fancies you. ”
Louise didn ’ t think that was much of a compliment. Jeremy must be seventy if he was a day. There was a huge age-gap between him and Mel though she seemed to be genuinely fond of him. He was filthy rich of course and very generous too. Maybe I should have married a rich sugar-daddy, Louise thought bitterly , though she didn ’ t say this to her friend.
Louise couldn ’ t believe her eyes. The Kildare Village retail outlet centre was a revelation. They went into the information office where they picked up a booklet with a plan of the centre. Louise glanced at it but stuffed it in her bag, impatient to get started. With Melissa trying to keep up, she veered wildly from shop to shop, her heart racing madly. She felt like she ’ d died and gone to heaven. And the prices! Even Ronan – the cheapskate – couldn ’ t complain if she bought one or two things here. It was unbelievable !
Melissa laughed at her enthusiasm. “ I told you they ’ re practically giving stuff away. ”
“ They surely are. ”
“ Now we must make a plan, ” Melissa said , but Louise had already disappeared into the Coast shop. Melissa shook her head, and followed her. What have I let myself in for, she wondered.
Louise was trawling through the racks, oohing and aahing as she grabbed one dress after another and threw t hem across her arm. Her eyes were sparkling with excitem ent. She felt so alive.
“ Oh, Mel, this is fantastic! Look at the prices. It ’ s crazy! I ’ ll never buy anything in Dublin again! ” She sailed into the dressing room on cloud nine, her arms weighed down with beautiful dresses .
An hour later, they emerged from the shop. Louise had four bags on her arm, Melissa had none.
“ I can ’ t believe how much I ’ m saving, ” Louise cried gleefully, her green eyes aglow.
Melissa did not relish traipsing around after Louise all day. Everything looked so good on her friend that it made her feel even more frumpy than usual. Besides, she had some birthday and wedding presents that she needed to buy, so she suggested that they split up and meet again for lunch.
“ Look, I ’ ll give you the spare key to the car and you can go and put your bags in it – to save you carrying them around – and we ’ ll meet up . . .” she looked at her watch, “ at, say, three for lunch in L ’ Officina. Okay? ”
“ Perfect. Happy hunting! ” Louise beamed at her as she took the key. Just then she spotted the shop 7 For All Mankind. “ Oh my God! My favourite jeans in the whole world, ” she cried, sprinting away from Melissa, her hair and bags flying.
Melissa laughed at her enthusiasm. She ’ d never met anyone who could shop quite like Louise.
Three pairs of jeans later, Louise deposited her bags back in the boot of Melissa ’ s car and set off again. She ran into Melissa on her way.
“ I won ’ t have enough time ,” she moaned. “ I want to see everything. ”
“ That won ’ t be possible, ” Melissa said primly. “ Look , let ’ s grab a coffee in Starbucks and you can mark off the shops you absolutely must see, and then the ones that you ’ d like to see. ”
“ That ’ s a great idea, ” Louise agreed, following her to the coffee shop.
They ordered two cappuccinos and sipped them while Louise marked the most important shops she wanted to visit. The centre closed at seven. She hoped she ’ d have enough time to do them all . She wasn ’ t sure how much she ’ d spent but what the hell, she ’ d saved so much it was worth it .
By the time she met up with Melissa for lunch, she ’ d been back to the car once more to deposit more purchases there. By now she ’ d decided that she might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb and , anyway, Ronan couldn ’ t be much angrier with her than he already was.
After a delicious lunch, which she insisted on paying for – after all , Mel had done the driving – she bought some lovely lingerie in Wolfords. She badly needed these as