Page 4 of The Interview
“No, you’re not. You’ve not been you for a long time, before you started with all this interview, and documentary bollocks.”
Her head jerks back like I’ve slapped her, and I instantly regret my words.
“You think it’s bollocks? You said you were…”
“Poor choice of words,” I say as I pull her in closer. “It’s not bollocks. I understand why you’re doing it, I’m just worried about what it’s going to do to you.”
“I’m o-fucking-kay. I wish you’d both have a little more faith in me and my ability to acknowledge my own mental boundaries.”
“Both of us? Who else has said something?”
She pushes against my chest in an attempt to escape. “I’m getting makeup on your top. Let me go.”
“I’m not the only one worried, am I? Who else has said something?”
“No one. I just meant the way you and Tullulah have been going on at me.”
She’s straight-up lying to me; I know it. She knows it, too, but the sound of voices heading towards the studio means this conversation will have to wait until later.
I don’t know if it’s this or something else that’s going on with her, but I’m determined to get to the bottom of it.
Menopause has hit her hard. Georgia’s always been emotional and easily triggered—a fucking nightmare sometimes if I’m being totally honest—but a couple of years ago, right around the time the hot flushes and night sweats started, so did the change in her personality. One day, the wind blowing the wrong way would have her crashing and banging about, snapping at anyone who got in her way. It was like she stalked around the house looking for things to kick off about. Like shewantedto be angry. The next day, the slightest thing would have her in tears, then she’d retreat into herself and disappear inside her own head for a few days.
She admitted to me that she didn’t know what to expect from her menopause after having a partial hysterectomy all those years ago, so at least I didn’t have to fight her over getting some professional help.
She saw her doctor and a naturopath and now takes a bunch of supplements, which have helped with the mood swings and brought back some of the light to her blue eyes. It never went completely, not like when I first met her, but the fire and passion for life I’ve seen burning brightly behind them for the past twenty-odd years hasn’t been fully restored. There’s still a part of her missing. A part of her vibrance, her vivaciousness, even her confidence has faded, and I’m worried fucking sick that dragging up the past is going to make things a whole lot worse.
CHAPTER
TWO
GEORGIA
Inever—well, rarely—lie to Cam, but he already thinks I’m in the middle of an existential crisis, so I wasn’t about to tell him I’d had a full-on conversation with my dead husband in an attempt to validate my reasons for taking part in this interview and documentary series this morning.
We turn in unison as Daniel and his team of five enter the studio. Cam’s arm slides protectively around my body, his big hand giving my hip a squeeze that I feel all the way to my heart. Despite our heated words, I love this man more than life, and I take a moment to look up at him and let him know.
“I promise I’m okay. I love you, and I’m sorry for being so cunty this morning.”
“Fuck me dead, will you stop dropping the C word? I love you, too. You’ve got this. Go show the world how fucking fabulous you are.”
Cam kisses me full on the mouth, slaps my arse, and I move towards Daniel, holding out my hand.
After introductions, coffees, water, and small talk, Daniel’s sound team set up a boom and wire me up to a mic. His lighting team rearrange my furniture and set up their lights, and despite the time, I chug back a glass of Prosecco. Daniel stares at me from the wingback chair set in the corner of the studio. I’m sitting on the oversized leather sofa we keep in here while his team continues to set up cameras and adjust the light and sound around us.
The interview I’ve agreed to give isn’t actually happening today. Today is more of a ‘get to know each other’ meeting, and for a few promo shots to be taken, hence the early morning hair and makeup session.
Daniel’s palms are pressed together in a prayer pose, and his joined index fingers bounce on and off his lips as he studies me over the top of them.
We’ve met a few times at various events, but until I agreed to this interview, I wouldn’t have said I knew him outside of him being the biggest chat and celebrity podcast show host in the country right now.
I’ve done my research and know he started out as a gossip columnist, then gained a reputation for being fair and accurate on what he reported. His longtime friendship with Billie Wild, now Young, and her niece Makenzie has also been well documented.
Billie’s the sister of Callum Wild, singer and guitarist from the band Young & Wild. Makenzie is Cal’s daughter. Billie is also married to Max Young, another member of the band, and Cal’s best mate.
Makenzie will also be the photographer for my photoshoot today. She’ll be taking candid shots during my interview and while we film the documentary over the next couple of weeks.
And if all those interconnected relationships weren’t complicated enough, Young & Wild, who are officially no longer together, used to be managed by Carnage Creations, my brothers’ record label, of which I’m a major shareholder. Something I also only recently learned is that Makenzie is in a relationship with Jake Wright, the band’s former drummer, who, just a few weeks ago, joined my nephew Joe’s band.
