Chapter 27
27
‘What do you mean?’ Jack asked, glaring at Liz.
‘What I just said,’ Liz replied and pointed at Vi. ‘She comes in here with this story she heard from some old dear, she tells us. But it could just as well be some ploy by Violet to make her part more dramatic so she can flex her acting muscles. You haven’t been happy with the script from the start, I thought so during your audition.’
‘You mean you think I made it up?’ Vi asked, feeling close to tears.
‘It’s possible,’ Liz said.
‘That’s a little unfair,’ Jack said, frowning.
‘Maybe,’ Liz said. ‘But if she didn’t, how do we know this story is true? How do we know that this old woman is not making it up? You know, the way old people get confused and make up stuff they think they remember but it was a dream or something. We have to check all those facts before we can go ahead. There will be records.’
Vi looked around, shocked. Jack had put his head down, studying his notes. Wasn’t he going to stick up for her?
‘I’m not going to agree to anything before we have some proof,’ Liz continued. ‘Let’s discuss this in more detail in private. If you don’t mind, Violet?’ she said, gesturing for Violet to leave. Violet was speechless, as was everyone else. She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and started to roll it to the door. She had expected Jack to stick up for her, for someone to say something, but she only heard the wheels of her case against the laminate as she left. She couldn’t believe what had happened.
And then she heard footsteps behind her. It was Jack.
‘What about dinner?’ he asked as he shut the door to the room behind him.
‘I’m not really hungry,’ Vi replied. ‘I just want to get to my flat and go to bed.’
‘You’re not going to take the Tube?’ Jack asked incredulously.
‘No, I’ll call an Uber,’ Vi said and pulled her phone out of her handbag. She knew it would be expensive, but she just wanted to get home so she could crawl under the duvet and cry. Her eyes were already stinging with tears and she wanted to get out of there, away from their probing looks as fast as she could. ‘Let me know what you decide about the movie and everything.’ She started to walk to the door, but as a thought hit her, she stopped and turned around. ‘You know what? I could do what you did and pull out of the movie altogether.’
‘How can you do that without breaking the contract?’ Jack asked.
‘I can if there’s a health issue. It’s in my contract, so you can tell Liz I’m feeling quite sick right now.’
‘What’s up with you?’ he asked, putting a hand out to stop the door closing. ‘Liz’s comments were extreme, but she does have a bit of a point… we need to verify this.’
‘I’m just a bit tired of everything,’ Vi said. ‘I tried so hard to find out what Kathleen’s secret was and then, when I finally did, you don’t believe me.’
‘I do,’ he said. ‘But we have to be careful. Someone could expose us if we tell a story that isn’t true,’ Jack argued. ‘It would be bad for the reputation of our company. Liz and I started this together and we have worked so hard to produce good movies.’
Vi nodded, wondering if that meant he couldn’t stick up for her? ‘Okay. I understand where your priorities are.’
‘Not only that, but there is an issue you might not have considered.’ He paused. ‘Look, we need to talk. How about that dinner? Or a drink? Or I could get my car and drive you home. Then we can chat during the trip to… where did you say you live again?’
‘Croydon,’ Vi said. ‘I’m sure you’ve never been there or anywhere near it. And it’s a long way from your comfort zone.’
‘Why are you so angry?’ Jack asked, looking both puzzled and irritated.
Vi felt tears of frustration well up. ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered, now so tired she could hardly stand up. She knew he had stood up for her but then he had agreed with what Liz said and that, to Vi, was a sure sign there was still something between them.
Jack took his hand away from the door of the lift and stepped inside, pulling Vi with him. ‘You’re exhausted, overwrought and sad. I’m going to call my driver now and then we’ll chat in the car on the way to Croydon. I do know where it is, by the way.’ He pressed the button for the ground floor and took his phone from his pocket. ‘Hi, Tom,’ he said. ‘I’ll need you to take me and my friend to Croydon. We’ll be waiting outside the office. Thanks.’ He pocketed the phone and looked at Vi. ‘All sorted.’
‘Thanks,’ Vi mumbled, unable to argue. In any case she was, as Jack had said, both physically and mentally exhausted.
They went outside into the cold, wet evening and when the car arrived a few minutes later, Vi was grateful to get into the warm, comfortable interior, letting Tom the driver take care of her suitcase. Then the car swept them away, zigzagging through the heavy evening traffic.
Jack looked at Vi in the dim light. ‘You want to talk?’
‘What about?’ Vi asked. ‘I think I know where you’re coming from. You need proof and you need to agree with Liz on everything. You’re business partners and maybe partners in private as well – how do I know?’
‘We have nothing going on in private,’ Jack protested. ‘We’re friends, but nothing more. Yes, we had a little flirt going once but it wasn’t serious. I’m fond of Liz as a friend and I like working with her, but that’s all. That photo you saw was years old.’
‘I know. Granny told me.’ Vi leaned her head against the headrest. ‘No need to dig that up again. But I thought… I had a feeling you were still together. You seem so in tune somehow. She’s very attractive and smart and a lot of things I could never be.’
‘Yes, she is. But you are a lot of things that she could never be if she tried for the rest of her life. But could we concentrate on the movie and Kathleen now?’ Jack took Vi’s hand. ‘You’re frozen,’ he said, rubbing it between his own warm hands.
‘What was that other thing we have to take into consideration?’ Vi asked, secretly enjoying the touch of his hands. The issue of his relationship with Liz still burned in her mind but this was not the right time to discuss it.
‘About Kathleen? Well,’ Jack started, ‘if she’s a kind of legend in Ireland, would it be kind to her memory to expose her like this? She was, after all, a lovely Irish girl as far as everyone knows. Someone to be proud of, like the flag and the harp and the music.’
‘I see what you mean.’ Vi sat up and pulled her hand out of Jack’s grip. ‘I didn’t think of that angle. But… I have a feeling it would be good for the image of modern Ireland and all the people who have come from all kinds of countries to start a new life. Maybe these days, they would see the story as a contrast to the world we live in today. It was during the war and everyone was suspicious of strangers. If the writers take that angle and don’t expose her as a fake, but as a woman’s way to survive in the harsh climate of the times she lived in, I think it would work. Nobody has to hide who they are today, but she had to in order to succeed in her acting career.’ Vi drew breath and leaned back again. ‘Fidelma and I discussed the idea that this is more true to Kathleen’s legacy.’
‘I see,’ Jack said. ‘That’s a great idea, actually. I didn’t think of it that way. So if we manage to get that message across, we’ll have an even stronger story than before. Subtle but very poignant. All we need now is proof of the story and I’m sure Liz will agree. Unless you want to go on sick leave, of course,’ he added with a touch of laughter in his voice.
Vi managed a smile. ‘I’ll think about it.’
They were quiet while the car neared Croydon. Tom asked for Vi’s address and she repeated the street and the number and told him it was quite close. Then the car pulled up outside the building and Vi started to get out.
Jack put a hand on her arm. ‘Hold on. I’ll help you with your suitcase.’
‘Okay.’ Vi got out while Jack took her suitcase from the boot and went with her through the entrance door to the lift. She pressed the button and while she waited for the lift to arrive, turned to him. ‘How long do you think the delay will be?’
‘I’d say we’ll have to wait a couple of weeks and then we’ll be back on track. Liz will come around, don’t worry. She just likes to have all details lined up and shipshape. That’s the way she is.’
‘You want that, too, I bet,’ Vi countered. ‘But I don’t think it will be hard to get confirmation of Fidelma’s story. There’ll be records from Castleisland, the town where Kathleen grew up, and where her mother married her stepfather. The church records are a good way to start. The school she went to will also have records of her attendance there.’
‘I’d say Liz is already on the case,’ Jack said.
‘Well, you know her better than I do,’ Vi remarked. ‘Here’s the lift now. Thanks for driving me home.’
‘You’re very welcome.’ He leaned forward and touched her cheek with his lips for a second. ‘I’ll be in touch.’
The kiss had been as light as a feather but it burned her skin like a thousand flames all the same. Flustered, Vi took her suitcase and went into the lift, still feeling the light touch of his lips on her cheek all the way up to her floor.
She opened the door to the flat, her mind full of what had happened during the past few hours: the meeting at the office, Liz’s accusations, the argument with Jack and then him kissing her cheek. It was a kaleidoscope of impressions and conversations which, despite her exhaustion, kept her awake until the early hours of the morning. Then she finally fell into a dreamless sleep and woke up just before noon, wondering if she had dreamed it all.
The flat seemed dull and dreary in the grey winter light and Vi knew she couldn’t stay there. It was too depressing. There was only one place she wanted to be: Kerry and Magnolia Manor and the gatehouse she had come to love. As the movie was now being delayed by several weeks, why stay in London when she could go home and wait there for everything to start up again? Jack would send her the new script by email but she didn’t need to be in London for that. And it seemed to Vi that it would be better not to hang around and look needy while Jack and Liz might be trying to sort out their relationship – business and personal. It made her heart ache to think of the two of them together, but if they still had feelings for each other, there was no hope for Vi. She booked a flight to Cork the following morning, where she would take the bus to Dingle and then Granny would collect her when she arrived. That felt like a very good decision. No better place to be right now than Magnolia Manor where the garden and the ocean and the sound of the waves would soothe her frazzled nerves. And her broken heart.