Celtic Thunder and the Pianist

Chapter 8

"How many fries have we had since we've been here now, Em?" Damian asks as he mops up the egg yolk on his plate with a piece of toast.

"Not enough!" Emma announces.

Damian, Emmet, and Colm shake their heads as they finish up their breakfasts at Bewley's.

"So are you guys up for dessert?" Hailey, the waitress, asks.

"Oh yeah," Damian smiles.

"Would you like me to tell you what we have, or do you want to see for yourself?"

"I'd just love a cream slice," Emma says.

"And I'll have a chocolate eclair," Emmet says.

"I think I'd like to have a look at the treats," Colm decides.

"I'll walk down with you," Damian says.

"Emmet?," Emma asks as the Colm and Damo walk away from the table.

"Yeah?" he asks.

"I-you don't have to reply to this if you don't want, but what happened with you and Julie?"

Emmet sighs. "I'm not really sure. We were fine. We were getting on great, and then, one day, we were talking and, I guess I said something that offended her and-well I haven't talked to her since."

Emma furrows her brow.

"What?"

"It's just, I'm really worried about Julie. She had a bad heartbreak in college. One minute, they were in love, or at least she thought they were. The next, he broke it off to date someone else. Julie's not been the same since. She's become really insecure, and she closes herself off from others. She had all her self-worth tied up in that guy, and he tore it apart."

"Wow. That's terrible. I didn't know that."

The two sit in silence for a moment.

"So you think she's afraid to fall in love again?" Emmet asks slowly.

Emma nods her head.

"What do you think I should do?"

"Call her."

Emmet nods his head.

"I think I gained ten pounds just smelling all those pastries," Colm sighs, walking up to the table with Damian a couple steps behind.

"Well, I, for one, am stuffed," Emma smiles walking out of Bewley's thirty minutes later.

The three boys nod their heads in agreement.

They walk all over the city, stopping when they find an interesting shop or a pub for a nice hot cuppa on the cool, damp day.

"Where to next, Love?" Damian asks Emma as they look out a shop window at the street where large raindrops are pounding the pavement.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to head home," Colm says, glancing at his watch.

"Alright, Love," Damian says sarcastically.

"I'll see you all soon for the Aussie tour. It's only-what?-three weeks now. But I'll miss ye all every moment until then!" He smirks, "Damo, make some serious memories."

"I'm sure I will," Damian smirks back.

"Emma, don't let your man here do anything too crazy," he instructs.

"You know Damian," she begins sarcastically, "always getting into trouble."

"Exactly. And, Emmet, we're going to need to talk soon. I've got thunderheads tweeting me the hashtag 'wewantacometchat' constantly," he says.

"I guess we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" Emmet laughs.

The three wave as Colm makes his way down the street to his car.

"I really should start home as well," Emmet says.

"Alright, this was a great day," Damian tells him.

"For sure it was, Damo. I'll see the two of you soon."

"Emmet, call her," Emma reminds him.

"Right. I will. Goodbye."

"Well," Damian says looking at Emma, "looks like it's just the two of us."

"Looks like," she smiles.

He grabs her hand, and pulls her out of the shop into the pouring street, crowded with people. "This way," he says jogging down a series of streets leading to the bus stop. "Here it is," he says stopping in front of a bus marked "Clare."

"This is the wrong bus," Emma says.

He helps her in and pays the driver. They find seats and settle in, soaking wet.

"Why are we on a bus to County Clare?" Emma asks curiously.

"It's a long, long way, it grows further by the day. It's a long, long way from Clare to here," Damian sings softly.

"So much for Colm's advice, I guess," she laughs.

"I'm keeping my promise to make memories," he smirks.

"Well, I guess I'm not great at keeping you from being crazy."

"Hey, I don't do this often. Enjoy the adventures while they last."