I picked up the phone on the third ring, no idea who waited on the other end. I lifted the receiver to my ear and answered,
"Hello?"
"Hello, can I speak to Mr. Henderson please?" The man had a practised, sing-song quality to their Manchester accent. Great, another cold caller, trying to convince me that my windows needed replaced, or that they could save me money on my home insurance. I have a big problem with cold callers, and that is that I can't hang up on them. But I do get some pleasure out of stringing them along until they think they've got a sale, and then suddenly changing my mind. Anyway, back to the phone call.
"Speaking."
"Hi, Mr. Henderson, my name is James Lowe, and I work for the Irish Independent," I perked up a bit, not a cold caller after all, "this is a call regarding the competition you entered in February. Just to let you know you won the competition, and your tickets are making their way over to you now. Congratulations." There was a click, and then the line went dead as the man at the other end of the phone hung up abruptly.
Ok, let me back up a bit. My name is Peter Henderson, but you can call me Pete. I am a 23 year old multimedia graduate from Dublin University. I was born and raised in Dublin, grew up with my parents and 2 younger brothers. I moved out when I went to uni, and never moved back. Now I live in a very studenty flat, and don't really have a job. I have messy light brown hair, dark blue eyes (and I wear glasses), I'm about 5'11 and, while I wouldn't say I was good looking, I'm not too bad on the eyes, or so I've been told. I think I have the scruffy, cute look.
In February I saw a competition in the Independent to win tickets to a book reading with Cecilia Ahern, the 26 year old author of P.S. I Love You. She was doing a reading from her newest book, Thanks for the Memories, which was due for release on April Fools Day. The event also included a book signing for her fans and, for the winner of the Independent's competition, a dinner with the author herself. Now I had won, and I was really excited. I had been a huge fan of Cecilia's since her first book, and I've read all of them, numerous times.
I got the phone call on a rainy Monday at the tail end of March. Every day since I checked the mail for the tickets to the book signing, and, finally they arrived on the following Friday, in time for the event 2 weeks later in the first weeks of April.
Eventually the day of the book singing arrived. I was nervous; I couldn't believe I was going to get to meet Cecilia Ahern. It still blew me away that someone at only the age of 26 had done so much. I chose a loose fitted pair of jeans and a casual shirt to wear, picked up my tickets, slipped it into the inside pocket of my leather jacket and left my flat, jacket over one shoulder in the cool early evening breeze. It was a nice evening, the sun still glimmering low in the sky, turning the horizon hues of orange and red. I got to my car when my mobile started ringing. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and answered,
"Hello?"
"Peter Henderson?"
"Yes."
"Hi, this is your driver. I couldn't get you on the land-line, so I called your mobile. Just to let you know I'll be at your house in 10 minutes, ok?"
"Wait, did you say driver?"
"Yes, sir, from the Irish Independent, to take you to Ms. Ahern's book signing."
"Oh right, I wasn't aware I was getting a driver, but ok, thanks, see you soon." I hung up, a bit bemused and went back into my flat.
Ten minutes later, a horn sounded outside. I glanced out the nearest window to see a sleek silver Jag waiting at the side of the road below. I locked my flat and left, climbing into the back seat of the car, sinking into the cream leather of the seats. I greeted my driver, who introduced himself as Dave.
"Next stop, the Abbey Theatre." Dave said, and eased the car back onto the road.
The car was delightful. It didn't feel like it was even touching the road, it was like we were gliding over it. Throughout the journey, I made small talk with Dave, who told me he was on call all night so I was just to let him know when I needed a lift home, he gave me his pager number for that. He dropped me off at the theatre 45 minutes before Cecilia was due to start reading. As I stepped out the Jag, I was greeted by a member of Cecilia's press team, Kate, a grey haired vulture of a lady. She told me that I would be sitting in the front row of the theatre, then, during the book signing, I would be taken back stage, where I would wait for Cecilia, who would sign my book, and then we would go for dinner.
"Ms. Ahern asked to meet you before the reading, which is why your here early. Come with me."
Trying to act calm I followed Kate through the actors' entrance. She led me along the dull grey corridors to the dressing rooms.
"This is Cecilia's dressing room, please wait here and I'll see if she's ready for you." She hadn't smiled at all, her bird-like features remaining stoic throughout.
A minute later and she was back, ushering me into the room. The cosy little dressing room was brightly lit, with a large mirror taking up most of the far away wall. I couldn't see Cecilia, and I assumed she was in the room off to the side, which I figured was the toilet. This was confirmed a few seconds later when a sweet voice called out,
"I'll be out in just a minute. Thanks Kate, is there anything else?"
"No, Ms. Ahern, that's all."