23

A very intense meeting with the Newmans followed swiftly on the heels of the excitement generated by Dorothy’s virgin voyage in the chopper. She was feeling almost lightheaded on the way to Howth, and arrived just in time to witness Jake bellowing at some poor unfortunate subordinate. This display of temper brought her down to earth pretty rapidly, and forcible reminded her how seriously her project was being taken by the men in her employ.

She stopped daydreaming of helicopters and aerial views and knuckled down to the business on hand. Seeing she was keen to get going, the senior staff immediately huddled around her and began to discuss the issues of the week.

The master suite had been something of a bugbear in the early days, and it had been a challenge for Saul to reconcile himself to all of his client’s ideas. Firstly, Dorothy rejected virtually all of his original ideas for the proposed en-suite. Secondly, she insisted upon the installation of a full-length body dryer, which inevitably resulted in a complete rethink of the space.

Neither was Saul’s client especially enamoured of Anna Sadler’s notions of an appropriate bath. This proposed sunken monstrosity was to have been circular in design and constructed of black marble. As the advent of the body dryer rendered the beast of a tub somewhat impractical, the idea for it was swiftly abandoned.

Dorothy liked the spacious, hexagonal shaped, stand-alone shower cubicle, although she asked Saul to remove the UV panels because she wanted a full solarium installed in the basement instead.

Nor did she like the idea of a simple yet powerful shower. Dorothy had zero interest in simple. She wanted a minimum of six jets, and preferably eight. She wanted mood lighting. She wanted steam. She wanted complicated. She also insisted on having one washbasin, her toilet and a bidet walled off from the rest of the bathroom, since this was better Feng Shui.

Fortunately, the walk-in wardrobe and dressing room connected to the master bathroom caused little or no controversy, but sadly for all parties, the second bathroom did. While they perfectly appreciated the need for a His dressing room and combined wardrobe, neither Saul, nor Jake, nor Paul the master plumber, nor Lauren the quantity surveyor, nor Ryanna, could comprehend why the master suite required two bathrooms, one His and one Hers.

They claimed it would reduce the floor space, and result in an uneven feel to the suite because the size of the Hers square footage would vastly outweigh the size of the His. It was unnecessary, they insisted, especially as that particular corner would be ideally suited to the meditation room their client so desperately wanted.

In the event a second one was occasionally required, there would be a generously proportioned family bathroom situated only metres along the landing. Be reasonable, they pleaded. She was the one who wanted an eight-foot wide bed, not to mention a table and chairs, two bookcases, a dressing table, two bedside cabinets, a storage area, two sofas with accompanying coffee table, a reading corner with armchairs and lamp, and an extra-large treadmill any athlete would be proud to possess.

As her bathroom would be enormous, and the fixtures and fittings would be of the finest quality and ridiculously expensive, surely it would make more sense to have one spectacular room which both parties could enjoy. This would have the added advantage of freeing up the space in what remained of the suite.

Under pressure to capitulate to their wishes, Dorothy reluctantly admitted to the team that she had never had a problem sharing a bathroom when she was younger, but since her Victor days, now had an almost phobic dislike of it.

‘What has this to do with Rain Man, Boss?’ demanded an exasperated Saul. ‘Did he throw his towels on the floor and expect you to pick them up or what?’

‘No,’ she replied reservedly, ‘but he spent a lot of time in the bathroom, and I don’t feel comfortable with the idea of sharing one again. I know I’m single now, and I may be single for a long time, possibly even forever, but I’d rather not take any chances. I need the two bathrooms. His doesn’t need a bath. I only want the basics in there and a powerful shower. Oh, and better not forget a really good shaving light.’

Saul and Jake exchanged a look. At least she was not asking for an Arabian Nights type layout. The fella, whoever he ended up being, would only be getting the essentials. The fixtures might be the best that money could buy, but nonetheless he would have a very low key setup compared to the boss with her twenty-jet sunken double jacuzzi tub, her eight-jet steam shower with mood lighting and remote control, her full-body dryer and three basins. They were inclined to feel a little sorry for the fella, and they hadn’t even met him yet.

‘How come he spent so much time in the jacks, Boss?’ Jake wanted to know. ‘Was he a desperate lad for the porno mags or what?’ The foreman ran his hand through his grey hair as he asked the question, and regarded her with birdlike eyes from a lined face that been abused by every element over a thirty-five year span in the construction business.

‘Victor preferred his porn on digital platforms. He was never a great reader at the best of times,’ Dorothy replied calmly, doing her utmost to sound dignified.

‘What was it, then? Did he love nothing more than taking a long hot bubble bath while sipping a glass of vino and listening to music?’ The foreman was not giving up and shifted on his bowed legs like a boxer.

‘No, Jake, nothing like that.’ Dorothy looked him firmly in the eye. ‘He spent a lot of time in there because he used to take a crap three times a day, which by my calculations is twenty-one times a week. The nutritionist at Champneys told me that’s a sign of optimum bowel health, but you can take it from me it does nothing for the health of a relationship.

‘That sort of activity can become quite wearing after a while, even in the most loving relationship. Which ours was not. At least not after we started living together it wasn’t. It was fine while we were dating of course. You really only register those sorts of things after you start sharing a home with another person. Ah well! They say if you truly want to know somebody, then live with them, don’t they?’

After that little discussion, there were no further arguments regarding the His shower room. As per Dorothy’s insistence, its toilet and basin were encircled by a glass brick wall which added an air of glamour to the space. There was a functional yet extremely powerful shower encased in a simple yet generously proportioned enclosure, in case the future Mr Dorothy (as he had become known) should happen to have broad shoulders. There was also a heated towel rail and a built-in laundry hamper made of stainless steel and glass, which was designed to encourage Mr Dorothy not to throw his wet towels and dirty clothes on the floor.

Finally, there was a second basin with an enormous mirror over it surrounded by powerful, Hollywood-style light bulbs. There was zero chance the man in question would be missing any parts of his face when he shaved. In some ways, Jake and Saul felt they had gotten off lightly with the shower room, and privately resolved never to raise the subject of separate bathrooms again. As soon as the new layouts had been agreed, Ryanna also heaved a sigh of relief and drew her client’s attention to other matters.

Dorothy was more than happy to leave the subject of bathrooms well and truly alone, and enthusiastically allowed herself to be drawn into a discussion about flooring. She was attracted to the idea of slate tiles because they were prevalent at Otter, but Ryanna did not feel this would enhance the look of the palace. Just because she wanted to bring the feel of the outdoors inside, did not mean slate would be appropriate in what was, after all, a rock-star pad. The designer was in favour of an extensive amount of inlaid marble flooring.

When the notion was first mooted, Dorothy found the idea of so much marble positively shocking. The entrance hall would be enormous, and would be the home of the spectacular floating staircase. In addition to the lift, almost every room on the ground floor would lead off the hall, and this space would be what created the first impression. In Dorothy’s opinion, hardwood flooring in this area would be warm and welcoming. Ryanna thought otherwise.

More specifically, she wanted to hire an Italian company to design the reception rooms as well as the master suite. Instead of plain ivory, these areas would have ornate patterns which would truly have the wow factor. Dorothy felt this was a step too far. When Ryanna got out her iPad and showed her client a photo gallery of what was achievable, it was difficult not to be impressed. She was immediately drawn to the idea of a zebra pattern in her master suite bathroom, with a matching border around her bedroom.

She was not sure if a pattern would be appropriate in the enormous entrance hall, since it would be what greeted visitors as they entered the house. She was worried if they overdid it, the front hallway would end up looking more like the lobby of a hotel.

Having already anticipated this reaction, Ryanna suggested the pattern could be limited to the central section. There would be no need to clutter the entire space because they could carefully pick and choose how much or how little was required. Dorothy hesitantly agreed the idea had merit, and might possibly work with the benefit of sufficient forethought.

Ryanna then played a blinder by showing her a number of illustrations from the Book of Kells, and suggesting they could be used as a basis for the design. After two minutes spent in admiration of the knotwork motifs, the decorative borders, and spiral designs, Dorothy was hooked. She agreed to the drawing room, dining room, kitchen and hallway being made over by the Italian specialists at huge cost.

She also changed her mind about the zebra pattern for her own bedroom. She said she might as well stay with the aesthetic theme and go with a few mythical beasts or ornate birds instead. Ryanna was thrilled to have so easily won her case, although she made Dorothy happy by saying she was not in favour of marble for the top floor. As this was destined to become a three-bedroom penthouse apartment, equipped with full kitchen and drawing room, it would be better suited to hardwood flooring which would be more homely.

On Saul’s original plans, this floor had been designed as an entertainment area for a growing family, complete with games room. Dorothy decided to keep it as an apartment for the twins, in the event they should begin to spend more time at home. She acknowledged how unlikely this was to happen. The time had come and gone when the twins were likely to return to the nest.

If they had expressed no desire to take up residence at Falcon, there was no reason to think they would want to live with her in Howth. That said, the apartment would be a lovely private space for guests. Dorothy had not given up hope that Simone and the boy-child would visit one day, and it would be the ideal spot for them to stay. It stood to reason Simone could not hide Charlie away forever.

Dorothy temporarily toyed with the idea of taking over the entire top floor for herself, but eventually ruled it out. She did not want to isolate herself too much from the rest of the house. It was possible if she had her own sitting room and kitchen, she might be tempted to never leave it. It would be better for her if she had to walk downstairs to fetch a cup of coffee.

The largest floor was the basement, but it too would be kitted out in hardwood, albeit with the exception of the reception area and gym which would have more practical porcelain tiles. The basement was the ideal spot for the cinema room since there was no need for it to have any ambient light, and therefore could be centrally located.

Saul showed her some images of the projector the engineers were recommending. He explained it would be suspended from the ceiling in the media room and linked into the home network.

‘Once the projector is linked to the server, you’ll be able to show anything you like in the media room,’ he told her earnestly. ‘If you have home movies or anything of that nature, they can all go on the server. It’s great for viewing photographs as well. If you set it running to slide show, you can sit there for hours and admire all the pics you’ve taken.’

The size of the screen had yet to be determined. Saul felt it would be better if the media engineers installed and tested the projector first, since big was not always best in these cases. Dorothy was used to the idea of projectors being used purely for business presentations, but was assured by everyone concerned that she would be delighted with the result that would be the home cinema. She sensed by Saul’s demeanour he was disappointed by her reaction to the room. It was not that she did not appreciate its functionality; it was just it was difficult to imagine herself using it.

If she wanted to watch a movie, all she had to do was switch on one of the two televisions destined to be installed in the forty-foot long drawing room. Even if she had ten friends with her, it was unlikely they would run out of space because the room would house five sofas and ten armchairs.

She resolved to invite the twins round to check out the cinema room once they returned from holiday. It very likely needed a young person’s prospective. Now all I need is a few people to fill all this space, she told herself, as she considered the latest choices before her by way of taps, mirrors and snooker tables.

The utility room was the cause of the next big discussion, with Dorothy insisting a large one was needed near the cellar. She was certain the one on the ground floor would not satisfy the needs of such a large establishment, especially as it shared its space with a shower and toilet, and would also have a rack for sports equipment and footwear. Saul refused to call it a utility room and insisted on referring to it as the boot room.

When he explained the function of the boot room, Dorothy tried to picture herself and Bel, clad in their Hunter wellies and Barbour jackets, taking off for the day with their shotguns and pointers. Naturally, they would return home in the evening, all set to demolish a large gin and tonic, flick through the latest edition of Tatler, and play a spot of snooker in the basement, having safely deposited their game (shot by their own fair hands) and their outdoor clothes in the boot room to hang or drip, or whatever was required.

Anna and Phil had asked the architect to include living accommodation in the basement. Due to the unexpected influx of the gym, these apartments were now modest at best. Dorothy could not imagine any self-respecting nanny or au-pair wanting to inhabit the so-called ‘staff quarters’.

These consisted of a single bedroom with a window and a combined wardrobe and chest of drawers. There was also a tiny shower room and a miniature kitchenette which was nothing more than a fridge built into a purpose-designed slot. In Dorothy’s opinion, the little room would make an ideal space for storing the Christmas decorations or the Louis Vuitton, and asked Ryanna to leave it unfurnished.

The designer had no fault to find with this plan because, as things stood, she would be hard pressed to complete the house by December. There were not enough hours in the day to work on the project. This was partly due to its size, and partly because she had four children which meant that, unlike her spouse, she was unable to put in a seventy-hour week.

By the time Saul drove Dorothy back to the helipad, a dozen major decisions had been reached and all parties were pleased with their day’s work. A self-congratulatory Dorothy called Eddie to let him know what time she would be landing. Then she bid goodbye to Saul and gladly returned to Kerry for her final week’s holiday. As promised, Eddie collected her from the hotel. As soon as he laid eyes on her, an expression of intense relief crossed his face. Did he think I was going to fall out of the chopper or something? Why are men so weird?

Dorothy showed the Loughnanes some photographs of the palace, and they marvelled at the extensive numbers of men working on the site. When she said they would have to come and visit as soon as it was finished, they suggested she might need time to settle in first, but assured her they would love to come for a few days the following summer.

She took this response to mean they were still reluctant to leave Otter for any length of time, and could not really fault them for that. They had been living in the van, as good as homeless, for over a year. It was clear the few months in which they had been settled had not yet been enough to make them feel secure. Elaine confided she still woke up in the night, convinced she could hear rats running around outside the van. This shocked Dorothy to the core, and she was quick to reassure the other woman there was no rush to visit her in Dublin.

She also invited them to use the villa in Mallorca. Despite their protests, she asked Orla to email the most up-to-date list of what weeks were still available. As Orla was not merely the looker of the family, but also the organised one, the spreadsheet arrived within five minutes and Dorothy opened it up on her laptop.

‘I don’t feel comfortable about leaving Otter for a full week,’ Eddie said stubbornly. ‘It’s a prime target for burglars. What if something happened and we were thousands of miles away?’

Dorothy was not fooled by this objection and had a prospective solution at the ready. ‘I know a man who might be interested in staying for a week,’ she told them. ‘If I get him to agree to cover for you, will you at least consider the villa? You really need a break.’

After exchanging a look, the couple nodded reluctantly. Before they could change their minds, Dorothy scribbled a note to Horace and asked Eddie to take it to the post office in time for the last post. When he asked her why she did not just call her friend, she explained that Horace had never owned a phone. Eddie was both startled and amused by this, but obligingly set off with the letter.

The next day, it was Dorothy who was shocked when her phone rang and she heard Horace’s voice on the other end. ‘I got your number from Amanda,’ he explained. ‘I gave in and purchased a phone last week. It does those text things as well, although I haven’t learned how to work that part yet. May I really come and stay at Otter? It looks fabulous. Will Trotsky be welcome? I don’t mind staying for two weeks, if your friends would like to take a longer holiday.’

When Dorothy reported back that Horace was only too happy to take care of the place in their absence, the Loughnanes agreed a week in the sun might be fun, and even began to look a little excited at the prospect. Dorothy bullied them into choosing the one week still available in October. Then she texted Orla with the details before they could change their minds.

Ten minutes later, a message arrived from her sister which read: The Peanut Pool Gang welcomes the Loughnanes to their club. Your week is booked. Hello from all the Lyle clan, and thanks for taking such good care of our rich sis. We look forward to meeting you when you come to Dublin. Don’t leave it too long. We hear Eddie can really cook.

‘They’re so nice,’ Elaine breathed, and even Eddie looked impressed.

‘Don’t be fooled,’ Dorothy told them acerbically, ‘wait until I tell you what they said to me the last time I gave them a few quid.’

She then regaled them with the tale of bringing the envelopes to her sister’s house, and how she had been blamed for all their woes, and the Loughnanes leaned against each other for support because they laughed so much. Dorothy left them to their mirth and went to call Horace to let him know his holiday to Kerry was a go. He was disappointed to hear the sojourn would only last a week, but assured her he was looking forward to it. He also urged her to focus on the house and not worry about Otter.

She smiled as she disconnected. He sounded genuinely excited at the prospect of leaving Wicklow and spending a week in a strange house. This was a strong indication he was feeling better about things in general. The fact he had purchased a phone showed great promise. Was it possible Hairy Horace had decided to put the past behind him and make a new life for himself? For everybody’s sake, she sincerely hoped this was the case.

Still thinking about her old neighbour, Dorothy went looking for a suitable bottle of wine. She found the perfect one, but before she could locate the corkscrew, her phone rang. It was Rhona Sinclair, who she had only seen twice since first encountering her in the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre back in February.

Rhona was calling to say she would be able to join Dorothy for the two weeks at the villa in Spain, providing she was still invited. Dorothy was thrilled with the news, and asked the other woman if she had a boyfriend she would like to bring along. She was secretly pleased when Rhona snorted in response. She said men were in short supply in her life at that time, although she was sure God would send her somebody when the moment was right.

After Dorothy finished chatting to Rhona, she sent a group text to Jamie, Jerome, Patrick, Helen and Amanda, to remind them of the dates for the holiday, and let them know Rhona would be joining the party. On impulse, she sent a private message to Patrick. She told him if he was seeing somebody, it would be fine to bring the chap along since there would be room on the jet for an extra couple of bodies. To her surprise, her tutor replied with a sad face emoji.

His message said he had been involved with a lovely guy called Jasper, but had recently been traded in for a younger model. He promised to tell her all about it when he was good and drunk in Spain. Naturally enough, Dorothy felt sad for Patrick, but not especially surprised.

At the end of the day, it was a known fact that young gay men were not, as a general rule, attracted to older gay men. Just as straight men of any age were not attracted to women over the age of forty. It was just the way life was.

Feeling pleased with her organisational skills, Dorothy returned to her hot tubbing and lazing around. She also took the decision to spend more time than she usually would meditating in her purpose-designed room on the ground floor. She had attended a meditation course many years earlier and been an apt student.

There had been times, especially since her life had changed beyond all recognition, when she found it hard to clear her mind of distractions and simply be. Truth be told, there had been moments in the early days when she had been privy to some frightening images while her mind was cleared of all thought, and the memory of this made her wary.

As the clairs had been so strong in recent months, there was a part of Dorothy that feared she would be subjected to crazy visions if she began to meditate in earnest. However, her worries turned out to be fruitless. She certainly got glimpses of things while her mind was free of all its worries, but these were benign. Indeed, most of them were to do with interior design or ideas for birthday presents for her friends.

She was pleased to discover it was much easier to meditate at Otter than at Falcon, but did not know if this was due to the noise levels in Dublin, or because of her own mindset. After a few days, she concluded she found it easier when she was in close proximity to the water.

At the end of August 2011, Dorothy left Otter and returned to Dublin. She felt regenerated, and had successfully put the madness of the preceding eight months behind her. Even though some aspects of being wealthy had come as rather a shock, she was certain she now had it all in perspective.

She had not been especially looking forward to her fortnight stay in Mallorca, but now accepted she had merely been tired and a little low for no good reason. The newly-energised Dorothy could not wait to see her friends, and was especially looking forward to catching up with Rhona. Her main regret was that Amy and Donal were unable to leave the holiday lets since it was still high season, and Viv had to get back to the shop.

Even if she could get away from the business, she would not leave Yvonne motherless so she could take off on a jolly to Spain, especially as the girl was all set to start her first term at secondary school. Dorothy resigned herself to a two-week holiday without the presence of any of her oldest friends. Be grateful you’ve made a few new ones, woman, and stop whining.

When Dorothy waved goodbye to Eddie and Elaine, she was a happy woman. She was grateful for the peace, time and space she had been granted, and was prepared for the next phase of her life. She felt ready and able to deal with just about anything the universe could throw at her.

Months later, she told the Loughnanes if she had had an inkling of what terrors and heartbreak awaited her, she would have been sorely tempted to remain at Otter and abandon her life in Dublin. Sadly, she had no suspicion of the horrors that lay in store, and luckily for her sanity, remained in blissful ignorance of the endurance test that awaited her.