Page 7 of A Merry Irish Christmas
She rang Gina later and told her what had happened with Greg. Gina was predictably incensed on Mary’s behalf and spent a good ten minutes ranting, shrieking swear words and cursing Greg and Juanita.
‘The worst part is, I gave up going home for Christmas for him and now it’s too late! Bloody Juanita! Why couldn’t she at least have had the decency to make her big declaration a month ago when I could still have got a flight? Instead, she waits until it’s practically the eve of her wedding!’
‘You gotta feel sorry for her fiancé.’
‘Yeah. Though I think he dodged a bullet. He should be thanking his lucky stars.’
‘So what are you going to do?’
‘I’ll just spend it here in New York,’ Mary said. ‘It’ll be nice. I can stay in my pjs all day if I want to, order in and binge Christmas movies.’
‘Well, you know you’re welcome to come home with me, but your plan sounds more fun.’
Mary laughed. ‘Thanks for the offer, but I’m quite looking forward to some ridiculously indulgent downtime in my cubbyhole.’
‘There’s no chance you can get back to Ireland?’
‘No.’ Mary sighed. ‘I had a look, but all the economy flights are booked out. All that’s left is business class and the prices this late in the day are astronomical.’
‘So? You still have your year-end bonus, don’t you?’
‘Oh! Yes, I suppose I do.’ Her bonus had been paid in Octoberat the end of the company’s fiscal year, but Mary hadn’t touched it yet, and it hadn’t even occurred to her to spend it on a flight home. ‘That’s actually a great idea! Why didn’t I think of that?’
‘Maybe because you don’t have my talent for spending.’
Mary had always been sensible about money, cautious about spending and a good saver. Her siblings used to tease her for still having her pocket money at the end of the week when theirs was all long spent. But she was the one they’d come to when they were skint and needed a loan, and they appreciated her frugality then. Even when she had plenty of money and could afford an extravagant purchase, she’d still consider it carefully and nine times out of ten decide she didn’t want it anyway. So it hadn’t even crossed her mind that she could splash out on one of those ridiculously expensive flights with her bonus. But what better way was there to spend it? She wasn’t interested in designer clothes or bags, and there was nothing she could do with the money that could bring her greater happiness – not only her, but her whole family.
‘Oh, what about my leave, though? I was working up to Friday and going back the day after Christmas when I thought I was going to Greg’s family. Do you think Chrissie would let me claw back the time off I cancelled?’
‘Sure she will. She’ll probably be glad to have one less person sitting around twiddling their thumbs for the week. You know how dead the office is this time of year.’
‘True.’ Most companies didn’t want to deal with new hires over the holidays and candidates weren’t keen to start new jobs either.
‘You should do it,’ Gina said.
‘You know, I think I will.’ Mary smiled to herself as the idea took hold, her heartbeat quickening with excitement. ‘I’d better do it now, before even the most expensive flights are all gone.’
‘Yes, go! Let me know how you get on.’
‘I will. And thanks for the suggestion.’
‘Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow. Unless you’ve already skipped town.’
An hour later, Mary checked over the details on the online booking form for a flight to Dublin on Wednesday night, arriving the following morning, the twenty-second. She’d already squared it with her boss, Chrissie, who’d been touchingly sympathetic about the break-up with Greg and told Mary she could take whatever time she needed. She still hesitated, her finger hovering over the pay button. It seemed such an obscene amount of money to pay for a flight. But it wasn’t just a flight, she reminded herself. It was the chance to spend time with all the people she loved most in the world. And after what had happened last night with Greg, it felt good to know that they’d be overjoyed to see her.
She hit the pay button, her heart pounding with excitement as just like that, her year-end bonus vanished into the ether. Booking a last-minute flight had the added advantage that it left no time for moping and was the perfect distraction from thinking about Greg. Galvanised into action, she sprang out of her chair as soon as the confirmation email came through and went to her bedroom to start planning. She’d already started packing for her trip to Maine with Greg, so she’d only have to make a few tweaks to that. But there was so much else to do. She had to look up transport from Dublin to Kerry and plan how she was going to get to Inch, the tiny village on the Dingle Peninsula where her parents lived. And she needed to let her family know that she was coming home for Christmas after all.
She picked up her phone to do just that, but then shehesitated. How fun would it be to turn up unexpectedly and surprise them? She smiled to herself, the idea giving her a tingle of excitement. She pictured their startled, delighted faces when she appeared at the door. Juanita wasn’t the only one who could pull a stunt like that. She dropped her phone on the bed and resumed her packing. She couldn’t wait to see everyone’s faces when she turned up on Thursday.
4
‘Are you sure you don’t want me to take you the rest of the way?’ the taxi driver asked, swinging Mary’s case out of the boot.
‘No, thanks. It’s not much further and I want to surprise them. My family doesn’t know I’m coming home for Christmas.’
‘Ah, that’s lovely. I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.’
Mary smiled, knowing they would be.
