Page 15 of Try Hard
I shrugged, allowing that because, well, she wasn’t exactly wrong, but I didn’t care about that. I cared about having a way to stay in touch with her. I cared about herwantingto stay in touch, even if it was just for a silly little game.
“Fine,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ll stay in touch and you’ll… find some way to eventually win your Tizer.”
I grinned widely, not missing the way Alistair was trying to inconspicuously monitor our conversation. He really cared about his daughter and her happiness, that much was obvious. “Deal. Looking forward to coming out victorious,” I said, even as it felt like I was already winning.
Chapter Five
Fia
Margot claimed all of Eve’s attention shortly after we’d returned to the group, while I stood back, watching my dad in his element. If I’d had any lingering questions over whether Margot had been flirting with Eve before our walk, I definitely didn’t now. And, honestly, I had to respect the confidence. In front of a whole group of her friends and acquaintances I could only imagine she saw frequently at these gatherings, she was being very obvious about coming onto someone. And not just anyone. The daughter of one of her friends—which was a little odd—and a sporting celebrity. The woman had guts.
Eve was clearly used to it, and I knew from her earlier comments about her whole outlook on the situation, but it was still interesting to see it in action. She smiled and laughed and was engaging. She readily followed Margot’s request to explain rugby to the uninitiated in the group, talking over and over about how a goal was called a try and what her position, a tighthead prop, did. It wasn’t hard to imagine how much of aconfidence boost people got from her when they finally walked away. And, yet, from an objective position, it was clear she wasn’t flirting back. She was friendly, not flirty. Even if, in the months that came after meeting her, I could imagine people telling themselves Eve Archer had flirted with them. And, if Eve Archer hit on them, then they could flirt with anyone they wanted.
Damn her. She had a point.
I snuggled deeper into my coat and watched my dad chatting to the online watchers with Jeremy. I didn’t know how he did it. Sure, the stream didn’t show them—it showed the planes—but it was still him, live and relatively unfiltered and real. On the internet, for everyone to see. Sure, I wrote articles for a living about my experiences, and little pieces of me undoubtedly slipped in, but I couldn’t dothat. If little pieces of life weren’t in my writing, the whole thing would become dry, boring, and impossible to sell. However, I’d mastered the art of saying a lot without giving much about the real me away. Not Dad, though. Not Jeremy. Not any of them. And I didn’t think it was because they worried less about the internet and its risks. I think they just relaxed in a way I didn’t.
Were you still supposed to learn stuff like that from your parents as an adult, or was your time up? Had I already decided who I was? Someone who didn’t put themselves out there for everyone to see? It felt like that, and I was okay with it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a little odd watching my dad in his element, wondering whether I was supposed to be more like that. After all, we lived in the digital age, and if I didn’t want a real digital footprint, would I just get left behind?
A plane took off and the whoosh shook me out of my oddly emotional reverie. Maybe I hadn’t gotten enough sleep after all. The last thing I’d been expecting this morning was to have some kind of digital existential crisis.
“So, we’ll be here for about another twenty minutes,” Dad told the internet. “But, don’t worry, we’ll be back again next week, usual time, and we look back to seeing you all then.”
A whole community of regulars, of friends, of people who spent their Saturday mornings watching my dad stand in the cold to show them planes. And it had become this odd little ritual for my parents, too. My mum refraining from coming out but being fully engaged in preparing for his trips—making soup and helping pack up the gear, and dissecting the trip at the dinner table on a Saturday night. For all the ways the internet accidentally exposed your parents to people calling youDaddy, it also did some wholesome shit.
I watched my dad for the final twenty minutes, a few more flights being called and discussed as they took off and landed, and I tried not to think about how much my life was the transitory part, the planes taking off, while his was this part; stationary, present, solid.
And, when everything was wrapped up and I was helping coil up some of the wires the group had out, I found myself near where Margot was still gushing to Eve.
Eve was completely absorbed in the conversation. Her expression reminded me of when we’d been at school where, no matter what time of day it was, she’d always had a smile on her face and engaged with others. This time, though, her gaze flickered quickly from Margot to me and I felt a twist in my stomach like I’d been caught, as if I’d been eavesdropping on their conversation.
She smiled but quickly refocused on Margot, making the glance at me seem like a random glance away that happened in conversation. The amusement in her smile didn’t feel like that, though.
I ducked my head and wound the cable I was holding faster. Not fast enough, however, to avoid overhearing Margot say, “So, will you be joining us again next week?”
Eve laughed pleasantly. “I’m actually not sure yet. But, I can tell you that I’ve had such a great time today that I’m sorely tempted to return.”
Margot would take that to mean Eve wanted to come back to see her. Maybe she did. I didn’t know her well enough to make that deduction. They’d been talking for over an hour now, that was plenty of time for Margot to potentially win her over.
“Oh,” Margot said, sounding a little flustered and informing me my read on her had been correct at least. “Well, we’d love to have you back. I’ll be here, so you’ll definitely know someone.”
“My dad will be too, I imagine,” Eve said, and I fought a wince on Margot’s behalf. I wasn’t sure why I even cared, but it was one thing to be let down, but to be let down by being reminded that you were friends with the father of the person you were hitting on? That had to sting.
At least she was closer in age to Eve than to Jeremy. Or, so I assumed. I was pretty sure Jeremy was around my dad’s age.
Margot, however, did not have the same concerns or read on the situation I did. She giggled, and, even looking down, I could see the way she leaned into Eve. “Of course! He’s always here, talking about you.”
And Sophie?
Maybe Margot didn’t care when he talked about Sophie—or anything else in his life? She was clearly very taken and fixed on Eve. Understandable, maybe, but still.
“I could give you my number, you know?” Margot told Eve. “Send you all the details of the gatherings. That way, any time you want to attend, you can just show up. And it doesn’t have to be just when you’re visiting your dad. London’s right there, and I’m sure Big Jezzer would love to see you at more of these.”
I really couldn’t fault the woman’s confidence. That wasn’t even a bad excuse. I could, however, hear in her voice how little her wanting Eve to have her number had to do with plane watching.
“Oh, sure,” Eve replied easily. “You never know when I might have a free Saturday morning.”
They exchanged numbers and I was genuinely starting to wonder whether I’d misread Eve’s interest in Margot.
