A Secret Ambition

XIII

"Two things remain irretrievable: time and a first impression." Cynthia Ozick

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XIII.              

"Lily!" Mr McCarthy practically barked just as soon as Lily entered the building in the first week of March. Had Lily not grown used to the varying tones of Mr McCarthy, she would have been affronted.

This was an excited bark.

Lily smiled at him, and he returned the sentiment. He looked so much younger when he had an expression of delight. Not that Mr McCarthy was a man of great age. Truthfully, Lily did not know his age, nor did she feel it appropriate to ask. But she surmised that he was in his late twenties. He looked almost to be a boy when he smiled.

Lily had been harbouring the belief that were she not his employee, then she would have found him rather good looking, especially when he was happy. As she was entering into the second month of his employ, it was getting harder and harder to keep that separation.

In fact, Lily found Mr McCarthy to be rather charming in a rugged, worldly way. He wasn't put together and polished. He didn't have all the right things to say. He wasn't suave and coiffed with a starched collar and a shiny pocket watch. He was an everyman, and Lily was growing remarkably fond of that sort of man.

"I bought a ship!" Mr McCarthy could hardly contain his delight as she heard his cousin's laughter from within the office.

Mr Maguire chuckled, "Shout it louder, would you? Your mammy can hear you."

"That's excellent news!" Lily enthused, sharing in Mr McCarthy's delight. She joined him without hesitation, wanting to be closer to him without even thinking. She looked up into his overjoyed green eyes with complete and sincere happiness for him. How she wanted to capture this joy in him. When she thought over the overstressed and overworked man she had first encountered in January, Lily wanted to show him how hard he had worked and how far he had come in such a short time.

Mr McCarthy seemed even happier as he received Lily's enthusiasm for him. His eyes warmed and he looked over her with what looked to be enchantment.

"He'll have to think of a name for it now," Mr Maguire appeared at Mr McCarthy's side then, inadvertently interrupting something that not even Lily could explain. "You've already got one called Emerald Eyes. My vote is for Muddy Brown Eyes. What do you think?"

Lily could not help but laugh at Mr Maguire's quick-witted suggestion, just as Mr McCarthy rolled his eyes.

"You're a hoot and a half, Fionn," Mr McCarthy quipped. "I've already got an idea anyway, you eejit."

"Go on then," encouraged Mr Maguire.

Lily listened curiously.

Mr McCarthy appeared almost bashful in that moment, and he quickly rebuffed them both. "Let me see the damn thing first before I christen her."

"Are you blushing, Callan?" Mr Maguire teased. "Look at him, Lily. He's blushing! The ship's going to be called 'Mammy's Eyes', you mark my words!" He let out a howl of laughter that earned him an elbow in the gut from Mr McCarthy. He then coughed and spluttered.

"Shut your mouth, you daft eejit," snapped Mr McCarthy with a roll of his eyes. "I'm not naming the damned ship after my mother." He then turned on his heel and returned to the office, shutting the door behind him and leaving Mr Maguire and Lily standing outside.

"Mark my words, Lily Bennett," Mr Maguire said again in a hushed voice. "He's naming that boat after his special lady."

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