Changing Places (7 page)

Anna pulled into the restaurant’s car park, and took out her make-up bag. She turned around the rearview mirror, reapplied her mascara and lipstick and ran a comb through her hair.
Slipping out of her driving shoes and into her heels, she stepped out of the car, put her bag on her shoulder and went inside. She was glad she’d worn her cream linen suit. While it was very
businesslike, the tight skirt stopped just above her knee, showing off her slim, tanned legs. The waiter obviously appreciated the view.

‘Good afternoon, miss, can I help you?’

‘Hi. I’m at Mark Donnelly’s table.’

‘You’re the first to arrive. Would you like to take a seat here or would you prefer to go up to the table?’

‘Here’s fine.’ She sat down on a comfortable leather sofa and tossed her bag on the table. ‘Could I have a sparkling water, please?’

‘Of course, and I’ll bring you a menu.’

The waiter had just returned with her drink when a man of medium height, with a receding hairline and a deep tan walked in. ‘I’m meeting Mark Donnelly,’ he announced
loudly.

Anna stood up as the waiter led him over. ‘Mr Coleman? I’m Anna Gallagher, I work with Mark.’

Charlie grinned, showing off a row of even white teeth, and gripped her hand in his. ‘Lovely to meet you, Anna. Please call me Charlie.’

‘Can I get you a drink?’ she asked as he took the seat next to her.

‘A pint of Heineken, please,’ Charlie asked the waiter and then turned back to Anna. ‘So you work for Mark? You must be new.’

She shook her head. ‘No, I’ve been with Donnelly’s a couple of years now.’

‘Strange we haven’t met before. Mark and I go way back. I played rugby with his little brother.’

‘Then you might know my husband, Liam Harrison?’

Charlie frowned and shook his head. ‘Name doesn’t ring a bell. How old is he?’

‘Thirty-three.’

‘Ah, way after my time then,’ Charlie chuckled. ‘I must have been on my third job by the time he left school.’

Anna smiled and handed him a menu. ‘I don’t know where Mark’s got to but we might as well have a look at the menu.’

‘Sounds good,’ Charlie agreed. ‘I forgot to have breakfast.’

‘Forgot?’

He shrugged. ‘I work best in the early morning, and when my cleaning lady comes in she usually brings me some tea and toast. If she’s not in, I don’t bother.’ He patted
his waist. ‘Probably not a bad thing.’

‘So Mark tells me you’re looking for a property with a view.’

‘Oh, time for business, is it?’

His brown eyes twinkled at her and she felt herself blushing. ‘If you’d prefer to wait for Mark . . .’

He shook his head and laughed. ‘I’m just pulling your leg, Anna. Yes, a view of the sea would be nice.’

‘And you want to stay close to Malahide?’

‘Yes, well, this is where my folks are and now that they’re getting on a bit, I’d like to have a place nearby. Also, I need some land for my daughter’s pony.’

Anna made a quick note of that in her diary. ‘We have a couple of properties on our books that might suit you. I could show you them today if you like, or would you prefer to arrange
another time when your wife is free?’

Charlie burst out laughing. ‘Now you’re fishing, Anna.’

She flushed again. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—’

‘I’m just teasing. Look, I’m not married. Sophie was the result of a drunken day out at a David Bowie concert in Slane Castle.’

‘Oh.’

‘Best mistake I ever made,’ he said. ‘Thankfully, our parents didn’t try to push us into marriage so we agreed to raise Sophie as a member of both families. Jeri,
that’s Sophie’s mother, is married now and has two other kids. They’re moving to Galway next month – her husband has got some big job down there – but Sophie
doesn’t want to move to a new school so she’s going to stay in Dublin with me.’

‘That must be very hard on her mother.’

‘Yeah, but Jeri’s got her hands full with the other two, and once Sophie does her Leaving Certificate next year, she can decide whether she’s going to go to college in Dublin
or Galway.’

Anna frowned. ‘So wouldn’t it be better to rent somewhere until she decides?’

Charlie raised an eyebrow. ‘If your boss could hear you trying to talk me out of a sale . . .’

‘Don’t worry,’ Anna joked, ‘if we don’t sell you a property, we’ll rent you one.’

‘No, I’m not interested in renting,’ he told her. ‘I’ve been meaning to invest in some property for a while. God knows, my money isn’t making anything in the
banks.’

‘Well, as I said, we have a couple of properties I think might interest you. One needs a bit of work, but it could be amazing.’

He shrugged. ‘Work doesn’t bother me. As long as the location is right and there’s somewhere to keep the pony. Sophie’s nuts about that bloody animal.’

Anna’s mobile phone trilled and she excused herself as she answered it. ‘Mark, hi.’ She listened intently for a moment. ‘Okay, that’s fine. Yes, he’s here,
would you like a word?’ She handed the phone over to Charlie.

‘Mark? What’s up? Oh, don’t worry about it, Anna’s looking after me.’ He winked at her. ‘Right, then. Okay, talk to you later. Bye.’ He gave the phone
back to her. ‘Looks like it’s just you and me.’

‘Then let’s order, I’m famished.’

Lunch was far from businesslike as Charlie entertained Anna with stories from his schooldays in Malahide, his travels in the States and his business. He had been working in the
accounts department of a large retailer when he started designing websites for friends. It had brought in a little extra money and relieved his boredom, but through word of mouth it had taken off
and now his company, D-ZineIT, was one of the top website design companies in Europe, employing sixty staff.

‘So where’s your head office?’ Anna asked, fascinated.

‘There isn’t one. My staff are all over the place; a couple of them are in Dublin, a lot over on the west coast, and I’ve more than twenty people in Belgium, France and
Germany.’

‘Amazing. You must do a lot of travelling.’

‘Not really. Most of my business can be taken care of over the phone or through email and conference calls.’

‘That’s fantastic.’

‘You should have a look at my website and tell me what you think.’

‘I don’t think that my opinion would be of much value. Apart from email I’m not really au fait with the internet.’

Charlie’s eyes widened. ‘You mean you don’t even shop? I’m going to have to take you in hand, Anna.’

She grinned. ‘We’ll have none of that, Mr Coleman, I’m a married woman!’

‘Just my luck,’ he sighed. ‘Never mind, I will do my best to keep my hands off you and concentrate on houses.’

‘I would appreciate that,’ she laughed.

‘Now, how about some coffee?’

She checked her watch. ‘We should really be making a move if we’re to view both properties today.’

He smiled. ‘Then let’s go.’

After a brief argument, Charlie allowed her to pay for lunch. ‘It’s on Mark’s business account,’ Anna assured him.

‘I’ve never enjoyed business as much before.’

‘That’s because you’re usually just sitting in front of a screen,’ she told him, leading the way out to the car.

‘Let’s go in mine,’ he suggested.

‘Okay then, where is it?’ She looked around the almost empty car park.

‘Right here.’ He pointed at the large Kawasaki bike parked outside the door.

‘You must be joking.’ Suddenly his casual white shirt, jeans and leather jacket made sense. She shook her head as he handed her a helmet. ‘I can’t go on that in
this!’ She gestured at her tight, knee-length skirt.

He grinned. ‘Oh go on, it’ll be fun.’

‘Not a chance! I’ll drive. You can either come with me or follow – please yourself.’

With a dramatic sigh, Charlie put back the helmets and followed her. ‘Are you always like this with your clients?’ he asked, climbing into the passenger seat.

‘I don’t have any other clients like you,’ Anna assured him.

‘I think that might be a compliment,’ he mused.

‘It is.’

Anna drove the short distance to the first house, pulled up outside and went to the keypad on the pillar to open the imposing gates.

‘Very impressive,’ Charlie said as they drove in.

‘You ain’t seen nothing yet.’ She guided the car up the long driveway lined with fir trees until it curved sharply and the house was in front of them.

‘Crikey!’ Charlie stared at the large period house with three chimneys, long sash windows and steps leading up to the imposing front door. ‘I never knew this place existed. How
long has it been here? Who the hell owns it?’

‘Believe it or not, it’s only three years old.’ Anna drove around the house and pulled up at a side door. ‘It was built by an actress who wanted the period look without the hassle of renovating and with all mod cons.’

‘So why’s she selling?’

‘She worked on a soap but her character got killed off last year and she’s been “resting” ever since.’

‘I see. Well, I can tell you right now that I absolutely hate the place.’

Anna grinned. ‘Thought so, but fancy having a look around anyway?’

‘Love to.’

‘Hello, you! I was about to send out a search-party,’ Liam remarked when Anna finally arrived home at nearly seven o’clock.

‘Sorry.’ She bent to kiss him. ‘I was with a very important and very rich client.’

He abandoned his paper and pulled her down on to his lap. ‘Did you make a sale?’

‘No. I showed him two houses and he hated both of them.’

‘Hard luck.’

‘No, it’s fine. Now I have a much better idea of what he’s looking for. How was your day?’ Anna slid down on to the sofa beside him and kicked off her shoes.

‘Pretty good. Patterson’s been shut up in the boardroom all day with Boylan and the accountant.’

‘And that means?’

‘Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? I’d say they were working out his retirement package.’

Anna gaped at him. ‘I had no idea that things were going to move this quickly.’

‘Well, I didn’t want to get your hopes up but I’d say Boylan will be gone by the end of the month.’

Anna planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘And you’ll be the new General Manager! Oh Liam, this is wonderful. I’m so proud of you. You’ve worked so hard.’

‘It will mean more responsibility and probably longer hours,’ Liam warned her.

Anna sighed. ‘That seems to be the price of success. Rachel’s always complaining about the hours that Gary works.’

‘It’s the only way to get on.’

‘And I suppose if you do get promoted you’ll be taking up golf,’ she groaned.

‘Not if, when,’ he corrected, standing up. ‘I’ll have to, won’t I?’ He did an imaginary swing. ‘Maybe I should get Gary to take me out a few times.
Don’t want to look a total novice, do I?’

‘God forbid,’ Anna laughed, going out to the kitchen in search of something to eat. ‘Okay, it’s beans on toast, toasted cheese sandwiches or scrambled eggs on
toast.’

Liam followed her out. ‘Anything with no toast?’

Anna smiled sweetly. ‘Cheese sandwiches?’

‘Toasted sandwiches it is.’ He opened the fridge to get a beer. ‘Want one?’

‘Yeah, why not? Though on top of the wine at lunchtime I probably shouldn’t.’

‘You were boozing at lunchtime?’

‘Yeah, in Cruzzo’s.’

Liam raised an eyebrow. ‘I didn’t know Mark’s budget stretched to treating clients to fancy lunches.’

Anna felt herself blush. ‘This guy is loaded so Mark wanted to give him the red-carpet treatment.’

‘I see. Well, it’s good that he’s willing to let you handle the bigger customers. Does this mean you’ll get all the commission if you make the sale?’

Anna wrinkled her nose. ‘I haven’t asked.’

‘You should, my love. Don’t let him walk all over you.’

She turned to face him, bread knife in hand. ‘I tell you what. You handle Patterson and I’ll handle Mark, okay?’

Liam looked nervously at the knife. ‘Yes, darling, sorry, darling.’

‘Idiot.’ Anna went back to cutting the bread and wondered why she hadn’t told Liam that she and Charlie had had lunch alone. ‘I’m going out with Jill and Rachel
tomorrow night,’ she said instead.

‘Rachel?’

‘There’s no need to sound so surprised.’

He held up his hands. ‘I’m not saying a word. If you and your beloved sister fancy a girly night out that’s your business. I’m sure you’ll have a great time.’
He snorted.

Anna scowled at him. ‘I’m sure we will too. Oh Liam, don’t be so hard on the girl. She’s having a tough time at the moment.’

‘Oh – why? What’s up?’

‘Nothing, nothing,’ Anna said hastily. ‘Just women’s troubles.’

‘Oh, right,’ Liam took his beer and wandered back to the television.

Anna smiled. ‘Women’s troubles.’ The two words guaranteed to shut up every man! Though she wouldn’t admit it to Liam, Anna wasn’t really looking forward to tomorrow
night. Normally she’d jump at the chance of a night out with Jill, but with Rachel tagging along it was bound to be hard work. And now they couldn’t even pour a few drinks into her to
loosen her up.

Anna slipped the sandwiches under the grill. It was very hard to understand why Rachel wasn’t over the moon at the idea of another baby when she herself couldn’t wait to start a
family. She’d heard of women suffering from post-natal depression but ante-natal depression was a new one on her. And imagine not telling Gary she was pregnant. Anna would never keep stuff
like that from Liam. They had always shared their problems, whether personal or work. Liam was her friend, her soulmate, her lover. What kind of marriage would it be if they kept things from each
other? An image of Charlie Coleman suddenly came to mind and Anna dismissed it. That was different. That had been harmless flirting – something Liam probably indulged in on a regular
basis.

Anna was shaken out of her reverie by the smell of burning and she hurriedly rescued the sandwiches, scraped off the black bits and called her husband.

‘So where are you going tomorrow night?’ he asked as they ate.

‘Dunno, Jill is organizing everything.’

‘You don’t seem very keen,’ he said.

‘I’m not,’ she admitted. ‘It’s just that I’ve a busy week ahead and I’d much prefer a quiet night in.’