Last Chance Saloon - Marian Keyes [48]
‘Right, I’ll be round then for the mopping-up operation.’
‘I must go,’ Liv hissed. ‘Midas Woman is returning.’
‘Has he left his wife yet?’ Ravi asked, when Tara hung up.
‘He says he’s just about to,’ she said, and they rolled their eyes at each other. Next, Tara dialled Fintan’s number. Vinnie gave her a sharp look. ‘If I don’t ring people, I’ll e-mail them,’ Tara thought it only fair to point out to him.
‘Oh, don’t do that,’ Ravi objected. ‘How else will I know what’s going on?’
‘Just as well you’re both good at your jobs,’ Vinnie grumbled.
Fintan wasn’t in work. Sick, allegedly. Tara knew what was up with him. At twelve o’clock, the night before, as she was leaving Katherine’s, Fintan and Sandro had been on their way out. The evening was only beginning for them. ‘I’m going to get off my mong,’ Fintan had declared.
Tara rang his home number.
‘Fintan hung over, eh?’ Ravi asked.
‘I’d stake my granny’s life on it,’ she replied. The phone rang and rang for ages before Fintan finally answered. ‘What’s up with you, you piss-head?’ Tara asked cheerfully.
‘There’s something wrong with my neck. I’ve an enormous lump on it.’
‘God, you’re so vain.’ Tara sighed. ‘Everyone gets spots.’
‘No, Tara, it isn’t a spot. It’s a swelling that makes me look like the Elephant Man.’
‘I’d an awful turn myself with my Black Death this morning,’ Tara empathized. ‘The boils!’
‘Tara, really,’ Fintan insisted. ‘I’m serious. I have a lump the size of a melon on my neck.’
‘Go on. What kind of lump?’
‘The lumpy kind!’
‘But it’s hardly the size of a melon?’ She smiled at how much of a drama queen Fintan was. ‘A grape, maybe?’
‘No, much bigger. Tara, I swear to you, it genuinely is the size of a melon.’
‘What kind of melon? A honeydew? Galia? Cantaloup?’
‘OK, maybe not a melon. But a kiwi fruit, certainly.’
‘Try putting Savlon on it.’
‘Savlon! It’s drugs I need.’
‘You’d better go to the doctor, so.’
‘Oh, no,’ he said sarcastically. ‘I just thought I’d lie around here waiting for my neck to return to its correct size of its own free will.
‘I’ve an appointment for this evening,’ he added.
He sounded upset, and she half regretted her jokey response. ‘Do you want me to come with you?’ Then she muttered, close to the phone, ‘Vinnie’ll let me off if I say I’ve my period, that always embarrasses him. Some months I have two or three and he’s too shy to mention it.’
‘Ah, no, I’ll be grand.’
‘What time will you be home?’
‘I don’t know how long it’ll take, but say about eight to be on the safe side.’
‘OK, I’ll give you a shout then. Good luck, but I’m sure it’s nothing.’
As soon as she hung up, Ravi gasped eagerly, ‘What’s happened to Fintan?’
‘Swollen glands or something.’ Tara shrugged. ‘He’s such a hypochondriac.’
Next she rang Katherine, but she wasn’t back from lunch yet. At three thirty? Tara thought. That’s not like Miss Diligent.
‘Right, Vinnie, I’ve rung everyone.’
But as Tara settled back to work, she found herself thinking about Fintan. What if he wasn’t just being a drama queen attention-seeker? What if there really was something wrong with him? Something serious? That was the problem whenever a gay friend became sick. The A-word always cropped up. Then she felt uncomfortable with her train of thought – did she think gay people and Aids were uniquely linked?
Her worry about Fintan moved smoothly on to worry about Thomas. What was the weirdness that was hanging between them? Perhaps it was only in her head. But she was brought back relentlessly to what he’d said on Saturday night and couldn’t decide whether she should be freaking out with worry or if she was better off ignoring it in the hope that it would go away.
She couldn’t do any work, so at four o’clock she prepared to leave.
‘Excuse me, where are you going?’ Ravi asked suspiciously.
‘Thought I’d try a soupçon of retail therapy.’
‘No!’ Ravi tried to block her path, as instructed. ‘You must stop spending money.’
‘Thank you, Ravi.’ Tara tried to skirt past him. ‘I appreciate your vigilance but I don’t want to be stopped today.’
‘You said even if you begged I