Summer Soap (Episode 2): I see you’re engaged, to a posh Dublin boy!

Called Charlotte’s Choice, this year's Summer Soap is about a Cork woman and her tangled love life, and was written by Gabrielle Dufrene, from the MA in Creative Writing Programme at UCC. Catch up with previous episodes at echolive.ie. In the second episode, Charlotte has bumped into an old flame, and gets some distressing news from him...

“SEÁN,” Charlotte muttered, inhaling deeply. She didn’t want to pull away, but she forced herself to. “Christ, I can’t believe it.”

She took in the sight of him. He looked the same, just with the lines of a few more years etched into his face. He had the faint scruff of a beard and a worn brown jacket over a blue jumper and cargo pants. In his left hand was a paper cup of coffee. He still towered over her, her gentle giant, despite her high-heeled boots.

“You look lovely, Char’,” he said. “How’ve you been getting on?”

What... how... why are you here? What about London? I didn’t think you were...

“Ah. I actually just got back. It’s, er... It’s my mam. She’s not well.”

Charlotte felt her stomach drop. Because when she thought of the word “mother”, Mary Walsh’s name was the first that came to mind. Not her own. Mary was the one who fixed her hair for her Debs, the one who accepted her with loving arms when Alice Cahill couldn’t put the bottle down. The many times throughout her youth when the woman who birthed her failed to be a mother, Mary was there with a cup of tea and a listening ear.

“What do you mean?”

“She had a heart attack a few days ago. She’s been over in University Hospital. It’s not...” He raked his hand through his hair and let it drop to his side in defeat. “It’s not looking good.”

“Not good how? Like... how much time?”

He swirled the remnants of his coffee around the cup and didn’t look up at her. Around them, the sound of the water rushing under the bridge joined with the cacophony of Cork city starting its day. Charlotte pictured Mary in the hospital bed a few kilometres away, hooked up to tubes, surrounded by nurses, the fluorescent lights a cruel, incomparably inadequate substitute for the sunlight.

Ah, well, it’s probably a matter of days.

Charlotte’s hand flew to her mouth.

“Days? Oh, Seán...“

“No, it’s all right.”

Charlotte debated whether it would be appropriate to ask, but couldn’t stop herself.

“I want to see her. Can I please? I know it’s been a long time, but she meant so much to me, you know that.”

He nodded. “Of course, I’m sure she’d love to see you. I’m heading back that way after a walk now. Just needed a bit of air. But you’re welcome to come along.”

“I... all right.” 

There would be time for the article, and for the shopping, later.

Charlotte didn’t regret the infrequency of her visits back home, but as a result, was completely disconnected from news of the lives of those she’d grown up with. She cursed herself for her lack of awareness that this woman, who’d meant so much to her, was on her deathbed.

She could have at least made it a point to check in with either Saoirse or Fiona in the last few years, but once she’d started seeing Gregory, she went home even less, opting to spend her holidays in either Dublin or Cork, and explaining why she felt the need to keep in close contact with her ex-boyfriend’s family would have made for an uncomfortable conversation.

“So why didn’t you tell me you were back here?” Charlotte asked as they walked toward the hospital.

“Ah,” Seán began, “I don’t want to come off as a stalker.”

“No, you couldn’t,” Charlotte protested.

“What is it?”

I saw you were engaged. On Instagram or something. Just didn’t want to cause any trouble for you, that’s all. Congratulations, by the way.

“Oh. I... yes. Well, thank you. Yes.”

She realised what a silly response this was, but didn’t want to sound too celebratory in the face of the current situation.

“Got yourself a posh Dublin boy, didn’t ye?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Oh, come off it, won’t you?”

He smiled back at her, and for a moment, they stood in silence.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Seán said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to reply, just buried her head into his chest.