Mai
“Even though we’re starting again, you want to still be called Sie?” Ford queried.
“You want to continue it?” Ford said slowly.
“Yes. We met so young. We fell in love. We got married. Then I did something monumentally stupid, and we both lived with that. You’ve had so much success over the years.”
“And so many rehab trips,” Ford interjected.
Mai laughed. “And so many rehab trips. Which weren’t ideal, but they made you the man you are today. And from what I can tell so far, he’s a man I want to get to know again. I don’t want to erase anything. I don’t want to start anything again. I want to continue,” Mai said firmly.
She breathed deeply after she finished speaking. There it was. She had laid her cards on the table.
“Yes.” Ford didn’t even hesitate, a broad grin crossing his face.
“I—” The doorbell rang, interrupting Mai. Frowning, she stood up. “Hang on. That’s probably Steve returning his plate.”
She was already at the door, pulling it open before Ford said, “No, wait!”
A flash erupted in her eyes, and she blinked in bewilderment, trying to work out what was going on.
Who was blinding her and why?
Suddenly, a camera was thrust into her face, and a man’s voice was talking from somewhere behind the light.
“Maisie Jones, do you have any comments on the allegations that you’re Sie Harrington?”
“I…” Mai stuttered and tried to make out how many people were standing on her driveway.
There were at least ten, and what looked like a news van pulled up to the curb. Shit, her secret was well and truly out.
“According to a user named Midnight Thunder Forever on Reddit, there’s no doubt from facial comparison that you’re the long-lost Sie. Do you have any comment on this allegation?”
“I…” Mai stuttered again, and a wave of panic washed over her. Her heart began to race, and her breathing sped up. “I…” Shit, she had done so much therapy to help her in situations like this, and now she was speechless. Panic rolled up her body, a panic that she couldn’t control.
Her mind spiralled, and she was frozen to the spot.
A warm hand landed on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.
“Hi, guys. Good to see you again, Josh,” Ford addressed the reporter whose questions had been flung at her. “I didn’t know you ever left Sydney. I thought you were a city boy, through and through.”
Ford spoke to them with such ease, not letting the situation faze him.
It gave her time to utilise the techniques her therapist had taught her to deal with her panic attacks.
She used his touch to ground herself and pulled her whirling thoughts back into line, slowing her breathing and letting her heart settle.
“I go where the story is. You know me, I’ve got a nose for a story,” the reporter said with a laugh.
“You really do.” Ford chuckled along with him.
To most people, it would seem that Ford was being friendly, but there was tension in his hand where it touched Mai, and she could still read his voice and hear the slight bite to it.
“What’s your statement then? Is this Sie?”
“Josh. It’s eight in the evening. We’re about to have dinner. How about we continue this chat at a more civilised time?” Again, Ford’s tone was very reasonable, but Mai could hear the irritation.
“Nah, mate. This is a big story.” Josh gestured over his shoulder at the other reporters behind him, all trying to take pictures of Ford and Mai. “We’ll talk now.”
Mai finally found her voice. “No, we won’t. Ford already told you we were about to have dinner. My front porch is private property, and I would kindly ask you all to remove yourselves from my property.”
Josh laughed at her. “I don’t think so, sweetheart.”
And that was it, her fear vanished, replaced by simmering anger. How dare he laugh at her and call her sweetheart? She had worked too hard to be patronised by smug arseholes like the one standing in front of her.
She was very aware of the cameras all pointing at her and knew she couldn’t give them ammunition, so instead she stepped back into Ford’s warm body, smiled sweetly, and said, “The law disagrees with you.” Then she closed the door.
Mai sagged when the door separated her and Ford from the reporters, but the wood was thin, and she could still hear them shouting questions at her.
“Fuck,” she muttered and leaned further onto Ford. His arm snaked around her waist to support her, and Mai remembered who she was leaning on. She debated pulling away, but stuff it, she didn’t want to.
“Are you okay?” His voice growled so close to her ear that goosebumps rose on her skin everywhere his breath touched.
“Yeah. I knew it was coming. I didn’t quite expect that. But I did know it was coming.”
“What do you want to do?”
Mai wanted to turn in his arms and press her lips to his, but instead she said, “Let’s eat dinner. Then we can work out a plan.” She should step away from him. She shouldn’t be standing, breathing him in to see if the smell of him, that she still remembered so clearly, was the same.
Reluctantly, she slid out of his grip and was slightly disappointed when he didn’t object. Leading the way back to the kitchen, she cursed. She could still hear the noise of the reporters calling for her outside. She couldn’t eat and listen to them yelling at her.
“Right. We need to plan an escape.” She grabbed a couple of glass Tupperware containers from the cupboard above her sink. “The Esky is in the cupboard by the door.” Mai pointed for Ford to go and get it.
“We’re taking a picnic out through the reporters?”
“Nope.” Mai already had a plan that didn’t involve having to give an official statement tonight. “We’re going over my back fence into Steve’s garden. He’s got a car, but he never drives it. I’m the only one who ever does as he insists we take it when we run his errands. We’ll borrow it.”
“Won’t they see us when we get in the car?”
Mai thought about it for a moment, then a broad grin split her face. “Yeah. But we bung a couple of hoodies on with the hood up and tie cushions to our middles so we look huge.”
Ford snorted with laughter. “Brilliant. Totally insane as well. But I love it!”
They quickly packed up the food, then Mai dashed upstairs to grab an overnight bag of clothes, as she wouldn’t be able to come back to her house tonight. She would have to go and stay at Creekside Lodge. She shuddered at the thought, as the hotel didn’t have the best reputation.
When she walked back downstairs, her breath caught to see Ford sitting at her dining room table, waiting for her. It was such a domestic scene that it made her grieve for the years they’d lost, where they could have been doing this.
Shaking herself, she plastered a smile on her face. “Let’s go.”
She hefted her backpack over her shoulder and grabbed her handbag.
Ford picked up the Esky, then held his hand out to her. “Give me the bag,” he demanded.
Mai shook her head. “No, I can carry it.”
Ford huffed. “I had a look out the window. The fence is taller than you. I’ll need to boost you over. It’ll be easier without the bag. I’ll pass it to you once you’re over.”
“Fine.” Mai rolled her eyes and handed over the bag. Faltering for a moment when she realised it was probably the first time ever that a man had offered to help her with a bag since she left Ford.
“Should we let Steve know that we’re about to appear over his fence?”
“Steve? You’re on first-name terms?” Mai pulled her phone out of her pocket. He was right, she should let her neighbour know.
“Yeah. We had a chat when I arrived. He told me a reporter had come over.”
Mai glanced up sharply from her phone screen. “And you didn’t lead with that information, for what reason?”
Ford shrugged. “In hindsight, I should have, but he told me that he’d sent them on their way. I didn’t realise it was only the advanced party and that reinforcements were close behind.”
Mai rolled her eyes. Ford might be used to reporters following him around, but she would have appreciated the heads-up.
“Yup. Anyway, let’s get out of here.” Mai finished her message to Steve and gestured for Ford to go out into the garden first.
It was dark in her small backyard, and she turned on her phone’s flashlight. Ford strode across and crouched down by the fence, putting his hands together to make a step for her.
When she put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself, she flushed and was very glad it was dark to hide her burning cheeks.
“Are you ready?” Ford asked.
“Yeah.”
With her confirmation, he boosted her up. Mai grabbed hold of the top of the fence and inelegantly pulled herself up and over into Steve’s garden, landing like a sack of potatoes in the old man’s flower bed. She cringed. He wasn’t going to be happy about her damaging his beloved flowers.
Ford’s hand appeared over the fence, thrusting her rucksack, then handbag and finally the Esky at her.
“Thanks.” She took the bags and got her phone back out, groaning when she saw the mess she'd made of Steve’s plants.
“Shit,” she whispered.
This was going to be another trip to the garden centre with Steve. It was so dull, as Steve tended to examine every single plant, telling her the Latin name and then the merits of each one.
Ford made getting over the fence look a lot easier than she had, and he didn’t land like a sack of potatoes and also didn’t trample any of Steve’s flowers. It looked like the garden centre was all on her, as she couldn’t claim Ford had done the damage and make him take the old man.
Steve’s back door was thrown open, and a cry came out of it. “I have a weapon. Get out of my garden!”
Ford was by her side, then in front of her, gently pushing her back to protect her, but Mai put a hand on his arm and stepped around him, stifling a giggle when she saw the old man brandishing his stick at them.
“Steve, did you get my text?” Mai enquired. But she was pretty sure that he hadn’t.
“No. It’s past eight, and no civilised person calls at this hour. I switched my phone off.”
This time, Mai did giggle. “We’ve discussed this before. Eight is not late. And if you think someone has broken into your garden, you need to call the police, not claim you’ve got a weapon and then wave your stick at them.”
“Why are you two climbing into my back garden at this time of night anyway?”
That stopped Mai’s giggle instantly. “We’ve got a little problem.”
“Sie’s front garden is full of reporters,” Ford supplied.
“I knew it,” Steve exclaimed triumphantly. “You’re her! Your voice when you sing gives you away. As soon as I heard you sing, I thought to myself, she sounds so familiar.”
“That’s what I told her,” Ford agreed. “That’s how I found her, too,” he added more quietly.
“How did the reporters find you?” Steve questioned.
Mai huffed a breath. “I’m sure it was pretty easy. I was at the pub with Ford, as myself. And I played with my Sie wig on. Then I told the landlord who I was.”
“What are you going to do?” Steve used his stick to support himself as he led them in through the back door of his house.
“I’ll go and stay at Creekside Lodge for a few days. Wait for it all to blow over a bit.” Mai shrugged.
“Creekside Lodge?” Steve sounded horrified. “Do you want to get bed bugs?”
Mai blinked. Had he said bedbugs? She knew the hotel wasn’t great, but bedbugs? She began to feel itchy at the thought. But what choice did she have?
“You’re not staying in that place,” Ford growled behind her.
“That’s okay, there’s another hotel about an hour away. It’s close enough to commute to work.” Mai turned to face Ford, who literally rolled his eyes at her.
“No, you’re not. The press will be relentless. You’re coming to stay at the house with us.”
Mai huffed and rolled her eyes in return. “You’re in a four-bedroom house. And you’ve got Donnie, Joel, Scotty and yourself in there already.” She held up her fingers, counting to four to support her statement.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa. You’ll be safest if you stay with us.”
Mai sighed deeply, about to try and argue some more, when Steve said, “That sounds like an excellent idea. I would offer you my spare room, but moving next door won’t help you evade the paparazzi. And you won’t get bed bugs if you stay with Ford.”
Mai’s skin crawled again at the mention of bedbugs. Shit, she really didn’t want to get bitten and infested.
Huffing a breath, she grumbled, “Fine. But on one condition?”
She glared at Ford, who answered, “Name it.”
“I’ll take the sofa. I’m not kicking you out of your bedroom.”
Ford stared at her. “What do you think I’m going to say to that?”
Mai tilted her head, remembering the man she once knew. “You’re going to say yes, and as soon as we get to the house, you’ll insist I take your room, however much I protest.”
A broad grin broke out across Ford’s face. “Well, that saves me an argument. So we’re in agreement. You’ll take my room.”
Steve chuckled gleefully. “He’s got you there!”
“Fine.” Mai threw her hands up in disgust. “Thank you, Ford. I appreciate the offer.”
“No worries,” Ford said.
Mai examined Ford, and he had an expression on his face that she recognised. He was delighted and trying to hide it.
“I know you want to head to bed, Steve.” And now she looked at the older man properly, she realised he was dressed in his pyjamas. “We’ll get out of your hair.”
“What hair?” Steve ran his hand through the wispy strands on his head.
Mai groaned. “Your jokes are terrible,” she said dryly.
“They are,” Steve chuckled.
Mai yanked the hoodies out of her bag. “Can we borrow your car? And a couple of pillows.”
“Of course. You know where the keys are. Take the cushions off the sofa.”
Steve watched with interest as Mai and Ford donned hoodies— laughing when Ford’s was much too short in the torso for him, as, despite being one of Mai’s longest, it was way too small— then stuffed the cushions up them and pulled the hoods up.
It wouldn’t pass muster in the light, but in the dark, it should get them to Steve’s car and out of there without attracting the paparazzi's attention.