Chapter Thirty-Seven
Joe
I needed a plan and not just any plan but a really brilliant plan that would convince Freya I had changed, and that I was serious about saving our marriage. The problem was, as I was sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee, listening to the beginnings of a new day outside, nothing was coming to me. I had already told Freya I would see a marriage counsellor together, and that I would give up the show if it meant saving our marriage. I had confessed my love, put my heart on the line, but nothing had changed and she hadn’t spoken to me about it since. All I had received from New York was a brief text that said:
I still need time.
She had asked for time and space and I had given her both, but surely with her so far away I needed to use this time and space to do something big.
When I needed life advice, I would usually go to my friends, but Stuart wasn’t really the romantic type, and Barney had had so little luck in love he was hardly the person to go to for guidance when it came to saving a marriage. Dolly was still working and spending all of her time with Elle, so was hardly about, and I couldn’t imagine she wanted to give her dad advice about wooing her mum. Karen was my therapist, and she had made it quite clear what we could and couldn’t discuss, which only left my father. It felt strange to go to him for advice, but since he had met Juliette, he was like a different person. He was a true renaissance man. I decided to give it a go because I was desperate and nothing was coming to me. I rang his number, and after a few rings he answered.
‘All right, son?’ said Dad.
‘Hi, Dad. How’s it going?’
‘Yeah, not bad. The sale of my house is going through and that should be done soon, fingers crossed. The house in France is already ours, and Juliette is there now doing some work on it. It needs a lot done, and she’s working with some local builders over there, and honestly, you think builders are unreliable here, you haven’t been to the south of France. Sometimes they don’t show up until lunchtime, if they show up at all. I can’t wait to get down there, to be honest, and get cracking.’
‘I bet.’
‘It feels weird just waiting around in an empty house to sign some paperwork, but it’s good to get all the loose ends tied up. I’m saying goodbye to friends, that sort of thing. What’s happening with you?’ said Dad, and this was the moment when I needed him. I hadn’t had that thought often – maybe ever – in my life, but perhaps things were going to be different from now on.
‘Actually, I need your help,’ I said, and then I went on to explain everything that had happened recently from the show getting commissioned to telling Freya I was still in love with her. ‘The thing is, Dad, since I told her, and she said she needed some time and space, we have barely spoken. It feels like there’s time and space, and then there’s, you know, time and space.’
‘Right, yeah, I can see how that would be difficult. But how can I help you, exactly?’
‘Right now Freya is in New York for the week with her Cold Water Club.’
‘Very nice! I have always fancied going to New York. The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park, getting one of those giant sandwiches—’
‘Yes, Dad, but that isn’t the point.’
‘Sorry, Joe, got a bit lost there for a moment.’
‘She’s in New York and when she gets back, I want to do something big, show her just how much I love her. That I’m serious about us. I just don’t know what to do, but I know it has to be spectacular. I need to blow her mind, Dad.’
‘This is what you want me to help you with?’
‘That’s right.’
‘You need something really big. A grand romantic gesture that will show Freya just how much you love her, that you’ve changed, and you’ll do anything to make your marriage work again?’
‘That’s exactly it!’ I said excitedly because he seemed to get it right away. Perhaps he had the perfect plan. There was nothing but silence down the phone and I waited, hoping Dad would suggest something ridiculously romantic.
After about a minute, Dad said, ‘You could give the house a really good clean while she’s gone, and make her something nice to eat? What’s her favourite meal?’
‘That’s your enormous romantic gesture? A spring clean and steak dinner?’
‘I mean, think about it, son. Who wouldn’t love to come back from holiday to a clean house and a nice meal?’
‘I know, Dad, but this has to be something huge, not a quick vacuum and a jacket potato.’
‘Oh, right,’ said Dad, sounding like someone way out of his depth, but then he said something that suddenly changed everything. ‘What about your sitcom?’
‘Sorry? What about it?’
‘You said you wrote an entire television show about your marriage.’
‘I did.’
‘Maybe there is something you can do with that?’
‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know, but you must have written some pretty nice stuff about her, about love, marriage, and all of that, right? Maybe you can use that in some way to show her exactly how much she means to you. What about that?’ he suggested, still sounding rather unsure of himself, but it didn’t matter because the wires in my brain that connected the dots and sparked ideas when I was writing were suddenly shooting off all over the place. It was like a firework show in my head. Why hadn’t I thought of it before?
‘Dad, you’re a genius!’
‘Yeah? Why’s that?’
‘Because you just gave me the most brilliant idea.’
‘Right, well, you’re welcome, son.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Do you need any help with it, or—’
‘Not right now, but thank you, and Dad, am I going to see you before you leave for France?’
‘Actually, now you mention it, I was hoping to stay with you for a few days once the house is sold, if that’s all right?’
‘Of course. Whenever you want. Just let me know the dates, and we’ll sort it out. Okay, I have to go. I have a huge romantic gesture to plan!’
‘Good luck,’ said Dad before he added, ‘and, you know, maybe give the house a spring clean, too, and that steak dinner will probably help. Just saying.’
‘Will do, Dad,’ I said, and then we hung up, and I had a lot of work to do.
The plan had come to me when Dad had mentioned the show. It was like the whole thing appeared to me in the way that sometimes ideas for shows would come to me while I was drifting off to sleep. This was a big, romantic idea and I would need some help, and I had no clue how long it would take to put it together, so I had to get going right away. I needed to call Carl because I would definitely need his assistance, and Dolly, too. I didn’t know if this would be enough, but I had to try. My marriage was on the line and there was nothing I wouldn’t do to make it work.