All about the craic
With the Clapham Half just five weeks away, everyone was taking running just that little more seriously than before.
Obviously, Charlie was taking it the most seriously and had bought a new and more expensive pair of shoes, upped his training regimen, and changed his diet.
Everyone else was just being slightly more intense with their runs.
Even Joe seemed to be pushing himself harder, although as they set off for their run around Clapham Common, Max couldn’t help but notice Eve jogging at a more leisurely pace than usual.
He decided it might be a good chance to have a chat with her, considering her burgeoning relationship with Robbie.
Ever since they met at the pub, they had been talking on the phone, they had met for drinks, and according to Robbie, things were “hotting up”.
They had actually been out the night before, and Robbie hadn’t come home until the early hours, so clearly it was going well.
Max had wanted to run with Bethan, but she had shot off at a pace far faster than he could manage, but having time with Eve was not a bad consolation prize.
‘How’s it going?’ asked Max, jogging next to her.
Max had gone out during the week, and bought himself some new running gear.
Now he knew he was going to keep going, he’d decided it was time to upgrade his running outfits, and he’d even bought a new pair of expensive running trainers, which made him feel like he was literally running on air.
Eve looked across Max, and just from the expression on her face and the bags under eyes, it was clear she was exhausted. ‘I had a bit of a late one with yer man.’
‘Oh, yes, I heard. Not that Robbie said anything, but I heard him come home late. Things are going well between you two?’
‘They are, as it goes,’ replied Eve, who was jogging slowly next to Max. Ahead of them, Hope was jogging next to Joe and Anita. ‘Robbie’s a good craic.’
‘He's the nicest bloke I’ve ever met, with a heart of gold.’
‘And you aren’t just saying that because you’re mates, and he’s trying to get into my knickers?’
‘Hand on heart, no. Honestly, if I thought he was going to mess you around, I would tell you straight away. He’s my flatmate, but you’re my run club buddy.
That’s at least equal in my book. Plus, I remember you said something before about having trouble with love and relationships, and so the last thing I’d want to happen is for you to be with someone only out for one thing. ’
‘And that’s yer man, is it now?’
‘Definitely. Robbie’s one of the good ones.’
‘He does seem like it,’ said Eve, looking across at Max with a smile. ‘We’re having a grand old time.’
‘That’s good. I don’t know what you’ve been through with men, but I hope things with Robbie work out. I think you’d be really good together.’
Eve slowed to walking pace, and Max did the same.
Ever since he met Eve, they hadn’t really spoken at length, and he wasn’t sure what it was, but he felt like there was a bit of a barrier up, certainly from her side.
Maybe she had trust issues, and especially with men.
Max wanted to know more about Eve, and perhaps she was about to tell him.
‘I haven’t told all of this to Robbie yet, so don’t go blathering on about it with him, but the thing is, when I moved over from Ireland, I came with my husband, Liam.’
‘You were married?’
‘I was. We married young, too young as it goes, but we thought we were in love, you know? We’d gone to school in Dublin, grew up together.
He was me first, and I thought my last. We moved to London for his career, but then two years in, and the feckin’ eejit goes and has an affair with some English girl from his office.
I was twenty-four, separated from my useless arse of a husband, and living in a foreign country. ’
‘Shit, I’m sorry, Eve, that's awful.’
‘Sure look, it is what it is.’
‘Why didn’t you just move back to Ireland?’
‘Because I wasn’t going to run back home, tail between me legs just because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. I had friends of me own, a job, and so I stayed.’
‘And now you’re a successful author.’
‘I’m trying, and you know, I think about moving back to Ireland at some point.’
‘Robbie always talks about moving back to Scotland, too. Although I think he’s got used to the London weather, I’m not sure he could hack the harsh Scottish climate anymore.’
Eve laughed. ‘I won’t tell him you think he’s too soft for Scotland.’
‘Thanks. You know, I really do hope things work out with you and Robbie. He’s always been a bit of a drifter, didn’t really have a plan for his life, but now with the sandwich shop, and maybe with you, he can start really building something.’
‘You sound like you want this for him, more than he does.’
‘I just want him to be happy, and from what you told me, I think you deserve your slice of happiness too.’
‘I’m not sure what I deserve,’ said Eve, who started jogging again. ‘But I wouldn’t mind a decent feckin’ boyfriend for a start. It’s the one thing I hate about London—’
‘You mean apart from the sky-high rent, the cost of public transport, and that it now requires a small mortgage to buy a round of drinks?’
‘Apart from those obvious ones. No, it’s feeling lonely.
Growing up in Ireland, surrounded by friends, and a vast Catholic family, I never once felt lonely.
If anything, it was the opposite, and I craved some peace and quiet from time to time, but in London, if you aren’t careful, you can feel like you’re on your own.
It’s one of the reasons I joined the run club, to have people, a community, and it’s a good craic.
I’m grand on my own, Max, I am, but having a decent boyfriend would be a nice change of pace. ’
Max and Eve started running a little bit faster, and so they stopped talking because Max still wasn’t able to hold a conversation while running.
With just five weeks until the Clapham Half, he still hadn’t decided if he was going to run it or not.
With every passing week, he was getting fitter and stronger, and he had even started going for runs outside of run club.
When Bethan had told Max about how she had taken up running after losing Jake, and how much it had helped her, he began to understand how it could help him too.
He had listened to Hope’s story of how running had saved her life, and he watched Joe trudging around the common, trying to stop himself from dying like his father before him.
Charlie ran to stop himself from spiralling back towards drugs and a life that had almost taken his, while Anita did it to help with the grief of losing her husband.
Running was the fix to all their problems, and it made him even more eager to finally tell them all about his parents.
With things between him and Bethan resolved and better than ever, it felt like the right time.
They were all meeting at the sandwich shop at the weekend to help paint, so perhaps the perfect time to get everything out in the open.
They had all been so open and honest with him, perhaps it was time he repaid the favour.
Max and Eve jogged their 5k together, and by the end of it, Max was feeling for perhaps the first time, not completely exhausted.
He hadn’t pushed himself too much, but he had run a respectable time with Eve, and he wasn’t completely gassed at the end of it.
As they always did, the whole group got together at the end for a warm down.
‘Today was my best time yet,’ said Charlie, while doing a hamstring stretch. ‘Twenty minutes, and four seconds.’
‘So close to a sub twenty, mate,’ said Joe.
‘I’ll close out the quarter by hitting my target,’ replied Charlie. ‘No worries about that.’
‘Is everyone still up for painting at the weekend?’ Max asked the group, as they slowly began collecting their things to leave.
Everyone said they were, and couldn’t wait to see the shop and try Robbie’s sandwiches.
Joe was going to be late, as one of his girls had a netball match and the other had swimming, but they would all be there.
Bethan had to dash off after run club because she was meeting some old university friends for dinner, so Max walked out with Eve.
‘What are you doing tonight? Popping over to ours?’ asked Max.
‘Not tonight. I think me and yer man both need an early night. Plus, I’m hosting an event at the library in Peckham tomorrow morning. I’ve got to be there by nine, so I can’t be out ‘til the wee hours again.’
‘An event?’
‘It’s a Q it was time they all knew about his.