The Bright Side (32 page)

Gerry
rang
again
that
night,
at
almost
exactly
the
time he’d
called
on
Friday.
This
time
it
was
Colm
who
answered. When
he
told
me
who
was
on
the
phone,
there
was
a
deeply weird
moment
where
I
almost
bounded
out
of
my
chair, eager
to
tell
him
that
I
was
making
progress
with
Melissa and,
as
an
unexpected
bonus,
with
Robert
too.
But
I
stayed
put,
telling
Colm
to
explain
that
I
wasn’t
in
the
mood
to
talk and
would
be
in
touch
soon.
I
could
see
that
he
wasn’t
happy about
being
the
bearer
of
bad
news,
but
fair
play
to
him,
he trooped
off
and
did
as
I
had
asked
.

It was a little awkward when he came back. The next topic of conversation seemed to have been chosen for us, but no one, least of all me, had any stomach for it. We pushed our coffee cups around in silence for a while, periodically smiling to each other as if to say,
This
is
great,
isn’t
it?
Nope,
no
tension here.
Nosirree.
Finally, Melissa leaned across the table and said she had an idea. Why didn’t we all go to the zoo the next day? She’d been promising to take Niall for ages, Colm wasn’t working, and I … She ran out of steam at that point, but only for a second. It would be good for me, she eventually declared; it’d blow the cobwebs away. Frankly, I’d been half- thinking of going to work and had been wondering how to bring it up without setting Melissa off on the
Jackie’s-not-that- bothered
track again. This was a much better idea; I couldn’t remember the last time we’d been on any kind of outing together. It might be the perfect opportunity to consolidate our progress to date. On the down side, however, it would mean prolonged exposure to Niall. He’d been set off on one by the wrong kind of fictional wolf – who knew how he’d react to a real-life tiger? There was only one way to find out, I guessed
.

CHAPTER
15

On
Monday
morning,
I
didn’t
even
hear
the
phone
ring before
Jenny
picked
it
up.
Her
lightning-fast
response
to
the
merest
hint
of
a
beep
was
something
I’d
noticed before
while
sitting
miserably
in
her
office.
She
seemed
to pride herself on
it, as if
it was proof
of her dazzling
efficiency. “Jennifer
Moore,”
she
said
in
a
somewhat
sultry
tone
of voice.
I
guessed
she
was
waiting
for
a
call
from
someone
she
fancied.
The
“Jennifer”
was
new
too. “Jenny?”
I
said.
“It’s
Jackie
O’Connell.
”

“Oh. Jackie.” There was considerable disappointment in her voice. “Let me guess –
”

“I won’t be able to come in today,” I said, not wanting to give her the satisfaction
.

“Really?
”

“Yes. Really.” “Headache, wasn’t it?” “Yeah. Awful.
”

“That’s a pity. Poor you.
”

“Yeah.” There was something coming, I could feel it. “Headaches can last for hours, can’t they?
”

“That’s right.
”

“Or a whole day, sometimes.” “Bad ones, yeah.
”

She paused for dramatic effect. “I didn’t know they could last for
four
days.
”

Attack, I decided immediately, was the best form of defence. “What are you implying?” I growled. “Are you accusing me of faking it?
”

“No, no –
”

“I can hardly
see
, Jenny. And if you must know, it isn’t the same headache, I’ve had several over the weekend. They’ve been coming and going.
”

“Okay, Jackie, keep –
”

“I must say I find this very offensive. Does Trevor know you carry on like this?
”

Trevor was her boss. In my three years at First Premier, I’d laid eyes on him maybe four times
.

“Now wait a minute –
”

“No, you wait a minute. I’m
sick
, Jenny, I’m sick and I’m not coming to work. You can take it that I won’t be in for several days, in fact. I’m … badly … weakened. And next time I call in like this, please do your best to be sympathetic and if you can’t manage that –
”

“I’m sorry, Jackie, okay? I apologise.
”

I did some heavy breathing, pretending to be recovering my composure. “Fine then,” I said. “Believe me, I would rather be going to work than spending all day in a darkened room vomiting into a bucket.
”

I was quite pleased with that bit. As I’d hoped, it killed off any interest she had in continuing the conversation
.

“I have to go,” she said feebly. “Hope you get better soon.
”

“So do I,” I said and hung up – just in time too. A smile had started to form and if I hadn’t got off the phone, she would surely have heard it in my voice
.

The day was off to a great start, I couldn’t help but think
.

* * *

The
drive
to
the
zoo
was
memorable
for
one
reason
only. The
entire
way,
from
the
front
door
to
the
parking
spot
in
the Phoenix
Park,
Melissa
sang
“We’re
Going
to
the
Zoo”.
She only knew
the chorus:
“We’re
going to
the zoo,
zoo,
zoo! How about
you,
you,
you?
You
can
come
too,
too,
too!
We’re
going
to
the zoo,
zoo,
zoo!
”
In
fairness
to
her,
Niall
was
absolutely delighted
with
this
mini-concert
and
joined
in
with
an
occasional “YOU,
YOU,
YOU!”
or
“ZOO,
ZOO, ZOO!”
.

She’d
almost
lost
her
voice
by
the
time
we
crossed
the
river,
but
her
enthusiasm
remained
undimmed.
I
tried
to
remember
the
last
time
I’d
sung
myself
hoarse
to
entertain
a child.
On
the
way
to
Wexford
on
an
ill-advised
day-trip
in about
1990,
I
concluded.
The
child
was
Robert
–
Chrissy
was
never
bothered
by
long
car
journeys
–
and
the
song
was “Puff,
the
Magic
Dragon”.
I
suddenly
felt
very
old
.

“We’re here!” Colm said, somewhat redundantly, when he was finished toing and froing. “Everybody out!
”

“
Yay
!” said Melissa. “YAY!” said Niall
.

I thought about saying “Yay!” too, but by the time I’d decided that it was appropriate to join in, it felt like it was too late
.

It had been quite a while since I’d been to the zoo – a decade, at least – and I simply could not believe how much it cost to get in
.

“They can’t be serious,” I said as I stared, goggle-eyed at the price list
.

Melissa and Colm weren’t bothered, and not just because they were minted
.

“That’s what things cost,” Melissa said simply. “Have you been to a
circus
lately?” Colm added
.

Once
inside
(Colm
paid),
we
trooped
off
to
the
left. Although
we
had
a
map,
Melissa
decided
it
would
be
more fun
if
we
just
wandered
aimlessly.
I
wasn’t
a
big
fan
of aimless
wandering,
as
a
rule,
but
kept
my
mouth
shut.
The first
enclosure
we
came
across
was
home
to
a
group
of macaques.
I
didn’t
know
that
when
I
caught
sight
of
them,
of course.
Like
Colm
and
Melissa,
I
pointed
and
said,
“Look, Niall!
Monkeys!”,
as
if
I’d
been
expecting
the
zoo
to
be
full of
hamsters
and
kittens
and
couldn’t
believe
my
luck.
The macaques
were
just
being
macaques
–
they
had
little
choice in
the
matter
–
but
it
was
hard
to
shake
the
feeling
that
they
were
putting
on
a
show,
dangling
from
beams,
tight-rope walking,
chasing
each
other
only
to
turn
round
and
leg
it when
their
prey
was
cornered.
I
was
completely
captivated (as
were
they,
of
course
–
best
not
to
think
about
it).
Colm and
Melissa
seemed
equally
thrilled.
Niall,
on
the
other hand,
wasn’t
at
all
impressed.
No
matter
how
much
we pointed
and
ooed,
he
kept
the
same
blank
expression
on
his face,
not
quite
a
scowl
but
a
long
way
from
a
smile.
He
did say,
“Monkeys”
at
one
point
but
he
said
it
the
way
you
might say
“Rain”
before
going
back
in
for
an
umbrella.
For
that reason,
we
didn’t
stay
long
chez
macaque.
No
more
than
five minutes
had
gone
by
before
we
shuffled
off
towards
the tigers.
Or
tiger,
I
should
say.
There
were
three
of
them
in there,
according
to
the
information
plaque,
but
only
one
was receiving
visitors.
My
God,
he
was
impressive
though.
He was
sitting
on
an
old
tree
trunk
with
one
paw
dangling
down and
he
had
that
superior
look
on
his
face,
the
one
that
all cats,
big
or
small,
seem
to
sport
most
of
the
time:
Yes,
I
am
this cool.
Get
used
to
it
.
Melissa
and
I
offered
fresh
murmurs
of astonishment
and
delight
as
Colm
read
aloud
from
the plaque,
but
Niall
stayed
mute.
He
was
standing
right
in
front of
me,
leaning
against
the
glass
with
his
forehead
bearing
the weight
and
for
a
moment
I
thought
he’d
actually
dropped
off. Then
he
turned
and
looked
up
at
me.
His
eyes
were
wide and
unblinking,
his
mouth
agape
.