For Once In My Life

Chapter 16

Mary Rose stood in front of the whiteboard in the conference room and was about to speak when she caught sight of Kitty’s face. ‘Everything okay? Did you…’

‘A football accident,’ said Kitty. ‘Just a small bruise.’

‘It’s the size of my arse before I went on that grapefruit diet,’ said Hughie. ‘I didn’t want to bring it up, but are you sure it was a football accident? It sounds like one of those outlandish tales people tell to hide what they’ve really been up to. Since when have you been playing football?’

‘Since Tuesday…’ Kitty touched her bruise, which she hadn’t thought was that noticeable this morning as she trowelled on the make-up. ‘It was just training. Our first match is tonight. Anyway, I’m fine…’ She kept replaying the moment the ball thwacked her right in the face, but it wasn’t the stinging pain or the humiliation or even the threat of concussion, it was the way Tom had pulled her to her feet, his hand on hers. She was struck – not just by the ball – but by how gentle he had been.

‘Right, to our campaign for Nutty Nut the protein power bar now…’ said Mary Rose. ‘Have we all eaten one? Feedback? What words came to mind? Did it trigger anything? Memories? Did it make you feel anything?’

‘Nauseous,’ said Hughie. ‘There was a truly terrible aftertaste.’

‘They weren’t great,’ admitted Mary Rose. ‘I couldn’t finish mine. The idea is to refuel, I think.’

‘Refuelling is for cars,’ said Alex, looking at her phone, something which she was doing a lot more of, Kitty noticed. Alex seemed permanently still distracted and thrown by the failed pitch. Unless, of course, there was something else bothering her.

‘Aha!’ said Mary Rose. ‘Anything in that? Cars?’

‘Planes, trains, automobiles. And other ways you can feel nauseous…’ said Alex, as her mobile rang. ‘Yes?’ she said, quietly, and then, whispering, ‘I told you not to…’ She slipped the phone into her jacket pocket and looked up at Mary Rose, as though she hadn’t just received a mysterious phone call and that Hughie was not making faces at Kitty. ‘What about “Not Naughty, Nutty”?’ Alex suggested.

Kitty nodded. ‘Or, what about, “We’re in the nutty corner”?’

Hughie laughed and Mary Rose smiled. ‘Love it,’ she said. ‘Right… is that what you are going to work on? And are there any updates on Welcome Ireland? Alex?’

‘Excuse me a moment,’ said Alex, standing up. ‘I have to just go and… sort something out. I’m still trying to think of something else for Welcome Ireland… I don’t have anything at the moment. I know we have the camper-van idea.’

‘Inspiration will strike,’ said Mary Rose.

The door of the meeting room closed behind Alex as she left.

‘I wonder what’s wrong with her?’ said Hughie. ‘Someone didn’t have their Sugar Puffs this morning. Or any morning lately.’

‘Or she got out the wrong side of the bed,’ said Mary Rose. ‘Happens to me all the time.’

‘A wrong side of the bed?’ said Hughie. ‘If only I had the luxury.’

‘What?’ Mary Rose looked confused. ‘Anyway, we’ll have to organise some fun… what about a night out?’

Hughie shook his head firmly. ‘No… I can’t do nights… not at the moment. And, anyway, the last thing I need is organised fun. I like my fun to be organic.’

‘But you can’t wait for fun to just happen, Hughie,’ said Mary Rose. ‘It’s like dating apps. You could wait all your life for Mr Right to come along, but the apps organise it so much more efficiently.’

‘But I never want to go on dating apps ever again,’ said Hughie. ‘After John-Paul, the only thing I want to swipe left on is the touchscreen in McDonald’s.’ The three of them went back to their desks.

‘What about some music?’ suggested Kitty. ‘Is that the kind of organic fun you might sanction?’

‘As long as it isn’t heavy metal, Daniel O’Donnell or The Eagles,’ said Hughie.

Kitty went over to the shelves in between the two large windows, picked up the dusty radio, plugged it into the socket on the wall and tuned into a local station. ‘Freedom’ by George Michael came on. ‘Okay with everyone? Anyone object?’

‘My all-time favourite song,’ said Hughie happily, his mood lifted.

Kitty went back to her work and to the sounds of her colleagues singing to themselves.

After half an hour, Alex returned. ‘Music?’ she said. ‘What fresh hell is this?’

‘It’s hell with a soundtrack,’ said Hughie. ‘Come on and join the fun.’

Alex rolled her eyes, flung her bag onto the desk and sat down with a heavy sigh. The radio continued, just softly in the background, but enough that when Kitty looked around, she could see Hughie’s foot tapping along when Coldplay came on. Mary Rose sang along quietly to herself, and then when Celine Dion made an appearance, Alex mouthed the words as though she was on a Las Vegas stage.

Kitty stared at her screen. She’d been going through images of Ireland, hoping inspiration would strike, but any idea she had just seemed flat… as though something was missing. Now all she could see was the invisible missing bits, but she still had no clue what they were.

Perhaps, she thought, she needed a change of scene to think about the Welcome Ireland campaign. A trip to the library to read some books and magazines might help in the search for inspiration.

‘I’m off to the library,’ she said, picking up her bag.

Hughie immediately thought it was an excellent plan. ‘I’m coming with you,’ he said, standing up. ‘I need to get out of this office. Sometimes I feel like I live here.’