17. Mai
Mai
Mai pulled the chain out from under her dress, on which her wedding ring hung, and showed it to Gloria.
“You’ve worn that every day for sixteen years?” Gloria reached out and examined the simple silver band.
“Yeah. I thought about taking it off so many times, but I could never bring myself to. I watched from afar as they got bigger and bigger, and he got further and further away from me. My ring was the only part of him I had left.”
“Why didn’t you go back?” Gloria touched the silver band.
“Too much time passed. Too much water under the bridge. Everywhere I looked, I saw pictures of Ford with girls hanging all over him.” Mai blinked back the tears. “I couldn’t go back. He moved on without me.”
“Oh, honey.” Gloria pulled her into her warm embrace, and Mai lay her head down on the older woman’s shoulder, tears trickling down her cheeks. “Did you ever move on?”
Mai shook her head. “I’ve had a few boyfriends, nothing long-term.”
“They weren’t Ford?” Gloria guessed.
“No. I tried so hard. I made myself a whole new life. It was sixteen years ago when I left him, and I still can’t get over him. I’m so pathetic, spending my life pining after a rockstar that I can’t have.” Mai took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes in exhaustion.
“I won’t try to tell you it’ll all be okay, because I don’t know if it will be. I’m here and happy to be a shoulder for you to cry on if you need one.” Gloria hugged Mai tighter.
“Gloria, that’s so kind of you. I couldn’t possibly–”
Gloria cut her off. “I always wanted a big family and only ended up being able to have Taylor. I’m now collecting bonus children who need a parent. I’m telling you that I’m here if you need me.”
Mai wiped her eyes again and relaxed into Gloria’s arms. It had been so long since she lost her mum and dad that she had almost forgotten what it was like to be held by someone like this.
“Thanks,” she mumbled through her tears.
“I quite like the idea of adding a musician to the family. Taylor is talented, but have you heard him sing?” Gloria made a face.
Mai shook her head, offering a watery smile.
“Lucky you. It’s appalling. I say this as a mom who loves her son a lot: he should stick with acting and never take on any roles again that require singing.”
“Again?” Mai’s interest was piqued. She'd seen a stack of Taylor’s movies, but never one with him singing.
“He was in Cats.” Gloria giggled.
“NO!” Mai pulled back and chuckled, even as her tears still flowed. She loved all things music-related, including musicals, and went to the cinema to see that travesty of a movie. “I don’t remember him.”
“No. Thankfully, most of his part with him singing and wiggling his fluffy butt was left on the cutting room floor. So, like I say, I’d love to add a musician slash doctor to my family.”
Gloria’s voice was so genuine that Mai found herself replying, “Thanks. I’d like that. I’ve not been part of a family in a long time.”
“Fantastic. Do you like champagne? My daughter-in-law can’t drink at the moment, for obvious reasons, so I need a friend to help me annoy Taylor by drinking his good champagne.”
Mai laughed at that and dabbed at her eyes until the tears stopped. “I am partial to champagne, especially pink.”
“Excellent. We’ll take a detour via the main house to ‘borrow’ some, and give you a chance to freshen up. Will you be able to rejoin the party?”
Mai thought about it for a moment and took a deep, shuddering breath.
“Yes,” she said firmly.
It was time for her to reclaim the part of her life that she’d left behind so long ago. She was Dr Maisie Jones, but she was also Sie Harrington, and once upon a time, she stood on stage in front of stadiums of people and played guitar as if her life depended on it.
“Do you prefer Mai or Sie?” Gloria asked as she linked arms with her.
“I’ve been Mai for longer than I was Sie. So I’ll stick with Mai.”
Gloria tugged gently on her arm and led the way so they bypassed the party. She took Mai up to her bedroom and let her use the ensuite, then helped her touch up her makeup so it didn’t look like she’d been hysterically crying.
Mai sipped gratefully on the rosé champagne that Gloria thrust into her hand, then braced herself and followed Taylor’s mum back to the baby shower.
The moment she stepped outside, Clara, Hel and Sadie all rushed over.
“Are you alright?” Clara asked.
“Are you really Hannah Montana?” Sadie exclaimed.
“Hey.” Hel elbowed her in the ribs. “That was my idea. Way to steal the best lines.”
“Shh,” Clara said, glaring at her friends. “Let the woman answer.”
Mai opened her mouth to say something, but Sadie blurted out, “Are you Sie Harrington, the long-lost member of Midnight Thunder?”
“Oh, my god. We were going to build up to that. Do you recall we agreed to make sure she was alright first before we dropped that into the conversation?” Clara rolled her eyes.
Mai couldn’t help it, despite it being one of the most stressful days she'd lived through in sixteen years, the sight of the three women in front of her, all pushing each other and whisper-fighting about who thought of calling her Hannah Montana and what they agreed to say, actually made her smile.
She held her hand up to stop the bickering. “Ladies. I’ve just told Gloria the full story, so don’t want to go through the whole thing again, or I’ll cry and ruin Clara’s baby shower.”
All three women deflated.
“She won’t mind,” Sadie said quickly, which earned her a swift elbow from Hel.
“Yes, she will. Don’t be an idiot.” The red-headed, no-nonsense Emergency Consultant rolled her eyes at Sadie.
“Ten-second summary,” Mai said, and her friends nodded eagerly.
“I was in Midnight Thunder from the ages of sixteen to twenty-two, and everyone called me Sie Harrington. I fell in love with Ford. We got married in secret, and until today, only the two of us knew that. My parents died in a car accident, leaving our concert. I couldn’t do it anymore, so I ran.
I changed my name back to my legal name of Maisie Jones when I left.
I went to Medical School, and the rest is history. ”
The three women stared at her, blinking until Clara whispered, “You’re married to Ford. He’s hot.”
“Clara Anderson! Your movie star husband is just over there,” Sadie admonished, pointing to Taylor, who was chatting with some of the other doctors.
“I obviously love him the most. I’m sorry it slipped out.” Clara waved her hand in her husband’s direction.
“That’s what she said,” murmured Hel.
All of the women turned to stare at Hel, who flushed the same colour as her hair and muttered, “Okay, Frost has a very dirty sense of humour, and it’s clearly rubbing off on me.”
Sadie opened her mouth, and Clara jumped in before she could comment on the potential double entendre.
“Don’t you dare?” Clara wagged her finger at her friend.
“Sorry,” Sadie said, but she didn’t look sorry. Instead, she grinned broadly.
“Can we focus, ladies?” Clara demanded.
“Yes, we should focus. Not just on Frost rubbing off on Hel.” Sadie dissolved into fits of laughter as soon as she said it, and Mai couldn’t help herself; she began to giggle as well.
They were pretty funny, and the two glasses of Taylor’s expensive rosé champagne that she managed to drink on the way down were probably helping.
“Have you seen Ford since then?” Clara asked.
Mai shook her head. “At the show, when I covered for Hel. That was the first time I've seen him in person in sixteen years.
“Shit,” Hel breathed. “I’m so sorry I asked you to cover.”
Mai reached out to grab her friend’s left hand, lifting it up so the ring glinted in the sunlight. “I would never begrudge someone else’s happiness.”
“But still, it can’t have been easy.” Hel squeezed Mai’s fingers.
Mai took a deep breath as she thought about what to say.
“No. It wasn’t easy, although he didn’t recognise me then.
Donnie, his manager, did. He came to see me.
I denied it. He must be meddling by sending Ford here.
But I’m still confused about how he ended up at your house, Clara. Does Taylor know him?”
“No. His manager called Taylor’s manager and set them up on a weird celebrity date.” Clara shrugged.
“Oh, to have a manager and celebrity dates.” Sadie sighed deeply.
“George,” both Clara and Hel said in unison to Sadie, who immediately replied.
“That’s right. The love of my life.” Sadie nodded. “Although you can’t blame a girl. I have one friend married to a movie star, the other engaged to an NHL player.”
“Ex-NHL,” Hel interjected.
Sadie waved her away. “And now I find out my newest friend is Hannah Montana and married to a rock god. It gives a girl a complex.”
Clara put her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “It’s just their jobs. It’s not who they are. If I think too hard about Taylor being as famous as he is, it totally freaks me out. But at home, he’s just Taylor, the man I fell in love with.”
Sadie grumbled, “George is the best.”
“He has to be to put up with you!” Hel said cheekily.
“So this Donnie is meddling?” Clara asked, drawing the conversation back to Mai.
“Yeah. He’s obviously decided that Ford and I needed to meet again,” Mai huffed. Donnie had always pulled other people’s strings.
“How do you feel about this? About seeing Ford? Seeing your husband,” Hel asked.
Mai thought long and hard.
How did she feel?
Happy, sad, confused, tearful. There were so many emotions running through her.
“Relieved. I'm relieved.”
“Really?” Clara raised an eyebrow.
“It sounds weird, but I never thought I would see him again in person. I watched as the band headed for the stratosphere, and I thought that was all I was ever going to get. I was too afraid to reach out to Ford. At first, because my mental state was so poor. Then, too much time passed. I threw everything away. I was the one who chucked away the man who was the love of my life. What could I say? Sorry? Hi, how are you?” Mai shrugged.
“Nothing I could think of saying was ever good enough. So days became weeks, then years, and suddenly it’s sixteen years later, and I still didn’t know what to say.
I think it was the only way I would have ever spoken to him.
If he hadn’t recognised me, I wouldn’t have approached him. I would have hidden.”
“That’s a lot,” Hel murmured.
Mai laughed. “It is. Clara, I’m so sorry to bring drama to your baby shower.”
Clara waved her hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. I’m just pleased I can now brag that I had a member of Midnight Thunder play at my baby shower.”
“Ex-member,” Mai corrected.
“Okay. Original member,” Clara amended. “I’m still blown away, to be honest.”
Mai chuckled at the bewildered look on her friend’s face. “Me too. It feels like a different lifetime compared to the one I live now.”
Clara linked arms with her. “Shall we find Gloria and get you a top-up? I assume that’s Taylor’s good champagne?”
Mai blushed. “I’m sorry. Gloria insisted.”
“Don’t be. You’re my friend, and Taylor only buys it so Gloria can steal it.” Clara laughed as she tugged on Mai’s arm.
Not resisting, Mai let herself be led into the party, her new friends surrounding her and making her smile and laugh at their incessant chatter and teasing.
For the first time in sixteen years, she felt like a member of a group rather than sitting quietly on the outside, trying not to be seen.