Behind Every Cloud (9 page)

“
Oh, Mel, this is fantastic! Look at the prices. It
’
s crazy! I
’
ll never buy anything in Dublin again!
”
She sailed into the dressing room on cloud nine,
her arms weighed down with beautiful dresses
.

An hour later, they emerged from the shop. Louise had four bags on her arm, Melissa had none.

“
I can
’
t believe how much I
’
m saving,
”
Louise cried gleefully, her green eyes aglow.

Melissa did not relish traipsing around after Louise all day. Everything looked so good on her friend that it made her feel even more frumpy than usual. Besides, she had some birthday and wedding presents that she needed to buy, so she suggested that they split up and meet again for lunch.

“
Look, I
’
ll give you the spare key to the car and you can go and put your bags in it – to save you carrying them around – and we
’
ll meet up . .
.”
she looked at her watch,
“
at, say, three for lunch in L
’
Officina. Okay?
”

“
Perfect. Happy hunting!
”
Louise beamed at her as she took the key. Just then she spotted the shop 7 For All Mankind.
“
Oh my God! My favourite jeans in the whole world,
”
she cried, sprinting away from Melissa, her hair and bags flying.

Melissa laughed at her enthusiasm. She
’
d never met anyone who could shop quite like Louise.

Three pairs of jeans later, Louise deposited her bags back in the boot of Melissa
’
s car and set off again. She ran into Melissa on her way.

“
I won
’
t have enough time
,”
she moaned.
“
I want to see everything.
”

“
That won
’
t be possible,
”
Melissa said primly.
“
Look
,
let
’
s grab a coffee in Starbucks and you can mark off the shops you absolutely must see, and then the ones that you
’
d like to see.
”

“
That
’
s a great idea,
”
Louise agreed, following her to the coffee shop.

They ordered two cappuccinos and sipped them while Louise marked the most important shops she wanted to visit. The centre closed at seven. She hoped she
’
d have enough time to do them all
.
She wasn
’
t sure how much she
’
d spent but what the hell, she
’
d saved so much it was worth it
.

By the time she met up with Melissa for lunch, she
’
d been back to the car once more to deposit more purchases there. By now she
’
d decided that she might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb and
,
anyway, Ronan couldn
’
t be much angrier with her than he already was.

After a delicious lunch, which she insisted on paying for – after all
,
Mel had done the driving – she bought some lovely lingerie in Wolfords. She badly needed these as she
’
d put a red blouse in the wash last week with her white undies and now they were all pink. Yeuch!
The manageress, Sharon, was so sweet and so helpful that she bought much more than she
’
d intended. She could not resist the gorgeous gold shoes in LK Bennett and just as she was leaving saw a pair of denim platforms for
€10
. Just incredible! They
’
d cost at least €80
,
if not more
,
in Dublin. My God, this was fantastic!

After another trip to the car to dump her bags, Louise noticed that there were only her bags in the boot. Had Mel bought nothing at all? How was that possible? She looked with dismay at all the bags. She hadn
’
t realised that she
’
d bought quite so much. Better not think about it. She didn
’
t want to spoil the day.

She walked slowly back to the centre from the car park and
,
feeling exhausted all of a sudden, she decided to take a break and went for another coffee in Starbucks. She was poring over the plan again
,
wondering should she perhaps
check out the sunglasses shop
,
when she became conscio
us that someone was studying her. It was an older man who was sitting at the next table. He had the kind of tan that
one didn
’
t get in Portmarnock or Brittas Bay and everythin
g about him screamed money
:
the expensive suit
,
the perfect shirt
,
the silk tie
,
the Rolex watch and gold jewellery. Louise took it all in at a glance
.

“
Excuse me for staring, but are you Louise Redmond?
”
he asked.

She was shocked. Redmond was her maiden name.
“
How do you know me?
”
she asked, flustered now.

“
Don
’
t you remember me? I
’
m Alan Brown. I used to come into Elegant Modes when you worked there
.”

Louise racked her brain but for the life of her could not remember him. She
’
d had dreams of becoming a model when she
’
d left school but even back then it had been a difficult world to break into and the best she
’
d managed was a job as a house model with the clothing company. She
’
d only been there a short while when she
’
d met Ronan and
,
as they say, that was that. He had been infatuated with the beautiful red-haired, green-eyed girl and she had fallen pretty hard too.

At nineteen – and four months pregnant – she
’
d left to marry the bright young draughtsman, both of them dreaming of a promising future. That first pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage and was followed by three more over the next six years. Suffering from depression
,
Louise could not even consider returning to work and
,
by the time she could, she was too old for the modelling scene. She
’
d had to give up her dream of becoming a model and also, as it turned out, her dream of becoming a mother. She wouldn
’
t hear of adopting and the only thing
she found that helped lift her spirits
was shopping. That was when their problems had begun
.

Now this man was catapulting her back in time.

She tried to remember the buyers who frequented the wholesale company back then as he asked if he could join her. Surely she would have noticed this glamorous, obviously charming man. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn
’
t place him
.

“
I
’
m sorry but it
’
s been so long ago . . .
”
She smiled at him.

“
All the guys were mad about you then,
”
he told her as he got up and came to sit down opposite her.
“
I
’
m not surprised you didn
’
t notice me. I came in once a month to buy for the company I worked for back then. I think I probably bought everything you ever modelled
!”

A faint glimmer of recognition surfaced in her memory as he smiled at her
. “
Yes, I do remember you – but you look completely different,
”
she said, surprise in her voice.

He threw back his head and laughed aloud.
“
Yes, well, I rather hope so. I like to think I
’
ve improved and matured somewhat since then
.”

She vaguely recalled a plain dowdy guy who dressed badly, his eyes following her every move. How had he evolved into this handsome, gorgeous man?

“
You haven
’
t changed,
”
he said smoothly.
“
If anything you
’
re even more beautiful.
”

Louise blushed. This was like music to her ears. He was a charmer!

“
What are you doing here?
”
she asked.

“
I
’
m here on business,
”
he replied.
“
I
’
ve come quite a long way since I used to admire you in Elegant Modes.
”

I
’
ll say, Louise thought.

“
I now have a manufacturing company and a chain of fashion shops and I also
franchise a lot of international clothing companies, both here and in the UK and Europe.
”

“
Wow!
”
She couldn
’
t believe her ears. He had come a long way.

“
What are you doing here?
”
he asked.

“
Just shopping.
”

“
Well, this is your lucky day, Louise,
”
he replied.
“
I have big discounts in most of the shops here. Come with me and I
’
ll save you loads.
”

“
Even more than I can save already?
”
she asked dubiously.

“
Most certainly.
”
He stood up
,
offering her his arm.

She spent the rest of the afternoon with him, not able to believe how the salesgirls reacted when he entered the store. She chose a pair of tan leather trousers in DKNY
and tried on a matching jacket which was simply fabulous. Alan said she absolutely had to have them both. She agreed with him but when she proffered her credit card, the
salesgirl told her that he had already settled it.

“
Oh, I couldn
’
t possibly accept this,
”
she protested to him
.

“
Please, indulge an old man. It gives me great pleasure
to see you enjoy yourself,
”
he smiled, his blue eyes twinkling.

“
Well, if you insist,
”
she said
.

She
’
d never had so much fun. She bought a pair of fabulous blue Le Creuset bowls that were reduced from €70 to €10. What a steal! They would be perfect for salad or pasta.
Ronan could hardly complain about that! They visited Samsonite where Alan bought a new briefcase. He chose a lovely tan calfskin one and
,
if Ronan had been talking to her, she would have loved to buy one for him for his birthday
–
but he
’
d said he didn
’
t want a present anyway. His loss!

Finally
,
exhilarated and shopped
-
out, she texted Melissa
to meet her in Starbucks. She couldn
’
t wait to tell her what a fab time she
’
d had.

Melissa couldn
’
t believe her ears
. “
God, Lou, you
’
re something else! I leave you for ten minutes and you pick up a gorgeous man,
”
she said admiringly.

“
I did not pick him up,
”
Louise retorted.
“
He picked me up.
”

“
Are you going to see him again?
”

“
I think so. He said he
’
d call me.
”