Page 86 of The Interview

“So, you think it’s real. That his presence is real?” G questions.

“I do,” Ash admits. “I think his presence is all around us, probably all of the time, but makes itself known when we’re all together.”

“Thanks, Ash. That definitely makes sense and makes me feel better,” George says. “What was your dream about, Marls?” she asks, catching me off-guard.

“Nothing really. We’d been to see Seven Words before they blew up, and we were just backstage getting stoned with the band. That was it,” I lie.

My sister remains quiet.

“What you doing today?” I jump in and ask cheerfully, knowing I have two of the best bullshit detectors listening to the cadence of my voice in an attempt at catching me in a lie.

“The kids are all here. We’re going to Full Bifta for breakfast. Wanna come?”

I look at Ash, who nods. “Yeah, we’ll come. What time? I’ll ping Len, see if they wanna come, too,” I tell my sister, grateful that I’ve managed a successful diversion.

“About half ten. Don’t forget Mum and Dad get home later with Bails and Sam. The carvery’s booked for six,” she reminds me.

Our parents and brother Bailey, and his wife Sam, all now live out in Portugal, only coming home a couple of times a year. Today is one of those times.

“Yeah, but six is a long way from now, and a Bifta’s will set me up for the day. We’ll see you down there at half ten,” I tell her. “And, George?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for calling to check I was all right.”

“Not a problem. And, Marls?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t care who you and Sean were banging in your dream. It all happened a long time ago.”

My sister ends the call.

“Fuck,” I hiss, forgetting that my wife’s sitting right next to me.

“Who was she?” Ash asks, making me laugh.

“How do you do it? I tell ya, if Jim was here, she’d already have their socials up on her phone.”

Ash shrugs, her perfect brows remaining raised while she waits for an answer.

I sip my coffee. “It happened years ago, right before I met you, actually. Before Maca got back with George. We had been to see Seven Words, that bit was true, but the rest? We ended up back at a hotel with a random bird and this mind-blowing weed. If I recall correctly, she was actually from Essex. We didn’t leave that room for about three days,” I admit, knowing there’s zero point in lying.

“What was her name?” Ash asks.

“Why?”

“You just said she’s from Essex; I want to be prepared in case I get another tap on the shoulder while I’m in Marks’s doing my shopping,” Ash says, making me wince.

She was out shopping with Jimmie and all the kids one time when a woman tapped her on the shoulder and said, ‘I fucked your husband.’

Ash looked around her to the bloke she was with and said, ‘Good for you, but you’ve got nothing to worry about, love. I wouldn’t touch yours with a ten-foot barge pole! If I was going home to that, I’d fuck my husband, too.’

“I think you handled that situation like a champ,” I tell her.

She rolls her eyes. “I’d rather not have to handle situations like that at all,” she says quietly, her words hitting me right in the heart.

I pull her in for a kiss.