Chapter 47
ED
Now
My meeting with Genie is surprisingly going well, despite me calling her Evie the moment I see her.
What an idiot I am. Seeing her up close for the first time in over thirty years, there are still signs of the ‘Evie’ that I once knew.
I’ve dreamt about seeing her for a lifetime and now here she is, right in front of me, introducing me to her husband.
We talk a bit of small talk before he disappears on the pretext of getting me a drink and then magnanimously says he’ll leave us alone to talk.
Once alone, I realise that I know very little about grown-up Genie, just what the gossip and news sites say.
Gone is the wild, young, carefree girl I knew.
She’s been replaced by someone I hardly recognise; her once rebellious spiky blonde hair is now immaculately cut and coloured, she has fine lines near her eyes, but…
those mesmerising blue eyes…they’re still the same.
There’s some sort of familiarity there, but in some ways, I feel like I’m talking to someone I met briefly a long ago.
And so, after apologising to her for dragging her into the media spotlight, as I have relentlessly exploited our relationship, I just come right out and ask her exactly why she left, and she finally tells me that truth that I’ve been wanting to hear for over thirty years.
Although I have always hoped that there was a possibility that we had a child together, I’ve mostly brushed off that possibility, afraid to believe in it, afraid of how I would feel if it wasn’t the case.
My heart is racing, as if I’ve just taken a line of speed, my head spinning.
I feel lightheaded but I also have a feeling of calm, finally knowing the truth.
As Genie explains what life in Bournemouth was like for her and although it’s hard to hear that she too was hurting in some ways it’s also a comfort that our relationship wasn’t one-sided and that I really meant so much to her too at the time.
Genie apologises for denying me the chance to know our daughter, but I only feel sadness that we have both missed seeing our daughter (and my only child) grow up.
We chat a bit more companionably about our mutual friends and I remember to pass on Virginia’s good wishes to her and Genie says that she owes Virginia a message as they have reached out briefly over Instagram.
I fill Genie in on Mark and Jez’s news and she in turn tells me about her children with Gray.
Having sat next to Genie on the sofa when she was upset, I decide to sit back on the armchair that I sat on when I first arrived, not wanting Gray to think that I was muscling in on his wife, especially when he seems cordial towards me.
Moments later, he pops his head around the door.
‘Need anything?’ He asks politely. He’s obviously been dying to know how we’ve been getting on and rightly so.
‘All good.’ Genie replies, her face lighting up as she smiles at him. He returns her smile and makes some excuse about needing to make some work calls.
Genie tells me about the closure of the Catholic Adoption Service who had handled our baby’s adoption and the likelihood that her adoption along with many others had been mishandled.
I tell Genie that I had been contemplating hiring a private detective to find her but now that we’ve reunited, I feel perhaps we should choose one together to find our daughter.
She wholeheartedly agrees and I feel the tension that I felt at the beginning of the evening starting to lift, and now I just feel buoyed up by pure optimism in finding our daughter with a future full of possibilities.
I don’t outstay my visit, despite being made to feel very welcome which is so much more than I deserve.
Gray reappears and we shake hands once again before he leaves Genie to walk me to the door.
‘Thank you for being so honest.’ I say, hesitating, not quite sure how to say goodbye, but Genie thankfully makes that decision for me and pulls me in for an innocent hug.
‘Thank you for being so understanding about why I left. Hopefully together we can find Milly.’ Genie says as she opens the door.
‘I’ll be in touch with a couple of private detectives to choose from.’ I say as I start to leave.
‘It’s always good to have a plan.’ Genie replies as a small genuine smile spreads across her face, accentuating those familiar blue eyes.
‘Take care.’ We both say in unison as I walk away.
I walk down Richmond Hill, away from the McNamara’s impressive home, pulling my baseball cap further down to cover my face and uncharacteristically decide to walk over Richmond Bridge to take a bus back to Teddington, enjoying the anonymity.
I was pleasantly surprised by the whole outcome of my meeting with Genie.
We realised with hindsight that we have both made mistakes and choices that we have later regretted.
But that is now in the past and we have kept in touch over the last few weeks with our continued search for out lost daughter.
Together with Genie and Gray, we have instructed a private detective to investigate the adoption.
Every now and again, he has a lead, but as the adoption service has been closed for quite some time, due to the mishandling of many of the adoptions, the search is seemingly futile.
Life goes on and the preparation for the tour only intensifies, filling my days and nights.
I check in with Genie every so often for updates on finding our daughter although the trail seems to have run cold.
Our relationship is cordial, and I find myself looking forward to our regular updates.
Occasionally Genie and Gray invite me over for a drink if a lead looks particularly promising and it feels good to have reconnected with Genie.
Any animosity that there may have been has faded away.
Despite the original publicity that started my search for #thegirlinthesong we manage to keep our reunion a secret from the press.
How long that will last, I’m not so sure, as Netflix who initiated all the media interest are about to start filming our Reunion Tour and the irony isn’t lost on me.
Possibly one day Genie and I will reveal that we have reconnected and are indeed parents of a grown-up daughter, but for now we want to keep things as private as possible.