‘Just promise me you won’t go into hedgehog mode in the office,’ says Laura.
I haven’t heard that irritating phrase in a while. Laura came up with it when we were teenagers (‘You basically curl up inside and get all spiky and prickly!’) and it always drove me mad.
‘I never go into hedgehog mode!’ I say.
‘Really?’ says Laura.
I don’t dignify this with an answer. She can be so aggravating sometimes.
We’ve reached the corner of my road now and Laura says, ‘So. ThisNorthsidejob. You’re definitely sure you can put up with it?’
‘I’ve got to try,’ I say. ‘It’s just … it’s such a shambles.’
‘Including this Art person?’
‘If the job was going well, I wouldn’t care about Art,’ I say. ‘The Art stuff might even have been funny. Well, maybe not funny. But not such a mess.’
‘Do you like him?’ says Laura.
‘Like who?’ I say. ‘LikeArt? You mean,likehim, like him?’
‘Yeah, obviously,’ says Laura. ‘You did kiss him, after all.’
I think of how annoying Art is. I think of him patronising me. I think of him reading my script like it was no big deal. I don’t think of him pushing my hair back from my face as he kissed me. I don’t think about what a good kisser he was.
Or if I do, it’s only for a split second.
‘Oh my God, of course I don’t like him!’ I say. It didn’t cross Roo’s mind yesterday to ask me whether I liked Art – when I told her I’d kissed him, it was in tones of pure horror. It didn’t even crossmymind to ask myself that question, but now I’ve been asked I know the answer. ‘Ugh, absolutely not. He’s a pain in the arse. And he certainly doesn’t like me. Besides, for all I know he has a glamorous American girlfriend stashed away in his mam’s house.’ God, maybe he does.
‘Okay, good,’ says Laura. ‘So there’s no risk of you getting hurt by him.’
‘None,’ I say firmly. ‘Irritated, yes. Heartbroken, absolutely not.’
‘Well then,’ says Laura. She’s doing her ‘wise big sister voice’ but I don’t really mind. I kind of like her being a wise big sister, though I’d never tell her that in case it went to her head. I feel it’smy duty to keep her ego in check now she’s famous. ‘It was clearly just a moment of madness. Like Roo said, you’ve released some tension, and now you can move on and focus on getting this script done. Things will get easier at work after that.’
Can it really be that simple? As I bid Laura farewell and watch her get on her bike and wobble over the potholes of Richmond Road in the direction of Fairview, I start to hope that maybe it can.
And for the rest of the evening, I don’t think of Art at all.
Well, not much.
NORTHSIDE SERIES 39 EPISODE 105
ACTION TAKES PLACE ON JULY 3RD
SCRIPT: ARTHUR T. Ó SÚILLEABHÁIN
12. INT. SARAH’S FLAT
DAY: 18.00 JULY 3RD
SAM/SARAH
SARAH FINDS OUT ABOUT SAM’S DATE
SAM INSPECTS HIMSELF IN THE MIRROR OVER THE FIREPLACE. HE MUSSES UP HIS HAIR AND NODS AT HIS REFLECTION IN SATISFACTION. SARAH ENTERS THE FLAT CARRYING SHOPPING BAGS.
SARAH: