37. Mai #2
A wave of guilt washed over Mai. None of the band had come out unscathed from her decisions.
“It nearly killed him,” Scotty continued.
“I know,” Mai whispered. She’d followed the ups and downs of Ford’s life from afar.
“He’s lived more in those sixteen years than most people do in a lifetime. Are you ready for the reality of what that means?”
“I hope so,” Mai said honestly. She loved Ford. If she wanted to move forward with him, she would have to accept the past he’d lived.
“He drank himself into oblivion, but drugs were always the issue with Ford. He tried everything and liked nearly all of it. He overdosed so many times that, for a few years, we thought one day we’d find him dead. Donnie took him to rehab more times than I can remember.”
Mai blinked back her tears. “I’m sorry.”
Scotty shook his head. “Don’t apologise for his actions. You didn’t make him do it.”
“I know, but if I hadn’t left—” She let the words hang in the air.
Scotty shrugged. “Maybe he would have ended up there anyway. Maybe it would’ve been the pressures of fame.
Maybe he would have left with you, and it would have been the ‘what ifs’ that drove his demons.
I don’t know. I just need you to know that you can’t break his heart again. He won’t survive it.”
“I won’t,” Mai whispered.
“Good.” Scotty nodded and took a final swig out of his beer bottle. “Hey, Ford. Grab us both another drink,” he called over, then turned back to Mai. “Although if you want wine, I’ve got some white in the fridge and some red in the cupboard.”
“You drink wine?” Mai was surprised. She had never seen him with anything other than a beer in his hand.
“Don’t sound so shocked. I’m not twenty-two anymore. I drink more than cheap beer.”
“He drinks expensive beer now,” Ford teased as he brought three bottles of beer across to them. “Did you want this, or wine?” He shook the beer bottles gently at Mai.
“Do you mind, Scotty? I’d love a glass of wine. But don’t open the bottle just for me, I’ll only be having one, or I’ll be rough in work tomorrow.” Mai didn’t want them to go to any trouble for her. But her limit was one beer before they made her feel a bit sick, and she really did prefer wine.
“Nah. It’s all good. I’m sure Donnie will have a glass, and I will too.”
“Donnie will definitely have a glass if that’s the Penfold’s cab sav I saw you put in the fridge earlier.” Donnie strolled into the room, not even pausing when he noticed Mai. “Hi, guys. Sie, what happened to you?”
Mai lifted the ice away from her face. “I collided with the floor.”
“Right,” Donnie said slowly. “Ford has had a lot of collisions with the floor over the years. But you sound sober, unlike he was.”
“Cheers, mate,” Ford growled.
Mai laughed. “Yeah. I can’t blame it on anything else but holding too tightly onto the door handle, and being surprised when Scotty opened it.”
“You would have been a lot lighter to scoop off the floor than him, I would imagine.” Donnie gestured to Ford, who shrugged ruefully.
“I mean, he’s not wrong. I was a giant idiot for far too long.” Ford opened the three beers and gave one to each of the men, putting the third down on the coffee table. “I’ll grab a wine for you, Sie.”
Mai tried to keep her eyes off him as he strolled back to the kitchen, and she nearly succeeded. Looking back, she caught Scotty’s gaze, whose lips quirked upwards.
Ford brought her wine and then took his position back on the sofa next to her. His arm lay along the back of it, so close to brushing her hair that if she leaned her head back a little, she would be touching his hand.
Instead, she took a sip of her drink, then looked down at the glass in surprise and took another sip.
“Wow, this is good,” Mai exclaimed.
“It should be, it cost four hundred dollars,” Donnie said dryly.
Mai choked on her mouthful, coughing a few times. Ford patted her on the back as she cleared her airway.
“What now?” she croaked.
“Yeah. I like good wine.” Scotty shrugged.
“You opened a four-hundred-dollar bottle of wine on a random weeknight just so I could have a glass?”
“What’s the point in having nice wine if I don’t share it? I like it, I can afford it.” Scotty shrugged again.
“What else do I need to know about you guys. Scotty has an insane wine habit. What about you, Donnie? Or you, Ford? What totally bewildering rich people things do you guys do?” Mai took another sip of the wine, mulling over how each mouthful must be ten dollars.
“Donnie collects Lego,” Ford blurted.
“What?” Mai spat her expensive mouthful out in surprise. “The kid’s toys?”
“No,” Donnie huffed. “I collect grown-up Lego sets. I find it relaxing to build them. It takes my mind off the stress that certain people cause me.”
He stared pointedly at Scotty and then Ford, who were both trying their best to look innocent.
“Fair enough. So what’s your pointless rich man collection?” She reached out and poked Ford’s arm, knowing that her hand lingered and she touched him for far longer than she should.
“Trainers,” Donnie supplied.
Ford flushed and shrugged. “Yeah. I guess I’ve got a few pairs.”
“A few pairs!” Scotty spluttered. “One whole spare room in his unit is a shrine to trainers. He buys two pairs of everything, one to wear and one to display.”
Mai bit her lip to stop the bark of laughter that wanted to escape. Instead, she inquired, “So you have a trainer museum?”
“Guilty as charged.” Ford grinned ruefully.
“I dunno, I got such a rush from buying a pair of vintage Nike Jordans that I kept buying them. I figured it was better for me to buy more shoes than drugs. It became an obsession; every time I thought about buying drugs, I’d go and buy shoes instead. And now I just like having them.”
“Oh.” Mai wasn’t quite sure what to say, so she asked about Joel. “And Crocodile Dundee, who has currently gone bush, what does he collect?”
“Cars.” Donnie rolled his eyes. “He’s got a car collection that’s worth over twenty million dollars.”
“What now?”
“Yeah. He really loves those cars. But to be fair, he never has more than ten at a time, and he’s got a great eye. Most of the things he’s bought in the past he’s sold for a profit,” Donnie explained.
“Wait, wait. His cars are worth two million dollars each?” Mai was gobsmacked.
“No. Some cars are worth way more. Then he has a few cheaper ones,” Ford said.
“That’s mind-blowing,” Mai said, her voice full of wonder.
“You know you’re far richer than he’s ever been. You can start your own ‘rich woman’ collection,” Donnie joked.
Mai shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to having money.”
Ford chuckled. “You say that now, but give it more than a week and it’ll soon start to sink in.”
She'd made an appointment to meet with her new money managers, but until she had access to the money, she couldn’t believe what her net worth actually was.
“We should fetch Joel. Dinner won’t be long.” Mai changed the subject.
“I’ll go.” Scotty leapt to his feet and headed for the door. His phone clutched in his hand, having opened the tracking app.