by Moni Boyce
“Siobhan.” Cash called their friend’s name while looking around. Some of the other customers watched them in amusement. Jordan was too drunk to act with any dignity or civility.
“Who do you think you’re looking at?” She told one of the patrons.
“Mind your business.” Jordan shouted at another one.
Out on the street, he finally set her feet on the ground while she attacked him with her purse.
A few minutes later, Siobhan burst out of the door.
Relief was evident on Cash’s face. “Get a jo maxi.” Cash ordered Siobhan. “We’re taking her to Conor, before someone calls the guards and she gets arrested.”
After their third attempt to stop a taxi, Cash stood in the middle of the street and forced one to come to a screeching halt. It took both Cash and Siobhan to get Jordan inside.
She settled down in the cab. During the ride, none of them spoke.
At Byrne’s Pub, Jordan was ready to revolt again.
“Just please go inside.” Cash pleaded while pinching the bridge of his nose.
The minute she stumbled in; Conor caught sight of her. His gaze raked her body from head to toe. The look in his eyes was a mixture of anger and lust.
Jordan tugged at the hem of her dress, while she watched Conor lift the bar flap and stalk towards her.
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all day?” He stared at her, but then eyed his brother and Siobhan.
Cash wore an amused expression, while Siobhan had a guilty countenance.
Over Conor’s shoulder, Jordan could see The Three Wise Men, straining their necks to see what was going on. A man she vaguely remembered but couldn’t place, sidled up beside Conor and leered at her.
“Is this the American?” Whoever he was, his eyes roamed over her with an appreciative look.
Jordan suddenly recalled Conor had a friend that she never got introduced to a couple weeks back. “You’re Eoin?”
“Aye.” The grin grew even wider, like she’d propositioned him.
Even though she was wasted, she knew right away she didn’t care for him. “Last time Conor mentioned you, he said you were being a shite.” She tried to affect the Irish accent, but her words came out slurred.
“Bloody hell. I’m taking you to your hotel.” An irritated Conor picked her up and put her over his shoulder.
“Put me down.” Jordan yelled and struggled against him, kicking her legs and beating on his back.
Upside down, she couldn’t gauge anyone’s reaction. She used her purse to cover her ass, which was probably on display, because of the short dress.
Conor ignored her and walked out the back, headed towards his car.
At the passenger door, he stopped, but did not attempt to put her down.
“Let me down.” Jordan still flailed and kicked, even though she was exhausted at this point.
“Are you going to stop?” Conor asked the question like he was dealing with a petulant child.
Her body went limp after a few more seconds of fighting. “Yes.” She breathed out the word in defeat.
Gently, Conor set her feet on the ground. The minute he did, she took a swing at him, smacking him in the arm with her purse.
“What gave you the right?”
Conor defended himself, by blocking her attack. “Jaysus! Stop.”
Just when she was about to say something else, she felt the bile rise up the back of her throat. She didn’t even get the opportunity to tell him she was about to be sick. Turning quickly, she puked into the gravel.
“That’s it lass, let it out.” Connor held her curls away from her face and rubbed her back.
Tears fell down her cheeks while her stomach heaved, and she spewed even more. After another minute or so, she finished emptying the contents of her stomach. She wiped her mouth off on the back of her hand. When she stumbled backward and nearly fell, Conor caught her.
Looking up into his eyes, mixed emotions tumbled around in her heart. There were so many unsaid things in the depths of his green eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it.
After vomiting, her head had cleared slightly, but she was in no shape to have a serious conversation. “Take me home.”
After the soft plea fell from her lips, she shut her tired eyes. Jordan felt him pick her up in his arms like she was nothing. Conor opened up the car door and sat her on the seat. Once he buckled her in and shut the door, she knew he was coming around to get in the driver’s side, but she was tugged under, into unconsciousness before she heard the beep of the car door being opened.
16
Conor
Thankfully, the hotel had seen him with Jordan enough to know he wasn’t a threat to her. When they realized she was absolutely wasted they didn’t give him a hard time about carrying an unconscious woman up to her suite.
Jordan quietly snored in his arms as he kicked the door open and stepped inside. Thankfully, a maid or someone had left a lamp on. He was able to carry her into the bedroom without needing to stop to find a light switch.
The bed was turned down. Once he laid her on the mattress, he removed her heels and tucked her legs beneath the duvet, before pulling it up to cover her. He couldn’t help staring at her. Even though he was furious with her for not responding to any of his calls or texts all day he was glad she was safe.
Conor smoothed her curls out of her face and continued to watch her. She whimpered and turned on her side, away from him. His heart was heavy when he leaned down and kissed her hair, and switched off the bedside lamp.
In the living room, he grabbed the blanket off the back of the sofa. He’d already decided he wasn’t going anywhere. He was going to be there when she woke up. It had been tempting to crawl into bed with her, but he settled for the couch. Conor dropped onto the cushions and toed off his runners. Before laying down he arranged one of the throw pillows so it would be comfortable and then laid back and spread the blanket over his body.
Hours ticked by before he felt his eyes grow heavy with sleep. Jordan was in the next room and tomorrow night she would be gone. His heart ached at the thought of her no longer being in Dublin, being near him. With a deep sigh, he shut his eyes and tried to sleep.
Distressed moaning woke him up. He felt bleary eyed. How long had he been asleep? Conor reached for his mobile. It was half past ten in the morning. He rubbed his eyes and sat his mobile on the coffee table.
Jordan was awake. He swung his feet off the sofa and yawned. She probably had a massive hangover.
Pushing himself off the sofa, he walked to the doorway of the bedroom and peered inside. Jordan was sitting up in bed, holding her head. She probably felt like her head was being cleaved in two.
“You have any aspirin?”
Her head snapped up, surprised at hearing his voice. “You stayed?”
A nod and a hint of a smile were offered in answer.
She told him where he could find aspirin. “Check my toiletry bag on the bathroom counter.”
He walked into the bathroom and cut the light on. While he rummaged through the bag, she talked louder so he’d hear her.
“Oh, my head,” She groaned. “After the last time, I promised myself I wouldn’t get this drunk again.”
Coming back into the room, he held up the bottle of medicine. “Drinker’s remorse.” He smiled at her. “Never make that promise. There’s always a reason you can never keep it.”
Before approaching her, he grabbed a bottle of water off the dresser. He walked over to the side of the bed and handed it to her. She looked up at him, while he unscrewed the cap off the medicine bottle and shook two of the pills onto her open palm. Jordan swallowed the two aspirin and chased it with some water.
Conor disappeared back into the bathroom to put the bottle back.
“Thank you… for bringing me here last night.” There was a question and hesitancy in her voice.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror. “You’re welcome.”
&nbs
p; When he came back, he stood in the doorway. She was now out of bed, but hadn’t noticed him. Her hands were skimming over her hair, face and then the dress while she looked at herself in the mirror over the dresser.
“You don’t look bad.”
Startled, Jordan’s gaze darted in his direction. Her face told him she didn’t believe him.
Conor snorted. “I’m telling you the truth.”
You could never look bad.
He turned and walked back into the living room. Even though his back was to the door of the bedroom, he heard her when she entered the living room. Conor kept folding the blanket without acknowledging her. After he finished folding it, he sat down on the sofa and grabbed one of his shoes and began to put it on.
For a few seconds, Jordan awkwardly stood across the coffee table from him, not sure what to do. Finally, she sat down next to him on the sofa.
Needing to say something, he cleared his throat and spoke. “I’ve only been crippled with the fear, a handful of times in my younger days.” He chuckled and reached for his other shoe.
“The fear?” She leaned into him and nudged him. When he looked up at her she had a perplexed smile on her face.
“I still have much to teach thee, lass.” He said the statement in a scholarly manner and they both laughed.
“The fear means pretty much how you feel now after getting hammered and you can’t remember parts of last night, and the parts you do remember, you wish you didn’t. Maybe a little afraid to show your face, because you’re not sure what version of you showed up when you were ossified.”
“Was I that bad?”
“I’m sure no one noticed.” He quipped.
They chuckled again.
“Just great. The last impression they might have of me is me showing my ass during a drunken stupor.”
“No, one saw your ass.” Conor gave her a confused frown.
This time the joke seemed to be on him. Jordan cracked up. “No, no… “show your ass” is an American phrase for act a fool, being an asshole or making yourself look like a jackass.”
“Ah… in that case, you did show your ass last night.”
Another thought occurred to him. “Do you realize you snore when you’re really knackered?”
Jordan looked mortified and put her hand over her mouth. After the shock wore off slightly, she giggled. “I do?”
“Yeah, but it’s cute.”
While they stared at each other, the amusement slowly disappeared, and they both sobered. Things were always easy between them.
All morning, they’d danced around the elephant in the room. Never mentioning their argument or the fact that they were about to be separated… again.
Jordan was leaving today. Soon they would have to say their goodbyes. She laid her head on his shoulder. He leaned in and rested his head on top of hers. For a while, they sat like that, without talking.
It was unclear how much time had passed before he broke the silence.
“About the other night…” He paused. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be… We both said a lot of things.”
More silence ensued.
“I need to call a car or have the front desk get me a taxi when I’m ready to go to the airport.” Jordan changed the conversation.
“Let me take you.” He said the words quietly and didn’t look at her.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
Jordan nodded against his shoulder. “Okay.”
It felt like the air had been pulled from the room. His chest was tight from the pent-up frustration he felt. He hated that some of their last hours spent together, they were treating each other like strangers. It hadn’t even been this awkward and weird when they first met in New York.
“I should shower and start packing.”
Was that his cue to leave?
I’m not ready to go.
With a heavy heart, he stood. “I’ll come by and get you and your luggage later on this afternoon, around two, so we can stop by the pub and you can say goodbye to everyone before I take you to the airport.”
It felt like quicksand he was walking through as he trudged toward the door wearing a pained expression. When he turned back to her, he put on a grimace of a smile.
She stood and came towards him, but stopped with about six feet of space between them.
The words stuck in his throat for several seconds. “I’ve enjoyed this last month immensely.”
For a fleeting moment, disappointment shone in her eyes and was quickly replaced by a sad smile. “Me too.”
He turned back to the door and put his hand on the knob. After a slow exhale, he opened the door and stepped out into the hall. The click of the door when it shut behind him, made him turn.
Standing outside her door, he fought the urge to knock on it and wait until she opened it to take her in his arms. Get one last glimpse, one last kiss. Briefly, he leaned his forehead against the door. When he lifted his head, he stared at the door once more, before walking away.
Conor drove home and took a shower, changed his clothes and checked on his father and the home health aide before heading to the pub.
As he went about checking the register and cleaning up some things behind the counter, he pretended he didn’t see the lot of them watching his every move. Cash, Siobhan, Eoin and the Three Wise Men, all gawked at him.
Finally, he’d had enough. He huffed loudly. “What?”
Everyone looked around at each other. Niall seemed to be silently picked as the leader, so he said what was on everyone’s minds.
“Me and the lads are on tenterhooks waiting to see what will happen between you and your American lass, after last night’s performance.” He leaned forward, wearing an eager expression.
Everyone looked at Conor, waiting for an answer.
It took him a second, but Conor dropped his gaze to the bar top and finally answered. “Nothing is happening. She returns to America tonight.”
17
Jordan
Two, on the dot, Conor rang that he was downstairs. Jordan collected her things and did one last sweep of the suite, to make sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind. At the door, she looked around the room once more and memories of their time spent together played out in various areas. A bittersweet smile tugged at the corner of her mouth before she exited the apartment.
The short drive to the pub was silent.
When they walked in, everyone was there. They all hugged her with the exception of Eoin, who seemed a bit frightened of her. She was sure something had happened between them last night, but she wasn’t sure what it was.
After she hugged Siobhan, she handed her a bag that contained her dress. “I had the hotel rush the cleaning on it so I could get it back to you before I left. Thank you again… for everything.”
The young girl embraced her once more.
Cash walked up to her wearing a smirk. “You’ll be missed, love. You’re a wee evil fairy, coming in here and charming everyone and then going on your way.” He lifted her off the ground while he hugged her, making her giggle.
“Thanks for making my time here entertaining.”
When he set her back on the ground, she smoothed down her blouse.
Fergus raised his pint in the air to toast her. “May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.”
After the second line, Jordan was sure she’d heard the toast, poem or whatever it was before.
Looking as pleased as punch, he continued on. “May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”
The whole room seemed to be wondering where they’d heard it before as well. Their gazes shifted around the room. Everyone eyed one another in puzzlement.
Finally, Desmond verbalized what everyone was thinking. “Isn’t that on a greeting card?” He sported a scowl.
Fergus looked indignant. “
Shut yer gob. It’s an Irish blessing, ya eejit.”
Collectively, they all expressed clarity over the origin. Lots of “ah’s, oh’s, och’s” and other light bulb, epiphany moments sounded throughout the room. Then everyone raised their glasses and toasted Jordan. “Sláinte.”
“We’ll miss you, lass. It’s been an honor and a pleasure.” Niall beamed at her.
Jordan sniffled. “The pleasure was all mine.” She never realized how sad she would be to leave all of them and the pub. The place felt like a part of her now.
Back in the car, the drive to the airport was quiet.
“Would you like to listen to the radio?” Conor kept his gaze focused on traffic when he asked the question.
She shook her head. “No.”
A few minutes passed by and Conor laid his hand on her thigh. She glanced over at his profile, but he didn’t or wouldn’t look at her. Gently, she placed her hand over his and twined their fingers together.
When they arrived at the airport, the walk from the car to the terminal was agonizing. Her feet dragged. Conor took her hand in his and the heat from his hand made her smile.
At the ticket counter she had to let his hand go so she could hand over her passport. Once they took her luggage and gave her the ticket, she’d grabbed his hand again, needing to feel connected to him. They found a semi-secluded spot to say goodbye before she needed to head through security.
Knowing they only had mere minutes left was making her anxious. Would she ever see him again? The question lay heavy on her heart, but she dare not ask. Fear kept her silent. It was Conor that found the bravery to start asking questions.
“If I’d asked you to stay here in Dublin?”
She shook her head. “If only I could… The new nonprofit… If I get awarded this money for the business, one of the stipulations is that we grow our home office and base first in the U.S., before branching out overseas… doing that will require my full-time commitment.”