One Hundred Names (Special Edition)

Everyone is so polite and very welcoming. It’s lovely to hear their stories, but, em, I’m not really sure why I’m here. You see, everyone has a purpose, they’re all going somewhere or doing something. I really have no idea why I’m here.’
    ‘I just wanted you to meet everybody. You’re all part of the same reason I met you all. Please don’t feel like you need to do something.’
    ‘But I feel so useless.’
    Suddenly Kitty had an idea. ‘Did you bring your kit with you?’
    ‘I bring it everywhere,’ she laughed.
    ‘How about making the birthday girl look pretty for her big day?’
    Mary-Rose’s eyes lit up, delighted to be able to do something, and having Birdie distracted by her makeover would also give Kitty an opportunity to speak to Eva.
    ‘Anyway, you never know, this whole experience might inspire another proposal,’ Kitty joked.
    Mary-Rose’s face darkened. ‘Oh, I’m not sure about that.’
    Kitty picked up on her mood. ‘Are he and Aoife serious?’
    Mary-Rose swallowed. ‘Yeah, I think so, I don’t know, we haven’t really spoken about … her.’
    There was a silence.
    ‘What about your friend?’ Mary-Rose asked, nodding at Steve.
    ‘What about him?’ Kitty immediately felt uncomfortable, irritated, even. Did Mary-Rose have a crush on Steve? That couldn’t be allowed, surely? Mary-Rose was at least ten years younger than he, better-looking, youthful … she couldn’t possibly be interested in Steve.
    ‘Does he have a girlfriend?’
    ‘Oh, yes,’ Kitty said over-enthusiastically. ‘For quite a while now. They’re crazy about each other,’ she said, not knowing if this was true exactly but feeling ill inside at the thought of Mary-Rose with Steve. What on earth was wrong with her?
    ‘Oh, that’s a pity,’ Mary-Rose said, crestfallen, and Kitty was secretly relieved. ‘I really thought you two would be perfect together.’
    This surprised Kitty so much that she didn’t know what to say. It went unnoticed, though, as Mary-Rose approached Birdie and asked the birthday girl if she was ready for her makeover. There was a girly whoop and Regina even moved away from Archie to watch it take place.
    Kitty got lost in her head imagining the possibilities of her and Steve together, picturing them together, how it could be, even recalling the one clumsy drunken time they’d shared a bed in college, and Kitty’s heart began thumping and her stomach fluttered. She couldn’t possibly …
    ‘Well, I escaped that little lecture, thanks for the introduction,’ Steve said slipping in beside her. ‘If I ever need to know anything more about butterflies be sure to shoot me,’ he whispered conspiratorially, close to her ear. Shivers ran through her body at the closeness of his breath. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ he asked then. ‘Your face is all red.’
    Kitty’s mouth opened and shut like a codfish until the bus suddenly swerved and got everybody’s attention. The rendition of a Polish song ended swiftly from the back.
    ‘Left! I said left!’ Edward raised his voice. ‘Are you trying to kill us?’
    ‘No, just you, college boy,’ Molly growled.
    ‘Everything okay there?’ Eva asked as Mary-Rose wiped the long line of lipstick that had run along Birdie’s cheek as the bus swerved.
    ‘Yep, fine thanks. Head Smurf here has got it all figured out,’ Edward said.
    Kitty caught Birdie once again smiling with glee as her nurse and her grandson battled for power.
    Kitty was torn when it came to their arrival in Cork. The only way they could stay on schedule was by splitting up. While Ambrose and Eugene went to the butterfly symposium at Cork University, Achar and Jedrek went to Cork English Market where the Irish food board,
Bord Bia
, had arranged a corporate adjudicator from
Guinness World Records
to recognise the largest number of people dressed as eggs ever to gather in the same place. This was part of a scheme to promote the local organic egg farmers. Kitty knew that she needed to be at both events, and that Steve needed to be too, and so she quickly hopped off the bus on a mission to push her way through the people dressed as eggs, their faces popping out of holes in the egg costumes, their legs in gold spandex leggings, to find the adjudicator. Jedrek and Achar were searching just as anxiously.
    ‘Do you see him?’ Achar asked, his head darting around.
    ‘What does he look like?’ Sam asked.
    When an egg became unbalanced and bumped against Mary-Rose, Sam