Page 94 of The Last Love Song
A painfully thin man, his face ravaged by years of substance abuse, slapped Freddy on the shoulder.
‘Hello, Freddy, long time no see. Another success under your belt then.’
‘Mick, what the hell are you doing here?’ Freddy turned around and was soon deep in conversation.
‘Hey, Sorcha, great news about the States. I might get my theatrical agent to line me up some meetings in LA while we’re there. And the shopping in New York is meant to be fantastic. While the boys work, we can spend all their hard-earned money in Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. I can’t wait,’ giggled Lulu.
‘Excuse me.’ Sorcha stood up. ‘I need to go powder my nose.’
‘Are you okay?’ Con saw that Sorcha had gone pale.
‘Yes, I’ll be fine, really.’
As she left the table, the journalist fromMelody Makerappeared again and sat herself down next to Todd.
‘I’m going to personally throttle that little tart in a minute,’ Lulu whispered to Con under her breath.
Con was still gazing across the room in the direction Sorcha had taken.
Lulu put her hand on Con’s knee. ‘I’ll bet you can hardly believe this is happening.’
‘You’re right, I can’t.’
‘You deserve it, Con. You have such talent. You gave the band what they were missing.’
‘All four of us contribute to the success, Lulu,’ Con answered abruptly.
‘Champagne, everyone.’
Brad was back with a tray, glasses and two bottles of bubbly. Lulu quickly removed her hand from Con’s leg.
Sorcha touched up her lipstick and smiled falsely into the mirror.
Tonight was not the night to think about either three monthsaway from Con, or turning down the Mighty Malt contract. There was bound to be a way around it. She mustn’t spoil the evening for either of them.
As she brushed her hair, she heard the cistern flush and was just about to head for the door when she heard a familiar voice.
‘My, my, what a small world.’
Sorcha’s heart nearly missed a beat.
Helen McCarthy stood behind her, smiling. Sorcha stared at her reflection in the mirror.
‘Helen...What are you doing here?’
‘Oh, a work thing, you know.’
‘Really? You work in London, do you?’
‘Yes, yes, I do.’
Sorcha nodded, trying to match Helen’s calm demeanour. She was so very different, so...confident.
‘How long have you been in England?’
‘Oh, almost as long as you. I left Ballymore a couple of months later.’
‘I see.’
