Page 24 of Such a Good Couple
Maggie ran a hand through her hair; unfortunately, it was the one that was still vaguely sticky from the maple syrup. She stood and scooted away from them over to the far corner of the deck and hit ‘accept’ on the call.
Her husband, tanned in a pair of yellow-tinted aviator Ray-Bans, appeared on the screen.
‘Heya, gorgeous.’ Fionn grinned broadly and Maggie, per usual, felt the little jolt of uncanny valley she often got when seeing him for the first time in a while. Back when he was an unknown, Fionn had always been the most handsome man in any room in Ireland, and the same in London when they’d lived there. But once they’d arrived in LA, where every room was filled to bursting with the hottest people in the universe, the tweaks had begun. His agents had a laundry list of things he ‘needed’ to improve on if he was realistically going to become a fully fledged star. Jaw implants and bits of filler, plus the requisite bulking up. Fionn had been broad but lean in his youth. This was fine for supporting actors, he’d been told, but for leading men not so much. Fionn had eschewed most of the more invasive procedures but had acquired the requisite muscles and relented on the matter of the Hollywood Teeth, and Maggie often found herself missing his old endearingly jumbled set.
‘Hey.’ She smiled back, turning slightly to find a more forgiving light.
‘So. Couldn’t help but notice some sarcastic inverted commas in your last text?’ He smiled but looked completely sincere. ‘I’m sorry Brody was messaging. I was caught up, tryna tie up the last few bits before this break and it was just a random moment when it was easier to just ask him to text. I am really sorry. I know it’s not exactly the stuff long-awaited reunions are made of. I cannotwaitto see you.’
Maggie thawed a little. ‘I can’t wait to see you too.’ She tried to smile, though an unexpected sadness was rising in her. This clearly must have shown on her face, as Fionn’s expression swiftly shifted to concern.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah.’ Maggie pressed the back of her hand to her forehead, trying to keep herself in check. ‘Sorry, I think, it’s just … it canbe so hard having, like, zero contact and then to see you, even if it’s just on a call. And I’m hungover. Plus there’s all that stuff online.’
He looked upset. ‘Ahh, Maggie—’
‘I know I shouldn’t be looking.’ She spoke over him, afraid that if she heard him deny it, it wouldn’t sound convincing enough. ‘And I’m not! Not really …’ She didn’t want to ruin their reunion before it’d even happened.
‘I’m not making excuses here but Brody hadn’t told me …’ He pulled off his shades. ‘I hate that you were all on your own thinking about that bullshit—’
‘I wasn’t all on my own,’ she interjected. ‘I have the gang here. And I’ve barely thought about it that much, don’t worry.’ Patently untrue, but she didnotwant to be some figure of pity in her husband’s eyes. ‘We’ve been having a really good time here.’
Have we?She glanced back to Clara and Annie, both bent towards each other over the table examining something on Clara’s phone.
‘That’s great,’ he said firmly. ‘Ollie and Conor have been sending pics to the lads’ chat round the clock – it looks awesome. So, right, we’re scheduled to land around 6 p.m. aaaaand,’ a big (impossibly shiny, white) smile spread across his face, ‘I’ve got something really cool planned for everyone. It’s not in Brody’s itinerary as I wanted it to be a surprise but it’s going to be really special, a once-in-a-lifetime thing.’
‘Okay, that sounds deadly.’ Maggie was feeling better. She remembered that sometimes the anticipation of these reunions was the worst thing. The lead-in time could make her anxiety spiral, and then the second they were together again, it’d level off when she remembered that, for all the things that had changed so irrevocably, they were still just Maggie and Fionn.
‘Are the girls up yet?’ Fionn asked hopefully.
Maggie shook her head. ‘Sorry, all the kids are still in bed.They’re on holiday mode so off their tits on sugar and up torturing the nannies half the night.’
‘No probs, can’t wait to give them big squishes. See you really soon.’ He blew her a kiss and they ended the call.
‘Are you done, Maggie?’ Annie called with a strange urgency.
Maggie made her way back towards them. Their eggs and bacon and mimosas had arrived in her absence. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s irrefutable goddamn proof.’ Clara seethed.
‘Of?’
‘Proof of Ollie fucking around,’ Clara hissed.
‘It may not be proof, Clara.’ Annie sounded calm but she did look a bit rattled. ‘Clara saw a weird text on Ollie’s phone before dinner last night.’
Clara leaned across the table and lowered her voice. ‘It said, and these are the exact words, “I had such a good time, Ollie. The best yet.”’
‘Oh God, Clara.’ Maggie bit her lip. This explained Clara’s strange quiet of the night before. Maggie scrambled for the right thing to say and came up short. ‘It really mightn’t mean that. What did he say when you asked him about it?’
‘I haven’t had a chance to talk to him. There was dinner – I was so blindsided I just said nothing – and then when I got back I was with Reggie all night. He’s fine, by the way, just a bit of a temperature. To be honest, I was glad to have the excuse to stay away … I’m still trying to compute this. This is Ollie, like! You know what he’s like after his love-rat dad and all that. Mr You-so-much-as-kiss-someone-else-it’s-over.’
‘This genuinely could mean something else. What was the name of the contact?’
‘Stevie. Like Stevie Nicks your husband.’
‘It could just as easily be a lad?’
