Page 12 of Such a Good Couple
‘I’ll join you, man.’ Conor shot to his feet and was out the doors after Ollie before Annie could quite finish her question.
‘Just for … what?’ Clara asked her.
‘Ah nothing, never mind.’ Annie kicked off her boots and tucked her legs up under her, looking, Maggie noticed, a bit deflated. ‘What’s the story with Provincetown? What’s it like?’
‘Well, I haven’t been before,’ Maggie admitted. ‘Fionn was really pushing to go. It’s got this really rich history in terms of writing and theatre. And my friend Eva says it’s like gay Vegas, so extremely fun clubs, great food and amazing general vibe.’
‘Gay endorsement isbig, this is very reassuring.’ Annie nodded sagely. ‘As a card-carrying queer, I approve.’
‘Would that be EvaDreyfus? Wife oftheLeon Dreyfus?’ Clara’s eyes were shining; Clara loved a celeb.
Maggie grinned. ‘Yup. Eva says the place is a celeb stronghold. The Coen brothers have places there. And John Waters, Julianne Moore, Annette Bening and Warren Beatty.’
‘So proper old-school celebs!’ Clara beamed. ‘Not newbies! Excellent. We only want the very best to stalk!’
‘Discreetly, of course!’ Annie added.
‘Now, I have a concern.’ Clara was now fully reclining on her little leather sofa, dangling Parma ham slices into her mouth. ‘Brody doesn’t seem to have factored in much lying-down-dying-of-a-hangover time.’
‘Jesus, you’re right,’ Maggie laughed. ‘He’s only twenty-five – he doesn’t realise that after forty every glass of wine equals an hour of crying and hating yourself the next day. I’ll have a word. He’s actually due to ring me any minute.’ Maggie consulted her phone to make sure her volume was turned up. ‘It’s so weird, he never calls me.’
Maggie caught her friends exchanging uneasy glances.
‘Okay. What? I saw that, you know, you two are shite at being subtle.’
‘It’s nothing, Maggie,’ Annie said, just as Clara sat up and blurted, ‘It’s just doses on the internet.’
Dread immediately flooded Maggie. That bloody article she’d read earlier. She was mortified thinking of them seeing it.
‘Listen, it’s okay, gals, I don’t go near the internet anymore,’ she lied, wanting to reassure them so they could go back to talking shite and laughing at injured OAPs. ‘I’ve read one too many fawning articles commending Finn Strong for being with such a totally average forty-something with a fupa.’
‘Don’t be mad. There’s not a fupa in sight,’ Clara said.
‘Good for you, Maggie,’ Annie chimed in, though Maggie spotted her glancing at Clara, who was now busying herself with chorizo.
Maggie tried not to let her growing unease puncture thehappy buzz of their reunion, but the girls were acting so odd. What if it was a different post? Now shehadto check the bloody internet.
‘I’m just gonna go to the loo.’ She stood, pocketing her phone. It was probably more of the sameFinn Strong’s wife is a total minger, isn’t he great altogether for continuing to look at her.Annie and Clara were just being over-protective; they didn’t realise she was used to it. Or sort of used to it, at least.
She headed out the doors feeling her friends’ eyes on her back. In the corridor she kept one hand on the wall to stay as steady as she could – the boat was moving through the darkness at a clip. As anxiety dragged at her, Maggie felt an unnerving unreality descend. Everything about the hallway started to look surreal – the vivid red of the carpet was dialled up, the black of the portholes looked like an abyss. It was like a scene from a movie. She took a couple of deep breaths. The feeling of being at a remove from everything had visited her many times over the years. It was her special flavour of anxiety, one she’d started experiencing in her twenties that was very knit into some of the other problems she’d had back then. The buzz of her phone in her hand severed the pull of the panic and she was actually grateful to answer Brody’s call.
‘Brody.’
‘Maggie, hey! Thanks for taking the call. I know you already said you think it’s ridiculous but I just want to make doubly sure you’re okay with everything.’
‘Brody, what are you talking about? I meant the boat you hired is ridiculous. Now my friends are acting weird. What is going on?’
‘Oh crap. Right.’ Brody sounded momentarily wrong-footed. ‘Sorry, I thought from your message you knew. Look, it’s nothing big. Just a few blind-item social accounts posting stuff that people might mistake for Finn.’
‘Like …?’
Drugs? Rehab? Inappropriate behaviour?Maggie’s mind shuffled through the possibilities.
Brody hesitated and Maggie balled her left hand, feeling her nails digging into her palm.
‘Irish A-lister, on-set affair with co-star.’ Brody exhaled as if the awkward moment was too much for even him.
A sickly adrenaline began to invade her body. She took a couple of shallow breaths but felt her lungs hit resistance each time she tried to fill them.
