Page 58 of Such a Good Couple
‘Wow.’ Clara nodded politely, a bit unclear as to how this guy was supposedly going to solve her mess.
‘Tell her what it’s called!’ Seb yelled.Ugh, Clara thought,it’s a shame he’s so insufferable.All her teenage fantasies were now ruined.
Simon grinned. ‘It’s calledDivorce Islandbecause the prize for the winning couple is an all-expenses-paid divorce!’
‘Seriously?’ Clara laughed in disbelief.How desperate would you have to be?Then she flashed back to Ollie leaving the appointment earlier and swallowed down a sickly surge of anxiety. She wasn’t exactly the most un-desperate person herself right now. God. But Ollie couldn’t really have meant what he said. He was just punishing her. They were in a very bad place. If they could just get their heads above water for more than five minutes, they could be good again.
‘Simon, it’s completely deranged,’ said Fionn flatly.
‘Thanks!’ Simon laughed. ‘We like to think we’re pushing the reality TV envelope and we arehelpingpeople. Believe me, there are way crazier reality shows out there.’
‘What if the winning couple change their mind about wanting the divorce?’ Fionn asked.
‘No problem!’ Simon clapped his hands together. ‘In that case, it’s a financial prize equal to the value of a divorce – a divorce in the UK, that is. So about 30K. Not sure how much it is here.’
That made Clara sit up. ‘What do the couples have to do on the island?’ she asked curiously.
‘Fun stuff,’ Simon said airily. ‘Team-building challenges and trust exercises – that kind of thing.’
‘So how does a couple win?’
‘Oh, it’s entirely based on popularity with the viewers. They vote on the couple they like best.’
At that moment, Maggie came into view behind Simon. ‘Birthday cake time in two minutes, everyone. Spread the word!’
Clara spent the last hour of the party trying to sober up a bit. She’d even been tempted to pop upstairs for a little bump to sharpen her up, but coke had never really been her thing. Plus, she was afraid she wouldn’t sleep till Tuesday – the joys of nearing middle age.
She was also, if she was being honest, half hoping to run into Simon Hayes again. Maybe he’d have no interest in a couple as old as them for his show, maybe it was all hot young ones they were looking for, but she still wanted to see. If only to say it to Ollie and call his bluff.He thinks he wants a divorce so bad, see what he thinks of this …
The crowd had thinned significantly – most of the famouses had left before 10 p.m., no doubt to get up early for green juices and stem cell enemas. The next wave to leave were the people dashing back to relieve stroppy teen babysitters. Clara was in the third wave, the people who were having fun but still needed to function the following day. By midnight, she’d kissed the girls goodbye, avoided a rogue grope from Hugo Thomas and wasgetting her coat when Simon Hayes appeared beside her and gallantly held the jacket for her to slip her arms into.
‘Hi.’ She smiled. ‘I was actually looking for you … while pretending I wasn’t.’
‘Oh yeah?’ He raised a tweezed brow. ‘The show, right?’
‘Well, look, we – my husband and I – might not be what you had in mind. We’re not glamorous … we’re old, we’re broke, we have three boys …’
‘No, no.’ Simon shook his head. ‘You two soundperfect. There’s realstakesthere, tug-of-love kids, financial woes. That’s what we’re after. We need meaty storylines.’
Clara frowned slightly.God, when you put it like that … it really seemed so bleak. Making a storyline of her family, her boys.
Obviously catching her look, Simon started rummaging in his pocket and came up with a business card. ‘Listen, it’s a lot to take in and obviously lots to discuss with your husband. Think about it.’ He handed her the card and they said goodbye. Clara let him go out ahead of her and she hung back so she wouldn’t have to walk down the street with him. She needed time to clear her thoughts.
CHAPTER 15
The Sunday after the party, Maggie sat on the back terrace of the Miavita house with a coffee and a bowl of fruit salad, waiting for the cleaners to finish in the kitchen so she could get something more to eat before Fionn came back from his run with Ollie and Conor.
Donal’s party had raged on into Saturday morning, culminating with a mass drunken skinny dip across the road, scandalising the early-morning walkers. Naturally a couple of pictures, snapped by passersby, had surfaced on a few of the Irish celeb websites and Maggie had been enormously relieved that she had kept her clothes on and just watched.
She’d felt a bit embarrassed that the party had beensoceleby. Brody had taken over the guest list and sent out what he had called ‘strategic invites’ to most of Ireland’s big names. ‘This business is all about making the connections,’ he’d insisted. ‘It looks good for Finn to be partying with these people.’
Thankfully, Donal seemed only delighted to have his birthday slightly hijacked by actors and models and musicians, and at least Maggie had been able to hide with the girls for most of the night, thoughtheyhad escaped home before the swimming in the nip had begun.
After the dip, the party’s final holdouts had come back for a big ‘full Irish’ served amid the detritus of the night before, and then they all finally drifted home. The cleaners had started in earnest on the Saturday afternoon but they’d had to come backthis morning, still battling to right the place.
Maggie texted Annie to let her know that Fionn, Conor and Ollie had still not returned. She and Annie were going for a swim together before Maggie and Fionn flew back to LA later that night, but timings were tricky as Annie and Conor were pretty committed to not crossing paths. Maggie was supposed to give her the signal to come once Conor had cleared off.
Maggie flicked idly through the summer programme for Dublin’s Regent Theatre that she’d found among the post when they’d arrived on Thursday night. There were interesting shows on and it made her think about what it’d be like to actually spend some time in Dublin as opposed to always flitting back to LA. What could a life in Dublin look like for her now? She’d be in this beautiful house more; she’d see her friends and her family more. The twins could have a more grounded life.
