Lucy stood at hatch 5, waiting her turn. Brian was behind it as usual.
He passed her the regulation unemployment benefit form that she had to sign and she passed it back to him.
‘You need to sign it,’ he reminded her, ‘otherwise you cannot go and collect your money.’
‘I’m signing off today.’ She grinned. ‘I’m coming off the dole. I’ve got a job.’
‘Oh! Where?’ he asked.
‘Selling T-shirts!’ she opened her denim jacket and let him see her ‘Busy Stargazing’ T-shirt.
‘My boyfriend and I make and sell these,’ she explained. ‘We’ve set up a T-shirt business!’
She could see straight away that Brian the dole official was interested.
‘That’s great, Lucy, really great. It’s fantastic to hear some good news in this office!’
‘I brought you a present.’ She reached into her bag and got out a large-size ‘Busy Queuing’ T-shirt with ‘hatch 5’ on it and gave it to him.
‘Hey.’ He laughed, looking at it and recognizing his hatch number. ‘That’s cool!’
‘We’ve sold quite a few already.’ She laughed. ‘They’re very popular, but I’m kind of glad that I won’t be queuing here any more!’
She met Finn afterwards, outside on the step. Both of them had signed off.
‘Coffee?’ He grinned as they made their way to the usual spot.
It was late, and Lucy looked at the screen of her laptop. She had butterflies in her stomach with nerves as she clicked on the link to their new website. Duggy and his friend Killian had done a great job, and she laughed as she looked at the photos of Finn and herself outside the dole office in their ‘Busy’ T-shirts. Then there were photos of them in the Temple Bar market selling them with Duggy in his ‘Busy’ T-shirt. There was also a funny section with the story of how ‘Busy’ T-shirts came into existence, and the inspiration behind the ‘Busy’ brand.
She checked out the page of designs with sizes and prices and the payment options. It looked really cool and edgy, and was easy to negotiate, which was important. There was a ‘follow us’ link to Twitter and a link to their Facebook page, and she couldn’t believe how many people had already uploaded photos of themselves wearing a ‘Busy’ T-shirt.
She recognized two or three of the bands she had sent T-shirts to, and couldn’t believe it, but they had actually worn them at gigs and when they were doing publicity shots. Maybe Duggy could do a link to the bands’ Myspace so fans could check out the music and the T-shirts!
Finn was busy on the other side of the room at the big kitchen table they had bought in IKEA. He’d had another idea and was sketching out a rough concept: ‘Busy Boarding’ with a guy jumping the waves on his surfboard!
She loved it.
‘Hey!’ he said, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her. ‘None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for you, Lucy.’ He touched her face with his finger. ‘You are the best thing that has ever happened to me … you are my lucky charm. My other half. My better half.’
‘And you’re mine.’ She felt exactly the same way about him, too. The minute they had moved in to the flat together it had felt like they were always meant to be together.
Suddenly he got up and disappeared into the bedroom. He came back a few seconds later, knelt down on the floor near her, and took her hand.
‘Lucy, I hope it’s not too soon, but I really love you, and I want to ask you something really important: will you marry me?’
Lucy flung her arms around him, the two of them falling in a heap on the rug on the wooden floor.
‘Of course I’ll marry you, Finn,’ she said, burying her face in his chest, trying not to let tears of sheer happiness engulf her. ‘I love you so much.’ She gulped and sniffed as Finn gave her the ring.
It was small and perfect – a simple diamond on a slim platinum band – and it fitted her finger perfectly.
‘Finn McEvoy, we’re broke! You know we don’t have the money to buy a ring,’ she protested, shushed by his lips kissing her, his hands on her waist and hips.
It was only as she began to unbutton his shirt she noticed Finn’s new T-shirt. It was black and white, and showed a guy and a girl kissing, and the words: ‘Busy Loving You!’