Fifty-One Lucie
Fifty-One
LUCIE
W hen Ced texts to ask me to meet him for coffee after rehearsal, I immediately accept. I’m not ready to go home yet after my fight with Lyle and not having a shift at Gonzalo’s tonight means I’d be stuck in the house with nowhere else to go.
Besides, I need a friend who understands.
He greets me wearily from the window table in Cheerily’s he’s proudly guarding for us. The extra-long hug he gives me tells a story all of its own.
‘It is so good to see you,’ he breathes, flopping back into his seat. ‘So strange not to have my Lucinda beside me every day. I’ve been spoiled this summer.’
‘I missed you, too.’
‘How are rehearsals?’
It’s my turn to groan. ‘Slow. I’ve no idea how we’ll ever be ready for the performance.’
‘Still, paid rehearsals.’
‘True.’ We trade tired smiles. ‘How was the school visit?’
‘Surprisingly good. I feared they would chew me up into pieces but they were delightful. Who knew fourteen year olds could be sweethearts?’
‘I bet they loved you.’
‘Loved is maybe too generous a term, but they didn’t hound me off the premises. In my book that’s a victory.’
‘I knew you’d be great,’ I say, glancing at Cheerily’s menu even though I know exactly what our order will be today. ‘So this is a celebration.’
‘Maybe.’ He peers at me. ‘Depends on how your day was.’
My heart sinks. ‘If I’m going to tell you that we should definitely order first.’
‘Ah. Titania Dream, is it?’
‘Definitely.’
‘ Get thee hence !’ Ced dismisses me with a flourish of his hand. ‘Make haste, fair maiden and don’t spare the horses.’
Cass isn’t in today, her new assistant Clemency serving instead. She greets me warmly, her blue eyes widening when I place our mammoth order.
‘Oh, brilliant, Cass told me this might happen,’ she says, eagerly scribbling down my chosen flavours. ‘Go and make yourself comfortable and I’ll bring it right over.’ She places a hand on heart. ‘And – I’m so sorry you need this today.’
I conceal my smile until I’m back at our table. Cass has trained Clemmie well …
‘So,’ Ced says, straightening the small pot of flowers on the table. ‘Spill.’
Even now, there isn’t much to tell. I’m angry at Lyle for mentioning Theo when I’d almost managed a whole morning without thinking of him.
‘I just want Theo to disappear and leave me alone.’
‘You don’t,’ Ced counters, kindly, when I tell him this. ‘It would be easier for your head to know he was miles away, but not for your heart.’
‘I just don’t know why Lyle would dash over to give me that news immediately. I’m at home this evening. He could have waited until then.’
‘He worries about you. We all do.’
‘But mentioning Amy Jo Everly was a low blow.’
‘Or something he thought you’d a right to know.’ He ducks a little when he says this, as if I might punch him for saying it.
The buzz of the café suddenly hushes. I look around, relieved to discover that the cause is Clemmie steering our ridiculously oversized Titania Dream carefully between the tables, not our conversation about Theo.
She places it on our table like a holy relic being presented at an altar.
‘I was so scared I’d drop it.’
‘Excellent work, darling,’ Ced beams, applauding her. And bless them, several of the other customers join in.
Blushing fiercely, Clemmie nods her thanks and scurries back to the counter.
‘Spectacle,’ Ced says, twirling a spoon between his fingers. ‘Isn’t it the best thing to be at the centre of?’
I’m not sure I share his sentiment. ‘Not always.’
He admonishes me with a look. ‘Theatre, my darling, is in your blood. Even the drama you don’t want is attracted to you. Like – spoons …’ He mimes his spoon shaking as if trying to resist a powerful magnetic force, letting it travel across to my shoulder. I brush it away, but it’s good to smile.
‘I just wish Lyle hadn’t told me.’
‘About what Theo said or who he was with?’
‘Both.’
‘Hmm.’ He takes a spoonful of Two Bees and closes his eyes as he enjoys it. ‘ Heaven . In a hefty portion.’
I follow his lead, scooping up a bit of Tempest Swirl and King Pear together and savouring the taste. Now I’m here, in a place where I feel at home, with Ced who is one of the people I love most in the world, my appetite has returned. Ice cream always helps: today more than ever.
For a while we just enjoy our dessert, smiling when customers around us gawp at its frankly over-the-top proportions. I don’t mind our lack of conversation. I know Ced knows what I’m thinking about and that’s enough. And I know where he’s at with everything, too. It feels like a well-earned break from all the drama and angst of today, most of it occurring away from an actual stage. We used to joke that our lives as actors bore far more drama than would ever be seen in a production: right now that joke feels a little uncomfortable. I’d like to keep all drama on the stage from now on, so tired of it being a constant thing to navigate. But judging by today, that isn’t likely to happen any time soon.
‘It will get better,’ Ced says, as if he can hear my thoughts above the warm burr of Cheerily’s.
I dig my spoon into the mound of ice cream scoops still remaining in Titania’s Dream. ‘I hope so.’
I stay with Ced for as long as possible, until Clemmie apologetically informs us she’s closing up. I wander around the town for another hour – careful to avoid the waterfront and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre where Theo will be – but I’m just delaying the inevitable. So at five o’clock, I reluctantly turn for home.
The house is quiet when I return, the sweet smell of rose tea lingering in the air, the kettle still warm. Lyle is still at the theatre in the first of many tech meetings for Hamlet and The Tempest . But our empty home tells me more about my housemate than he knows: I know that the only time Lyle ever drinks Turkish Rose tea is when he’s stressed.
I breathe in the familiarity of the scent, pushing away the reason why it’s here. I don’t want to fight with anyone, least of all Lyle. He thought he was doing the right thing coming straight to see me, even if it wasn’t. And while he needs to understand why I was upset, I need to draw a line under everything. Theo will be in Stratford-upon-Avon until November, so I have to accept that people will see him around town. And if he’s back with Amy Jo, it’s no longer any concern of mine.
Just a few more months to endure, and then I can get my life – and my town – back.
‘Hey.’
Lyle appears at the living room door, peering cautiously into the room.
‘Hi.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I know.’ I pat the cushion of the sofa next to me. ‘Sit.’
He obliges, perching on the edge like he’s ready to flee if I yell again.
‘I don’t want to fight,’ I say. ‘And I don’t want Theo to be a bone of contention between us. I know what you were trying to do and I appreciate the support. But what he does now is his business. I don’t need to know and you don’t have to protect me from it.’
‘I think he should have more respect for you, but okay.’
‘Come here, you.’ I gather him into a hug, relief flooding my tired body. ‘My noble defender.’
‘Always,’ he murmurs over my shoulder.