His face is red, sweat gathered below his security cap. Arthur looks like he might have enjoyed his own shindig yesterday.
‘Yes, it was a great day.’
Arthur looks over at Shay.
‘So you’re one of us now, little man,’ he says.
‘Indeed he is.’
‘You’ll be wanting me to lift the barrier.’
‘Thanks Arthur.’
Inside the door, the sweet sickening smell of cooking beer hits me in the face. My stomach lurches. This is not the place to come after a night of too much drink.
I take a deep breath and proceed down the corridor to Conor’s office, knocking before opening the door. It’s empty. Conor is not here. When I knock on Olive’s door, I hear a voice invite me in. It’s Deirdre.
‘Well hello, what a lovely surprise.’
‘Sorry for interrupting, Deirdre, I was looking for Conor.’
Deirdre’s eyes are red. She smiles through a mask of makeup and perseverance. She stands up and walks over to take the car seat from me.
‘Hello, little man,’ she says, putting the car seat onto the desk. ‘Did you enjoy your party? You do know it’s your fault we’re all just hanging in here today.’ Deirdre’s head turns from Shay to me.
‘Actually Olive didn’t make it in at all,’ she says.
‘Oh.’
‘Yes. She was getting sick half the night. No stamina, that one.’
‘I didn’t think she had that much to drink.’
‘You didn’t see her leaving.’ Deirdre laughed.
‘But didn’t she drive home?’
‘Don’t go there.’ Deirdre sighs, then says, ‘Well, what can I do for you?’
‘Nothing really, I just came in to see Conor but his office is empty. Is he down on the factory floor?’
‘Conor was called out. Do you want me to give him a buzz, let him know you’re here?’ Deirdre sits back down at her desk and lifts the phone.
‘No, I was just passing by.’ I don’t want Deirdre to sense the urgency.
There’s an empty Lucozade bottle beside a large bottle of water sitting on the desk. I smile to myself when I see it. Memories.
‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ Deirdre asks, but I can tell she’s just being polite. The last thing she needs now is to entertain me.
‘No Deirdre, thanks, I’ll head on.’ I can see the relief on her face. I wonder if she remembers telling me about the accident in the brewery yesterday. I’m about to open the door when I feel opportunity tapping me on the shoulder.
Turning back around, I say, ‘Deirdre, can I ask you something?’
‘Yes,’ she says, looking a little dubious.
‘Yesterday you were telling me about the day of the accident.’
Deirdre nods. Keeping her eyes on me, she takes an obvious breath. ‘I can barely remember… but go ahead.’
‘Was there an argument between Conor and Seamus that day?’
She huffs a laugh. ‘Was there what? There was an argument between those two at least once a week, nothing different that day.’
‘Oh, I was under the impression they got on well.’
‘They did, they got on very well but they were always arguing. Always the same thing too. Seamus wanted Conor to take over the business. Conor wanted to leave to study something to do with the stars or the sky, I don’t know.’
‘So that day was…’
‘That day was no different, Laura. No different at all, other than Seamus had a fatal accident.’
I nod and pull on the handle of the door.
‘Do you mind not mentioning that I asked you about it?’
‘About what?’ she says, smiling at me before pulling her keyboard closer.
Chapter Fifty-Three
With Shay safely strapped into the car, I turn the key in the ignition and head for home. Knowing Conor and his dad often argued weakens Pat’s case. The man sure does entertain his imagination.
Seeing Deirdre struggle through the day with a hangover reminded me of Mondays at Imanage. The Lucozade. The bacon sandwiches. The clock moving at a slower pace than any other day of the week. I struggled to get through every Monday after putting in a mad weekend of partying and drinking until the early hours.
A surge of melancholy washes over me. Do I miss it? I’d certainly love to go back for one more weekend. The freedom was wonderful. Doing what I wanted, when I wanted, with whom I wanted. No one to answer to. Until it all went wrong.
As if reading my mind, Shay lets out a little whimper, reminding me how happy I should be.
‘I wouldn’t switch you for the world, little man.’ I turn to look at him and feel a surge of warmth rush through my body.