Kian gave him a funny look. “That’s what you’re calling this? Isn’t that a little…difficult?”
“Are you questioning the authority of the Love Master?”
“I sure as hell am.”
“You mind your tongue Egan.”
“And what are you going to do if I don’t, Love Master McFadden?”
“Okay lads, that’s enough,” Shane cut in. He, Bryan, Kian, Nicky and Georgina were gathered in the Byrne kitchen the next afternoon after having sent Mattie and Mark off to the studio under the excuse that Mark should show her around and introduce her to some of the people and staff that would be coming on the tour. It was an impeccable excuse for the other five to have some time to map out their plan of action for the two of them. “Now, we’re all here for a reason, and let’s not stray from the object of the matter. And Bryan, maybe that name is a little difficult. You might want to consider changing it mate.”
Bryan rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll put it to a motion. Who ever wants to change the name of the operation from Operation Get Mark and Mattie the Hell Together for God’s Sakes to…um…just Operation Mark and Mattie, say ‘aye’.”
“Aye!” came five emphatic replies.
Bryan let out an exasperated breath. “Whatever! You guys have no sense of creativity. Fine then. New title is instated, may the first strategization meeting of Operation Mark and Mattie begin. First order of business, we welcome the new girl.” Solemnly, Bryan streched out his hand and Georgina took it. “Welcome to the operation, Miss Aherne, it’s good to have you on board. We trust you will be a wise and utilitarian soldier.” Nicky and Kian rolled their eyes.
“I’ll do my best,” Georgina replied with equal solemnity.
“So!” Bryan said. “Now that that’s over with, let’s get down to business. Where do we start? We’ve only got three weeks, so we’ll have to move fast.”
Shane thought for a moment. “Well, firstly we have to identify the type of girl that Mark’s attracted to.”
“Haven’t we done a couple of interviews on that topic?” Kian asked. “I think we have. But I can’t really remember Mark’s answers.”
“Oh!” Nicky said suddenly. “Adam and me mam collect every magazine that we’ve had an article in, I bet it’s in there somewhere. Hold on, let me go find them.” Nicky got up from the table and in a few minutes came back carrying a box loaded to the top with newspapers and magazines. He set it on the table and immediately they all dug into it, each taking a stack of them to go through.
For a few minutes, the kitchen was silent except for the occasional turning of pages. Suddenly Bryan let out a laugh. The others looked up at him expectantly.
“Hey, it says here that J does all of Sean’s laundry for him. Can’t you imagine J in a little lace apron!” He laughed again.
“Bryan! Get serious,” Nicky reprimanded. “We haven’t got the time to be mucking around.”
Bryan sat back in his chair with a thud. “Fine,” he retorted sulkily before continuing to flip through the pages of his magazine.
“Hey, here’s something,” Shane said suddenly. The others put down their magazines and crowded around Shane’s chair to look at what he had found.
“It says here,” Shane read aloud, “that his ideal partner is someone who is easy going and can have a good laugh with…really funny…hmm, what else? Got to be look like Mariah Carey…shouldn’t have to wear too much make-up to look pretty, shouldn’t pick her nose…” Shane stopped reading. “This is rubbish!” he exclaimed. “We’re not going to learn anything from this! You know what we need to do? We need to ring Caitlin. She’ll know what to do.”
“Who’s Caitlin?” Georgina asked looking at Shane quizzically.
“She’s Mattie’s best friend back in Sligo,” Shane explained to her as he picked up the phone and began to dial. “If anyone can give us good ideas, she can.” When Shane heard the phone start to ring, he pressed the button for the speaker phone and put down the reciever.
“Hello?” Caitlin said when she picked up.
“Hey Cait!” Shane said, leaning over the telephone. “Welcome to the first strategization meeting of Operation Mark and Mattie.”
“Hi Shane!” she answered back laughing. “How’re things going?” Caitlin cleared her throat meaningfully. “Anything…exciting going on over there in Dublin?”
“That’s sort of why we rang you…we’re drawing a blank here Cait. We’ve no idea what we’re doing here and we need some guidance. Got any ideas for us?”
“Hmm…” There was a pause while Caitlin thought on the other side of the phone line. “Well what have you tried so far?”
“Nothing worth mentioning,” Kian commented. “Right now we’ve banished them to the studios so we could have some time to conduct this meeting, during which we have been leafing through magazines with us in them trying to root out Mark’s idea of the perfect girl but it hasn’t really done much good.”
Caitlin sighed. “You all are such amateurs.”
“Well excuse me, Miss Shaw, Goddess of all Wisdom,” Bryan remarked.
“Is that Bryan? Listen boy, if you give me any more attitude, I swear I will fly to Dublin myself and give you a good kicking in that generous expanse you like to call an arse, got me?”
Bryan grinned. “Ah, I’ve missed that tongue of yours Caitie.”
“You leave my tongue out of this. Now we have got to get back to business. Are you sure nothing significant has happened since you arrived in Dublin? No interaction between them that might have been a little out of the ordinary?”
“Who was that?” came Caitlin’s voice over the speaker phone.
“Oops, I guess I must have forgotten to tell you,” Shane responded. “Nicky’s girlfriend is here too. We have just officially inducted her into the Operation Mark and Mattie team.”
“Nicky’s girlfriend?”
“Yeah.”
“Like Nicky’s girlfriend, Georgina Aherne, like Georgina Aherne, the daughter of the Taoseaich of Ireland?”
“Yep.”
“Oh,” Caitlin squeaked.
Georgina smiled. She was used to encounters like this and moved immediately to put Caitlin at ease. “It’s nice to meet you Caitlin. I’ve heard a bit about you from the boys.”
“If you heard it from Bryan, don’t believe any of it, it’s all lies. He’s just trying to get you on his side.” Now that the initial anxiety was broken, Caitlin dove back into the matter at hand. “So what’s this you were saying about some guy at the club?”
“Yeah,” Georgina. “We were at Temple last night and Mattie ran into a friend of hers, a bloke she dated while she was going to school here in Dublin, I think. I can’t exactly recall his name…started with a ‘p’.”
Caitlin gasped. “Wait a minute, are you talking about Peter?”
“Yeah! Peter, that’s it.”
“So you’re saying that you have met the Peter? Is he everything he’s supposed to be?”
“Oh, Caitlin, he’s an absolute dream,” Georgina replied immediately. “You’ve got to see his eyes. They’re the loveliest shade of chocolate brown, and he honestly looked like he stepped out of a GQ-” she stopped when she noticed Nicky giving her a sad puppy dog look. “But then again, everyone looks better in the dark,” she finished, leaning over to give Nicky a quick kiss on the lips.
“So what happened? Any action?” Caitlin asked impatiently.
“Well, I sensed some major jealousy vibes from Mark while Mattie and Peter were doing their thing on the dance floor. He actually got up and left the room altogether.”
“Hmm…intriguing,” Caitlin said thoughtfully. “Jealousy canbe a very potent implement. Too bad you can’t take him on the tour with you. Now that would be interesting to watch. But in the meantime, we’ll have to work out something else.”
“Like what?” Nicky asked.
“Let’s see…well since Mark’s the one who really needs to get a clue here, we’ve got to concentrate on him first. And since we all know how thick he can be when it comes to situations like this, you’ve got no room to be subtle. You’ve really got to hit him with it. You’ve got to force him into where you want him. Make him think of what it would be like to have Mattie as more than a friend, you know? Ask him questions like if he ever thought of, I don’t know, kissing her or something. Ask him about the details of their relationship, and you’ve got to make him reevaluate the direction of their friendship, but for god’s sake, make it a positive direction. We don’t want to freak him out alright?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Shane said, and the rest agreed. At that moment, they heard the door to the house open.
“Hello! We’re back!” Mark called out. Bryan gave the phone a panicked look, and in a second, he launched himself across the counter where the phone was perched and he crashed to the floor, bringing the phone down with him. Frantically he tried to press the button to hang up. After a few seconds of struggle, he finally managed it just as Mark and Mattie came into the kitchen. Bryan looked up to see six faces looking at him in astonishment. He grinned innocently as he stood up and dusted himself off, putting the phone back into its proper place on the counter as Shane, Nicky and Kian all buried their heads in their hands.
Mark stared at Bryan for another perplexed moment. His mouth opened as if to say something but he thought better of it and shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.”
Georgina smiled brightly at Mark and Mattie. “So how was the trip to the studio? Did you two have fun? Mattie? Mattie?” Mattie hadn’t said anything since they had come back and now she was just standing in the kitchen with a huge smile on her face, but she wasn’t speaking at all.
Mark shook his head again. “Don’t try talking to her just yet. She’s a bit…starstruck I guess you could say.”
“Starstruck?”
“Yeah, Ronan was at the studio today and I introduced her to him and, well, she’s been like this ever since.”
Bryan walked over to Mattie and waved his hand over her face, but her expression didn’t change. “Whoa, this is freaky. Do you think she’d respond if I snapped her bra?”
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Mark warned. “She might snap out of it suddenly and punch you in the face. She might be dazed and speechless, but she still won’t let you fool around with her undergarments.”
“Mattie, speechless? There’s a first,” Kian remarked. “Hey at least we know if we ever want her to shut up, all we have to do is introduce her to a celebrity.”
Nicky looked at his watch. “Lads, we’ve got an interview and a photo shoot in about two hours. We’ve got to get moving. You coming Georgina?”
“Sure,” she replied getting up from the table.
Nicky gave Mattie a wary glance. “Mattie? Mat, are you coming?” When there was no response, he went over and took her by the shoulders to shake her gently.
“Huh?” Mattie finally said, snapping out of her state.
“Mattie, we’re going to do an interview and a photo shoot now,” Nicky said loudly and slowly. “Do you want to come with us?”
“Oh…yeah, sure,” she answered.
“Well come on then, let’s get going,” Bryan declared.
Georgina and Mattie had been trying to stay away so as not to bother the lads while they were giving their interview, but after half an hour of just poking around the studio and trying on the costume clothing that were hanging on the clothes racks, their curiosity finally got the better of them, and they slowly began to inch their way closer the the group.
“Can you hear what they’re saying yet?” Mattie whispered loudly.
“Shh,” Gerogina hissed. “Hold on, we have to get closer.” Ever so slowly, they crept up slowly behind the group. The only people that were able to see them were Nicky, Bryan, and the reporter who gave them amused smiles. Mattie and Georgina both waved back at them and giggled into their hands. The three turned their attention back to the interview.
“So,” the interviewer continued. “Do any of you feel famous yet?”
“It’s a bit wierd ‘cos we don't feel famous, but it feels like everyone knows who we are!” Mark answered.
“I don’t feel famous,” Nicky agreed. “When we’re out on our own we don’t get recognised as much, especially when we’re in England.”
“Ever snogged anyone famous?”
Nicky smiled. “My girlfriend Georgina – the prime minister’s daughter!” He looked over at Georgina and winked, and she blew him a kiss.
“Kian’s snogged Nicky’s sister, and she's gonna be famous, if that counts?” Bryan added helpfully.
Nicky shot Kian a shocked look. “You snogged my sister?” Kian looked down and played with his hands sheepishly. “I’ll deal with you later.” Kian gulped and gave Bryan a dirty look.
The interviewer laughed and looked down at his sheet of questions. “So have you guys got any female friends?” At this question, all of the boys except for Mark looked up immediately. He didn’t know it but this interviewer had practically just fed them an opportunity. Nicky answered first.
“I’ve loads of female friends, but I don’t hink a fella can have a best friend who’s a girl,” he said meaningfully. Mark gave him a confused look.
“I think it can happen,” he said.
“No, it just can’t happen!” Nicky insisted. “I’ve loads of female friends, but none you could have intimate talks with.”
“With your best friend, you do have a love bond, but you can’t have that with a girl ‘cos you just want to snog ‘em!” Bryan said.
Finally, Mattie couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up discreetly and walked out of the studio as quietly as she could. Georgina got up immediately and went to follow her. She found Mattie sitting in a chair out in the hallway curled up into a ball on the seat, sniffling quietly. Carefully, Georgina sat on the chair next to her. For a while, neither of them spoke.
“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” Georgina asked gently.
“It’s nothing,” Mattie answered, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremble in her voice.
“Oh come now, you don’t really expect me to let you give me an answer like that?” Georgina paused. “Would this have anything to do with what the lads were talking about just now? Would it have anything to do with…with Mark?”
Mattie’s body stiffened and she looked up quickly. “It’s alright, you can tell me,” Georgina urged gently.
“I want you to promise that you won’t say anything to Mark,” Mattie began.
“I promise. You know I wouldn’t dream of saying anything to him that you wouldn’t want me to.”
Mattie nodded. “Well I – I mean, when I was younger…” She let out an exasperated breath. “Why can’t this ever come out right?”
“It’s alright, just take your time, no one’s rushing you.”
Mattie took a deep breath. “I – I used to be…I used to-” she stopped.
Georgina looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to finish. “You used to…” she prompted.
“I used to have feelings. For Mark.”
“Ahh,” Georgina said, feigning surprise. “Used to?”
“Yes.”
“When was this?”
Mattie looked down at her hands. “A few years ago, I can’t really remember…probably right before Mark left with the band. I – I guess – well it wasn’t anything, really, just a crush I suppose. I suppose I was just swept up in the excitement of it all. It was sort of a confusing time, I’m sure you can imagine. He was leaving me, and I – I just felt lost, scared. I didn’t know what I was going to do without him, and I guess I kind of mistook those feelings for lo – I mean, for something else.”
“It that the reason you looked so upset back there?”
“No, I wasn’t upset,” Mattie protested. “It was just – I guess it’s just kind of hurts still, you know? He was just sitting there, talking about how we never looked at each other as more than friends, but I did. In a way, I feel like I decieved him, like I’m keeping the truth from him.”
“So why don’t you just tell him?”
Mattie looked up. “I can’t! I couldn’t tell him that. It wouldn’t ever be the same between us again.”
“But it’s all in the past,” Georgina responded reasonably. “Isn’t it?”
“All in the past,” Mattie repeated without much conviction. She sighed. “I need to go to the ladies room. I saw one down the hall.”
“Okay,” Georgina answered. Mattie got up from her chair and started away.
After a few moments, Nicky stuck his head out the door. When he saw Goergina sitting there alone, he came out and sat on the chair that Mattie had vacated. “Where is she?” he asked, taking Georgina’s hand.
“She’s in the ladies.”
“Well…?”
“Well what?”
“What happened?!”
“Not much, really.”
“Georgina! Come on!”
“Okay okay…she told me that she used to have feelings for Mark.”
“Used to? What about now?”
“She says that’s all in the past now.”
“Did you believe her?”
“Not for a second.”
“Hmm…” Nicky pulled Georgina over her chair into his so that she was sitting in his lap. “Aren’t you glad we never had to go through this kind of turmoil?”
Georgina laughed. “What are you talking about? You’ve gone through plenty turmoil with me.”
“When?”
“Hello,” she said. “Have you already forgotten? You had a whole year of turmoil to go through before we started going together, remember? The first time you asked me out, I said no, and then it was an entire year before Davey Flanagan had finally had enough of it and asked me out for you.”
Nicky waved his hand dismissively and grinned. “That wasn’t turmoil. In fact, I hardly even thought about you that entire time. And when Davey came up to me and told me he had asked you out for me again and you said yes, I thought I might as well give you another shot.”
“Oh, Nick, it’s just so amazing how you always seem to know what I want to hear. It must be a gift.” Georgina said before giving him a twisting pinch to his abdomen.
“Ow, OW!” he screeched. “Okay, okay, it was turmoil, it was complete hell! Please, don’t hurt me anymore!” Georgina released him and kissed him on the tip of his nose.
“That’s better,” she said smiling.
“Well, you were worth the wait,” Nicky answered before he leaned in to kiss her.
“Ew!”
Nicky and Georgina both looked up to see Bryan standing in front of them with a mischievous grin on his face. “Hey guys!” he called back into the room. “Nicky and Georgina are out here playing smacky-face!” The other four lads also filed into the hallway.
Georgina smiled and got up off of Nicky’s lap. “Bryan, you are incorrigible,” she said, pinching his cheek.
“What’s that mean?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Hey, Peanut!” Shane said suddenly when he saw Mattie come down the hall.
“What’s up Shane?” she said smiling. “You guys all done?”
“Yep,” he answered. “We’re all going out to eat now, you up for it?”
“Sure.”
“Great, I’m starving,” Bryan said. “Let’s get out of here.”
A short cab ride later, they were all seated in Dublin’s La Romana restaurant and bar, waiting for their orders to come. Finally, a waiter appeared and set their food down in front of each of them. All seven of them dug in heartily.
“So how was the interview lads?” Georgina said before eating a mouthful of spaghetti.
“It was alright, same old thing,” Mark answering, shrugging.
Georgina cleared her throat and cast the other boys a meaningful glance. “I thought that the question about you having female friends was prety interesting,” she said. “It’s not a question you get so often.”
Nicky got the hint. “I still don’t see how you can be best friends with a girl without getting together eventually,” he said nonchalantly. “It just seems inevitable.”
Mark shrugged again and looked at Mattie. “Well, I guess we’re the exception then.”
Mattie nodded. She couldn’t bring herself to speak and instead focused on playing with her fork. Her appetite had left her all of a sudden. “Yeah, it’s pretty cliché,” she managed to say. “I mean, not every girl-boy friendship has to end up like that.”
“So you two have never had any other sort of feelings other than friendship towards each other?” Kian asked, using the fact that Mattie didn’t know that he was aware of her feelings to his advantage.
“Guess not,” Mark replied.
“Have you two ever kissed?” Georgina said suddenly.
“What?” Mark said, surprised.
“Well you’re a boy, and Mattie’s a girl, and for sixteen years you spent every day with each other,” Georgina explained reasonably. “It’s hard to believe that you haven’t at least kissed. And I don’t mean cheeks either.”
“Well we haven’t full out snogged, if that’s what you wanted to know,” Mark remarked smiling.
Mattie smiled too. “Actually, there was that one time.” At that comment, five heads at the table turned to look at her, but Mattie was looking at Mark. “Do you remember that? When we were ten or eleven I think. Timmy Gordon? Sound familiar?”
“Ohhh,” Mark sat back in his chair as the memory came back to him. “Yeah, I remember that!”
“Well?” Georgina asked eagerly. “Why don’t you tell us?”
“Oh, you guys don’t want to hear about that-”
Mattie was interrupted by a chorus of protests. “Okay, okay fine, I’ll tell the story,” she laughed. “Alright. Like I was saying, we were about ten or eleven years old. And there was this guy, Timmy Gordon, who was the biggest jerk you could imagine…”
November 1990
Mark sat waiting impatiently on the bench just outside of school waiting for Mattie so they could walk home together. She was pretty late. Actually, she was always late, but today it seemed like he was waiting longer than usual. Finally, he took out his French text and tried to occupy himself by trying to memorize his parlon for the week.
“Mon nom est Mark Feehily. J'ai douze ans. J'aime à la télévision de montre, au tennis de pièce et au football, et j'ai un chien Snoopy nommé. J'ai des frères Barry et Colin nommés-”
Suddenly, a knapsack was hurled down beside him. Mark looked at the abused knapsack and then up to meet Mattie’s angry face. She was beet red and had her hands placed on her hips in a defiant stance, and obviously furious at something.
“Where were you?” Mark questioned as he put his text back in his sack. “Something wrong, Mattie?”
“I. Hate. Timmy. Gordon.” Mattie managed to force out from between her clenched teeth.
“Uh oh. What’s happened now?”
“You remember when I beat him at football during the recess this morning?”
“Yeah?”
“Well apparently he hasn’t got over it yet that a girl actually beat him at football, and as I was going through the gate to meet you, he completely slagged me off! In front of all his stupid friends, and in front of the entire school practically!”
“What?! He can’t do that to you!” Mark said, rising in anger.
“Well he did.” Mattie plopped down on the bench and crossed her arms over her chest, trying her hardest to keep her chin from trembling. However, a tear managed to escape from her eye and roll down her cheek before she could stop it. The sight of Mattie crying was almost too much for Mark to bear.
“Well, I’m not going to let him get away with that,” he declared.
Mattie looked up at him and impatiently wiped away another tear that had slipped out of her eye. “What are you talking about?”
“If he wants someone to pick on, it’s not going to be you. Not while I’m around.”
Mattie gave him a suspicious look. “I’m still – what are you going to do?”
“Is Timmy still at the gate?”
“I guess so. Why?”
“If it’s trouble he wants, it’s trouble he’s going to get,” Mark said determinedly as he started back towards school.
“Wait Mark,” Mattie gasped jumping up. She ran to catch up with him and caught his sleeve. “What do you mean? You can’t mean you’re going to fight him, do you?”
“I mean to make him apologize to you, and if he doesn’t…then – then I’m gonna have to make him!”
“But he won’t apologize, Mark! You know he won’t!”
“Well I’ll guess we’ll have to settle it with our fists then.”
“Mark,” Mattie said firmly. “There is no way I’m going to let you fight him. Timmy’s huge! Besides, I can take care of myself, I’m not a baby.”
“No,” Mark said with his face set. “I’m not going to let this one go.”
“But Mark, you’ve never even fought anyone before!”
“So? I’ve seen enough fights on the playground to know what it’s all about. It can’t be that hard to fight.”
“But he’ll hurt you Mark!”
For a moment Mark wavered, his bravado failing him. Then he set his jaw again. “I don’t care. That jerk’s gotta know that he can’t just go around slagging you off. You’re my best friend and I’ve got to defend your honor Mattie. I wouldn’t be a proper gentleman if I didn’t do anything about it anyhow.” With that, he freed himself from Mattie’s grasp and strided back towards school with Mattie running behind, trying to keep up. Mark passed the gate into the schoolyard and walked directly over to where Timmy Gordon was sitting on the low wall that bordered the school with his friends. Timmy looked up when he noticed Mark looming over him.
“Whaddya want Feehily,” Timmy sneered.
“I believe you’ve got an apology to make,” Mark said, trying his best not to let his voice shake.
Timmy peered around him to see Mattie standing a few feet away, biting her lip nervously. Her hands were clasped together so tightly that they were beginning to turn white. By this time a small crowd had gathered to see what the fuss was about.
“Forget it,” he said. “I don’t make apologies, especially not to girls.”
“I realize how humiliating it is to be beat by a girl at football, but at least you can try to take it like a man and not act like a mouldy muzzy*.”
Timmy’s face turned beet red when a titter went up around the crowd, most likely because of the fact that a girl had beat him at what was supposed to be a man’s sport.
“Look,” Timmy said, standing up with his teeth clenched, his nose two inches aways from Mark’s. “You haven’t got any business to tell me what to do and what not to do. So why don’t you take your culchie** country boy arse back home to yer mam, maybe she can knock some sense into ya.”
Suddenly, without warning, Mark’s clenched fist drew back and he hit Timmy squarely on the nose.
Timmy reeled. “FIGHT!” came a shout from the crowd, and all at once a stampede of school children came up to gather with the group that had already begun to form a circle.
“You’re going to be sorry you did that Feehily,” he said menacingly, holding a hand to his nose.
“Ya, you just try and hit me with what you got Gordon,” Mark shot back.
They both looked up when one of the older students came up to them. “All right lads, you know the rules,” he said gravely. Apparently this person was an experienced and respected schoolyard fighter of old. “Both of you off to your corners and I’ll give the word.” Warily, the two backed away from each other and went to opposite sides of the circle. Immediately both were surrounded by their own supporters, all trying to give the two advice, and psyching them up for the upcoming battle, much in the way it is in professional boxing matches.
Mark shrugged off his jacket and tried to ready himself for the fight. On the outside, he looked calm and determined but in reality, he was scared out of his mind. Mattie had been right, he had never fought anyone in his life and Timmy was bigger than the average ten year old. But there was no way he was backing out. Suddenly, the sound of someone calling his name pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked behind him into the crowd and saw Mattie trying to make her way to him through the throngs of people. She grasped his arms.
“Mark, you know you don’t have to do this. It’s really okay, I’m fine, I swear. Please don’t do anything stupid. What am I going to tell your mother if he kills you?”
“He’s not going to kill me, okay Mat? Quit trying to scare me! I’ve got to do this, there’s no backing out now.”
Mattie saw the determination and anger in his eyes and knew that nothing she could say would make him stop. “Fine,” she said. “But – take this.” She pulled the hair ribbon from her blonde hair and tied it around his upper arm.
“What’s this?”
“In the old days, when a knight rode into battle, he always wore the colors of his lady fair. Didn’t you read the Lady of the Lake? King Arthur? Ring a bell?”
“It’s pink.”
“So?”
“It’s kinda hard to look intimidating when you’re wearing pink. Don’t you have something that’s black or red or something?”
Mattie rolled her eyes. “Well excuse me if I forgot to wear my war ribbons today, okay?”
“Alright lads, you ready?” the older boy called from inside the middle of the circle.
Mark took a deep breath and started out into the circle. The cheering grew louder as he and Timmy both entered the ring and faced each other. Mattie was wringing her hands nervously as she watched them eye each other down.
“Okay lads,” the boy said, speaking to the both of them. “When I say it, you can begin. I’ll act as referee.” Mark and Timmy both nodded. “Alright then. One, two three…FIGHT!” He stepped quickly away from the two, who continued to circle each other for a few seconds.
“I hope you don’t like the way your face is now cause I’m gonna be changing it around for ye,” Timmy said.
Mark said nothing in return. Then suddenly, Timmy gave the first punch and the crowd went wild. Mark swung back as hard as he could, and they fought furiously. In spite of Mark’s lack of experience he held his own and for a while no one could tell who would come off best. At last, it looked as if Mark were gaining the upper hand and Mattie finally allowed herself to relax and she started to shriek along with the rest of the crowd, her heart swelling with pride. However, Timmy must have been saving something for this situation. His foot shot out and Mark lost his balance. Timmy took the opportunity and quickly pinned Mark face up against the floor. Mattie gasped and her hand flew to her mouth, her heart now pounding in her ears as Mark struggled to free himself from Timmy’s grasp.
“How’d you like this now, Feehily?” Timmy snarled. “This’ll teach you not to try and mess with me.” He leaned closer to Mark’s ear before continuing. “That bird of yours hasn’t got any business playing the game anyway,” he spat out. “Maybe if she had a mother, she’d teach her how to act like a lady.”
At that, a burst of fury lent Mark some energy and suddenly, it was Mark who was on top again, pinning Timmy down to the ground. The crowd erupted in cheers as Mark gave Timmy one last punch in the face before he stopped resisting.
“Have you had enough?” Mark demanded. When Timmy didn’t answer, Mark reached up and yanked on his hair.
“OW! Yes! I’ve had enough!”
“Are you gonna ‘pologize now?”
Timmy mumbled something indecipherable, but Mark shook his head. “No. You’re gonna ‘pologize to her.” Mark pulled Timmy’s head up so that he was looking at Mattie.
“Fine! I’m sorry, alright?” Satisfied, Mark released Timmy’s arms and got up off of him and kneeled off to the side, catching his breath as he watched him skulk away with his friends before he was surrounded by dozens of well-wishers, thumping him on the back and voicing their congratulations.
“Mark, Mark!” He looked up to see Mattie fighting her way through the crowd. She knelt down in front of him and took his bruised hands in hers. “That was wonderful! It was amazing – I – I just – I – thank you!” Suddenly, she leaned forward, and amidst all the shouting and cheering, she took his face in her small hands and she kissed him. Mattie pulled back and her expression was just as surprised as his. And at that moment, the two were oblivious that there was anyone else there but the two of them. Finally, Mattie smiled. She leaned forward again, and hugged him this time. He smiled back and stood up before reaching his hand down her take hers.
“Come on Mat, let’s go home.”
Mattie finished the story, a nostalgic smile playing on her lips. Mark was looking back at her with that same reminiscent smile on his own face.
Georgina sniffed audibly. “I think that’s the dearest story I’ve ever heard,” she said, clasping her hands over her heart.
Nicky laughed and kissed her cheek. “Ah, you always were a sap for romance,” he said fondly as he put an arm around her.
“Well I can’t help it,” she said laughing. “It’s just such a precious story! No one’s ever fought to defend my honor,” she said, pushing out her lower lip in a pout.
“Aw honey, I’m sorry,” Nicky said, kissing the side of her head. He pointed at a man in a blue shirt sitting at the bar having a drink. “Would it help if I went over and knocked that guy out for you?”
“You wouldn’t be able to do it.”
“Oh no? Just watch me try,” Nicky said, pretending to be insulted as he started up from his seat.
“Hold on,” Shane said catching his sleeve. “Nobody’s knocking out anybody. Right now we’re gonna go home and get some rest. We’ve got rehearsals tomorrow lads, and the day after that, it’s off to Israel and we need our rest. And Nicky, no one needs to see you with a black eye, mate.”
Georgina laughed and hugged him. “You can do it some other time, darling.”
“Fine,” Nicky sighed in mock resignation. The others laughed as they got up from their own seats.
As they were heading out of the restaurant, Mark kept back so he could walk out with Mattie. He offered her his arm and she took it.
“How chivalrous of you, Mr.Feehily,” she remarked.
He smiled. “You know I had almost forgot about that incident. With Timmy.”
Mattie laughed. “I don’t think I ever could. I honestly thought he was going to kill you. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my entire life.”
“Well, you were worth it,” he said, smiling down at her with an expression that made her catch her breath. He took reached out his hand and took Mattie’s free one, bringing it slowly up to his lips, and kissing it gently. A shiver ran through her body as his lips touched her hand, and although she didn’t know it, it seemed that the gesture had affected Mark as well. He looked up at Mattie in surprise and his hand tightened around hers.
“Thank you Mark,” Mattie responded softly. “Thank you for – for defending my honor,” she finished with a laugh.”
“Any time, milady,” he said with a grin. Mattie noticed that he still hadn’t let go of her hand. Gently, she pulled it away and put it inside the pocket of her jacket.
“Let’s go, the others have got a cab.”
As they started towards the taxi, neither one noticed the people inside giving each other hi-fives. “Yes!” Bryan shouted triumphantly raising his fist in the air. “Operation Mark and Mattie is officially underway!”
An hour and a half later, the members of Westlife were gathered in a photo studio in downtown Dublin. They had just finished the shoot and they were sitting on the armchairs and couches that had brought in for the interview portion and the lads were all chatting animatedly with the interviewer from TV Hits.
*a mouldy muzzy would mean rotten brat in Irish slang
**a culchie country boy basically means, in American terms, a hick.
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