Dee didn't seem to be having as much luck when it came to hiring a cook, but then Lisa thought her requirements were almost impossible to fill. The truth was that Dee just didn't want to share her kitchen and was putting obstacles in the way to delay the inevitable. But Ronan had made his feelings on the subject clear and then there was the added stress of Dee working at Seven TV; she couldn't carry on alone for much longer.
Despite the hard work, she thought, Lisa could see how much her friend was enjoying the new challenge but, ironically, as a result of the publicity, she was receiving more calls than ever about catering work. She had to turn down most of it but Lisa was convinced there had to be a way of cashing in on the situation.
'Let's go for a pint,' Ger said, putting down his newspaper and smiling at her.
'Aren't you meeting the lads?' Lisa looked up from her notebook, surprised.
'No, not tonight.'
'Okay, then, why not?' She smiled at him. 'Just let me go and get ready.'
'Now don't be all day up there,' Ger groaned, 'it's just the local we're going to.'
'Five minutes,' she called over her shoulder and headed for the stairs. Up in her bathroom she quickly applied some eye-shadow, mascara and lipstick, combed her hair and went into her bedroom to ransack her wardrobe. After dismissing a number of outfits as 'too much' or 'too tight' – there were an increasing number of the latter and she blamed Dee's food – she chose a silky-blue top and her most flattering jeans. They were extra long and with her highest boots she looked almost slim. She called them her Lauren jeans because when she wore them she didn't feel quite as enormous when she was standing beside her tiny friend.
When she went back downstairs, Ger eyed her up and down. 'You look nice,' he mumbled.
Lisa nearly fell over. His usual greeting would have been 'What took you so long?'
'Shall we go?' he was saying now, holding the door open for her.
Lisa blinked. Ger had obviously been abducted by aliens but she quite liked his replacement. Either that or he was in trouble or had some bad news to impart; much more likely, she thought resignedly. Still, at least it would be done over a Bacardi and diet Coke.
When they arrived in the pub, Sheila and her husband Matthew were at a table in the corner.
'Do you want to join them?' Ger asked as Lisa waved to them and then looked around for another table.
'You want to sit with my friends?' She eyed him suspiciously.
He shrugged. 'I don't mind, he's a nice enough bloke.'
'Yes, still, they look a bit cosy, maybe they'd prefer to be alone.' She knew in her heart that Sheila didn't particularly like Ger and there was always an awkward atmosphere when they were together. 'Let's sit at the bar.'
'Sure, if you like.' Ger held out a stool for her and then turned to the barman to order.
Lisa watched in stunned silence. Ger had told her the burned sausages and mash had been lovely, then he'd held the door for her, pulled out her chair, and now he was ordering a drink without the usual prevarication, allowing her time to rummage in her bag for her purse. 'Is everything okay, Ger?' she asked when they had been served.
'Fine, why?'
'You just don't seem yourself tonight,' she said tactfully.
He sighed. 'I suppose I'm not.'
'What's wrong?' she prompted. 'Is there a problem at work?' Ger hardly ever talked about what went on at the office other than to tell her that he was surrounded by idiots and definitely underpaid.
'In a way.' He shot her a nervous look. 'I think I'm in a bit of a rut, Lisa.'
'Oh?'
'I'm thirty next June and I feel as if my life is going nowhere.'
'Oh, I wouldn't say that. You have a successful job, a house,' she playfully punched him in the arm, 'me.'
He didn't return her smile. 'Lisa, we need to talk.'
Again, she stared at him. Whoever heard of a man uttering those four words, especially a man like Ger? 'Well, that's what we're doing, right?'
'I think I need a break,' he blurted out.
'Well, I'd need to wait until Yvonne has settled in but that shouldn't be a problem. Somewhere in the sun, or do you fancy your chances on the piste?'
He looked at her solemnly. 'Not that kind of break.'
Some of Lisa's drink went down the wrong way and she got a coughing fit.
'Are you okay?' he asked, banging her enthusiastically on the back.
'Fine, fine,' she gasped, warding him off. 'Are you telling me you want to break up with me, Ger, is that it?'
'It's not that I want to, Lisa, but I think I should. I don't think we're going anywhere and it's wrong of me to hold on to you when you could find happiness with another man.'
'Have you been reading those self-help books again?'
'Lisa, I'm trying to be serious here.'
'Sorry.'
He frowned. 'Do you understand what I'm saying, Lisa?'
'I'm not totally thick, Ger, of course I realize what you're saying. I'm just a bit confused as to why. We're getting along fine, aren't we?'
He scratched his ear and coughed nervously. 'Like I said, with thirty approaching I'm re-evaluating my life.'
'Oh, please,' she laughed, 'you're not on
Oprah,
just give it to me straight. Is there someone else?'
He hesitated for a second and then nodded.
Lisa stared. When she'd asked the question she hadn't dreamed that the answer would be yes. 'Who is she?' she demanded, through gritted teeth. 'It's not skinny Sally from accounts, is it?'
'No!' He looked shocked. 'She's only twenty, I'm not a cradle-snatcher!'
'Then who?' Lisa persisted. 'I have a right to know.'
'It's Esther,' he said, a sloppy smile creeping on to his face.
Lisa stared at him. 'Esther, with the bottle-lens glasses? You're kidding me, she must be fifty!'
'She's only thirty-nine and she's a very nice person. Looks aren't everything, you know,' he added piously.
'You've spent nearly all of our time together having a go at me about my weight or my hair or my clothes; I was never good enough for you.' Lisa blinked back tears.
He winced slightly. 'Yes, I realize I haven't been exactly kind to you and I'm sorry about that. Esther has made me see that you have to look inside someone, not be distracted by the packaging. She says that people are too cruel to each other by far and that there would be a lot less strife in the world if we all tried to be kinder to each other.'
'Esther's got quite a lot to say, hasn't she?' Lisa said bitterly, wondering if they could really be having this conversation. She felt as if she was in the middle of a bad soap opera.
He smiled. 'No, she's actually very quiet and shy; she's quite a restful person to be around.'
'Unlike me, you mean?' Ger seemed completely oblivious to the hurt he was causing.
'No, no, Lisa, please don't think I'm making comparisons. You're a lovely lady and I hope you find your soul-mate, I really do. You deserve only the best.'
Lisa stood up and glared down at him. 'Finally you've said something I agree with.'
'Where are you going? You haven't even finished your drink yet.'
Lisa picked up her glass and drained the contents. 'There. Goodnight, Ger. Have a nice life.'
'Oh, but Lisa, what about my stuff at your place—'
'It will be in a bag on the doorstep first thing in the morning.'
'There's really no need to be like this,' he sniffed. 'I'm sure we can both still behave like adults.'
'That's where you're wrong.'
'Well, if that's the way you want it.' He shrugged sadly. 'Take care of yourself, Lisa, be happy.'
'I intend to be, Ger, I intend to be.' And turning on her heel, she marched back through the pub and out into the night air. She just hoped that no one had seen the tears rolling down her cheeks.
Ten minutes later Dee opened the door to find her best friend on the doorstep.
'If Conor's here I'll go,' she said straight away.
'He isn't,' Dee said pulling her inside. 'What on earth are you doing here at this hour of the night?'
'I was in the pub,' Lisa told her.
'Want a coffee?' Dee asked, leading her towards the kitchen.
'Only if you don't have alcohol.'
Dee grinned. 'Will wine do?'
'If there's nothing stronger,' Lisa acquiesced gruffly.
'There isn't, and I'm afraid I have no idea what this wine is like; it's a bottle left over from Christmas.'
'If it's alcoholic it will do.'
'Would it be fair to say this has something to do with Ger?' Dee asked as she opened the wine and poured it into two glasses.
'It would.' Lisa snatched a glass from her and emptied half of it.
Dee filled it up again and watched as her friend took another gulp. 'Let's sit down and you can tell me all about it.'
Lisa flopped down on the sofa, her glass shaking precariously. 'That won't take long; he dumped me.' And she burst into tears.
Dee immediately sat down and put her arms around Lisa. 'I don't believe it!'
'It's true,' Lisa sobbed.
'He's a fool.'
'Yes,' Lisa agreed and took a drink, her tears dripping into her glass.
'I just can't believe it,' Dee said again.
'It came as a bit of a shock to me too,' Lisa said before glugging down more wine.
'Did he tell you why?'
Lisa looked up, her eyes brimming with tears again. 'He's found his soul-mate.'
Dee was incredulous. 'He's been cheating on you?'
Lisa shook her head. 'No, at least, I don't think so. He's fallen for this woman at work and honestly, Dee, I look better than her on my worst day.'
'Well of course you do,' Dee said, patting her hand.
'No, Dee, I really mean it. She looks about fifty. He says she's only thirty-nine but that's bullshit – her hair is all straggly with grey bits, she wears these milk-bottle lens glasses and get this,' Lisa's voice was shaking with emotion, 'she's at the very least a size eighteen.'
'No!'
'Yes!' Lisa nodded furiously.
'But Ger always hated it when you put on even a few pounds.'
'Exactly!' Lisa banged the coffee table with the palm of her hand and this time slopped wine on her jeans and the sofa. 'Oh, now look what I've done!'
'It doesn't matter, Lisa,' Dee said pushing a tissue into her hand and going to fetch some kitchen roll. When she returned Lisa was dabbing at the stains with her tissue. 'The tissue was for you,' Dee said, gently taking the sodden tissue off her and pressing a piece of kitchen roll into her hand instead. Taking another piece, she quickly soaked up the wine and then refilled Lisa's glass. 'Good job it was white, eh? It would be a shame to ruin those jeans.'
Lisa sniffed. 'He even told me I looked good. I should have known straight away there was something up. He was nice all evening. Sheila and Matthew were in the pub and he even suggested we sit with them.'
'He didn't!'
'I know, like I said, I should have known he was up to something.'
Dee frowned. 'He mustn't have been planning to tell you tonight if lie wanted to sit with them.'
'Oh, he did, the spineless git was just putting it off. And then he starts all this "you're a lovely person, Lisa, I hope you find someone too" crap.'
'I can't believe this.' Dee shook her head in wonder. 'Has he found God or something?'
'No, he's found Esther,' Lisa said bitterly and burst into tears again.
Dee held her as she cried and then ran to get more tissues and the wine bottle.
'You know, maybe it's not such a bad thing,' she said tentatively after Lisa had calmed down again. 'I'm not saying you didn't care about Ger but maybe you were more in love with love than you were with him.'
Lisa rolled her eyes. 'You're as bad as him now with all this amateur analysis.'
Dee grinned. 'You do it to me often enough.'
'Ah, but I know what I'm talking about,' Lisa shot back.
'Maybe you and Esther have something in common after all. No, forget I said that,' she said hurriedly when she saw Lisa's face. 'What are you going to do now?'
Lisa shrugged. 'What can I do?'
'Go on the hunt for a replacement?' Dee suggested.
'Absolutely not! No, I'm taking a break from men for a while.' She sat up straighter. 'I'm going to put all my efforts into Happy Days and make it the best crèche in Banford.'
'It already is.'
'Then in North County Dublin,' Lisa said firmly. 'I mean it, Dee. I've got a real buzz out of making all these new changes and I've still got lots of ideas.'
Dee smiled. 'I know you have, I think you're great.'
Lisa nodded her thanks. 'Yvonne will work out fine, I'm sure of that but I really need at least one more girl.'
'Person,' Dee corrected.
'Girl.' Lisa was adamant. 'The only men allowed on the premises are the fathers.'
Dee laughed.
'But we have to sort you out too,' Lisa continued, a determined look in her eye.
'Why do I need sorting out?'
'Because you're burying your head in the sand.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
Lisa looked her straight in the eye. 'Dee, you don't want to take on a cook, do you?'
'I wouldn't say that but it's very hard to find the right—'
'Dee?'
'Okay, okay, I'm not keen on the idea but I don't have a lot of choice, do I?'
'We all have choices,' Lisa said with a sigh, her eyes filling up again.
'Oh, Lisa!'
'I'm fine, I'm fine. We're talking about you now. We just have to figure out what your choices are.'
'When you come up with an answer let me know,' Dee murmured.
Lisa scowled. 'I wish you'd take me seriously, Dee, I'm trying to help you here, despite the pain I'm in.'
'Sorry.'
'Look, you still have this old house to maintain and your television contract is only for twelve shows, isn't it?'
Dee nodded. 'Yes, but I have a better income now thanks to Seven TV and you.'
'That will soon be gobbled up with gas, electricity and food bills not to mention your health insurance.'
'Oh, cheer me up, why don't you,' Dee groaned.
'I'm just being realistic, you must think about the future. You might want to send Sam to private school one day and, according to my brother, that costs a bloody fortune.'