Page 80 of Such a Good Couple
On her phone, Jez regrouped: ‘It appears Clara and Ollie have something else in mind …’
Annie grinned. It was such a relief that they were actually having fun together. Somehow, on a show calledDivorce Island, they seemed more together than they had in months.
Another boat, containing the crew, appeared, giving chase, then the scene cut to Clara in the Confession Pod. ‘We just weren’t arsed with the dazzling lad,’ she explained.
The clip cut to Ollie’s talking head: ‘Once I was in the boat, Irealised I hadn’t been alone with Clara in days. We keep having to “date” other people.’ He did rueful air quotes.
It cut back to Clara. ‘Have youmetthe other people on this show? Not to be mean, but it is literally a collection of rejects, as in they’re people beingrejectedby their other halves. I know I am too but … whatever. And like … Ollie’s hot. Maybe he’s not everyone’s “hot”. But he’s my kind of hot. Not that hotness can make a marriage work but …’ She shrugged. ‘It helps. Thirty grand would help too,’ she added impishly.
It cut back to Ollie. ‘Would I take the cash or the divorce if we won?’ The camera cut to his hands twisting in his lap as tense music ratcheted up before the clip cut to black.
Annie put the phone down and tried to focus on the menu. It was impossible to know what to eat. All day, every day, she had a kind of swaying nausea in her stomach, nausea that was sometimes assuaged by eating something and, at other times, made far, far worse by eating something. She read the Bear’s breakfast special and then picked up her phone again to text Rachel:
Annie: Bear would be a cute name for a baby?!
Rachel: Yes! And good for a girl or a boy.
A picture dropped into the chat underneath Rachel’s reply. She’d added ‘Bear’ to the blackboard in the kitchen where the list of baby names was growing by the day. Other picks included Nancy, Lia, Oisín and Jamie.
Annie smiled, momentarily distracted by the unpleasant business at hand. This would be the first time she’d spoken to Conor in nearly four weeks. The four days they’d spent moving out of the apartment in mid-July had been strange; theatmosphere was oddly formal. They were polite with each other. They’d even strayed into a kind of bleak nostalgia from time to time as they unearthed the ephemera of their two decades together: tickets to gigs, pictures from college days, a set of knee and elbow pads – relics from the slightly improbable summer when they’d actually regularly gone rollerblading together.
While they had both attended Donal’s birthday party, they had successfully avoided each other – a cursory nod passed between them at the beginning and that was the extent of their interaction.
Annie’s fury at him had initially burned bright, but it flamed out quicker than she expected. She knew deep down that she and Conor had been crumbling in the last six months of their relationship.
Now she’d left it to the very last possible moment to let him know about her pregnancy. Her first scan, at which she would find out for sure how far along she was, was that afternoon. Conor, who meticulously planned his days from hour to hour, would not be happy with the swerve his day was about to take and Annie was secretly hoping he wouldn’t be able to make it and it could be just her and Rachel.
She craned her neck to look up and down the street. No sign of him.I could just bail out. Never tell him? Never admit it’s his baby?It was not a thought she was seriously entertaining; for starters, they had the same friends so keeping a secret of that magnitude would be impossible. She just didn’t want to be dragged from her bubble of joy, which facing the reality of co-parenting a baby with her ex would definitely do.
Extreme happiness, Annie’d found, felt a bit like walking on a tightrope: at any moment it could be snatched away. She’d tried to explain this to Rachel, that the happier you were, the higher the stakes. Rachel had hugged her, inadvertently giving Annie another problem as the softness of Rachel’s arms around her,coupled with her unique Rachel scent, had sparked a dizzying rush of yearning in Annie that felt beyond anything a normal friend hug would inspire.
‘Hey, Annie.’ Conor had at last appeared. He pulled out the wrought-iron chair opposite her.
‘Hey.’ She half stood, reaching to hug him before abruptly pulling back.We don’t hug anymore, she remembered. Too late. At the sight of her embarking on a hug, Conor had gotten to his feet and was now flailing because she’d abandoned the hug. He completed the greeting awkwardly with a half-hug, half-arm-pat combo.
‘That went well,’ remarked Annie dryly, and he grinned weakly.
‘How’ve you been?’ he asked.
‘I’ve been good.’ She thrust the menu at him. ‘I’ve picked.’
‘Oh-kay.’ He turned the menu the right way up.
‘I’m getting the breakfast special,’ she blurted. ‘And I’m pregnant.’
Conor looked up from the laminated sheet, his mouth a perfect ‘o’.
‘I know what you’re thinking … immaculate conception, right?’ Annie jabbered as Conor continued to stare at her, his knuckles now white from gripping the menu so tightly. ‘But I googled it and it turns out you can get pregnant from pre-cum.’
Conor finally closed his mouth to swallow with what looked like effort.
‘I …’ he began.
‘I know?’ Now that she’d started talking, Annie found she couldn’t stop. ‘I actually didn’t realise for ages because I thought I’d gotten my period after Provincetown but it turned out it must’ve been an implantation bleed or something. Obvi I’d read all about those the last few years – you know, when we were trying. Back when I was tracking my cycle so closely, I wasalways watching out for anything at all in my knickers. Sorry if that’s a gross image for pre-noon.’ Annie grimaced. ‘Though it’s all about to get alotgrosser down there! Ha. Ha.’ She squeaked out a nervy, high-pitched laugh.
‘Yeah,’ Conor breathed. His face appeared to be slowly shifting through several different emotions: disbelief, confusion, worry and back to disbelief again.
‘Are you two ready to order?’ A young woman with a partially shaved head and many delicate piercings adorning her ears appeared at Annie’s elbow, bending to place glasses and a carafe of water on the table.
