Chapter 22
22
‘Tommy won’t take Erin on that motorbike, will he?’
Orla had wanted to make it clear to Tommy and her sister before they’d left the two alone in the house that there would be no riding of any kind. However, as she’d had to change twice, adding more layers, when Jacques had told her it was still minus four degrees, she had missed her opportunity before the two of them had disappeared off to the cinema room. Now they were out in the elements, already a long way from the cabin, hiking through the snow, upwards, towards sheer mountain faces that Orla very much hoped they would not be traversing.
‘He definitely would,’ Jacques answered.
‘What? No. We have to go back. Or call him.’ She had already turned around in a circle, mentally deliberating what to do.
‘Relax, Orla,’ Jacques said. ‘This is why you have a headache. The motorbike is now locked up. Tommy does not have the combination.’
‘OK,’ Orla said, taking a deep breath. That was one of the riding options dealt with. The other she really didn’t want to discuss with Jacques.
‘And Tommy, he is… respectful. Despite the smart mouth.’
‘Oh, OK.’ Why her cheeks were responding like they had been placed in a griddle pan she didn’t know.
‘You did not think about that? Two teenagers alone in a house?’
‘No, I mean, yes, I did. I just wondered if they might fight or shave each other’s eyebrows off before they, you know, thought about anything else.’ She sighed as they continued to walk. ‘And Erin has this situationship online she seems very invested in.’
‘O-K.’
‘Our mum is a bit worried about it actually and she’s asked me to find out more and I don’t quite know how best to handle it.’
‘Because you don’t have any experience in… what did you call it? A “situation”?’
‘Situationship.’
‘What is that exactly?’
‘You don’t know?’
‘Is it a social media thing?’ Jacques asked. ‘Because I don’t have that.’
‘You don’t have social media?’
‘No.’
Orla couldn’t believe it. She had never met anyone who didn’t have some form of account even if they no longer used it. If she made a connection online she automatically made sure to check the person out in other places to see if things matched up. It was common sense to be safe.
‘Not even Facebook?’
‘Why is that hard to believe?’
‘Because it’s 2024. Because how do you communicate with people?’
‘I call them. I send them a text message. Sometimes I write a letter.’
‘You write a letter?!’
She was in shock. And now she could not get Noah from The Notebook out of her head…
‘So a “situationship” is what? A romantic connection?’
‘Um, well, yes, it’s like an online relationship where you talk a lot, like every day, and then you might move it on to meeting the person in real life.’
‘So like having a partner.’
‘Well, yes… but no… because, you know, you haven’t established that yet.’
He stopped walking and looked at her, his expression suggesting that he didn’t really understand what she was saying. ‘Messaging someone a lot, every day, meeting up with them but you’re not boyfriend or girlfriend.’
Orla nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘Because no one has asked that question?’
‘Mainly.’
‘But why does no one ask the question?’
‘Because they’re too scared to ruin what they have.’
Perhaps she had answered too quickly. She had to remember she was talking about this from the perspective of Erin not herself. She had never asked Henry any of those questions. What is this? Are we exclusive? Do you talk to other girls too? But, then, he had never asked her either.
‘I wish to go back in this conversation and not know what this thing is.’ He started to walk again.
‘Well, that’s just how dating is these days,’ Orla said, following.
‘But how can you say it is dating when it’s only talking via social media most of the time?’
‘I… don’t know.’
‘Do you have someone you do this situationship with?’
She swallowed. ‘No. Not any more.’
‘But you have done this interaction before?’
‘It was a while ago.’
‘And how long do you do this messaging and not meeting for?’
‘Well, sometimes a few weeks.’ She swallowed. ‘Other times… a few months.’ She had talked to Henry for just short of five months.
‘Months! Of just typing? I do not understand this.’
‘Well, I don’t know what it’s like here in the wilderness of France, but in the UK it’s about the only thing people do when they want to find a connection.’ And sometimes she really missed it. Just having someone checking in on her every day, seeming to care, saying nice things, being part of her day. But now she had said it out loud to Jacques, it sounded all kinds of ludicrous. Perhaps it was time to change the subject. She didn’t even know where they were headed.
‘So, what are you taking me to see?’
‘It is a cave,’ he answered, upping his pace.
‘Oh,’ Orla said.
‘You do not like caves?’
‘I don’t dislike them. The last time I went in one was in Hungary with a colony of Alcathoe bats.’
‘Were they in a long-standing relationship or situationships?’
She smiled. ‘Very funny.’
‘Come on,’ Jacques encouraged. ‘It’s not far.’