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trickled in , a portly, bald man came to the table and stood on Ellie ’ s left side. This must be James.
    “ Good evening , my dear, ” he said to Ellie. He spoke exactly like Prince Charles.
    When everybody had arrived at the table, with the exception of the man to Ellie ’ s right, they all sat down.
    “ Sam will be a little late, ” Frank said from the head of the table.
    “ What ’ s new? ” James commented and Frank laughed.
    Just then Ellie spied an attractive young guy come into the dining-room and for a moment she thought that it was the actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who had played Henry VIII in the TV series. But when he came and sat down in the empty chair beside her , she realised this must be Sam. He was uncannily like the actor but up close his dark-blue eyes were laughing eyes , unlike the actor ’ s broody gaze.
    “ Sorry I ’ m late. A crisis at work, I ’ m afraid, ” he said to the company as he took his place next to Ellie. “ Hi, Anna, nice to see you again, ” he said , blowing her a kiss.
    Ellie was surprised to see Anna blush.
    Next he turned to her. “ Hello. We haven ’ t met before . I ’ m Sam .” He offered his hand and took Ellie ’ s in a firm handshake.
    “ Ellie, ” she introduced herself. She had no time to say any more to him as James, the ‘ crashing bore ’ on her other side , launched into a monologue which she guessed was about the state of the stock-market but which was in fact incomprehensible to her. Anna had not been exaggerating about him either . He was the most awful bore. He finally took a breath and asked her where she was from.
    “ Clontarf, ” she replied .
    “ Oh, the north side! ” he remarked and she heard the disdain in his plummy voice.
    She felt herself blush. Luckily the first course was served at that moment so she was saved from saying anything. She turned her attention to the lobster salad in front of her and wished the evening would end. At least the boring old fart had lost interest in her, thank God. She sipped the white wine that had been poured for her. It was delicious. She wondered what wine it was. Something wildly expensive, no doubt!
    Sam turned to her just then and whispered , “ If you need rescuing from James anytime in the future, just nudge me. I know how dreadfully boring he can be. ”
    “ Thank you. I ’ ll remember that but I think he lost interest in me when he heard where I ’ m from. ”
    “ And where ’ s that, Ellie? ”
    “ Mars ,” popped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
    “ Mars? ” he repeated, raising an eyebrow, wondering if he ’ d heard right.
    “ Well, I might as well be, ” she retorted. “ People on the south side seem to think that the north side is on another planet. ”
    His eyes crinkled with merriment as he let out a low husky laugh . “ That ’ s a good one. If that ’ s the case , then I ’ m a Martian too .”
    She looked at him quizzically. “ What do you mean? ”
    “ Well, I live in Clontarf so I must also be an alien. ”
    “ Are you serious? ” She looked at him, her blue eyes wide and full of doubt. She was afraid that he was teasing her.
    “ Absolutely! Castle Avenue. ”
    “ You ’ re joking me! I ’ m from Clontarf too. Kincora Road, ” she grinned.
    “ Howdy, neighbour. ” He shook her hand again.
    They stopped talking as the waiters removed the plates from the first course.
    “ I see you ’ re engaged, ” Sam said, nodding at her engagement ring. “ Where ’ s the lucky guy? ”
    “ My fiancé is David, sitting at the other end of the table, beside Judith. ”
    “ Ah, yes, David is the newest addition to Buckley Steadman, I hear. ”
    “ Do you work for the company too? ” Ellie asked him.
    “ Good Lord, no! Heaven forbid! Do I look like an accountant? ” he said with a grimace.
    She couldn ’ t quite figure him out but he was a refreshing change from boring James. There was something very mysterious about him. She wondered what he