Chapter 29
Sorcha left Audrey’s office and hailed a taxi.
‘The Waldorf Hotel, please.’
‘Right you are, miss.’
The taxi drove off and Sorcha sat in the back, her head spinning. Audrey had just told her that she’d been offered a year’s contract as the ‘Mighty Malt’ girl. They were going to pay her a fortune and Audrey had said it was likely that her face would soon be as famous as Con’s.
She’d already decided to save her news for Christmas Day. It was Con’s night tonight, and they could celebrate her success later.
The taxi pulled up at the Waldorf. Sorcha paid the driver and entered the hotel.
‘Sorcha Daly, you look radiant!’ Con put his arms round her shoulders and guided her into the banqueting suite hired for the party.
‘Thank you. You look . . . well, you look exhausted, Con.’
‘Yep, I’m jiggered, but as happy as a sandboy. Everyone else is here. We have a table in the corner.’
Flashbulbs popped in their faces as they made their way across to join the rest of the group, already on their fourth bottle of champagne.
Ian had a girl on either side of him and the three of them were sharing a joint.
Derek looked uncomfortable with a large woman on his knee, who was almost smothering his face with her ample bosom.
Todd was deep in conversation with an attractive woman, while Lulu sat silently on the other side of him, looking morose.
Her face lit up when she saw Sorcha and Con.
‘Come and join the happy band. Sit by me and talk to me.’ She patted the seat next to her. ‘He’s so engrossed with his new friend from Melody Maker that he’s not even said hello yet.’ Lulu rolled her eyes. ‘Champagne for you both?’
‘Thanks, Lulu.’
She shared out the remainder of a bottle between three glasses and handed one to each of them. ‘Cheers.’
‘Cheers. Have you seen Freddy yet?’ asked Con.
‘No. He and Brad don’t seem to have arrived. Do you know half these people, Con?’
‘Some of them.’ Con stared at the crush in the room. ‘It’s queer the way you suddenly have so many friends when you become famous.’
‘Sure is,’ drawled Lulu.
‘Hi, folks. Everyone present and correct?’ Freddy appeared behind Con and Sorcha with Brad at his elbow.
‘We thought you might have forgotten tonight’s little low-key celebration, Freddy.’
‘Hardly, Lulu. Something important came up and Brad and I had to discuss it. Is Derek alive under that pile of femininity?’ Freddy frowned at the sight of the large woman who’d submerged Derek completely and appeared to be giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
‘Listen, lads. I need a word. Could you remove your appendages for five minutes? We’ll talk before everyone’s too far gone to hear. ’
Reluctantly, Ian’s two ladies left the table, followed by the big-breasted woman and lastly the Melody Maker journalist.
‘Done it again, Freddy,’ said the journalist as she went past. ‘Great bunch of lads.’ She trailed her finger along Brad’s collar. ‘We must get together sometime. Renew our acquaintance.’ She blew Todd a kiss. ‘See you later, sweetie.’
Lulu growled under her breath.
Freddy took two chairs from the neighbouring table and he and Brad sat down. ‘Right, attention, please. I have news,’ said Freddy. ‘The Trojans are going back to the States after Christmas and we’ve just agreed a deal with their record company over there to sign The Fishermen.’
The boys stared at Freddy silently.
‘Not only that, but they want you to join The Trojans on tour as their support act. You’ll leave for New York at the end of January and be back end of April for the launch of the album. Well?’ Freddy stared at the four blank faces. ‘Someone say something, please.’
‘It’s great news, Freddy, really, isn’t it, boys?’ said Con.
‘Yeah. The good old USA, millions of people panting to buy our records,’ smiled Todd dreamily.
‘And get into our trousers,’ added Ian coarsely.
‘So you’re all happy then?’ asked Brad. ‘I think it’s a wonderful opportunity. If you can crack it in the States, then you really have made it big.’
‘It’s all too much to take in,’ muttered Derek.
‘I know. Well, after tonight, you’ve got a week off for Christmas.
You all look knackered. I suggest you disappear off somewhere and have a break.
Take time to enjoy the success. Trust me, the first taste is always the sweetest.’ Freddy looked at the empty bottles of champagne on the table. ‘We seem to have run out.’
‘I’ll go in search of some.’ Brad left the table.
A painfully thin man, his face ravaged by years of substance abuse, slapped Freddy on the shoulder.
‘Hello, Freddy, long time no see. Another success under your belt then.’
‘Mick, what the hell are you doing here?’ Freddy turned around and was soon deep in conversation.
‘Hey, Sorcha, great news about the States. I might get my theatrical agent to line me up some meetings in LA while we’re there.
And the shopping in New York is meant to be fantastic.
While the boys work, we can spend all their hard-earned money in Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. I can’t wait,’ giggled Lulu.
‘Excuse me.’ Sorcha stood up. ‘I need to go powder my nose.’
‘Are you okay?’ Con saw that Sorcha had gone pale.
‘Yes, I’ll be fine, really.’
As she left the table, the journalist from Melody Maker appeared again and sat herself down next to Todd.
‘I’m going to personally throttle that little tart in a minute,’ Lulu whispered to Con under her breath.
Con was still gazing across the room in the direction Sorcha had taken.
Lulu put her hand on Con’s knee. ‘I’ll bet you can hardly believe this is happening.’
‘You’re right, I can’t.’
‘You deserve it, Con. You have such talent. You gave the band what they were missing.’
‘All four of us contribute to the success, Lulu,’ Con answered abruptly.
‘Champagne, everyone.’
Brad was back with a tray, glasses and two bottles of bubbly. Lulu quickly removed her hand from Con’s leg.
Sorcha touched up her lipstick and smiled falsely into the mirror.
Tonight was not the night to think about either three months away from Con, or turning down the Mighty Malt contract. There was bound to be a way around it. She mustn’t spoil the evening for either of them.
As she brushed her hair, she heard the cistern flush and was just about to head for the door when she heard a familiar voice.
‘My, my, what a small world.’
Sorcha’s heart nearly missed a beat.
Helen McCarthy stood behind her, smiling. Sorcha stared at her reflection in the mirror.
‘Helen . . . What are you doing here?’
‘Oh, a work thing, you know.’
‘Really? You work in London, do you?’
‘Yes, yes, I do.’
Sorcha nodded, trying to match Helen’s calm demeanour. She was so very different, so . . . confident.
‘How long have you been in England?’
‘Oh, almost as long as you. I left Ballymore a couple of months later.’
‘I see.’
Silence hung between them, broken by a sudden roar and surge of applause from the room outside. Finally, Sorcha made a move towards the door. ‘Well, I must go back.’
‘Of course. Well now, it’s nice to see you again.’
‘Yes. You look good, Helen,’ Sorcha said, trying to avoid gritting her teeth.
‘Thank you. You do too. I think we’ve all changed a lot since Ballymore.’
‘Yes. Con and I are married.’
‘I heard. Congratulations to you both.’
‘You heard?’ Sorcha could not hide her surprise.
‘It’s amazing what a small town London can be. And life is full of coincidences, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. Well, goodbye, Helen.’
‘Goodbye, Sorcha. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again.’ Helen offered her a smile that seemed to exude genuine warmth. Given the last time the women had seen each other Sorcha had been ready to strangle Helen, she was somewhat taken aback.
Offering Helen a stilted smile in return, Sorcha hurriedly left the ladies’.
She arrived back at the table desperate to speak to Con, but he’d been surrounded by a television crew.
‘Great news, Sorcha.’ Freddy caught her by the arm. ‘We’ve just heard on the grapevine that the single’s gone to number one, although it won’t be confirmed till tomorrow.’
Sorcha tried to collect herself. ‘That’s wonderful, Freddy.’
‘It is, isn’t it?’ he said smugly. ‘Con and Todd can take most of the credit for penning such a great ballad. In a few moments I’m going to get the boys to sing. Then the night is yours.’
‘Sorcha, Sorcha, isn’t it grand?!’
Con was by her side. The television crew had moved on to Todd.
‘Yes, it is, Con. Grand.’ Sorcha’s attention had been caught by the sight of Helen McCarthy being guided through the crowd by Brad towards their table. ‘Con, look. Look who it is! I just met her in the loo. I told you I thought I’d seen her in Carnaby Street.’
Con followed Sorcha’s gaze. His elation was replaced by nerves.
‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph,’ he whispered.
They watched transfixed as Brad and Helen arrived by their side.
‘Con, Sorcha, can I introduce you to Helen McCarthy?’
‘As a matter of fact, Brad, the three of us have met before. Nice to see you again, Con, and congratulations,’ Helen interjected.
‘Thanks, Helen,’ Con managed. ‘And, er, how exactly do you fit into this scene?’
‘Oh, didn’t you know? Helen’s the other director of Metropolitan,’ said Brad.
Con’s eyes nearly extricated themselves from their sockets.
‘She looks after the financial side. We don’t let her out of her cubbyhole upstairs very often, so that’s probably why you’ve never met!
I suppose you could say she’s the power behind the throne.
Be nice to her,’ Brad warned, half jokingly.
‘She’s the one that holds the purse strings. ’
‘Yes. Be nice to me, Con.’ The words were said with a smile, but Helen’s eyes were fixed on him.
‘Have you met the rest of the band?’ Brad asked.
Helen shook her head. ‘No, I don’t believe I have.’
‘Come on then, let’s remedy that.’
Helen held out her hand to Con. ‘It looks like we’ll be having quite a bit to do with each other in the future, Con. I look forward to it.’
Helen’s hand hung in the air. Con was embarrassed into taking it.
‘Yes.’
‘Goodbye, and a merry Christmas.’
‘Sorcha, my girl,’ Con said as he watched Helen being introduced to the rest of the band, ‘yer man needs a drink.’
Helen watched the trees outside her window, illuminated by the glow of the street lights.
She was too worked up to sleep. Tonight had been, without a doubt, the best evening of her life.
The shock on Con and Sorcha Daly’s faces when they’d heard of her position at Metropolitan had put her on a high.
Of course, they had never expected her to amount to anything.
Little could they ever have fathomed that, one day, Helen would hold the key to the palace.
It had been particularly edifying for her after the way it all ended in Ballymore.
That whole situation was embarrassing to think about now.
The new Helen would never have let it happen.
Sorcha laid her head on Con’s shoulder as the taxi drove them home to Hampstead.
‘Did you enjoy tonight, Sorcha?’
‘Oh yes. Did you?’
‘I thought it was wonderful. But you weren’t your normal self. Is anything wrong?’
‘I . . .’ Sorcha stared out of the window. ‘No.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes.’
Con made love to her when they arrived home. Afterwards, she lay in his arms, his hands stroking her hair.
‘It’s all starting to come true.’
‘Your dream?’ He nodded. ‘You deserve it, Con.’
‘And you deserve the life that fame brings with it. I can give you everything now, Sorcha. There’ll be no more struggle, no more having to demean yourself for a few pennies.’
Sorcha swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’
‘And imagine us going to the United States of America! I can hardly wait.’
Sorcha was silent. Con shifted positions so he could see her face. ‘Are you not excited about the trip? Freddy said it will be first class all the way. Luxury cars, hotels – all expenses paid.’
‘It’ll be wonderful, Con. It’s just . . .’
‘What?’
She’d intended to save her good news for Christmas Day. But somehow, it didn’t feel like good news any longer.
‘I was offered a job today. It would be a year’s contract with very, very good money.
Audrey says it would make me famous. The problem is, I’d be starting work just as you flew to the States.
’ Con studied her face silently. ‘I don’t know what to do,’ she sighed.
‘I’d love to take the job, but we’d be apart for over three months. ’
‘So that’s why you were looking so down tonight.’
‘Yes. Oh, Con, what do you think?’
‘I’m thinking it’s sad that anything should spoil our happiness. It’s silly asking me, Sorcha. You know what I want.’ Con let go of her and lay back on his pillow. ‘It’s a disaster for a marriage to spend a long time apart.’
‘So I couldn’t trust you on your own then?’
Con waved her away. ‘I’m not saying that. You know I’m not. It’s your choice, Sorcha. I can’t stop you.’ He sighed. ‘I suppose it’s a question of priorities.’
‘Of course you’re my priority, Con. But it seems a shame to have to turn such a big opportunity down.’
Con turned to her. ‘What about the opportunity of seeing America?’
‘I know, I know. And I can hardly bear the thought of being parted from you for three months. But I’ve worked hard for my success. I know it’s not as grand or important as yours, but it’s mine.’
‘Okay, but where will it lead? I mean, I was only thinking tonight that now we’re on our way to being financially secure we could maybe start a family. Will you be leaving our babies with a stranger to go off modelling?’
‘Of course not! But that’s in the future, not now.’
He shook his head. ‘Ah, Sorcha, there was me thinking I’d managed to provide you with the dream and it seems you have a different dream altogether.’
‘No, I don’t at all, Con.’
‘Look, let’s drop it. I’ll not stop you, Sorcha. All I can say is that I love you and I’ll always want you by my side.’
He rolled away from her and shut his eyes. Con hoped that his guilt trip had worked. He needed to be sure that Sorcha stayed as far away from Helen McCarthy as possible.
After a while, Sorcha climbed out of bed and went to sit in the chair by the window. Dawn was starting to break. She watched her husband sleeping for a long time.
It was daylight before she slipped back in beside him, her decision made.