By 6.40 p.m. Ally was admiring her sleek, wavy hair. Once she’d arrived at the hairdresser’s, the girl had talked her into a restyle and full-on highlights, and to hell with the expense. At least now she could see out of both eyes again. She slipped into a pair of high-waisted loose jeans, ankle boots and a slightly sparkly grey jumper that flattered her curves but looked effortless. Ideal for a casual dinner. Bit of jewellery – no need to look like a Pandora window display – a spray of Miss Dior and she was good to go.
On the way past Spar, she dashed in for wine. Red or white? Look, keep it simple – red and drinkable, so Cab Sauv – and don’t forget a big bag of crisps, very important. Lads loved crisps and with their hypersonic metabolisms they weren’t nearly as paranoid about their figures as women, she decided.
She got off the bus (no point in bringing the car) at his apartment complex, which reminded her a lot of the one she’d shared with Francis. A three-bed monthly rental which probablycost around the GDP of a small country.
William buzzed her in, looking really happy to see her, and gave her a big hug, so she had a chance to breathe in his Polo aftershave which was .?.?. really nice. He was wearing a dark-green fleece and jeans, which really suited him – all in all, William was undeniably dishy. He took the wine and led her into the large open-plan kitchen/living room, where she could see a small dining-room table set for two, while over the kitchen counter, she noticed some fairly complicated-looking cooking going on. Lovely.
‘Ah, howaya, Ally? I remember you from the night in the pub, Jaysus.’ The rather strangled voice, it transpired, came from Fergus, whose very large white runners were sticking out from behind the washing machine, which was partly pushed out into the middle of the floor, flanked by mops and buckets. William seemed to be entirely unperturbed by the drama and was simply stepping over Fergus’s legs, as though this happened every day of the week.
‘Glass of wine, Ally?’ said William mildly, completely ignoring the stream of expletives from Fergus as he wrestled with the back of the machine.
‘How about yourself, Fergus?’ she said politely, indicating the bottle but secretly hoping he’d refuse.
‘Ahh, not yet, not till I’m finished. Throw us over the crisps, though, I’m starving, so I am. God, I love crinkle cut.’
Well, that was one thing she’d got right.
‘Fergus is the man for the electronic devices – apparently, he can save us a fortune,’ explained William warmly, as Ally did the ‘oh you can come around to my house any time’ bit and they sipped their wine awkwardly, the whole date now somehow centred around the washing machine.
‘Just as well you didn’t get here any earlier, Ally. Where you’re standing right now was a big pool of water .?.?. And doyou know whose fault that was?’ Fergus hollered, pointing a Phillips screwdriver at William. ‘A certain person .?.?. this big eejit overloading the washing machine with a month’s worth of jocks.’
Ally was starting to feel like she was trapped at a Best Man speech, but couldn’t help laughing while William rolled his eyes good-naturedly, although a less easy-going personality might well have told Fergus to feck off with himself.
‘No, it’s true,’ William admitted. ‘It destabilised the machine and then the hot and cold pipes detached, hence the flood.’ This was pure William, an engineer at heart.
‘Do you know what, lookin’ at the two of you knocking back the wine is putting the longing on me .?.?. Sure, pass me over the bottle there,’ announced Fergus affably. ‘I’ll have one to keep you company.’ He fished around in the cupboard above his head and pulled out a mug withSagittariuson it and proceeded to slosh a good helping into it.
‘Don’t mind me,’ he went on. ‘You two get on with your dinner, I’m fine, I ate earlier. I’ll just be here, but I won’t bother you,’ he announced and then disappeared again below the countertop, but well within earshot.
Ally started on her second glass of wine while William served up the food. Thankfully, William had bought another bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon – exactly the same as hers, so her gifting that evening had been on fire.
‘Here we are, I hope you’re hungry,’ said William, producing two mountainous plates of curry. Definitely guy-sized portions, ideal after running a marathon.
‘It’s the Sanjeev Kapoor recipe .?.?. you know, off the BBC,’ he announced proudly.
‘He’s been slogging away all evening with the pestle and mortar – as I said to him, will you not just throw in a few spoons out of an oul’ jar? Sure, who’s going to notice the difference?’contributed Fergus in a strangled voice, as Ally came to terms with the fact that the evening was turning out to be a threesome.
They chatted away about how she’d been after the climbing, and how she might try it again, you never knew. The curry was genuinely delicious, plus he’d gone to the trouble of making raita and garlic naan bread, which was endearing.
‘He’ll have to take you out canoeing down in Galway when the weather gets better, won’t you?’ hollered Fergus. ‘Or will that be Cait?’ William was squirming. There was obviously some private slagging going on, which she was quite happy to let pass.
‘OK, people, that’s fixed,’ announced Fergus. ‘Hang on a minute now while I test it .?.?.’ He threw some items in the washing machine. ‘Cross your fingers .?.?.’ he declared and pressed start.
Instantly, everything went black.
‘Ah, Fergus, ye big eejit.’
They all scrambled for the torches on their phones, and then William busied himself gathering candles and lighters. A couple of minutes later, they were all flatteringly lit by tea lights in saucers.
‘Sorry about that, there must be a short somewhere .?.?.’ Fergus mumbled.
Meanwhile, Willliam’s almost infinite tolerance of his friend’s shenanigans seemed to have finally worn out.
‘Just fucking leave it, seriously, Fergus,’ he snapped.
Ally was starting to feel bad for him. Oh well, at least the food was already cooked. All in all, things could’ve been a lot worse, she decided.
Just then there was the sound of a bedroom door being wrenched open and Ronan – their other flatmate, who she remembered from Ryans – stormed out.
