Twenty-three. Barbara finished serving her customers, and as soon as they left the building she ran into the staff

BARBARA FINISHED SERVING HER CUSTOMERS, and as soon as they left the building she ran into the staff

room and lit up a cigarette. The travel agent’s had been so busy all day that she had had to work through her lunch

break. Melissa, her work mate, had called in sick that morning, although Barbara knew very well she had partied

too hard the night before and any sickness she might have had was only self-inflicted. So she was stuck in this

boring job all by herself today. And of course it was the busiest day they’d had in ages. As soon as November came

with those horrible depressing dark nights and dark mornings and piercing winds and sheets of rain, everyone

came running in the door booking holidays to beautiful hot sunny countries. Barbara shuddered as she heard the

wind rattle the windows and made a note to herself to check for any special holiday deals.

With her boss finally out to run some errands, Barbara was really looking forward to her cigarette break. Of course,

just her luck, the bell over the door sounded just then and Barbara cursed the customer entering the shop for

disturbing her precious break. She puffed on the cigarette furiously, almost making herself dizzy, reapplied her

glossy red lipstick and sprayed perfume all around the room so her boss wouldn’t notice the smoke. She left the staff

room expecting to see a customer sitting behind the counter, but instead the old man was still slowly making his

way to the counter. Barbara tried not to stare and began pressing random buttons on the keypad.

“Excuse me?” she heard the man’s weak voice call to her.

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“Hello sir, how can I help you?” she said for the hundredth time that day. She didn’t mean to be rude by staring at

him, but she was surprised at how young the man actually was. From far away his slumped figure looked elderly.

His body was hunched and the walking stick in his hand seemed to be the only thing preventing him from

collapsing on the floor in front of her. His skin was very white and pasty, as though he hadn’t seen the sun for years,

but he had big brown puppy eyes that seemed to smile at her. She couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“I was hoping to book a holiday,” he said quietly, “but I was wondering if you could help me choose a place.”

Usually Barbara would have silently screamed at the customer for making her do this unbelievably impossible task.

Most of her customers were so fussy that she could be sitting there for hours with them flicking through brochures

and trying to persuade them where to go when the truth was she really couldn’t give a toss where they went. But

this man seemed pleasant, so she was glad to help. She surprised herself.

“No problem, sir, why don’t you take a seat there and we’ll search through the brochures.” She pointed to the chair

in front of her and looked away again so she didn’t have to watch his struggle to sit down.

“Now,” she said, full of smiles, “is there any country in particular that you would like to go to?”

“Em... Spain... Lanzarote, I think.”

Barbara was glad; this was going to be a lot easier than she thought.

“And is it a summer holiday you’re looking for?”

He nodded slowly.

They worked their way through the brochures and finally the man found a place that he liked. Barbara was happy

that he took her advice into account, unlike some of her other customers, who just ignored every single bit of her

knowledge. She should know what was best for them, it being her job and all.

“OK, any month in particular?” she said, looking at the prices.

“August?” he asked, and those big brown eyes looked so deep into Barbara’s soul she just wanted to jump over the

counter and give him a big hug.

“August is a good month,” she agreed with him. “Would you like a sea view or a pool view? The sea view is an

extra thirty euro,” she added quickly.

He stared into space with a smile on his face as though he were already there. “A sea view, please.”

“Good choice. Can I take your name and address, please?”

“Oh... this isn’t actually for me... it’s a surprise for my wife and her friends.”

Those brown eyes looked sad.

Barbara cleared her throat nervously. “Well, that’s very thoughtful of you, sir,” she felt she had to add. “Could I

have their names then, please?”

She finished taking his details and he settled the bill. She began to print the arrangements from the computer to give

to him.

“Oh, do you mind if I leave the details here with you? I want to surprise my wife and I would be afraid of leaving

papers around the house in case she finds them.”

Barbara smiled; what a lucky wife he had.

“I won’t be telling her till July, so do you think it could be kept quiet till then?”

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“That’s no problem at all, sir, usually the flight times aren’t confirmed till a few weeks before anyway, so we would

have no reason to call her. I’ll give the other staff strict instructions not to call the house.”

“Thank you for your help, Barbara,” he said, smiling sadly with those puppy eyes.

“It’s been a pleasure, Mr.... Clarke?”

“It’s Gerry.” He smiled again.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure, Gerry, I’m sure your wife will have a wonderful time. My friend went there last year and

she loved it.” Barbara felt the need to reassure him his wife would be fine.

“Well, I better head back home before they think I’ve been kidnapped. I’m not even supposed to be out of bed, you

know.” He laughed again and a lump formed in Barbara’s throat.

Barbara jumped to her feet and ran around the other side of the counter to hold the door open for him. He smiled

appreciatively as he walked past her and she watched as he slowly climbed into the taxi that had been waiting

outside for him. Just as Barbara was about to close the door her boss walked in and it banged against his head. She

looked over at Gerry, who was still waiting in the taxi to move out onto the road and he laughed and gave her the

thumbs-up.

Her boss threw her a look for leaving the counter unattended and marched into the staff room. “Barbara,” he yelled,

“have you been smoking in here again?” She rolled her eyes and turned to face him.

“God, what’s wrong with you? You look like you’re about to burst into tears.”

It was the first of July and Barbara sat grumpily behind the counter of Swords Travel Agents. Every day she had

worked this summer had been a beautiful sunny day, and the last two days she had off it had pissed down with

rain. Today was typically the complete opposite. It was the hottest day of the year, all her customers kept bragging

as they strolled in, wearing their little shorts and skimpy tops, filling the room with the smell of coconut sun cream.

Barbara squirmed in her chair in her uncomfortable and incredibly itchy uniform. She felt like she was back at

school again. She banged on the fan once more as it suddenly stalled.

“Oh, leave it, Barbara,” Melissa moaned. “That’ll only make it worse.”

“As if that could be possible,” she grumbled, and spun around in her chair to face the computer, where she pounded

on the keypad.

“What is it with you today?” Melissa laughed.

“Oh, nothing much,” Barbara said through gritted teeth, “it’s just the hottest day of the year and we’re stuck in this

crappy job in this stuffy room with no air-conditioning in these horrible itchy uniforms. ” She shouted each word toward

her boss’s office, hoping he would hear. “That’s all.”

Melissa sniggered. “Look, why don’t you go outside for a few minutes to get some air and I’ll deal with this next

customer,” she said, nodding to the woman making her way in.

“Thanks, Mel,” Barbara said, relieved at finally being able to escape. She grabbed her cigarettes. “Right, I’m going to

get some fresh air.”

Melissa looked down at Barbara’s hand and rolled her eyes. “Hello, can I help you?” she smiled at the woman.

“Yes, I was wondering if Barbara still works here?”

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Barbara froze just as she was reaching the door and contemplated whether to run outside or go back to work. She

groaned and headed back to her seat. She looked at the woman behind the counter; she was pretty, she decided, but

her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head as she stared frantically from one girl to the other.

“Yes, I’m Barbara.”

“Oh good!” The lady looked relieved and she dived onto the stool in front of her. “I was afraid you might not work

here anymore.”

“She wishes,” Melissa muttered under her breath and received an elbow in the stomach from Barbara.

“Can I help you?”

“Oh God, I really hope you can,” the lady said a bit hysterically and rooted through her bag. Barbara raised her

eyebrows over at Melissa and the two of them tried to hold in their laughs.

“OK,” she said, eventually pulling out a crumpled envelope from her bag. “I received this today from my husband

and I was wondering if you could explain it to me.”

Barbara frowned as she stared at the crumpled piece of paper on the counter. A page had been torn out of a holiday

brochure and written on it were the words: “Swords Travel Agents. Attn: Barbara.”

Barbara frowned again and looked at the page more closely. “My friend went there two years ago on holiday, but

other than that it means nothing to me. Did you not get any more information?”

The lady shook her head vigorously.

“Well, can’t you ask your husband for more information?” Barbara was confused.

“No, he’s not here anymore,” she said sadly, and tears welled in her eyes. Barbara panicked; if her boss saw her

making someone cry she would really be given her marching orders. She was on her last warning as it was.

“OK then, can I take your name and maybe it will come up on the computer.”

“It’s Holly Kennedy.” Her voice shook.

“Holly Kennedy, Holly Kennedy.” Melissa repeated her name after listening in on their conversation, “that name

rings a bell. Oh, hold on, I was about to call you this week! That’s weird! I was under strict instructions from Barbara

not to ring you until July for some reason...”

“Oh!” Barbara interrupted her friend, finally realizing what was going on. “You’re Gerry’s wife?” she asked

hopefully.

“Yes!” Holly threw her hands to her face in shock. “He was in here?”

“Yes he was,” Barbara smiled encouragingly. “He was a lovely man,” she said, reaching out to Holly’s hand on the

counter.

Melissa stared at the two of them, not knowing what was going on. Barbara’s heart went out to the lady across the

counter, she was so young and it must be so hard for her right now. But Barbara was delighted to be the bearer of

good news. “Melissa, can you get Holly some tissues, please, while I explain to her exactly why her husband was

here?” She beamed across the counter at Holly.

She let go of Holly’s hand to tap away at the computer and Melissa returned with a box of tissues. “OK, Holly,” she

said softly. “Gerry has arranged a holiday for you and a Sharon McCarthy and a Denise Hennessey to go to

Lanzarote for one week, arriving on the twenty-eighth of July to return home on the third of August.”

Holly’s hands flew to her face in shock and tears poured from her eyes.

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“He was adamant that he find the perfect place for you,” Barbara continued, delighted at her new role. She felt like

one of those female television hosts who spring surprises on their guests. “That’s the place you’re going to,” she

said, tapping the crumpled page in front of her. “You’ll have a fab time, believe me, my friend was there two years

ago like I said already, and she just loved it. There are loads of restaurants and bars around and...” She trailed off,

realizing Holly probably didn’t give a damn about whether she had a good time or not.

“When did he come in?” Holly asked, still in shock.

Barbara, glad to help in her new role, happily tapped away on the computer. “The booking was made on the

twenty-eighth of November.”

“November?” Holly gasped. “He shouldn’t even have been out of bed then! Was he on his own?”

“Yes, but there was a taxi waiting outside for him the whole time.”

“What time of day was this?” Holly asked quickly.

“I’m sorry but I really can’t remember. It was quite a long time ago—”

“Yes, of course, I’m sorry,” Holly interrupted.

Barbara completely understood. If that was her husband, well, if she ever met someone worth becoming her

husband, she would also want to know every single detail. Barbara told her as much as she could remember until

Holly could think of no more questions to ask.

“Oh, thank you, Barbara, thank you so much.” Holly reached over the counter and gave her a big hug.

“No problem at all.” She hugged her back, feeling satisfied with her good deed of the day. “Come back and let us

know how you get on,” she smiled. “Here’s your details.” She handed her a thick envelope and watched her walk

out of the room. She sighed, thinking the crappy job might not be so crappy after all.

“What on earth was that all about?” Melissa was dying to find out. Barbara began to explain the story.

“OK, girls, I’m taking my break now. Barbara, no smoking in the staff room.” Their boss closed and locked his door

and then turned around to face them. “Christ Almighty, what are you two crying about now?”

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29