She watched him open his car door, not daring to open the one at her side feeling sure she had misunderstood him. She was aware that Bono had offered a lift occasionally to a few fan, but this was Larry.
Larry was about to climb in and noticed her standing looking uncertain and hesitant
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing its just I wasn’t expecting you to offer me a lift” she replied
“Understandable, I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but I am making an exception on this occasion”
“It’s very good of you” she smiled, whilst into herself wondering had she looked so pathetic he had actually felt sorry for her?
“Well are you getting in or what?” Larry demanded brusquely
She decided to do so without any further fuss and make him more annoyed
She give him her address and happy enough he had a good idea how to get there he started up the car.
Tracey pushed away the wet strands if hair from her cold damp face staring out the windscreen in front of her so she wouldn’t look even more dumb gawking at Larry whilst he drove. Her mind tumbled with many questions she could ask him in the twenty minutes she reckoned it would take to drive her home, but she didn’t dare utter them aloud in case he thought she was a pest and regret giving her the lift.
He had turned the car heater up full, so she happily basked in the growing warmth, then finally he spoke
“What part of England are you from?”
“Newcastle” she replied finding her voice and hoping it sounded more steadier than she felt
“How long you been living in Dublin?” he shot another question at her, eyeing her through the rear view mirror.
“Um, must be nearly six months now” she replied thinking the conversation was going good
“What brought you to our Irish shores.. and please don’t tell me it was your love for U2” he pleaded warningly
Tracey glanced round at him and thought she seen a small mocking smile, was this his attempt at humour?
Still she grinned despite the dryness of his tone “Well that might have had a little bit of influence on my decision” she admitted, “But at the time my main reason was my boyfriend Sean, he came from Dublin but was living in Newcastle when I met him” she then explained “and by the way he is not a big fan of U2” she hastily added
Larry shrugged “No one is perfect”
This made Tracey laugh, she was starting to like Larry’s strange sense of humour, delighted to find he had one.
“So you and this Sean fella, you decided to shack up together here in Dublin?” Larry enquired, he was never one to take the subtle approach. But Tracey didn’t find his questions offensive, the fact he was interested was enough for her.
“Yeah, I thought it was going to be great, and it was in the beginning, until a few months ago he run into his old ex girlfriend, she was the reason he left Dublin in the first place, and suddenly the decided to bury the hatchet on old bitter feelings between them, which was fine by me, I didn’t need the aggro,” Tracey told him, then she frowned and started to bite on her thumbnail broodingly.
“Sounds good enough, everyone living in harmony” Larry remarked
“Yeah” Tracey sighed “Except Sean and his ex got more harmonizing than they should, and decided they were still in love with each other, and I was the one left out in the cold”
“Ah” was Larry’s only remark his expression remaining neutral so she wasn’t sure what he was thinking, if he was sympathetic or even cared, he seemed only to concentrate on driving the car. Probably wanted to get to their destination quick as possible so he could happily dump her of and be on his way. She decided miserably
She wasn’t sure how long the silence lasted, maybe more than five minutes or so, but it seemed longer before he finally spoke up.
“So are you still going to live here in Dublin?”
“Well I can’t return home” Tracey stated, “I mean when I came here with Sean, my family did not approve, they said it was too soon, I hadn’t known him long enough, even though we had been together five months, they thought I was making a big mistake.. I don’t want to go home with them all telling me ‘I told you so’
“Isn’t it a pain when you find out your parents are right” Larry remarked
“Tell me about it,” Tracey retorted miserably “Now I am stuck here with no friends all the ones I had were Sean’s, and I really don’t want to be around them anymore, so I am stuck in this lousy little bed sit on my own most nights and having to work in a grotty burger bar three nights a week with a lecherous manager who can’t keep his hands of me, just so I can keep paying the rent”
“That doesn’t sound like much fun” Larry replied, though it sounded more like an observation than a sympathetic remark
“No its isn’t believe me” Tracey assured him bitterly
“Is that why you spend all hours of the day hanging around outside our studios?” Larry demanded
Realising they had reached the crux of the matter Tracey felt her cheeks heat up
“Maybe” she reluctantly admitted
Larry shook his head “That’s pretty pathetic y’know” he told her, “You need to get your life sorted instead of getting miserable and fixating on us.. we are not the answer to your problems”
“I know that” Tracey couldn’t hide the defensive note in her tone, “And I don’t think you are the answer to my problems, it just lifts my day a bit when I get the chance to talk to Bono or the others occasionally, makes me feel like I matter to someone here in Dublin”
“I do understand” Larry replied and this time when he looked at her she could see the hint of empathy in his blue eyes “I am just suggesting that perhaps you should try and improve things going on in your life here for the better, if you intend to go on living here, there is no need for you to be stuck in this rut”
What do you think I should do?” Tracey found herself asking, fascinated by this almost caring side of Larry, and not quite believing it at the same time
“Well for a start, Dublin can be a big friendly city if you make it so, you wanna try and make new friends, look for another job if you are unhappy with the one you are in at the minute, start fixing the things that need fixed, instead of moping around feeling sorry for yourself, that’s what I would do”
“You make it sound so easy” Tracey replied
“No, its probably not going to be easy, the thing is it shouldn’t stop you trying though should it” Larry stated
“I guess not” she relented “I guess you think I should start by not hanging around the studios pestering you day in and day out” she couldn’t hide the grin
“Yeah, I think that would be a very good start actually” Larry replied honestly “You really have to find something more interesting to do”
“Right now, its hard to think of something, y’know my friends back in Newcastle would die for the chance to get near your studios or meet you”
“More fool them” Larry retorted making Tracey laugh
“You really don’t like the hero worshipping female stuff do you?”
“No I don’t it’s annoying”
“Oh and like you never hero worshipped anyone when you were young, say like Elvis?” Tracey drawled, amazed at her audacity to challenge Larry, but the opportunity was too good to resist
She thought he actually squirmed before answering her “That is different, besides which where did all that hero worshipping get him in the end, but dead before he reached fifty” Larry pointed out
She reluctantly had to hand the winning point to him., and was also dismayed to discover they had almost reached where she lived.
This has turned out to be a very interesting afternoon after all” she told him, “Worth getting half frozen and catching pneumonia for, I mean getting advice from the great Larry Mullen Jnr what more could I ask for” she added cheekily making Larry roll his eyes and shake his head .
“Some people never learn” he muttered under his breath
“Well if it makes you feel any better I am giving you advice some serious consideration” she informed him
“Good he replied. The car had stopped, and now he turned to her, “there is just one more favour I want you to do for me?” his expression was as serious as ever
“Oh yeah, what is that?” Tracey asked warily
“That when you get out of this car you have to promise me you will not tell any one about me giving you a lift home and everything, because then they will be all flocking around the place expecting me to do it for them.. and I got a reputation to uphold.. and I really do like my privacy”
Tracey sighed “You know its going to be really hard for me to keep this to myself, but I guess it is a nice secret to have as well” she admitted with a smile, “And I will do my best to make sure I never mention it to anyone just to show my gratitude of how great I think you are giving me a lift home” she promised.
Larry looked openly relieved “Thank you”
“I know you are going to hate me for asking, but can you do me one more little favour” Tracey then wheedled eyeing him hopefully, “Do you think I can get my picture taken with you, and I promise you, cross my heart and hope to die, I will not hang around the studios anymore and make a nuisance of myself, and try and do what you say” she finished and found she was holding her breath waiting to see his response
Larry’s eyes narrowed as he considered her request
“You drive a hard bargain, ya know that” he snapped
“You can’t blame a girl for trying though” Tracey replied with a small, and what she hoped winning smile
“OK” he relented “but it’s the last thing, and you promised you will get yourself sorted out if I do this”
Tracey nodded her head eagerly, still not believing her luck
“Thank you, thank you, thank you” she told him in delight
“I must be going soft in my old age” Larry muttered as he got out of the car.
There were not many people about thankfully for Larry, but Tracey manage to nab a male French tourist walking down the street who spoke a little English and asked her if she would take a photo of her with Larry
He was happy to comply
Tracey hurriedly stood beside Larry grinning like a Cheshire cat, whilst he manage a condescending smile to please her as the photo was taken.
“Happy now? Can I go” Larry demanded
“Oh yeah sure, thank you again, and I promise no one will ever know about you giving me a lift home, it will just be between the two of us”
“Fine” Larry replied “all the best and all that” he then said a little awkwardly, before turning to get back into his car
The male French tourist came over with her camera, looking a little awed and “Is that who I think it was?” he asked as he handed Tracey back her camera and watched Larry’s car speed of
“Oh yeah” Tracey beamed as she checked the picture on her digital camera and was delighted it had come out just fine. She had to stop herself jumping up and down with excitement in the middle of the street, she now turned to the French tourist.
“But do me a favour .. lets keep it between ourselves” she winked before walking of with her camera chuckling to herself.
The end
Larry was about to climb in and noticed her standing looking uncertain and hesitant
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing its just I wasn’t expecting you to offer me a lift” she replied
“Understandable, I don’t usually do this sort of thing, but I am making an exception on this occasion”
“It’s very good of you” she smiled, whilst into herself wondering had she looked so pathetic he had actually felt sorry for her?
“Well are you getting in or what?” Larry demanded brusquely
She decided to do so without any further fuss and make him more annoyed
She give him her address and happy enough he had a good idea how to get there he started up the car.
Tracey pushed away the wet strands if hair from her cold damp face staring out the windscreen in front of her so she wouldn’t look even more dumb gawking at Larry whilst he drove. Her mind tumbled with many questions she could ask him in the twenty minutes she reckoned it would take to drive her home, but she didn’t dare utter them aloud in case he thought she was a pest and regret giving her the lift.
He had turned the car heater up full, so she happily basked in the growing warmth, then finally he spoke
“What part of England are you from?”
“Newcastle” she replied finding her voice and hoping it sounded more steadier than she felt
“How long you been living in Dublin?” he shot another question at her, eyeing her through the rear view mirror.
“Um, must be nearly six months now” she replied thinking the conversation was going good
“What brought you to our Irish shores.. and please don’t tell me it was your love for U2” he pleaded warningly
Tracey glanced round at him and thought she seen a small mocking smile, was this his attempt at humour?
Still she grinned despite the dryness of his tone “Well that might have had a little bit of influence on my decision” she admitted, “But at the time my main reason was my boyfriend Sean, he came from Dublin but was living in Newcastle when I met him” she then explained “and by the way he is not a big fan of U2” she hastily added
Larry shrugged “No one is perfect”
This made Tracey laugh, she was starting to like Larry’s strange sense of humour, delighted to find he had one.
“So you and this Sean fella, you decided to shack up together here in Dublin?” Larry enquired, he was never one to take the subtle approach. But Tracey didn’t find his questions offensive, the fact he was interested was enough for her.
“Yeah, I thought it was going to be great, and it was in the beginning, until a few months ago he run into his old ex girlfriend, she was the reason he left Dublin in the first place, and suddenly the decided to bury the hatchet on old bitter feelings between them, which was fine by me, I didn’t need the aggro,” Tracey told him, then she frowned and started to bite on her thumbnail broodingly.
“Sounds good enough, everyone living in harmony” Larry remarked
“Yeah” Tracey sighed “Except Sean and his ex got more harmonizing than they should, and decided they were still in love with each other, and I was the one left out in the cold”
“Ah” was Larry’s only remark his expression remaining neutral so she wasn’t sure what he was thinking, if he was sympathetic or even cared, he seemed only to concentrate on driving the car. Probably wanted to get to their destination quick as possible so he could happily dump her of and be on his way. She decided miserably
She wasn’t sure how long the silence lasted, maybe more than five minutes or so, but it seemed longer before he finally spoke up.
“So are you still going to live here in Dublin?”
“Well I can’t return home” Tracey stated, “I mean when I came here with Sean, my family did not approve, they said it was too soon, I hadn’t known him long enough, even though we had been together five months, they thought I was making a big mistake.. I don’t want to go home with them all telling me ‘I told you so’
“Isn’t it a pain when you find out your parents are right” Larry remarked
“Tell me about it,” Tracey retorted miserably “Now I am stuck here with no friends all the ones I had were Sean’s, and I really don’t want to be around them anymore, so I am stuck in this lousy little bed sit on my own most nights and having to work in a grotty burger bar three nights a week with a lecherous manager who can’t keep his hands of me, just so I can keep paying the rent”
“That doesn’t sound like much fun” Larry replied, though it sounded more like an observation than a sympathetic remark
“No its isn’t believe me” Tracey assured him bitterly
“Is that why you spend all hours of the day hanging around outside our studios?” Larry demanded
Realising they had reached the crux of the matter Tracey felt her cheeks heat up
“Maybe” she reluctantly admitted
Larry shook his head “That’s pretty pathetic y’know” he told her, “You need to get your life sorted instead of getting miserable and fixating on us.. we are not the answer to your problems”
“I know that” Tracey couldn’t hide the defensive note in her tone, “And I don’t think you are the answer to my problems, it just lifts my day a bit when I get the chance to talk to Bono or the others occasionally, makes me feel like I matter to someone here in Dublin”
“I do understand” Larry replied and this time when he looked at her she could see the hint of empathy in his blue eyes “I am just suggesting that perhaps you should try and improve things going on in your life here for the better, if you intend to go on living here, there is no need for you to be stuck in this rut”
What do you think I should do?” Tracey found herself asking, fascinated by this almost caring side of Larry, and not quite believing it at the same time
“Well for a start, Dublin can be a big friendly city if you make it so, you wanna try and make new friends, look for another job if you are unhappy with the one you are in at the minute, start fixing the things that need fixed, instead of moping around feeling sorry for yourself, that’s what I would do”
“You make it sound so easy” Tracey replied
“No, its probably not going to be easy, the thing is it shouldn’t stop you trying though should it” Larry stated
“I guess not” she relented “I guess you think I should start by not hanging around the studios pestering you day in and day out” she couldn’t hide the grin
“Yeah, I think that would be a very good start actually” Larry replied honestly “You really have to find something more interesting to do”
“Right now, its hard to think of something, y’know my friends back in Newcastle would die for the chance to get near your studios or meet you”
“More fool them” Larry retorted making Tracey laugh
“You really don’t like the hero worshipping female stuff do you?”
“No I don’t it’s annoying”
“Oh and like you never hero worshipped anyone when you were young, say like Elvis?” Tracey drawled, amazed at her audacity to challenge Larry, but the opportunity was too good to resist
She thought he actually squirmed before answering her “That is different, besides which where did all that hero worshipping get him in the end, but dead before he reached fifty” Larry pointed out
She reluctantly had to hand the winning point to him., and was also dismayed to discover they had almost reached where she lived.
This has turned out to be a very interesting afternoon after all” she told him, “Worth getting half frozen and catching pneumonia for, I mean getting advice from the great Larry Mullen Jnr what more could I ask for” she added cheekily making Larry roll his eyes and shake his head .
“Some people never learn” he muttered under his breath
“Well if it makes you feel any better I am giving you advice some serious consideration” she informed him
“Good he replied. The car had stopped, and now he turned to her, “there is just one more favour I want you to do for me?” his expression was as serious as ever
“Oh yeah, what is that?” Tracey asked warily
“That when you get out of this car you have to promise me you will not tell any one about me giving you a lift home and everything, because then they will be all flocking around the place expecting me to do it for them.. and I got a reputation to uphold.. and I really do like my privacy”
Tracey sighed “You know its going to be really hard for me to keep this to myself, but I guess it is a nice secret to have as well” she admitted with a smile, “And I will do my best to make sure I never mention it to anyone just to show my gratitude of how great I think you are giving me a lift home” she promised.
Larry looked openly relieved “Thank you”
“I know you are going to hate me for asking, but can you do me one more little favour” Tracey then wheedled eyeing him hopefully, “Do you think I can get my picture taken with you, and I promise you, cross my heart and hope to die, I will not hang around the studios anymore and make a nuisance of myself, and try and do what you say” she finished and found she was holding her breath waiting to see his response
Larry’s eyes narrowed as he considered her request
“You drive a hard bargain, ya know that” he snapped
“You can’t blame a girl for trying though” Tracey replied with a small, and what she hoped winning smile
“OK” he relented “but it’s the last thing, and you promised you will get yourself sorted out if I do this”
Tracey nodded her head eagerly, still not believing her luck
“Thank you, thank you, thank you” she told him in delight
“I must be going soft in my old age” Larry muttered as he got out of the car.
There were not many people about thankfully for Larry, but Tracey manage to nab a male French tourist walking down the street who spoke a little English and asked her if she would take a photo of her with Larry
He was happy to comply
Tracey hurriedly stood beside Larry grinning like a Cheshire cat, whilst he manage a condescending smile to please her as the photo was taken.
“Happy now? Can I go” Larry demanded
“Oh yeah sure, thank you again, and I promise no one will ever know about you giving me a lift home, it will just be between the two of us”
“Fine” Larry replied “all the best and all that” he then said a little awkwardly, before turning to get back into his car
The male French tourist came over with her camera, looking a little awed and “Is that who I think it was?” he asked as he handed Tracey back her camera and watched Larry’s car speed of
“Oh yeah” Tracey beamed as she checked the picture on her digital camera and was delighted it had come out just fine. She had to stop herself jumping up and down with excitement in the middle of the street, she now turned to the French tourist.
“But do me a favour .. lets keep it between ourselves” she winked before walking of with her camera chuckling to herself.
The end
