Two Days in Biarritz (45 page)

“Don’t forget the three nights!” Rachel said buoyantly. Secretly she was worried sick. The thought of Derek at home on his own with the children sent shivers up her spine. How were they going to manage? But everyone agreed that she deserved this break badly – everyone except Derek of course. And then there was the other worry . . .

Nicky recognised the glassy expression on Rachel’s face and shook her head.

“Don’t go all funny on me now – you know you want to go – you jumped at the idea of visiting
New York when I told you about the cheap flights!”

Rachel smiled nervously. Yes, she would miss the kids but that wasn’t the real reason why she was feeling apprehensive. Her mobile phone could ring at any moment and, although she wanted it to, she didn’t relish having to explain the conversation to Nicky if it did happen.

Rachel knew her friend would be furious if she knew what she had done but the feud between Nicky and Eve had gone on for long enough and a reunion was well overdue. It was great having Nicky back in her life for the last five years and this was a golden opportunity to bring the three of them together – wasn’t it?

The registrar in Trinity College Dublin had been surprisingly helpful when she rang earlier in the week and the list of alumni far more comprehensive than she’d expected. The registrar said there was talk of a fifteen-year reunion of the English faculty as they had failed to organise one at ten-years – this was more than likely due to the fact that they were the last of a student brain drain that had steadily dribbled out of
Ireland after graduation during the later decades of the twentieth century.

The
Just for Coffee
company was easy to find on Google and she sent the emailed message for Eve’s attention, unsure if she had changed her surname. It was as light-hearted as she could make it – surely she would answer? The rift between Eve and Nicky should be all water under the bridge by now.

As she took a sip of her ice-cold wine she felt a shot of relief. “I’m fine,” she said with a smile – hoping that Eve would ring but not yet. “We deserve this!”

Nicky lifted her glass and took another sip from the frosty rim. Something inside told her she shouldn’t entirely believe her friend. But, if anyone had a right to be nervous, she herself had! After all, her son was staying with a friend – not even family. She envied Rachel’s stable marriage with her husband for the last thirteen years – while she herself had staggered from one disastrous relationship to the next.

Nicky sat up straight in her chair and blinked. She craved a cigarette – especially with a cold glass of wine in her hands. How was she going to get through the long flight to JFK? Then she remembered her nicotine patch – she had to put it on.

“Let’s go through Immigration soon!” Rachel said.

Nicky nodded. The sooner she was on the big green airbus the better.

“I just need to go to the little girl’s room for a minute,” she said. How she wished that Rachel smoked too – maybe then she would understand how difficult this smoke-free flight was going to be. No cigarettes and all kinds of nightmare scenarios to conjure up about Daniel. There was only one thing to do when she boarded the big green airbus and that was drink some more.

* * *

Eve breezed through the doors of 1680 Broadway, swinging her super-light briefcase in her right hand. It felt great to be back in New York. Her last visit had been disastrous but she made sure this time that she came to the
Just for Coffee
offices in a cab.

“Morning, Arthur,” she said to the doorman who permanently sat at the desk of the
Howards Building.

Arthur nodded his head respectfully at the tall red-haired lady in the sharp grey designer  suit. She didn’t usually come to the offices more than twice a year but he knew who she was. Something must be up for her to visit again so soon.

“Mawnin’, Miz Pawtah,” he replied with his slow southern drawl. “How you been?”

“Fine, thank you.”

Eve couldn’t comprehend how someone could spend most of their waking hours sitting at a desk watching the world go by through glass doors, especially a world as exciting and invigorating as New York. She imagined this poor man skulking onto the subway back to Queens in the evening, having done nothing all day but watch and wait for those who had a real life to pass him by.

Eve made her way to the lift and put her perfectly manicured fingernail on the button embossed with the number twenty-three. From that level Lucille Baron’s office had a spectacular view of mid-town that was a testimony to the success of the
Just for Coffee
franchise. In eight short years Lucille had built the business from scratch to one of the world’s leading dating agencies.

It wasn’t a typical dating agency where man meets woman and goes for dinner or to a show. The clients on the
Just for Coffee
database were all high-flying business people who were much too busy to waste a whole evening getting to know someone and far too sophisticated and intellectual to delve into the world of speed dating.
Just for Coffee
suited a lot of business people who could fit in an hour over lunch or in the afternoons during their heavy schedule. The hard work was put in by Lucille and her staff to ensure that the matches were made between equally successful and well-heeled individuals. They had even been involved in getting certain celebrities together but were such a professional organisation that no trace of the events would ever be leaked to the press.

Eve walked up to Lucille’s secretary and the young girl sat upright in her seat. Eve had this effect on the junior members of the company – she carried an air of superiority and aloofness that made them uncomfortable.

“Hello, Ms Porter, how are you?” The secretary smiled as she searched her desk for a sheet of paper. She passed it to Eve. “This came in yesterday and I thought I should give it to you in person as you would be in the office today. I wasn’t sure if it was a genuine email or spam.”

Eve nodded at her and started to read the sheet of paper as she strolled over to the door of Lucille’s office. The message was sent by
[email protected]
.
Subject: Reunion.

It was a shock for Eve. Rachel was a genuine type of girl – but why on earth would she contact her? She wondered where Rachel learned that she worked for
Just for Coffee
– she mustn’t know that she had moved or she would have sent the email to the London office. She read the opening lines which informed her that Rachel would be in New York for the weekend and included her mobile phone number in case Eve wanted to meet up. A torrent of old memories started to flood her mind and drag her into the last century. But she had an important new client to meet on this trip and really didn’t have the time. She didn’t know whether she would respond or not.

The door swung open when she was only a few centimetres away from it. The woman at the other side was in her early forties and perfectly groomed with poker-straight blonde hair – she beamed at her partner with a dazzling white set of teeth.

Eve leaned forward and kissed Lucille – first on her right cheek and then on her left.

“Eve, baby, it’s so good to see you!”

Lucille’s blue eyes sparkled like diamonds. She had a captivating effect on everyone she spoke to but Eve wasn’t taken in by all the gloss and panache of her business colleague.

“Wonderful to see you too, Lucille,” she said, giving the ubiquitous air-kiss on each of Lucille’s cheeks.

She folded the email and slipped it into her handbag as she took a seat at Lucille’s desk. The stunning view of the top of the Chrysler building and the rest of Manhattan shifted her focus and steadied her nerves.

“Things must be very good if you’re calling me back to
New York so quickly!”

“Darling, things are fantastic. The
London office is thriving in your capable hands but this particular client that I want you to meet today needs special attention and I could only trust you to look after him properly.”

Lucille sat down and took out a brown file from a concealed drawer in her desk. The folder bulged with paperwork and made Eve curious about its contents.

“I’ve booked him into the Soho Grand so you can keep an eye on him and he does most of his business downtown so that suits. When I tell you his details you will understand why I needed you to see his file in person. I understand your reservations in dealing with Irish clients but you’re the best person to handle this guy – he is real important and he wanted to deal with us through our London office.”

Eve was intrigued but didn’t want to show it by reacting too strongly.

Lucille opened the file with the reverence of a preacher about to make a sermon. She lifted the first page and cleared her throat.

“I’m really excited about this,” she said. “It’s rare that we get one of the most powerful men in
Ireland as a client – even tough he is officially retired he will never stop working.”

Eve didn’t often see Lucille so excited. “Is he extremely wealthy?” she asked.

“Absolutely, and he is so well connected he could open all sorts of doors for
Just for Coffee
! He isn’t officially divorced but has been separated for years. His ex-wife has a new partner and he has two daughters – both grown up and successful in their own right.”

Eve usually kept abreast of Irish news from
The Irish Times
on the internet. This man sounded familiar. “Is he looking for a permanent partner or discreet sex with someone who isn’t likely to spill the beans?”

“Not sure but he’s much too powerful to want his dealings with us spread all over the tabloids. He held the stopwatch for the Celtic Tiger in his hands for years.”

“Go on then – tell me who he is – I know you’re dying to.”

Lucille grinned. She didn’t often get a reaction like this from Eve. “Our new client is . . .”

A loud knock sounded on the door and Lucille’s secretary appeared.

“Excuse me for interrupting, Ms Baron, but your client is here.”

Eve sat up straight in her seat. Who could be coming all the way from Ireland, looking to
Just for Coffee
to find a partner?

* * *

“Hi, Conor, we’re here!” Rachel giggled down the phone excitedly. She longed to see her brother so much. It had been three years since he had last visited Ireland and she had only ever been to New York with Derek who hated the city.

“Hey, sis! It’s about time! Where are you?”

Rachel craned her neck and looked out of the window. “In the back of a yellow cab driving through Brooklyn. Will we go straight to the hotel?”

“That would be best – I’ll make my way there now. How was your flight?”

“Great – no problems. Nicky drank Aer Lingus out of baby bottles of champagne and slept for the guts of three hours so it all went well!”

Nicky mock-glared over at her friend but couldn’t stop a big grin from creeping out.

“You should be here in about twenty minutes,” Conor calculated. “I can’t wait to see ya.”

“Me too – can’t believe I’m here at last – see you then!” Rachel flipped the cover of her phone shut. “Look over there – that’s what I told you about.”

Nicky turned to where Rachel was pointing through the front windscreen and stared at the New York skyline unfolding before her eyes. Thousands of cars resembling dinkies sped back and forth over the bridge. In the distance thousands more were flying by on the overpass. The massive skyscrapers were pulsating with life and down below in the Hudson River, ferries and water taxis went about their business.

“Wow!” she exclaimed.

Rachel looked on as Nicky’s eyes sparkled at the myriad architectural jewels before her.

“Nothing prepares you for your first sighting of the
Brooklyn Bridge, does it?”

Nicky’s mouth opened wide as the cab turned onto the massive suspension bridge.

“It’s beautiful,” Nicky gasped. “Look, there’s the Empire State – and, oh my god, it’s the Chrysler Building!”

Rachel smiled. She knew exactly how her friend was feeling. The first time Derek had brought her to
New York she felt the very same. It was the eve of their first wedding anniversary and was meant to be the trip of a lifetime. The Celtic Tiger hadn’t started to purr and the prospect of doing Christmas Shopping in the Big Apple was reserved for those with special concession flights or the rich and famous. The air at JFK was icy and sharp – unlike today. Christmas was everywhere in the city even though it was only the end of November. It should have been a wonderful trip but Rachel was in the first phase of pregnancy with her eldest child and suffering from morning sickness for ten hours a day. She couldn’t even go ice-skating at the Rockefeller Centre – it looked so magical with the massive Christmas tree and trumpeting angels providing the perfect backdrop – such a symbol of Christmas in New York! Derek blamed her for ruining the holiday – even though it was his decision to start a family so early in their marriage.

“This is fantastic,” Nicky said, looking over at her friend, unaware of the feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem that Rachel’s memories had reawoken.