Page 82 of The Interview

Apart from the stress of the past couple of days, mentally, I’ve been in a good place lately. Early menopause caused me to have a bit of a wobble, but I’m out the other side of that now, supposedly sane while I lie here awake, waiting on my dead husband to turn up and explain exactly what the fuck is going on.

He doesn’t come and, eventually, through sheer exhaustion alone, I fall back asleep. A deep, dreamless sleep.

Right up until Sean’s voice shouts loud and clear in my ear:

“Marley!”

And I sit bolt upright in bed.

CHAPTER

TWENTY

MARLEY

Idon’t know where I am in the world, or when. I’m not sure if this is reality or a dream. I think it might be real, and I’m just extremely stoned, making it feel like a dream, like I’m floating.

We’re backstage somewhere, but I’m not sure if it’s at a concert we’ve played at, or we’ve been to see another band play and ended up backstage.

I’m sipping on a beer, feigning interest in what Yenny Leventi, a drummer from an up-and-coming band, is saying.

Seven Words. That’s the band. It’s all coming back to me now. Me and Maca have just watched a relatively new band called Seven Words. They have a female drummer who is smoking hot, but Mac has warned me they could be touring with us next year, so I’m absolutely, most definitely not gonna go there.

Maybe.

When we first got backstage, a pretty little blonde handed me a joint, which has since knocked me sideways.

“It’s some kind of Colombian skunk mixture, so don’t go mad,” she’d told me with a wink before wandering off.

“You ready to go?” Maca appears at my side.

“You try that weed?” I ask him.

“Nah, but looking at the size of your pupils and the way you’re swaying, I’ll take your word for it that it’s good.”

“Exceptional. I need to find the little blonde who gave it to me‚ see if she has some more.”

“You mean that little blonde? The one standing five feet away, staring at us?” Mac questions sarcastically.

“That’d be her,” I reply as I move toward what I hope is her direction. “You got any more of that gear we could buy off you?” I ask when I reach her side.

She smiles and looks between Mac and me, who’s on the other side of me.

She’s gorgeous.

“Good shit, right?” she asks.

“Fucking blinding,” I reply.

“I have a little left over. You wanna go somewhere and have some fun?”

“I absolutely do.”

“I’ll share my weed, and you two can share me,” she says.

Mac makes a choking sound, while Iliterallychoke on the last mouthful of beer I just attempted to swallow.

“Oh, come on, boys. Don’t make out you’re innocent. I’ve heard the rumours, heard what you’re into. Let’s go smoke some good weed and have a little fun.”