s shoulder. Cara took a deep breath. This moment was much harder than she’d anticipated. There was a knock at the door and Mary entered the room.
“Oh, love!” Mary was sobbing into her hankie before the door closed behind her.
Angela poured more champers.
“Go easy on that, Angela Brophy!” Mary told her as Angela handed a glass to her. “You remember what happened to you at Uncle John’s fiftieth!” She shook her finger at her younger daughter. “Made a holy show of us, she did!” she told Cara.
“Ah, give it a rest, Mam, will you? I didn’t know there was already vodka in the orange mixer, did I? Otherwise I would never had been ordering double vodkas with it. Easy mistake to make.” Angela made a grimace at Cara.
Mary sipped a little now with shaking hands. “I didn’t know if I would ever see this day!” She was choking back tears now.
“It’s okay, Mam!” Angela put her arm around her mother. “I told you it would all work out, didn’t I?”
Jenny handed her mother a fresh tissue and they all looked at each other.
“I had breast cancer last year, Cara,” Mary explained as Jenny rubbed her arm. “All I could think about when I was diagnosed was would I make this day for either of my girls? Would I ever be well again? Could I beat this? And here I am now feeling better than I have done in years! Yeah, a boob lighter, but I needed to lose a few pounds anyway, didn’t I, girls?”
They all laughed and the tension oozed away.
“That’s terrific, Mary, I am so pleased for you,” Cara said.
“Oh, she’s a trooper, this one!” Jenny said. “That’s why I wanted Max to make the speech so much. I wanted the guests to know how wonderful she has been but, as the bride and her daughter, I knew I wouldn’t make it through a speech about her. I just wanted Max to praise her and thank her for being so brave and to tell her how happy I am that she is here today . . . ah no, here I go, see . . . this is exactly why I needed Max to speak!” Jenny opened her eyes as wide as she could and fanned them to try and stop the tears.
“Stop that this very instant, Jenny Brophy!” Her mother put down her drink and was fanning now too. “This is the last thing we want – all that expensive MAC make-up floating down your face!”
“I think we all need another drink,” Angela said and the other three women shouted “No!” back to her at the same time.
When they had pulled themselves together Cara said, “I will run now, but how are you feeling? Is there anything at all you need me to do for you?” She grabbed the used breakfast tray from the table beneath the large window.
“I am totally happy, Cara,” said Jenny. “I’m just on cloud nine. It’s the most wonderful, amazing feeling in the entire world and I can’t wait to become Max’s wife.”
Cara nodded. “That’s just as it should be,” she managed as she stood back to let Angela open the bedroom door of the bridal suite for her. “So see you in a little bit, after everyone has left. The cars are coming at two forty-five sharp so I will have everyone out of the bar and en route to the church by then.”
“Thanks, Cara, for everything,” the bride said as the door closed slowly on its automatic release. “You have been utterly amazing. I will be recommending you and the Moritz to everyone I meet!”
Cara stood outside for a moment and thought how wrongly she had judged Jenny because she had wanted Max to make a speech. She had rendered the other girl slightly superficial in her head but had got her completely wrong. She swore standing there that she would never judge people again. She looked at the shining gold letterings on the door. Moritz Bridal Suite. The letters gleamed. Don’t think about your wedding day, don’t do this to yourself, Cara, close that closet! She took a deep breath and headed for the kitchen with the breakfast tray shaking slightly in her hands.
***
Sandra was up to ninety at reception. There was a massive problem. Two young couples checking in wanted their rooms very early to get ready for the wedding. She had told every last guest that had booked in for the wedding that it was not guaranteed they could get into their room before one o’clock, so she was at a loss as to what to do now. The two bare-faced girls clutching their make-up bags and dry-cleaned dresses for dear life stood beseeching her to get their rooms ready.
She hated to bother him but she needed Jonathan’s help. She dialled his office, no answer. She dialled his mobile.
“Hi, Sandra?” He was obviously in the stables as she heard horses whinnying in the background. “I need you, Jonathan, I have a big problem here.” She explained the situation and he said he would come to reception at once.
She put down the phone and ran her hands down her cheeks. Then she held her hands up to the waiting guests. “I am so sorry about this but I did tell you that check-ins weren’t guaranteed until one. There are still guests occupying the rooms, I’m afraid. The manager is coming right now so you can speak to him. I need to deal with the other hotel guests behind you now, if that’s okay?”
“This is a joke!” one of the annoyed male guests piped up. “Seriously, I wasn’t told about this! We are just off a flight too after a long tennis tournament in Beijing. We are wrecked!”
“I told everyone,” said Sandra. “I am the only one taking the bookings so you must have known! I would never take a booking for this wedding and not have told you check-in wasn’t guaranteed until after lunchtime – never! Even when Alice the relief receptionist is on the desk she doesn’t take bookings, just messages, and I call you back.” Sandra tried to keep her cool. She never lost her cool with guests but these were really trying her patience this morning.
“No, I spoke to a man on reception when I booked early the other morning, not a woman. I got an email from the cancellation list
we were on to call the hotel immediately if we still wanted a room.”
“So did I!” the other girl practically shouted at Sandra now.
“Please, with respect, I understand you are upset but please do not raise your voices at me,” Sandra said – and then her heart stopped. Oh shit, she said to herself as she suddenly realised. She closed her eyes for a second. It must have been Dermot when he was helping her out the other day. He must have taken these bookings. She was responsible for this after all.
As she was about to speak to the guests Jonathan and Dermot arrived in the door. “Hi there, I’m Mr Redmond the manager – may I help you?” Jonathan spoke in an authoritative yet understanding tone.
“Well, she doesn’t have our rooms –”
“And we were not told about this late check-in –”
They spoke over each other.
“One at a time please, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s move over here for a moment if we may and sort this issue out.” He ushered them to the side to allow other guests access to Sandra. “Now, you must have been informed – that’s our policy.” Jonathan looked quizzically back over his shoulder at Sandra and then back at his disgruntled guests.
Sandra was just about to open her mouth when Dermot butted in: “Here, now I’ve an idea. Grab yer gear, lads, and I’ll grab a sliced pan and some freshly baked ham and cheese from the kitchen and I’ll take the four of ye back to mine. The girls can get ready and ye can make a few ham and cheese toasties and a pot of tea. I think the Man United highlights from last night are on. I’m just behind the hotel here – three seconds’ walk, ladies! Come on, let’s go!”
“A pint of Guinness even?” one of the lads replied, looking brighter now.
“No problem, whatever your fancy is – as I said, I’m only at the end of the stables here. So come on. Actually, Jonathan, can you get Big Bob to grab a full-length mirror from the conference room for me so the girls can see themselves in all their wedding glory?”
The Other Side of Wonderful Page 18