Chapter 7
top of my head. I turned and gave her a kiss. "So do you. Do you know, as
annoying as you sometimes can be, you're the sweetest sister anyone could
ever have." I told her.
She smiled. "Rowen sure puts you in a good mood, Ari! And I heard Ray
telling Amma your swimming has seriously improved since you guys started
going out… True love, huh?" She asked, with a grin. "I wouldn't go that
far. But he is very special." I said, a smile playing softly at the corners
of my mouth.
We were getting ready to go out with a group of our friends. I always
felt bad about leaving Anika home when I went out, so this time, I had
asked her to invite a few friends of her own, so that we could all go out
together. She was firm friends with Rowen's cousin Adrian, so he was taking
her out for the night. Aid was 15, a very mature lad. He was a lot like Ro,
handsome, charming and sweet. Amma was willing to let him take her out, so
all was well.
My mother wasn't too happy about my relationship with Rowen. She was
always telling me that I'd be happier with a Lankan boy. But I knew only
two Lankan guys who lived in Ireland, and we weren't really good friends. I
was reluctant to say I loved Rowen, but as I had told Anika, he was very
special to me. I knew even though Amma preferred me to go out with a
Lankan, she didn't really mind me going out with Ro. Thaththa positively
loved Rowen. He always told Amma that I really couldn't have found a better
boyfriend. In fact, everyone just accepted the two of us together. Mark was
alwaysteasing us about it, and so was Bryan. In fact, he had called me the
previous night, just to rub it in my face all over again. But I really
couldn't hold it against Bryan; I simply loved him too much!
I was slowly beginning to become firm friends with Shane's new
girlfriend, Anya. She was a lovely person, and the only drawback was that I
didn't see her often as she lived in Denmark. But she often flew down to
see Shane, and when she did come, we always made it a point to meet up.
Kate had gone back home, but she too, often came down, and I was happy to
see a steady friendship growing between her and Nicky.
"I think Rowen and Aid are here." Anika said, looking out of the window.
She looked radiant, her deep brown eyes sparkling, her hair shining and her
slender figure looking great in a floaty purple dress. We were going out to
a rather formal dance, so I could see the silhouettes of the two lads in
suits downstairs at the door.
Thaththa came up. "The two princes are here to take the princesses to the
ball." He said, smiling. "Also, Princess Emily called. She said Prince Mark
is giving her a lift to the ball, and not to worry." Amma said, appearing
behind him. She was smiling a rare, pleased smile. "You two look lovely."
She said, planting a kiss each on our cheeks. We mirrored smiles.
We went down slowly. Thaththa had let the lads in, and they were waiting
for us at the foot of the stairs. As usual, my breath caught in my throat
when I saw Rowen. Every time felt like the first time. His eyes were
shining even more brightly than usual. He looked fantastic. In fact, I was
so caught up in him that I forgot Adrian for a minute. But when I turned my
attention to him, I noticed he looked even better than Rowen! I glanced at
Anika, who had an awestruck smile on her face.
"We'll see you later." Rowen told Amma and Thaththa. "I'll have them home
by..?" He asked. Thaththa glanced at his watch. "Anytime before 2:00 in the
morning, not a minute later." He said. Rowen smiled. "No problem." He said.
He held out his hand to me, and I took it eagerly.
"You look great, by the way. I love the colour on you." He whispered, as
we stepped out. I was wearing a shade of bronze which set off the
highlights in my hair.
When we got to the hotel where the dance was held, the ballroom was
already packed. It was a Westlife thing, and the lads were donating the
money they raised to a children's charity. They were wearing matching black
suits, and standing in a corner together when we walked in. Anika spotted a
group of friends, and whisked Aid off to them. I smiled as I watched her go.
"It was sweet of you to suggest bringing Adrian to keep her company." I
told Rowen. "They'll have a great time." Rowen smiled. "She's the most
beautiful thing I've laid my eyes on after you. I think she deserves some
good fun." He said.
Emily walked up to us. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan. I've come stag, so
I'm hunting someone to tag along with for the night. Any suggestions?" She
asked, with a smile. "What about Mark, I thought you came together." Rowen
pointed out. Emily rolled her eyes. "We always go places together. That's
beside the point."
"But he's your date for the night, you've got to keep together." I told
her. Emily frowned. "I need a boyfriend! This is getting frustrating!" She
said. I laughed. "Mark's not paying enough attention to you, is he? Get
Bryan to do it. He loves giving attention." Rowen told her. She cheered up
presently and scampered off to find him.
Rowen turned to me. "Punch? Champagne?" He asked. I smiled. "What do you
think?" I asked, my dimple showing as I smiled. Rowen rolled his eyes.
"Champagne." He said and walked in the direction of the refreshment table.
I turned in the direction of the lads. Anya was there as well, looking
stunning as usual. Nicky was nowhere to be seen.
"Hi lads, hi Anya. Have you guys seen Nicky anywhere?" I asked, walking
up to them. Kian looked me up and down and let out a wolf whistle. "You
look utterly gorgeous. What a figure." He said, his voice sounding awed.
Shane nodded. "Two very enthusiastic thumbs way, way up." "How do you do
it, Madam Long Legs?" Asked Mark, putting an arm around my waist. "I think
5 hours of daily training does the trick!" I smiled. "But where's Nicky? I
gather Emily went to hunt Bryan to get him to give her attention as you
don't seem to be doing it…!!!!" I told Mark.
Mark smiled. "I can't give her enough attention! You know she always
wants loads. As for Bryan, I saw him talking to Gemma Morris; You know,
she's that girl from London who'll be travelling with us? She's doing a
temporary publicist/stylist job while waiting for her A/L results." He
said. I nodded. I had heard about Gemma earlier. So where was Emily?
"I think I'll look for Miss. Subrata. Only Lord knows what she would have
gotten up to by now! Will you tell Rowen to hang on to my champagne?" I
asked. Kian nodded. I turned and left in search of Emily.
I bumped into Bernice on the way. "Just the girl I was looking for! Have
you seen Emily anywhere?" I asked her. Bern shook her head. "No, I haven't
seen her. In fact, I wanted to tell her that I have a surprise for her. Her
cousin Kate showed up." Bernice said.
"Kate? What's Kate doing here?" I asked in surprise. Bernice smiled.
"Mrs. S had asked her to come down for this, since Kate hasn't been to
Ireland in a couple of weeks. She had meant to surprise Emmi, but now she's
nowhere to be seen." Bern said. "Have you seen Kate?" I asked. "Yes, she
went in search of Bryan. I heard Em complaining that Mark wasn't paying her
any attention, so that she was going in search of Bryan…. But just a minute
ago, I saw Bryan with Gem Morris, so now I have no clue where both girls
are." Bernice said, shaking her head.
I was just as puzzled as she was, but I thought I'd check the billiards
room as I had seen some guys heading that way. I thanked Bernice and made
my way over there.
"Hey, Ariana!" I heard a guy say. I looked up and smiled. It was
Christopher, an old friend of mine from school. "Hey yourself, Chris.
What's new?" I asked him. "Nothing much, just catching up with the old
crowd. Are you heading in there?" He asked, pointing to the billiards room.
"Yeah, have you seen Emily Subrata anywhere?" I asked, as I stepped in the
door he held open for me. "Em? I saw her looking for McFadden earlier in
the ballroom. I don't think you'd find your Mr. Sheridan in here." He said,
smiling. I smiled back, scanning the room. "No, actually, I'm not looking
for Ro. I'm looking for Emily. If you see her, will you tell her that I was
looking for her?" I asked. "Sure. No problem." Christopher smiled.
I was only slightly worried about Emily's whereabouts. She was a big
girl; she knew how to take care of herself! I reminded myself that I was
also looking for Nicky. I took a peek out at the hotel gardens, and they
looked so nice and inviting, so I decided to take a whiff of fresh air
before heading back into the ballroom.
I stepped out and breathed in the fresh air. There was no one around; The
whole gang was in the ballroom. I checked my watch; It was a few minutes
past 9:00 p.m. The lads were scheduled to sing at 10:30 p.m., so I told
myself that there was plenty of time for Nicky to turn up. I was just about
to turn to leave, when I heard a couple of voices. They were vaguely
familiar, so I decided to take a closer look.
I could make out the silhouettes of two girls. "Whatever it is, it's his
problem, nana, not yours!" A voice hissed. "I was only trying to help,
Mim." A plaintive voice said. Nana? That was what Emmi sometimes called
Kate. And Mim was what Em's family called her. I stepped closer. It was
Kate and Emily.
"What are you girls doing out here?" I asked in surprise. They looked up,
startled. Kate's eyes were red, as if she had been crying. "Ari…" Em said,
awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I guess it's none of my business." I said, feeling
embarrassed as I turned to leave. Kate's eyes filled with tears. "All this
is my fault. If I didn't come back, none of this would have happened." She
said, her voice racked with tears.
Emily sighed and put an arm around her shoulders. "It's not your fault,
cuz. Nicky's just in a really hurt mood. I'm sorry I jumped at your throat.
I know you were only trying to cheer him up." She said, giving Kate a smallhug.
"What happened?" I asked, as the girls fell into step beside me. Kate
wiped away her tears. "I was looking for Emily to surprise her, and I
thought she might have come out for some air, so I came out as well. I
found Nicky sitting on one of the benches, with his head in his hands, so I
tried asking him what was wrong. He suddenly just snapped at me, telling me
to mind my own business. I was just trying to help, so I was really
annoyed, and told him that if he can't appreciate help, he should very well
mind his own business. Em was looking for Bry, and she heard us arguing…."
"And when I found them arguing, me, being the softie for Nico that I am,
defended him and not Katie. He just walked away, and you found us having
the rest of the argument." Emily finished.
I sighed. The split with Georgina was taking its toll on Nicky. "Any clue
where he went?" I asked. Kate nodded. "Just down there. He's still there; I
can see the little light on his pager through that bush. See?" She pointed.
She was right, I could see it, too. "I'll go talk to him." I said. "Good
luck." Em said, wearily. I smiled and made my way down the little footpath.
He was standing near the trees, staring up at the sky. He had his back
turned to me, so he turned abruptly as the twigs crackled under my shoes.
"Ari? What are you doing here?" He said. His voice was tight and stiff.
His eyes were bloodshot. My heart went out to him.
"I came to find you. The whole party is searching for the great Nicholas
Byrne, you have to sing in little over and hour." I told him. He shrugged.
"To tell you the truth, I'm really not in the mood to sing." He said,
looking away.
"Still missing Georgina?" I asked, softly. He turned to me. "How did you
know?" He asked, his voice defensive. "Nicky, it's no big secret. Everyone
knows you still miss her." I told him as gently as I could. He turned awayagain.
"It's not that I miss her, you know? I'm just angry at her. She's changed
me so much. Like today, I snapped at Kate, for no reason! She was just
trying to make me feel better, and I just snapped at her. The poor thing,
she's being so lovely to me…" Nicky trailed off. "I gave her so many years
of my life, Ari, and she just left me. Now she's done something to me, I
can't forget her, I hate her guts, and I even take my anger out on people
who have done nothing wrong to me. I'm not like that, you know me. And what
I did to Kate, I'll never forgive myself….." He said, his voice sounding
barely above a mere whisper.
"Nicky, do you feel something for Kate?" I asked in wonderment. He seemed
so broken down over that. He turned to me slowly, his eyes sparkling with
their usual allure.
He smiled softly. "What do you think?" He asked. It dawned on me. This
guy was so in love with the girl! "You do, don't you? God, why were we so
stupid as not to see?" I exclaimed. Nicky reddened slightly. "Don't tell
her, okay? She's so smitten over Shane, she could never like me. And
especially after tonight…" He said.
I shook my head. "She likes Shane as a pop-star. She loves you as a
friend. I think you should ask her. Who knows? You have a pretty good
chance of a yes." I told him. He smiled softly again. "You think so?" He
asked me, sounding hopeful. "I know so." I told him with a smile.