Upside Down Inside Out by Monica McInerney Page B

She’d always enjoyed being in a new place, looking around, exploring. Not that she’d done much of it recently, apart from a day trip to Belfast last year to do some shopping, and a couple of weekends in London staying with friends.
    Ambrose had asked her to use her holiday to make a decision about the shop too. Could she try and make up her mind in Melbourne rather than New York? Lainey was always talking about the wonderful
    food in Melbourne, all the delicatessens and markets and cafes. And the art galleries as well. Perhaps seeing them all might help her decide what she really wanted to do with her life?
    Should she sleep on it? Make a rational decision in the morning, when Dermot-anger and gin had gone from her system? She thought about it for a second. No, she couldn’t wait. Not another minute. She pulled her address book out of her bag. With shaking fingers, she dialled Lainey’s work number.
    ‘Lainey Byrne speaking.’
    ‘Lainey, it’s me again.’ She took a breath. ‘Would you be able to pick me up from Melbourne airport? Next week sometime?’
    Lainey’s shriek down the phone was all the answer Eva needed.

Chapter six
    One week later …
    Joseph walked into the warmly lit Italian restaurant in Kentish Town, carrying his backpack. His mother, Kate, was seated at a side table, reading the menu. She was looking well again, Joseph thought as he crossed the room toward her. The strain of her illness had nearly disappeared from her face. Her newly short hair was expertly cut, and she still had that how should he put it? - individual approach to clothing. Tonight she was wearing something with an I Asian influence, a jacket in a rich red brocade with an embroidered collar and long flowing sleeves. She looked up as he approached and gave him a big smile. ‘Joseph, it’s so good to see you. Will I order you a glass of wine? Or a beer?’ ‘It’s great to see you too. I’ll have a beer, please.’ Kate gave the waitress the order, then turned back ( to him. ‘So you’re all packed and ready to go?’
    ‘By the skin of my teeth,’ he said, moving the backpack out of the way. ‘How are you, Kate?’
    ‘Is that a normal “how are you?” or a “how are you?’”
    He smiled at that. She’d told him previously that some of her friends had reacted strangely to the news that she was being treated for cancer. They’d started speaking to her in new low voices, their faces a constant study of concern. ‘How are you, Kate?’
    ‘You’re still getting that?’
    ‘No, not so bad any more. Now they’ve realised the treatment has worked and I’m not going anywhere just yet. I quite miss the attention, actually.’
    ‘Do you?’
    ‘No.’ She smiled at him again. ‘And how are you, Joseph? And that’s a normal “how are you”.’
    ‘I’m fine.’
    She took in every detail of his face. ‘You don’t look it. You look exhausted. What’s happening at work, has it settled down at all?’
    ‘Settled down? Got busier, I think. I’ve taken on two new designers to handle the updates of the office chair designs, I didn’t have the time to do them myself. The auditor is due in a fortnight, so there’s been a lot of preparation for that as well.’
    ‘You’re still drowning in meetings, are you?’
    ‘No, just staying afloat.’
    ‘And the Canada project?’
    ‘I still haven’t decided. I’ll look through the offer
    again while I’m in Australia.’
    ‘And tell me, have you managed to stay off the cigarettes?’
    ‘I have. It’s been nearly six months now. I look back now and remember them sometimes and I think, Yes, they were the good old days. Those happy times …’
    She didn’t smile. ‘Anything new in the pipeline? Any new projects?’
    He paused for a moment before answering. ‘No,’ he said simply. ‘Are you all right, Joseph?’
    ‘Yes, of course I am.’
    ‘Are you happy?’
    ‘Deliriously.’
    She looked doubtful. ‘Am I allowed to ask if you are having any sort of social