Page 79 of Such a Good Couple
In the mirror, she did a speedy assessment.Still a middle-aged heifer?Check. She turned and craned to check the status of her back flab.Overhangs hanging?Check. She snapped the elastic around her thighs and was about to embark on stuffing her back fat down under the top of the one-piece when Fionn appeared in the doorway.
‘You look so hot.’ He stared at her and Maggie turned, sucking in her stomach as best she could which, from the glimpse she caught of herself in the mirror, did absolutely nothing. She smiled stiffly at him.
He came closer. ‘I don’t know why you bother putting things on.’ He touched the strap and trailed his fingers along the lace edge that was taut against the swell of her breasts. ‘I like it but …’ He looped a thumb under each strap and slowly began to tug them down. ‘You know I only want to take it off.’
As her breasts were released from the lingerie, he lowered his head to run his tongue over each nipple and Maggie gasped quietly. Despite how good it felt, it was a struggle to stay in the moment. Right at that very second she knew somewhere the internet was scrolling on, pseudo-feminist articles were applauding Maggie’s astounding ordinariness and gossip forums were picking apart her family.
Fionn’s lips found hers, drawing her away from the thoughts. He squeezed her tits and pushed her back against the wall of the dressing room, his hard-on pressing against her. He knelt down and pulled the lingerie all the way down and tossed it aside. He sat back on his heels for a minute, looking her all over. ‘You’re so beautiful.’ He reached up to take her breasts in his hands and then leaned forward and began to gently tongue her clit. Maggie squeezed her eyes shut. It felt incredible. He pinched her nipples and her breath quickened. As she began to feel the delicious pressure build, he gripped her ass and licked harder.
‘I’m gonna come,’ she whispered urgently. He pulled back abruptly and stood. ‘Not yet,’ he breathed in her ear, one hand still gripping her ass, as he undid his pants with the other. He’d barely bothered to get his trousers down before he pushed his dick inside her. She felt pricks of pleasure burst as he held her hips and lifted her higher against the wall. In the mirror opposite, Maggie could see his perfect ass tensing and releasing as her legs trailed over his hips.
‘Do you wanna change or come like this?’ he asked, grinning. ‘I can’t last much longer, I’m sorry. You’re so fuckin’ sexy.’
Maggie hesitated. She liked that, up against her like this, he couldn’t reallyseeher. She was suddenly conscious of how well lit it was in the dressing room. Her eyes flickered to the mirror opposite; if they moved now, he’d see her fromtwoangles – God, she hated her brain. Fionn seemed to catch her glance and looked to the mirror also. He pushed into her again. ‘Don’t get distracted,’ he whispered to her. ‘You’re so fuckin’ hot. I’m gonna lick you till you come and then I’m gonna fuck you from behind. You want that?’
‘Mmmmm,’ was all Maggie managed as a response. Fionn held her against him and turned around to lay her out on the top of the island. He pulled out and, running his hands all over her body, he began to flick his tongue over her again. As her hips began to buck, he pushed his fingers inside her, which was all she needed to finally peak and start to orgasm. She’d barely recovered when Fionn flipped her onto her stomach and, gripping her hips, entered her from behind. In three sharp thrusts he was coming. In the mirror she watched as he threw his head back, the muscles of his neck pulling taut like ropes as he groaned a long satisfied ‘fuuuuuck’.
Later, while Fionn had gone to read the twins a story, Maggie showered and did her skincare. She was relaxed and content.Why did I dread it so much?she wondered, patting in herserum.I feel so much closer to him.She had to remember this feeling going forward. The intimacy was so important. She couldn’t let her head get in the way.
CHAPTER 19
Annie picked up her phone to check the clock for what felt like the twentieth time since she’d sat down outside Bear Café: 9.45 a.m. Conor wasn’t even late; she’d just shown up half an hour early because she could no longer pace the hall of the house without potentially causing actual wear to the rug. She’d been battling a growing guilt for the last three weeks since she’d found out she was pregnant and had continued, day after day, to not tell Conor. She’d just felt so all over the place about everything. Her internal monologue whirred constantly, prodding her with questions about the logistics of single motherhood and co-parenting with an ex. Adding Conor’s reaction –something she was struggling to predict – to the chaos was too much. She hadn’t even told her family yet. Not because she fearedtheirreaction – they would be thrilled and, given her parents’ own unorthodox setup, wouldn’t bat an eyelid at her going it alone – she just felt bad enough for telling her friends before Conor and so had resolved to wait until he knew.
The fact was a big part of her wished she didn’t have to tell him at all. He hadn’t wanted a baby in the end, so why should he get to be a dad now? Why did she have to share this with him? She knew her feelings were irrational but it was hard not to feel a bit resentful.
Every day she’d resolve to get it over with, and every day she’d lapse into stasis until finally it would be 10 p.m. and too late to start the conversation
Now, sitting at the little iron table under the canopy that shaded her from the weak mid-September sun, all she could do was jiggle her leg rhythmically. She uncrossed and recrossed her legs in the other direction, tugging at the waistband of her leggings. At twelve weeks, she was already starting to show slightly, but in her clothes it wasn’t obvious.
For distraction, she started scrolling theDivorce Islandhashtag to catch up on the public’s reaction to the previous night’s instalment during which the couples had been sent on an elaborate scavenger hunt to ‘find the magic’. Literally. They were all searching for a close-up magician called The Dazzling Bob. Cue Clara and Ollie having a fifteen-minute debate about whether they should even bother trying to find him given how annoying close-up magic was.
In just two weeks, Clara and Ollie had become the fan faves. Annie read the comments under one post:
@sineadmkell: I could literally watch Clara and Ollie hunt for change in a handbag #DivorceIsland
@cassielorraine: I just want the best for them … which in the context of the show, I’m not even sure what that is? Win? Lose? Someone help! #DivorceIsland
@instaneasa: I get Ollie’s point about Clara kissing the gay guy but as a gay guy, FORGIVE HER, OLLIE!!! #HomosForClara #DivorceIsland
Annie tapped on a clip where Clara and Ollie were standing on a beach, Ollie reading a clue: ‘If it’s the magic ye seek, search on the beach.’
‘Are you sure that’s what it says?’ Clara stood in a polka-dot playsuit, her hair piled on top of her head in a matchinghead scarf. ‘It doesn’t even rhyme.’ She turned to camera. ‘Who’s writing this stuff, Sean?’
A voice from off-camera replied stiffly, ‘Please don’t address the camera, Clara.’
Ollie turned to the camera as well. ‘Why? C’mon, Sean, do you think the viewers don’t realise we’re standing here with a cameraman and a boom operator?’
Clara giggled. ‘We’re more married to you and Mike,’ she waved a hand to the sound guy, ‘than we are to each other at this stage!’ She turned to Ollie. ‘Can we keep them? Please!’
From behind the camera, Sean could be heard laughing.
‘Come and help us raise our children, guys,’ Ollie said imploringly.
The scene cut to Clara and Ollie pushing a row boat into the water while Jez Fuller narrated.
‘Clara and Ollie are our first couple to guess correctly that The Dazzling Bob is waiting on this floating pontoon just twenty metres from the beach.’ The camera zoomed to a small man in a suit surrounded by water. He waved his arms elaborately and a flock of doves rose into the air behind him.
‘Will The Dazzling Bob help them “find the magic”?’ asked Jez as the camera focused on Clara and Ollie’s boat which, it immediately became clear, was travelling in the decidedly opposite direction to the magician.
