5
To Ellie
’
s consternation Frank appeared out of nowhere and put his arm proprietorially around her waist.
He whispered in her ear,
“
I wanted to change the setting
s and have you next to me, my dear, but unfortunately J
udith wouldn
’
t hear of it. However, you are seated tow
ards the head of the table where I will be presiding
.”
Then he patted her bum twice
,
and if he
’
d been anyone but David
’
s boss she would have slapped him.
He led her to her seat, Anna trailing behind them.
“
I believe your place is on the other side,
”
he said to Anna.
“
Let me escort you.
”
“
No, no,
”
Anna said firmly
. “
I can find it myself, than
k you.
”
Frank moved off with a smile and a shrug, and Anna threw Ellie a discreet ironic glance.
Ellie was horrified to see David moving to the other end of the table
.
He turned to look at her and she shot him a
look of panic but he just shrugged his shoulders helplessly
.
“
Who
’
s sitting beside you?
”
Anna
asked, seeing the still-empty spaces beside Ellie. She picked up
the place-card on Ellie
’
s left side
. “
James,
”
she read out.
“
Poor you!
”
she
whispered, throwing her eyes to heaven.
“
He
’
s a crashing bore. Who
’
s on your other side?
”
Ellie leaned down and
read the name.
“
Sam
,”
she replied.
“
That
’
s better! He
’
s a real sweetie. You
’
ll like him
.”
Anna moved to the opposite side of the table and took her place. She too was separated from her partner who was at the other end of the table, near David. Obviously she was used to this, thought Ellie
.
As people trickled in
,
a portly, bald man came to the table and stood on Ellie
’
s left side. This must be James.
“
Good evening
,
my dear,
”
he said to Ellie. He spoke exactly like Prince Charles.
When everybody had arrived at the table, with the exception of the man to Ellie
’
s right, they all sat down.
“
Sam will be a little late,
”
Frank said from the head of the table.
“
What
’
s new?
”
James commented and Frank laughed.
Just then Ellie spied
an attractive
young guy
come into the dining-room and
for a moment she thought that it was the actor Jonathan Rhys
Meyers, who had played Henry VIII in the TV series. But when he came and sat down in the empty chair beside her
,
she realised this must be Sam.
He was uncannily like the actor but up close his dark-blue eyes were laughing eyes
,
unlike the actor
’
s broody gaze.
“
Sorry I
’
m late. A crisis at work, I
’
m afraid,
”
he said to the company as he took his place next to Ellie.
“
Hi, Anna, nice to see you again,
”
he said
,
blowing her a kiss.
Ellie was surprised to see Anna blush.
Next he turned to her.
“
Hello. We haven
’
t met before
.
I
’
m Sam
.”
He offered his hand and took Ellie
’
s in a firm handshake.
“
Ellie,
”
she introduced herself. She had no time to say any
more to him as James, the
‘
crashing bore
’
on her other side
,
launched into a monologue which she guessed was about the state of the stock-market but which was in fact incomprehensible to her. Anna had not been exaggerating about him either
.
He was the most awful bore. He finally took a breath and asked her where she was from.
“
Clontarf,
”
she replied
.
“
Oh, the north
side!
”
he remarked and she heard the disdain in his plummy voice.
She felt herself blush.
Luckily the first course was served at that moment so she was saved from saying anything.
She turned her attention to the lobster salad in front of her and wished the evening would end. At least the boring old fart had lost interest in her, thank God. She sipped the white wine that had been poured for her. It was delicious. She wondered what wine it was. Something wildly expensive, no doubt!
Sam turned to her just then and whispered
, “
If you need rescuing from James anytime in the future, just nudge me. I know how dreadfully boring he can be.
”
“
Thank you. I
’
ll remember that but I think he lost interest in me when he heard where I
’
m from.
”
“
And where
’
s that, Ellie?
”
“
Mars
,”
popped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
“
Mars?
”
he repeated, raising an eyebrow, wondering if he
’
d heard right.
“
Well, I might as well be,
”
she retorted.
“
People on the south
side seem to think that the north side is on another planet.
”
His eyes crinkled with merriment as he let out a low husky laugh
. “
That
’
s a good one. If that
’
s the case
,
then I
’
m a Martian too
.”
She looked at him quizzically.
“
What do you mean?
”
“
Well, I live in Clontarf so I must
also be an alien.
”
“
Are you serious?
”
She looked at him, her blue eyes wide and full of doubt. She was afraid that he was teasing her.
“
Absolutely! Castle Avenue.
”
“
You
’
re joking me! I
’
m from Clontarf too. Kincora Road,
”
she grinned.
“
Howdy, neighbour.
”
He shook her hand again.
They stopped talking as the waiters removed the plates from the first course.
“
I see you
’
re engaged,
”
Sam said, nodding at her engagement ring.
“
Where
’
s the lucky guy?
”
“
My fiancé is David, sitting at the other end of the table, beside Judith.
”
“
Ah, yes, David is the newest addition to Buckley Steadman, I hear.
”
“
Do you work for the company too?
”
Ellie asked him.
“
Good Lord, no! Heaven forbid! Do I look like an accountant?
”
he said with a grimace.
She couldn
’
t quite figure him out but he was a refreshing change from boring James. There was something very mysterious about him. She wondered what he was doing at the dinner at all if he didn
’
t work for the
company.
As the main course of Beef Wellington was served, he asked her what she worked at. She told him about the salon and kept him amused with some of the funnier antics of the clients. He seemed genuinely interested and laughed a deep husky laugh, throwing his head back as he did so.
The red wine which was served with the beef was wonderful.
“
I
’
ve never tasted such heavenly wine
!”
Ellie sighed with pleasure as she sipped.
Frank, who overheard this remark, spoke.
“
You have Sam
here to thank for that. He supplies all my wines. He has a wine business
.”
“
Really?
”
Ellie was surprised.
“
Is that what you do?
”
Now she understood why he
’
d been invited to the dinner.
“
I know nothing about wine whatsoever except that I love the wine we
’
re drinking tonight.
”
“
You should take one of Sam
’
s wine courses,
”
Anna said, from across the table.
“
I took one last year. He
’
s brilliant!
”
She beamed at him and he seemed embarrassed at the compliment.
“
Where do you have them?
”
Ellie
asked Sam
.
“
In Clontarf. I
’
ve actually got one starting
quite soon
.”
“
Gosh! That would be handy.
”
This was fate again.
“
Can you tell me about it
?”
“
Sure. Better still, I
’
ll give you my card and you can check the courses out on my website
.”
He fished a card out of his pocket and handed it to her.
“
Thank you, I will,
”
she said
,
putting his card in her bag.
“
Actually, I made a major faux-pas tonight,
”
she whispered to him.
“
I asked Judith for a glass of chardonnay and she informed me that she doesn
’
t do
chardonnay. I nearly died.
”
“
Don
’
t mind her! Poor Judith doesn
’
t know the first thing about wine.
”
Ellie detected a note of disdain in his voice.
“
In fact, the white wine we had with the lobster was Chablis which is actually made from chardonnay grapes, but of course she doesn
’
t realise that.
”
“
I didn
’
t know that either,
”
Ellie admitted.
“
I think you really should join my course so,
”
Sam said teasingly.
“
Maybe I will,
”
she replied, rising to the challenge.
“
Tell me more.
”
Sam then started to talk about wine and she could see how passionate he was about it. His face was animated and his eyes aglow as he explained how wines were made and what made them different from one another. Ellie was fascinated. She
’
d never realised that it was such an interesting subject. She decided then and there that she would definitely join Sam
’
s wine course.
After all, if she was going to have to attend more of these parties in the future, she
’
d need to educate herself about such things. She smiled happily
,
thinking how pleased David would be with her when she told him
.