Summer Soap (Episode 3): Charlotte tells fiancé about meeting Seán

Called Charlotte’s Choice, this year's Summer Soap story is about a Cork woman and her tangled love life, and was written by Gabrielle Dufrene (right), from the MA in Creative Writing Programme at UCC. Catch up with previous episodes at echolive.ie. In the third episode, Charlotte tells her fiancé Gregory about bumping into her old flame, Seán

CHARLOTTE heard the front door slam shut as she was sprinkling parmesan on top of the pasta.

“Hello!” Gregory called down the hallway.

“Hi!”

A moment later she felt his arms wrap around her, his familiar scent filling the air. She smiled and stood up, twisting around to plant a kiss on her fiancée’s cheek.

“How’re things?” he asked her as he loosened his tie.

“They’re fine,” she answered.  “Very interesting day. Dinner’s all ready if you want to talk while we eat.”

“Sound. Let me change,” he said, unrolling his shirtsleeves.

He walked off down the hall to their bedroom. They’d moved into a newly renovated unit in the building his uncle owned a year ago, and she couldn’t have been more grateful. He said he wouldn’t accept a cent from them - the man had more money than he knew what to do with - claiming that he was happy to have them minding the property.

She set the bowls down on the dining table and poured two glasses of white wine. He joined her a moment later.

“Jesus, I’m starved. So, what happened?” He asked, digging into his food.

You remember Seán Walsh, right?

“Your first boyfriend, the one who’s off in London? Sure.”

Charlotte rarely brought up Seán to Gregory because there just wasn’t a need for it. Sure, in the obligatory early conversations about her past relationships, she had, but she wondered if part of it wasn’t to keep the memory of her first love safe.

She and Seán had grown up together. But when she turned 13, she began to see him in a different light - he was kind, handsome, sweet. He protected her. He knew her like nobody else did, loved her despite her screwed-up family, and her inability to remain complacent at the prospect of a life in Dunmanway.

And so perhaps it was inevitable for them to be together.

Just as inevitable was his departure from their home town, and Ireland altogether. As she was heading up to Cork for university, he was taking off to London. There wasn’t the money for him to go to Australia or Canada like the others, and with his father having passed a year earlier, leaving his mother to raise the two younger children, he needed to find a way to support himself and send money home to them.

Charlotte and Seán could not have prepared themselves for how much it would hurt to leave each other. At first, they toyed with the idea of long distance, but it just wasn’t practical. Seán wasn’t sure when he’d be back, and Charlotte had no intention of moving home.

They were both firm believers that if they were meant to be, they would find their way back together.

“Go on,” Gregory prompted.

“Ah, well, I quite literally ran into him today on my way into town. His mam, Mary, the one who basically raised me, is in the hospital. 

I went along to see her because he wasn’t sure how much time she has left.

“Oh, the poor family. Feel free to send over flowers or whatever you like. Take my card.”

“Thanks, love. But at least I got to talk to her. We had a lovely chat, but it broke my heart. I bet I’ll have to go down for the funeral next week if things don’t improve.”

Gregory placed a hand on top of hers.

“You know I’d go down with you, but there’s the meeting with the team in France next Wednesday.”

“You just don’t want to have to go to Dunmanway,” Charlotte said, a teasing smile across her lips. “No, it’s all right.”

“I don’t have anything to worry about, do I?” Gregory asked.

He held her gaze for a second before he burst out laughing.

I’m just messing. No need to stress over some culchie.

Charlotte just nodded, then picked up her glass and took a long sip to cover up her reddening cheeks.