Chapter 2
AL
‘Yes.’
Al and his girlfriend Tara pull up outside her family’s home in rural Cork. It’s so heavily decorated with Christmas lights you could see it on the headland from a mile away, perhaps from space.
‘Whoa,’ Al says, blinking against the full force of the lights.
‘I know. Daddy loves Christmas.’
‘He loves electricity.’
‘Are you nervous?’ she asks.
‘Not at all.’
It’s his first Christmas with her family.
A couple for three years, they’d previously gone their own ways for the holiday but this year they’re together.
Driving from Dublin to Cork on Christmas Eve, playing Christmas songs in the car, Al’s heart is full.
It’s like the opening sequence to one of those corny Christmas movies that Tara loves and that Al scoffs at but secretly enjoys.
‘We’ll get the bags later,’ he says calmly, ‘let’s go inside and say hi first.’
The door opens as soon as they step onto the porch and they’re welcomed with the loudest, ‘SURPRISE!’
Tara steps back in fright tight against Al’s body.
She slowly takes in the scene, a sea of happy faces.
Her family, his family, her friends, her old camogie team, even his best friend Walter is here.
He is not surprised because he has planned the entire thing.
Texts and emails while she was sleeping, whispered conversations down the phone while she was in the other room. It had been meticulously programmed.
‘Oh my god,’ she says, trembling fingers flying to her mouth. She randomly says people’s names as she spots them. ‘Sheila. Oh my god, Laura, what are you doing here, Siobhán!’ she squeals. ‘Oh my god, Wally!’
Wally?
Walter.
While Tara deals with this event by naming the people in the room, behind her back, Al gets down on one knee. She doesn’t notice for a while, until a hush falls over the gathered crowd. She turns around and looks for Al, who’s not at her level, then looks down.
There’s a tinkle of nervous laughter from the crowd.
Al clears his throat. ‘Tara Jones, three years ago I saw you across the room in Copper Face Jacks.’
Laughter. It’s a legendary night club in Dublin with a reputation for being cheesy.
And that’s where his proposal goes in a new direction. He’d memorised a combination of famous lines from their favourite romantic movies and he recites them now, weaving all the quotes together to form a proposal.
Now and then Tara looks around the room and whispers, ‘Oh my god.’
It must be good, because he sees even the emotionally restrained Walter wiping his eyes.
For every quote Al recalls, he feels like he’s summoning a shared memory of them being together, harnessing all the other love in the world, from the writers who wrote it, the actors who felt it, the audience who watched it.
He takes everybody’s collaborative energy and puts it into his words, feeling like he’s vibrating and connecting with everyone, with her, on a whole new level.
The fact that their loved ones are here to share it, and witness their extraordinary love, only heightens the experience.
He is buzzing, totally in his element. Better than any drug; he is on a natural high.
And then finally, ‘Tara Jones, will you marry me?’
Her mouth is open, he feels like everything is happening in slow motion. Why isn’t she answering him? Everyone is looking at Tara and she seems surprised that she must now speak. He feels the beads of sweat on his back, he hadn’t doubted her response for a moment, not until now.
‘Oh. Yes. YES!’
He’s flooded with relief and jumps up to hold her, kiss her.
This is the greatest moment of his life.
Emotion is bubbling out of him, tears from his eyes.
She kisses him quickly and goes for the ring.
Her fingers are trembling. Every single one of his muscles feels like it’s twitching in some sort of celebratory response.
‘Do you like it?’
‘Oh my god.’
She slides it on her finger. It fits perfectly, but of course, he made sure of that, measuring her ring finger while she slept.
‘Oh my god, girls, look.’ She turns around and her friends race over in a group and she’s swallowed up in hugs.
Feeling a little left out but still buzzing, he looks around. His parents come straight to him with a hug.
‘That was lovely, pet,’ his mum says.
‘Well done, Al.’ His dad pats him on his back. ‘What was all that you said there?’
‘Lines from Tara’s favourite rom-coms,’ Al replies, a little put out. ‘Did you not recognise them?’
Al’s dad looks at his wife uncertainly.
‘It was really lovely, love,’ his mum says in a confident tone that tells him she hadn’t a clue either.
Then Tara is back in their orbit, voice high, fast and trembling with adrenaline. ‘I’m so glad I got my nails done,’ she says, holding her fingers out for his parents who ooh for their benefits even though they’re not the ooh-ing type.
‘I told you to get your nails done, remember?’ Al says, grinning. He’d thought of everything.
‘Oh my god, you did.’
‘Did you like the proposal?’ He’d worked on it for so long. Every time they saw a movie and there was a line she liked, he’d had to rewrite the speech. He’d been running the lines through his head over and over again for the past month.
‘Al, I haven’t a clue what you said,’ she laughs. ‘I couldn’t take it in. I thought you were tying your lace, and then I saw the ring, and then oh my god,’ she says, bringing her finger closer to her face. ‘I’m so glad I got my nails done.’
He pulls her close for a kiss to ground them both together in this flighty moment. She kisses him quickly and pulls away again, shouting to someone over his shoulder.
‘You knew about this?’ She pulls away from Al and playfully hits Walter before hugging him.
‘I couldn’t ruin the surprise, could I? Congratulations. Do I need to get new housemates?’ Walter asks.
‘Absolutely not, the wedding will be ages away,’ she says, examining her ring again. Her fingers are still trembling. ‘I think Wally should stay with us even when we’re married.’ She rests her head on his shoulder.
Al takes a picture. It’s his dream that his childhood best friend and his now fiancée – fiancée! – respect each other so much.
‘What did you think?’ he asks Walter, as Tara squeals towards another friend.
‘It was different.’
He feels disappointed again. Had he missed a note? ‘It was a compilation of our favourite quotes from the romantic films Tara loves.’
Walter’s face lights up. ‘Ah, that makes sense. Because it was a bit confusing but that’s nice, man. Seriously, congrats. I’m happy for you both.’
Al senses sadness in his friend. Walter hasn’t met anyone yet, no one serious.
‘This will be you someday, Walter. It’ll happen for you too. I know it.’
‘Oh yeah, hopefully,’ he says, shuffling awkwardly.
‘And nothing will change between us, you know?’
‘Yeah I know. Stop acting weird.’
‘Yeah sorry. You’re my best friend, I want you to feel what I feel someday.’
He watches Tara trying to take a photo of her hand, for Instagram, he bets. He’d like the announcement to include him too. He hurries to grab his fiancée – fiancée! – for a photograph so they can capture the moment.
The happiest day, the happiest moment, without doubt, of his life.