Amy smiled at the text message on her phone. Matt had texted her twice or three times a day for the past four days. She read it, not bothering to reply. Two can play at that game! She grabbed the graphics that had been done for the new cough medicine. She liked them, but they had to pass Norah’s scrutiny before going to print.
She sipped some water before putting the folder together, and then got up and went into her boss’s office. Norah was busy on the phone, but gestured to her to sit down. Norah had been away last week in Gran Canaria for a bit of sunshine with her family, and looked tanned and relaxed. Amy listened as she dealt with a major client, wondering if she herself would ever get to have an office of her own and be the one to make the big decisions about campaigns.
‘Hey, that work is great!’ congratulated Norah, studying the green and pink graphics for the new peppermint-flavoured medicine. ‘The company should be really happy with that. It looks good, and gets the message across. I’m having lunch with the MD and their marketing people tomorrow, if you’d like to join us.’
‘Yes, please.’ Amy grinned. Getting invited to a client lunch was a massive pat on the back, as Norah usually grabbed all the glory herself and refrained from letting clients deal too much with junior minions.
‘Just between ourselves, Jerome Laboratories are thinking of launching a new range of over-the-counter vitamin products. It will be a huge spend and they’ll probably want to sound us out on it tomorrow. Maybe you can do a bit of research on it tonight, check out competitors, market share and pricing before we meet them in Harvey’s tomorrow.’
‘Sure.’ Amy smiled, trying to hide her annoyance that the night at the cinema she had planned with Jess and Tara to see the new Jennifer Aniston chick flick would have to be postponed.
‘Good. I’m glad that I can rely on you.’ Norah beamed, turning back to her computer.
Amy was just sitting back at her own desk when she got another text message.
Maybe it was Daniel! Disappointed, she realized it was only Matt. Matt, undaunted, was texting her again and again. How long could she keep this up, ignoring him and treating him like he’d once treated her? Why hadn’t Daniel phoned or texted her? He was the one she wanted to hear from. Turning back to work, she tossed her phone into her handbag.
She was working on her laptop at the kitchen table when Matt called again.
‘Don’t hang up on me, Amy,’ he pleaded. ‘I just want to talk to you.’
Saving her work, she gave in and found herself laughing as he told her of his visits to some of the old places they used to frequent.
‘Bewley’s is a bloody fancy pasta restaurant now!’ he complained. ‘You can’t get even a sticky bun or a slice of coffee cake there any more.’
‘Things change,’ she teased, ‘nothing stays the same; besides, they do a great spinach fettuccine and seafood tagliatelle there now.’
‘Then will you join me for a bite to eat there tomorrow?’ he begged. ‘And we can go for a drink after?’
She froze, wondering was she mad to be even speaking to him, let alone considering meeting him? He guessed her hesitation.
‘Come on, Amy, for old time’s sake,’ he cajoled. ‘We used to be best mates, you and I, or have you forgotten that?’
She hadn’t forgotten it, the friendship and the fun and the romantic whirlwind that ensued when she was with Matt. She remembered the minute they had met and started dating in college, and all the highs and lows of their relationship. She had missed him so much when he had gone to Australia, and had been bereft without him. She had started saving madly for the airfare to go and join him, until she’d discovered that she did not figure at all in his plans for his down-under odyssey! So she had been sensible, and listened to her mum and dad and Jess and the girls, and got a grip, and in time gotten over him.
That was ancient history because then, almost two years later, Daniel had come along, and she had realized what love really was. Matt wasn’t a patch on Daniel, but Matt was the one texting her now, and what was the harm of seeing him before he went back to Australia?
‘OK, OK,’ she gave in. ‘I’ll meet you.’
‘Are you gone mad?’ raved Jess when she told her. Jess had already bitten the head off her for going to Freddy’s with Matt the previous weekend.
‘Don’t you know what a conniving cheat he is? How do you know he’s divorced? I wouldn’t believe a word he says. He’s a charming bastard, and he’s probably left that poor wife of his back in Australia. Keep away from him, Amy. Don’t you think that you have enough on your plate without getting involved with him again?’
‘I’m not involved,’ she argued hotly. ‘Honestly, I’m not.’
Jess flounced out of the room and disappeared up to her bedroom.
Amy sighed to herself. Jess was the best in the world, but she was definitely beginning to feel that she was outstaying her welcome. She had to find somewhere of her own to live. Jess was smothering her.
‘Hey!’ Matt grinned, gesturing to her from a quiet table under the stained-glass windows near the back of Café Bar Deli.
Amy slid on to the seat across from him. The large noisy city-centre restaurant was busy. It was certainly not a place for a quiet intimate romantic dinner, but that was fine by her.
The waitress took their orders, and she giggled as Matt filled her in on his attempts to connect with old friends.
‘Do you remember DJ? He’s married to a dragon of a girl. They have two kids and he’s living in a shoebox of a house up in Sandyford. When I met him the other night he was literally crying into his pint.’
Poor girl! thought Amy, remembering what an obnoxious creep Matt’s friend had been, always full of his own importance and bragging about his job in IT.
They were easy with each other through dinner, and Amy relaxed. She remembered that Matt had always been good company, as he regaled her with stories about Australia.
‘I’ve told you loads about Oz and breaking up with Libby,’ he said softly as they ordered coffee. ‘And you have barely mentioned anything about you and your Daniel.’
Amy took a deep breath and began to tell him about the collapse of her engagement.
The humiliation and embarrassment of cancelling the wedding, and the no-man’s-land situation that she now found herself in.
‘I honestly don’t know where I stand any more with Daniel,’ she confessed.
When Matt reached for her hand and held it, she was overwhelmed with gratitude at the fact that he had simply listened.
Finishing up in the café they paid the bill and went for a walk. It was mild outside and they fell into step together, Matt with his head bent listening to her as she talked and talked.
‘Come on, let me buy you a drink,’ he insisted.
They walked up towards Baggot Street and sat in Doheny and Nesbitt until closing time, talking and talking. Amy was glad of his company and reminded just why she had always found him so attractive.
‘Can we do this again?’ he asked as the two of them shared a cab. It had started to drizzle.
‘Of course.’ She’d laughed, unable to stop herself enjoying the sensation of being held in his arms as they drove along towards the canal.
Matt didn’t hide his disappointment when the taxi stopped outside Jess’s place and she made it quite clear that she wasn’t inviting him in.
‘I’ll call you,’ he promised, kissing her goodnight briefly.
Amy was relieved that she didn’t have her own place, as she would have been sorely tempted to prolong the evening and ask him in for coffee.
The light was still on in the sitting room, and Jess was waiting up for her, pretending to watch TV in her dressing gown and fluffy pink slippers, a big mug of coffee at her side.
Amy made a mug of decaf for herself and sat on the sofa near her. Poor Jess, to be so worried about her. Honestly, you’d think Matt was some kind of axe murderer the way that she was going on.
‘What happened?’ Jess asked.
‘Nothing,’ Amy protested. ‘We had dinner. I had the creamy chicken and pasta. And then we went for a drink in Doheny and Nesbitt.’
‘Nothing?’
‘Absolutely nothing! We talked. I told him about Dan and he was very understanding.’
‘I’d say he was! Amy, please be careful!’ Jess warned. ‘Matt still has a hold on you. You know what he’s like.’
‘Matt’s an old friend.’ Amy blushed. ‘That’s all. It’s nice to catch up with him before he goes back to Australia.’
‘Sure,’ harrumphed Jess disapprovingly. ‘But just be careful about falling for him again.’
‘Jess, how can you say that?’ Amy protested. ‘Falling for him doesn’t come into it. I’m in love with Daniel, you know that.’
Jess took a slow sip of her coffee and said nothing as Amy checked her phone again. Not even one word of a message from Daniel. What was she going to do?