Chapter 47
Chapter Forty-Seven
‘Y ou’ll never guess what happened?’
Una’s drunk face stared back at me on my screen.
‘You’ll never guess what happened either,’ I teased.
‘What?’ she slurred.
‘Oh, nothing that grand … I just did a bungee jump!’
‘You’re fucking joking?’
‘Nope. I did it, Una, on my own, up a bloody crane. It was amazing!! And I freed a butterfly. That’s one gone from my head.’
‘What the hell are you on about? What butterflies?’
‘My OCD.’
‘Your OCD is butterflies?’
‘Never mind. What were you going to tell me?’
‘Did you wee yourself?’
‘No, I did not.’
‘I could never do a bungee jump.’
‘Well, I am the adventurous one out of the two of us now, I suppose,’ I giggled.
‘I’m proud of you,’ Una slurred again.
‘Thank you, I’m proud of me too. Tell what you were going to say.’ I could see she was losing interest.
‘Guess!’ She suddenly perked up.
‘You found out Shaun did everything again with Carmel?’
‘Ha Ha. NO.’
‘What then?’
‘Niall came on to me in the pub!’
‘Niall O’Callaghan?’
‘Yes, bloody Niall O’Callaghan, how many Niall’s do we know?’
‘What happened?’
‘We ended up getting so drunk and…’
‘And what?’ I asked. I didn’t want to know but I did at the same time.
‘And he might have kissed me…’ she said smugly.
‘Niall kissed you?’
‘Yes! And it was a good kiss. I got right into it, he’s quite muscly under that woolly jumper – who knows what else he’s hiding!’
‘That’s disgusting,’ I grimaced, but I think it was just because I couldn’t imagine Una and Niall kissing. They were more like brother and sister.
‘And guess what else?’
‘What?’ I said, irritated. I was too tired for drunken riddles.
‘I think Niall O’Callaghan is fit.’
‘You don’t!’ I scoffed. ‘You’re drunk. Anyway, what about Shaun did everything ?’
Why did I feel annoyed?
‘Just keeping my options open. Anyway, I thought you’d be pleased because it wasn’t Shaun?’
‘I am, but Niall O’Callaghan?’
‘I know!’
‘Did anything else happen?’ I hesitated.
Una grinned.
‘I went to the cottage!’ she beamed. ‘Pearl, it was so weird to be in there again, and it’s so different, nothing like when we used to break in. There’s a huge wood burner, still no central heating, but it’s really light inside. Not dark at all.’
‘He still has depressing green windows though,’ I said.
‘I think they’re kind of nice. Anyway, it doesn’t matter about the windows – what do you think about the kiss?’
I ignored her question.
‘Did you sleep with him?’
‘No, but I think I would have if he’d tried.’
‘He didn’t try then?’
‘No, he actually got a bit funny about it all when we got back to his. He made me a cup of tea, and gave me a biscuit, how funny is that!’
‘What biscuits did he give you?’
‘Huh?’ Una’s eyes glazed over and I felt my frustration grow.
‘What type of biscuit did he give you?’
‘I don’t know, does it matter?’
‘A Rich Tea?’
‘Something like that, what’s the big deal with the biscuits? What about me kissing Niall!’
‘So, you didn’t stay the night then?’ I continued.
‘Nope,’ Una sang. ‘Not this time,’ she added.
‘Do you want to see him again?’
‘I might ask him if he wants to go for a drink, maybe Fish and Chips Friday,’ she said. ‘Are you jealous, Pearl O’Reilly?’ She laughed.
‘Of course I’m not bloody jealous, it’s bloody Niall O’Callaghan. I’m just surprised that’s all.’
And you know when you feel really pissed off, but you don’t want to feel pissed off, or even admit that you’re pissed off?
Well, I was really pissed off.
* * *
The girl with the purple cap at Jump Bungee told me there was a hostel in Rotorua and that I would get ten per cent off because I’d done the bungee jump and it seemed like a fair deal to me.
The hostel was within walking distance and turned out to be more of a bungalow, which meant no stairs, thank God, and a room that was twice the size of mine at home. The bed faced out towards the garden, which had a palm tree at the bottom and one of those swing benches like a hammock but not on a tree. I decided I would get one for Anickuna Cottage when I got home.
I hadn’t been able to get Una and Niall’s kiss out of my head. Not because I wanted to kiss Niall – I did not – just because it had annoyed me, and I didn’t know why. Perhaps because Una didn’t really fancy Niall? She’d never spoken about him in that way before. Or maybe she had always liked him deep down? Maybe that was why she’d gone on about him so much to me?
When my phone pinged with an email, I had completely forgotten about the photo of me doing the bungee jump until I opened the attachment and remembered Kit had said he’d email it to me. He’d sent two, one of me stood on the edge with a look of death across my face and another I hadn’t realised he’d taken but I knew I would keep forever. I sent the first one to Niall and waited for him to reply, but he didn’t, which annoyed me even more because where was he that he couldn’t reply? With Una?
After my shower I climbed into bed, because even though the sky was still bright (it was only the afternoon) I was exhausted. The light streamed through my curtains like long fingers that tickled my face, and I imagined the sun staining my skin golden. Then I closed my eyes and thought of the second photograph that Kit had taken of me as I reached out for the trapped butterfly, determined to set it free.