Page 31 of Such a Good Couple
‘What?’ Annie froze.
‘I know. I’m completely shitting it about telling her. We’re both so busy and it just feels really selfish of me to be doing something like this for myself, not to mention something so time-consuming. She’s working so hard and the kids are so full-on. I’ve been trying to train when I can squeeze it in, at times when it doesn’t affect her, late at night and stuff.’
‘I … see …’ Annie’s thoughts whirred.This is not an affair. Oh God, it’s so wholesome as well …
‘You think she’s gonna be upset?’ He pushed his shaggy curls back from his face, looking nervous.
‘Ehhhm.’ Annie cast around for something to say. So he wasn’t having an affair at all? What about the text Clara’d seen? I had such a good time, Ollie. The best yet.
‘I’m training with my buddy, Stevie. He’s done one before and we’re tryna give each other encouragement. It’s been good for my mental health.’ Ollie still looked worried. ‘She’ll understand that, right?’
Annie thought again of the text. ‘Do you keep track of your timings? On your runs?’
‘What?’ Ollie glanced over, seeming surprised at her apparent interest. ‘Yeah, of course. Stevie just had his best time yet yesterday! Lucky fucker. My knee’s been a bit dodgy so having to mind it a bit.’
‘Right.’ Annie sat back.Fuck.
CHAPTER 8
Night was starting to fall and, ahead of her, Clara could occasionally see the back of Ollie and Annie’s buggy whenever they crossed the headlights of her and Fionn’s.
Once aboard the buggy, Clara’s hangover (and general feelings of nihilism) could’ve gone one of two ways: hellish or slightly less hellish. Luckily she liked rollercoasters and anything vaguely adrenaline-adjacent and she couldn’t but laugh as they flew over the dunes.
‘So,’ Clara yelled, bracing on the dashboard as the buggy leapt over another hill. ‘What’s this I’m hearing about no calls or texts while you’re away filming? Seems a bit precious, babes. A bit,’ Clara adopted what she called her RADA voice,‘I am an actorrrrrr!’
‘Alright, alright.’ Fionn grinned ruefully. ‘I’m trying not to be all “I am anactorrrr” about it! You don’t understand, there’s a lot of pressure … a lot of eyes on me when I’m on set. I have to deliver. It’s like … I think they’ll all suddenly notice that I’m just some random guy from Dublin who was basically a failed actor until forty when he stumbled into a good thing.’
‘Ah, Fionn.’ Clara was surprised. Of the group, she and Fionn had always been the most confident. Him in a nice laid-back way and her in a borderline obnoxious but hopefully still lovable way. It was why they’d always gelled so well. ‘You know you’re good, right? We all think you’re incredible. Obvi we fast-forward your sex scenes cuzvom, but you’re a world-class actor.’
Fionn smiled, but then just as quickly his grin evaporated. ‘Did Maggie say something to you about the no-phone-on-set thing?’
‘Yeah. Not in a super-angry way but … obviously it affects her if you’re not in touch at all and then Brody’s telling her not to worry about affair allegations in the press.’
‘That wasn’t an affair allegation.’ He gripped the steering wheel. ‘It was a blind item about someoneelse.’
Clara stared at his profile; his expression had suddenly darkened. She sighed. ‘Whatever it is, she’s dealing with it on her own and that’s the problem.’
The abrupt vibe shifts on this trip were starting to give her whiplash. If it wasn’t her own shitty relationship bringing her down, it was someone else’s. The thoughts of Ollie cheating clutched at her afresh. God, how was this where they’d got to? After all these years?
On the brow of the approaching hill, against the darkening blue of the sky, she could now see the silhouette of Edwin Ensel’s ramshackle shack. It looked more like the carcass of an ancient sea creature than a house. The sagging veranda with its splintered and worn railings resembled the ribcage of a whale, while, on the other side of the structure, what looked to be an outhouse kicked up from the undulations of navy sand like a tail.
A few minutes later, they pulled up in the lee of the shack, where Ollie and Annie had left their buggy parked. Wind spiked with salt whistled through the sand grass in the dark around them and low murmuring could be heard coming from inside the shack above.
‘It’s creepy,’ Clara whispered, deciding to move on from the sullenness of their last exchange. She slid down from her seat. ‘Imagine being out here on your own. No lights or anything.’
‘Yeah …’ Fionn had thawed too and sounded wistful. ‘It’d be creepy but incredible. So meditative.’
They followed the little trench in the sand that led around to the shack’s sagging wooden steps.
‘Meditative!’ Clara scoffed. ‘You’ve gone so fucking LA, Fionn!’
He came to a sudden stop and turned to her.
‘What?’ She looked up at his shadowy face.
‘Just try and be chill in here. With Edwin, I mean. He’s a total master of cinema, he’s a legend. And he takes things seriously.’
‘Okay! Relax, Fionn! I’m not a child, I know how to be a guest in someone’s house. I won’t shit in the sink, like.’ She could sense rather than see his wince at her words.
