Behind Every Cloud by Pauline Lawless

to make of Zita but she ’ d been very friendly and Rachel found her intriguing. She looked forward to getting to know her better .
    When Carl arrived home he raised his eyebrows to see his wife with an almost empty bottle of wine in front of her.
    “ Well, how was the wine course? ” he asked, throwing off his jacket.
    “ Fabulous! I loved it, ” she said as she reached up for a kiss.
    “ Doing your homework, I see, ” he said, lifting the wine bottle. “ This is becoming a bit of a habit. ”
    “ Absolutely! Sam said we ’ re to taste as much as possi ble during the week. ”
    Carl heard the slight slur in her voice and poured the rest of the wine into a glass for himself, figuring that Rachel had had enough. He drank it quickly and then stood up.
    “ I ’ m wrecked. Time for bed. You coming? ”
    Reluctantly Rachel left her wine and joined him.

    Zita climbed the four flights of stairs to her apartment , anticipating an early night , but as she put her key in the lock her friend Marcus stuck his head out of the next - door apartment and waved a bottle of wine.
    “ Well, how ’ s the new wine expert? ” he asked, grinning . “ Want to come in and tell me which end of the vineyard this comes from? ”
    “ Oh, shut it! ” she replied, laughing at him but resigning herself to joining h im. If Marcus wanted to chat she might as well do it comfortably over a glass of wine.
    “ Well, tell me, tell me – what ’ s the gossip? ” he asked as he poured the wine for them.
    Marcus was the biggest gossip in the land. He was also as gay as Christmas and he was probably the only true friend she had. He had managed to worm all of her secrets out of her – well, not all, but most of them. He knew things about her that nobody else did and yet still he accepted her as she was. Of course, Marcus had more than a few shady secrets in his own past.
    “ And how was Lady Dunne tonight? Have you persuaded her to be your BFF? ”
    Zita laughed. She had shared her plans with Marcus about how she was going to use Carl Dunne to forward her career. He thought it was a brilliant idea. He loved intrigue almost as much as gossip.
    “ Best Friends Forever? Actually, I was surprised. She ’ s quite nice and very friendly. A total airhead, of course, but it ’ s hard not to like her. ” She got up to read the label of the wine bottle. “ Mmmm . . . I thought so. Bordeaux. ”
    “ You see, one lecture and she thinks she ’ s an expert! God, you ’ re not going to become one of those awful wine bores, are you? ” He threw his hands up in mock-horror.
    “ Of course not, you idiot! ” she cried, punching him playfully.

    Ronan went home with a light heart. He had found the course riveting and Sam a great guy. To top it all it looked like Sam would give him some part-time work which would mean that he could clear off some of their debts. Things were looking up.
    Louise was in a foul mood when he got home and he feared that it might be the start of another bout of depression. That meant that she would seek retail therapy and their finances just couldn ’ t take any more. He ’ d better keep an eye on their credit - card account – just to be sure.
    He told her about the course but she didn ’ t seem interested. She didn ’ t even pass any comment when he told her about the part-time job Sam had offered him. She just kept staring listlessly at the TV.

    13
    Ronan was aware of an air of despondency in the office the following day. After lunch the managing director called a conference and announced that , if business did not improve immediately, they would have no option but to wind up the company. Everyone was fearful and all eight of the staff went for a drink after finishing work. Ronan stayed for just two pints as he had his appointment with Sam to think about. Anyway, the drink didn ’ t lift anyone ’ s spirits – it only made everyone even more downcast.

    The meeting with Sam went even better than Ronan could have