Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
M airéad had told me not to think about anything else other than what I was doing at the time I was doing it. She said if I thought too far ahead, I’d talk myself out of doing it and she was right.
So I didn’t think about the plane, or landing, or the bus I had to get to the hostel, whether it would be full of twenty-something travellers (which is exactly what I was, I suppose), what my room would be like in the hostel, or how I would cope with sitting on a cramped bus to Te-Puke for five hours.
If the thought did creep into my head, I’d imagine other stuff instead – the warm weather, the clear blue skies, the turquoise ocean, the dolphins (Una told me there’d be plenty), the white sandy beaches, the space, the fresh air. Jack.
I wondered what Jack would think when he saw me; I wasn’t going to tell him I’d travelled across the world just to see him. I planned on telling him that Una had convinced me to go – a long overdue holiday for all the holidays I’d missed out on (it was kind of true, because if it wasn’t for Una I probably wouldn’t have been here). I planned on telling him the full truth about my OCD (well, most of it, anyway) and how it had stopped me from pretty much everything and how meeting him had changed everything.
I’d tell him that I’m not expecting a relationship (I am) and that I just wanted to extend our time together and enjoy it for a little longer. I figured he’d be impressed by that, he’d find it attractive, that I’d grabbed a bag and hopped on a plane to the other side of the world for an adventure – that’s what he’d done after all. There would be plenty of things to see and do, even if he was working. I could keep myself busy with long walks on the beach, and we could spend the evenings together when he got home, enjoying time together, and hanging out with his family. I was looking forward to meeting them all. I was looking forward to finding out more about Jack.
When the gates opened, I didn’t waste any time. I was happy to wait in the lounge and read for an hour rather than hang around outside the toilets in fear of another sneeze. Even though one could come at any time.
It was only when I got there that I realised I’d not opened Niall’s present. I ripped it open with impatience.
I had never received a gift from Niall before, not even for my birthday, and he’d been around for most of them. I saw the glint of silver first and then a ring – had Niall O’Callaghan bought me a bloody ring? I lifted it out and it took me a moment to work out what it was. Not a ring. I placed it in my hand and it was the first time that I had actually cried since I left Drangan.
Because there, in the palm of my hand, was a silver keyring in the shape of a woodlouse and on the back were the words – There’s no place like home.
Niall had left his number on a slip of paper that was folded neatly beside the woodlouse keyring. There was no message with it, but I suppose the message was that I could call him if I needed to. I’m not sure what I’d say to Niall if I had to call him. We’d never had a conversation on the phone before, apart from the one when I called the shop from the porch at six o’clock in the morning and Niall had answered, but I was pretty sure our conversation wouldn’t go further than the shop, and possibly the woodlice.
I hadn’t expected a gift like that from Niall and I must admit in that moment I did wonder what it meant, that he would give me something so thoughtful, but then that was just the kind of guy Niall was. Thoughtful, if a little odd here and there, but I was hardly one to talk. He probably felt sorry for me. Going off on my own to the other side of the world in pursuit of a man who didn’t know I was coming. He probably thought I was a right eejit. In fact, I knew he thought that.
But I didn’t have to prove anything to Niall O’Callaghan or Una or even Mairéad. I had to prove it to myself. I knew that. Mairéad had said that even if I got to the airport and decided to come home that would be an achievement in itself – that I had at least tried to do it. She said it was better than not trying at all and she was right, but also I would have looked like a bit of a plonker if I had come back before I got there. I probably would have camped out at the airport for a couple of weeks instead, like that guy who lived in an airport for eighteen years – although how the hell he managed that I’m not quite sure – and then his story was turned into a film with Tom Hanks. Maybe he’d star in mine (Tom Hanks, not the actual guy)? Although I don’t think two weeks in the airport would quite cut it.
I pulled out my phone and typed in Niall’s number and then my message.
Hi Niall, it’s me (Pearl). Thank you for my keyring, it’s lovely.
It made me cry.
Hope the stocktake isn’t too boring without me. Make sure you don’t give anyone else my job. Thanks again. Pearl.
X
PS: feel free to check on the woodlice every now and then …
I could see Niall typing a few seconds later.
Hi Pearl, you’re welcome. Have a safe journey. Remember what I said about the sand flies.
Followed by –
PS: we might take someone on for Saturdays. Niall.