Melissa was calling for her at eleven so she had another half-hour in bed. They were travelling down to Kildare to the Outlet Centre which Louise had heard was fabulous. Melissa was a regular customer there but it was Louise’s first visit and she was really excited about it.
She had told her friend about how Ronan was behaving.
“I’m afraid, Mel, that I won’t be able to buy very much. Thanks to my husband’s stinginess I’ll have a miserable day.” Her green eyes were glistening with tears.
“Don’t worry, Lou, things are dirt cheap there and anyway you can always pay by credit card.”
Louise brightened up. “Well, if things are that cheap maybe I can buy a couple of things.” Things were looking up. After all, she hadn’t bought a thing, well hardly anything, since the big row they’d had.
Melissa was full of sympathy. She was a plain woman and quite a bit overweight and she admired and envied Louise her fabulous figure and looks.
“You’re so lucky, Lou,” she sighed. “Everything looks great on you. You could wear a sack and still look a million dollars, unlike me.”
“Yeah, I’m lucky,” Louise agreed with her, pulling down the mirror on the sunshade to check her make-up. She applied some gloss to her lips and smoothed her hair while admiring her reflection. “You’d think Ronan would appreciate that, wouldn’t you?”
“Absolutely! He should be delighted that you always look so great. You could have any man you wanted,” Melissa said enviously. “Even my Jeremy fancies you.”
Louise didn’t think that was much of a compliment. Jeremy must be seventy if he was a day. There was a huge age-gap between him and Mel though she seemed to be genuinely fond of him. He was filthy rich of course and very generous too. Maybe I should have married a rich sugar-daddy, Louise thought bitterly, though she didn’t say this to her friend.
Louise couldn’t believe her eyes. The Kildare Village retail outlet centre was a revelation. They went into the information office where they picked up a booklet with a plan of the centre. Louise glanced at it but stuffed it in her bag, impatientto get started. With Melissa trying to keep up, she veered wildly from shop to shop, her heart racing madly. She felt like she’d died and gone to heaven. And the prices! Even Ronan – the cheapskate – couldn’t complain if she bought one or two things here. It was unbelievable!
Melissa laughed at her enthusiasm. “I told you they’re practically giving stuff away.”
“They surely are.”
“Now we must make a plan,” Melissa said, but Louise had already disappeared into the Coast shop.Melissa shook her head, and followed her. What have I let myself in for, she wondered.
Louise was trawling through the racks, oohing and aahing as she grabbed one dress after another and threw them across her arm. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She felt so alive.
“Oh, Mel, this is fantastic! Look at the prices. It’s crazy! I’ll never buy anything in Dublin again!” She sailed into the dressing room on cloud nine,her arms weighed down with beautiful dresses.
An hour later, they emerged from the shop. Louise had four bags on her arm, Melissa had none.
“I can’t believe how much I’m saving,” Louise cried gleefully, her green eyes aglow.
Melissa did not relish traipsing around after Louise all day. Everything looked so good on her friend that it made her feel even more frumpy than usual. Besides, she had some birthday and wedding presents that she needed to buy, so she suggested that they split up and meet again for lunch.
“Look, I’ll give you the spare key to the car and you can go and put your bags in it – to save you carrying them around – and we’ll meet up . . .” she looked at her watch, “at, say, three for lunch in L’Officina. Okay?”
“Perfect. Happy hunting!” Louise beamed at her as she took the key. Just then she spotted the shop 7 For All Mankind. “Oh my God! My favourite jeans in the whole world,” she cried, sprinting away from Melissa, her hair and bags flying.
Melissa laughed at her enthusiasm. She’d never met anyone who could shop quite like Louise.
Three pairs of jeans later, Louise deposited her bags back in the boot of Melissa’s car and set off again. She ran into Melissa on her way.
“I won’t have enough time,” she moaned. “I want to see everything.”
“That won’t be possible,” Melissa said primly. “Look, let’s grab a coffee in Starbucks and you can mark off the shops you absolutely must see, and then the ones that you’d like to see.”
“That’s a great idea,” Louise agreed, following her to the coffee shop.
They ordered two cappuccinos and sipped them while Louise marked the most important shops she wanted to visit. The centre closed at seven. She hoped she’d have enough time to do them all. She wasn’t sure how much she’d spent but what the hell, she’d saved so much it was worth it.
By the time she met up with Melissa for lunch, she’d been back to the car once more to deposit more purchases there. By now she’d decided that she might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb and, anyway, Ronan couldn’t be much angrier with her than he already was.
After a delicious lunch, which she insisted on paying for – after all, Mel had done the driving – she bought some lovely lingerie in Wolfords. She badly needed these as she’d put a red blouse in the wash last week with her white undies and now they were all pink. Yeuch!The manageress, Sharon, was so sweet and so helpful that she bought much more than she’d intended. She could not resist the gorgeous gold shoes in LK Bennett and just as she was leaving saw a pair of denim platforms for €10. Just incredible! They’d cost at least €80, if not more, in Dublin. My God, this was fantastic!
After another trip to the car to dump her bags, Louise noticed that there were only her bags in the boot. Had Mel bought nothing at all? How was that possible? She looked with dismay at all the bags. She hadn’t realised that she’d bought quite so much. Better not think about it. She didn’t want to spoil the day.
She walked slowly back to the centre from the car park and, feeling exhausted all of a sudden, she decided to take a break and went for another coffee in Starbucks. She was poring over the plan again, wondering should she perhaps check out the sunglasses shop, when she became conscious that someone was studying her. It was an older man who was sitting at the next table. He had the kind of tan that one didn’t get in Portmarnock or Brittas Bay and everything about him screamed money: the expensive suit, the perfect shirt, the silk tie, the Rolex watch and gold jewellery. Louise took it all in at a glance.
“Excuse me for staring, but are you Louise Redmond?” he asked.
She was shocked. Redmond was her maiden name. “How do you know me?” she asked, flustered now.
“Don’t you remember me? I’m Alan Brown. I used to come into Elegant Modes when you worked there.”
Louise racked her brain but for the life of her could not remember him. She’d had dreams of becoming a model when she’d left school but even back then it had been a difficult world to break into and the best she’d managed was a job as a house model with the clothing company. She’d only been there a short while when she’d met Ronan and, as they say, that was that. He had been infatuated with the beautiful red-haired, green-eyed girl and she had fallen pretty hard too.
At nineteen – and four months pregnant – she’d left to marry the bright young draughtsman, both of them dreaming of a promising future. That first pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage and was followed by three more over the next six years. Suffering from depression, Louise could not even consider returning to work and, by the time she could, she was too old for the modelling scene. She’d had to give up her dream of becoming a model and also, as it turned out, her dream of becoming a mother. She wouldn’t hear of adopting and the only thingshe found that helped lift her spiritswas shopping. That was when their problems had begun.
Now this man was catapulting her back in time.
She tried to remember the buyers who frequented the wholesale
company back then as he asked if he could join her. Surely she would have noticed this glamorous, obviously charming man. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t place him.
“I’m sorry but it’s been so long ago . . .” She smiled at him.
“All the guys were mad about you then,” he told her as he got up and came to sit down opposite her. “I’m not surprised you didn’t notice me. I came in once a month to buy for the company I worked for back then. I think I probably bought everything you ever modelled!”
A faint glimmer of recognition surfaced in her memory as he smiled at her. “Yes, I do remember you – but you look completely different,” she said, surprise in her voice.
He threw back his head and laughed aloud. “Yes, well, I rather hope so. I like to think I’ve improved and matured somewhat since then.”
She vaguely recalled a plain dowdy guy who dressed badly, his eyes following her every move. How had he evolved into this handsome, gorgeous man?
“You haven’t changed,” he said smoothly. “If anything you’re even more beautiful.”
Louise blushed. This was like music to her ears. He was a charmer!
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I’m here on business,” he replied. “I’ve come quite a long way since I used to admire you in Elegant Modes.”
I’ll say, Louise thought.
“I now have a manufacturing company and a chain of fashion shops and I also franchise a lot of international clothing companies, both here and in the UK and Europe.”
“Wow!” She couldn’t believe her ears. He had come a long way.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Just shopping.”
“Well, this is your lucky day, Louise,” he replied. “I have big discounts in most of the shops here. Come with me and I’ll save you loads.”
“Even more than I can save already?” she asked dubiously.
“Most certainly.” He stood up, offering her his arm.
She spent the rest of the afternoon with him, not able to believe how the salesgirls reacted when he entered the store. She chose a pair of tan leather trousers in DKNY and tried on a matching jacket which was simply fabulous. Alan said she absolutely had to have them both. She agreed with him but when she proffered her credit card, the salesgirl told her that he had already settled it.
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly accept this,” she protested to him.
“Please, indulge an old man. It gives me great pleasure to see you enjoy yourself,” he smiled, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Well, if you insist,” she said.
She’d never had so much fun. She bought a pair of fabulous blue Le Creuset bowls that were reduced from €70 to €10. What a steal! They would be perfect for salad or pasta.Ronan could hardly complain about that! They visited Samsonite where Alan bought a new briefcase. He chose a lovely tan calfskin one and, if Ronan had been talking to her, she would have loved to buy one for him for his birthday – but he’d said he didn’t want a present anyway. His loss!
Finally, exhilarated and shopped-out, she texted Melissa to meet her in Starbucks. She couldn’t wait to tell her what a fab time she’d had.
Melissa couldn’t believe her ears. “God, Lou, you’re something else! I leave you for ten minutes and you pick up a gorgeous man,” she said admiringly.
“I did not pick him up,” Louise retorted. “He picked me up.”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“I think so. He said he’d call me.”
“They all say that.”
“No,” Louise said dreamily. “I think he meant it. In fact, I’m sure he did.”
Melissa was shocked when she got back to the car and saw the amount of stuff Louise had bought.
“Lou, you can’t be serious! How much did you spend?”
“Not that much really. It was all so cheap and then Alan . . .” She broke off sheepishly.
“Ronan will have a fit.” Melissa couldn’t believe that Louise would risk his anger like this.
“Well, I was going to ask you if you would take care of this stuff till later,” she asked her friend.
“Of course, but I don’t know how you’ll manage to avoidRonan finding out.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll sort it,” Louise replied, speaking with more confidence than she felt.
She changed into some of her new clothes in the ladies’ before they set off for Dublin. She made sure to pull off all the labels first. Ronan would never notice that they were new. He never noticed what she wore. Tired and happy, she arrived home with just the Le Creuset bowls, to find that Ronan was out, thank God. He’d left a note to say he was going out for a pint with his friend Jim.
“Blast!” Louise cursed aloud. She could have taken all her new clothes home with her after all! Now she’d have to wait till later in the week to retrieve them from Mel.To be on the safe side she even hid the Le Creusetbowls under the bed in the spare room. Better wait until things were resolved with Ronan before bringing them out! He’d never believe her that they’d cost so little.
8
Ellie was searching for Sam’s card. She was trying to remember which bag she’d been using the night she’d met him. Having trawled through the top eight bags in her bag closet, she eventually found it. That’s the problem with changing my bag to match my outfit every day, she thought, frustrated at the time she’d lost looking for it. Château Wines, she read. “Of course, how stupid of me! I should have remembered that.”
She dialled Sam’s number. “Hi, Sam, I don’t know if you remember me. It’s Ellie. I was sitting beside you at the Buckleys’ dinner party last week.”
“Ah, Ellie from Mars! I was wondering if you’d gone back there in your spaceship,” he laughed.
Ellie was glad that he couldn’t see her blushing. She was embarrassed that he’d remembered what she’d said.
“I wanted to ask about your wine course. When is it starting?”
“Next Monday actually.”
“Oh, right. Good! Would you have space for me on it?” she asked tentatively.
“Even if I didn’t, I’d make space,” he replied gallantly.
She found herself blushing again. “Well, I’d like to enrol, if it’s okay with you.”
“Of course. You’re very welcome.”
“Can you tell me where and when and how much it costs?”
He gave her the address and time it would start. “It’s €300, payable before the course starts, I’m afraid,” he added. “So many people used to book and not turn up that I now have to ask for it upfront.” He sounded apologetic.
She had been hoping it would be less, while not really knowing what such a course would cost. But, never mind the price – she was determined to do it. “Of course, I understand. I don’t have a cheque-book but I could drop the cash around to you, if you like.”
“That’s fine.”
“I can come around straight away, if that’s okay with you.”
“No problem. I’m here all evening. See you soon, Ellie.”
“How did she think I wouldn’t remember her?” Sam spoke aloud, scratching his head. She was exceptionally pretty and Sam always had an eye for a pretty girl. She was also funny and had made him laugh. She’ll add some spice to my course, he thought, grinning to himself.
He was looking forward to the course very much. He was a born teacher and loved imparting his passion for wine to his pupils. It was wonderful to see a student become enchanted with the subject, as always happened to at least one or two out of every class. He wondered who it might be on this course.
Ten minutes later Ellie arrived at the address he’d given her. It was a massive house with steps going up to an impressive front door. The house was so huge that she assumed it was let in apartments but she couldn’t see any bells with names on them, just one brass bell, which she rang. As she waited, she noticed that the drapes in all the windows were the same. It looked like a private dwelling. Sam coul
d hardly live in this massive house all alone, could he? Maybe he lived with his parents or else he’d married an heiress. Stranger things have happened, she thought. She rang the bell a second time, wondering if he’d had to go out. Looking over the railing, she noticed that there were steps down to a basement as well. Just then a breathless Sam flung open the door. He had a phone under his chin.
“Sorry for taking so long,” he whispered, his hand covering the phone speaker, “but I was in the basement, working.”
He ushered her in as he continued speaking on the phone – in French, she noticed. It surprised her that his French was so good. He was looking really cool in a pair of torn jeans and a denim shirt. He could have stepped out of a Levi’s ad. She couldn’t help but admire his butt as he led her into a massive room. It had high ceilings and beautiful big windows that let in lots of light. It was breathtaking.
“Make yourself at home here, I’ll just be a few minutes,” he said, loping away.
Ellie caught her breath as she took in the beautiful room. It looked like something out of House Beautiful or Homes and Gardens. She noticed both magazines lying on a coffee table. As she looked around she knew instinctively that the décor had a woman’s touch. There must be a Mrs Buckley lurking around somewhere. Obviously no children, as the place was immaculate.
Sam interrupted her thoughts as he returned brandishing a bottle of wine and two wineglasses. “Sorry about that but I was on to a producer in Bordeaux about a delivery. Well, how are you?”
“I’m fine!”
“You look lovely,” he remarked as he opened the bottle.
Ellie blushed at the compliment. What was it about this man that made her blush? “I love your house. It’s so elegant. Do you live here alone?” What a dumb thing to say, she thought as soon as the words were out of her mouth. He’ll probably think I want to know if he’s married or not.
“I’m afraid so. My last girlfriend departed about four months ago – luckily, or else we would have killed one another.” He grinned as he said this and handed her a glass of white wine. “I remember you liked the Chablis Frank served at the dinner.”
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