‘Anyhow, darling, I’m proud of you. You’ve shown me you can turn your hand to anything .?.?. now must dash – Allegra is waiting for me in the car with the flashers on. We don’t want her to get towed away.Ciao, bella, as my darling mother-in-law used to say. Hah!’
She gave a tinkling laugh and sailed out of the café, leaving a waft of Baccarat Rouge in her wake.
The Owl’s Nest felt terribly empty after the door swung closed, despite the two guys chatting away by the wall. Damp evening fog had penetrated indoors and the pendulum lights gave the atmosphere a yellowish tinge, as though the air itself was dense. Ally cleared up the kitchen, disinfecting every surface, mopping the floor and hanging up all the implements in perfect order, before allowing herself a glimpse outside in thealley. The van was gone. A pang of loneliness filled her, but she pushed it down. This was her choice after all .?.?. even if it didn’t feel that way.
* * *
That evening she sat on the floor in her apartment, her back against the sofa, watching Harry and Sally waft about as she sipped from an oversized mug with a picture of God on it, sayingYou are all disappointments– a present from Rosemarie.
She was munching through two slices of the homemade blue cheese, spinach and honey pizza while the fish were having their usual supper. Ally felt a little guilty – did they ever get bored and have a yearning for a treat, like plankton or something? Anyhow, where was she going to get plankton at this hour? Just then her phone pinged. She jumped on it and saw that it was a text from William, which was .?.?. good.
Hey, would you be free Tuesday? I’ve booked us a session on the climbing wall. Wear comfortable clothes! Wx
OK, this was everything she’d hoped for: a new job and a date with William. She was living the dream. Great.
Speaking of which, she’d better lay out her clothes for the morning – Hogget and Simpson seemed to have fairly demanding standards. From what she’d seen, the dress code was .?.?. expensive. No, she reminded herself, that was just Georgina. Everybody knew senior solicitors had pots of money for clothes. Although from what she’d seen, it was hard-earned.
Nevertheless, there was something about getting back into the type of clothes she’d been wearing for so many years thatfelt suffocating. The past month had changed her in ways she didn’t yet fully understand, and maybe she hadn’t transformed altogether, but she couldn’t go back to Celtic Concrete Ally, bland and beige.
In the end there was only one solution: she pulled out a dark navy tailored jacket, but how to style it? Look smart but not intimidating. So she chose a pair of grey wool pleated trousers, a belt, a white top and heels. She looked appropriate – nobody could fault her – but .?.?. she didn’t feel quite like herself.
That was the thing about The Owl’s Nest – dressed in her favourite jeans and dangly earrings, she’d grown to recognise and like the person who left for work every day. If she’d met that Ally, she’d have liked her, felt happy to chat or exchange a little joke, whereas this person .?.?. No way, it would’ve been strictly business.
But wasn’t that exactly the point? she chided herself. It was ajob, duh! You weren’t paid to be your bloody self. And maybe there was a lot to be said for dressing the part – here she was, leaving the slightly chaotic, overemotional Ally at home and pitching up for work looking efficient and professional. What was wrong with that? Her head agreed heartily, but in her heart, sadness lodged like a sheltering bird.
Chapter 15
‘Oh great, Ally, there you are. Do you know how to use the phone system?’
Thankfully, one look at the Nortel system told her it was pretty much out of the ark, and she needn’t panic about being up to date with the latest tech. Law firms were more into tradition than innovation, it seemed.
‘OK,’ Georgina went on, ‘Vincent is in today, Maurice is in and so is Eloise, who’s the paralegal. It’s a Friday, so that’s always quiet these days. Kitchen is down the hall .?.?. If anyone comes in for a meeting, offer them a coffee. God, I’m so glad you’re here. I was sitting at home last night telling my husband that knowing I’ve a receptionist again has changed my life.’
Ally smiled. It was nice to feel needed, just maybe not quite that badly.
At about 9.40 a.m. a booming voice reverberated through the hallway.
‘Well, bugger him and his claim ofBona Vacantia! Tell him he hasn’t a hope.Anyway, I’m here now, I better vamoose. See you in the Shelbourne at five, and don’t be late like bloody usual, leaving me sitting on my own at the bar like some big tart,hah!’ a man bellowed in hilarious tones, before practically hitting his head off the top of the door frame as he made his entrance. Hewas a good six foot four, with reddish hair that was swept back and reached to his collar, like a theatre impresario.
‘Ah!’ he roared. ‘The new face of Hogget and Simpson, and very nice it is too, thank God. Nobody wants a horror show first thing in the morning. Vincent De Burca, how do you do?’
He held out a hand the size of a dinner plate, which she found herself shaking dutifully.
‘I know it’s not supposed to be the thing to compliment a woman, but I say bollocks to that! We should all be complimenting each other at every available opportunity, isn’t that so, Miss .?.?. Mariani?Very nice blouse,’ he said, then made a rumbling noise.
Without the slightest clue what to say, she made do with smiling faintly. Lord, what sort of simpering eejit had she turned into? Still, it was her first day, so better to keep her head down and avoid making any enemies till she’d sussed things out. In fairness to Vincent, at least he seemed a bit entertaining, unlike the perpetually responsible Georgina. Though it did strike her that one might be contributing to the other.
‘The wind’s changing,’ he proclaimed. ‘And not just outside,hah, I think we’re back-pedalling on all this equality bollocks, and you know what? I think it’s bloody great. It’s freedom, know what I mean?’
He celebrated this last remark with a wide grin, presenting a row of crowns that looked oddly incongruous in his narrow face.
‘Anyway, must go. Time waits for no man .?.?. or woman.’ He rumbled the last few words before ambling out the door.
Ally exhaled, realising she’d barely felt able to breathe during the whole exchange, such was the force of Vincent’s personality. Wow, was that what workplaces used to be like for women? It’s no wonder in her mother’s generation they’d got out of them as soon as possible.
The morning progressed calmly enough. As promised, thebuilding was pretty quiet and she had no more than five calls. At this rate she could do the job in her sleep. It did allow her thinking time, however. If she were in The Owl’s Nest now, she’d have been labouring hard since 8 a.m. beside Evelyn, Dave and .?.?. Pete. The truth was that she kind of loved those people – although with Pete it was different, of course. But here she was, doing theright thing. There really was no comparison, she had to admit. She was mostly left to herself in the front office, which was decorated with a luxurious grey carpet and chandelier hanging from the ceiling – and apart from Vincent, an air of composure pervaded the building. In short, it was a jammy job.
At one o’clock she walked down to a café, where she was quite taken aback at the price of buying her own lunch, which was not a patch on what they served in The Owl’s Nest. Just then her phone rang.
