Thirty-Two
“As soon as Lucy heard about Constellations, she called Michael.” Helen leaned against the train’s window as it chugged away from Manchester Piccadilly towards the suburbs. “When was it again?”
“January 2nd,” Joan answered, popping the lid off her tea.
“Lucy and I were at Borough Market that day.” Alex fiddled with a discarded newspaper left on the table between them. “Her boss—”
Michael shook his head. “No, it was Freddie who left her that message. Lucy was still talking to him then. She called me from the market, but got my voicemail. We chatted when she got home.”
“She told me she had a work emergency.”
“Lucy’s a pretty good actress,” said Joan.
Alex narrowed her eyes. “So, Mark found out about doing Constellations that day?”
“No, he knew a few days before Christmas,” said Joan. “Just his part. The female lead hadn’t been cast then.”
“He knew before Christmas?” Alex frowned. “We were together. He never said anything.”
Joan shook her head. “Apparently, he was going to tell you on your anniversary. He reckoned you’d be thrilled: living with him during the play’s six-week run, close to us. You could write and be together every day. It would have been perfect…”
“Yeah.” Alex slumped back in her seat, her mind drifting to the star earrings Mark had bought as an anniversary gift—constellations…
Michael sighed. “When it became clear that Mark was flying back to Dublin without you, Freddie told Lucy about it. I guess he figured that maybe if you knew about the play, you might patch things up with Mark.” He shrugged. “But Lucy didn’t want to interfere. Nor did we, love, and when you decided to come up here, putting all your effort into managing your anxiety…we thought it best that you didn’t know. It would be easier for you to move on if you didn’t know he was in Manchester.”
“Didn’t I say, Michael? We should’ve told her.” Joan put her arm around her granddaughter’s shoulder.
Michael crossed his arms. “Now I’m wishing we had, too.”
Alex sighed. “It was a total shock, but…once I knew, I had to see him…”
“I’m glad we found you afterwards. I hated the thought of you stuck in that theatre with Mark and that hussy,” said Joan. “I had a lovely vanilla slice while we waited for the play to finish, and the café girl gave me it for nothing.”
“You hate vanilla,” said Alex.
“You can’t truly appreciate chocolate without a little vanilla, love.” Joan smiled.
“How you could eat, Joan…I was worried sick.” Helen looked at Alex. “You had been crying…”
Alex shook her head. “I didn’t cry over Mark. I cried because the play really touched me.”
“Or maybe a bit of both?” Joan squeezed Alex’s shoulder.
She stared at the sports headlines on the newspaper’s back page and flipped it over. A familiar face smiled from the top corner. “Is that Mark?” She grabbed it for a closer look.
“A play review?” Joan leaned in.
“I’m gonna read it.”
“Is that a good idea?” asked Michael.
“Dad, I just sat through seventy-minutes of Mark acting out a relationship with Fallon. I think I can handle a review. Despite…everything, it was a great play. I’d like to see what they thought.”
Alex flipped to the article: Lairds and Liars Star Talks Fans, Theatre, and Manchester. “It’s a Q&A.”
A slow breath left her lips. She began reading. Michael and Helen kept an eye on her, and Joan read over Alex’s arm.
Q: Two and a half years after graduating from drama school you landed Lairds and Liars. Did luck play a part in your success?
A: “Luck has everything to do with [my success],” Keegan says, sipping his water. “I’ve worked hard, but so have all the talented actors I went to drama school with. The struggle to get noticed, bouncing back from rejections, the times I wasn’t asked to audition—which still happens, by the way—is always on my mind. If it wasn’t for Lairds, I’m sure I’d still be bartending, running to auditions between shifts, and waiting for my phone to ring. I think ‘why me’ daily.”
Q: Were sacrifices made to get where you are now?
A: “Sometimes you have to make choices you never thought you’d make. Even with a little success, things don’t pan out the way you think. I’ve learned that achieving your dreams has a cost; it’s bittersweet. Sometimes you end up losing what’s…what’s very important to you.”
Alex pulled away.
“You okay, love?” Joan looked up from the page.
“Yeah. It’s just…”
“You don’t have to keep reading…”
How could she stop?
Q: How does it feel following in the footsteps of Benedict Cumberbatch and Kit Harington as the internet’s boyfriend?
A: “It’s flattering, but fans might be surprised. I’m actually a rubbish boyfriend, but I’m learning. I won’t repeat the same mistakes.”
Q: Your film and TV schedule has been non-stop. Why did you decide to tread the boards?
A: “The theatre community embraced me straight out of drama school when no one else would. I owe it so much; it just feels like home. But since Lairds, I’ve been offered mostly outdoorsy movie roles that require lots of physicality. I love the films I’ve shot so far, and I’m looking forward to the action-thriller I’ll be starting in August. We’ll be shooting in Mexico, Russia, Portugal—”
Q: Is that Full Throttle 3: Blood Lust, the Dwayne Johnson blockbuster franchise?
Alex’s jaw fell. “He’s in Full Throttle 3?”
“Ooh!” Joan squeezed Alex’s arm. “I love those movies!”
Alex looked at her grandmother and went back to reading.
A: “It is! I’ll be spending spring and summer in the gym, bulking up for it. But like I said, I’m thrilled to get back to my roots on stage, taking on Constellations. It’s very intimate.”
Q: Was that what attracted you to the play? The emotional range required?
A: “Yes. It’s a sexy, heartfelt story about boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and what might have been. I think anyone who has been in love will relate to Roland and Marianne, especially if you’ve questioned what you did or didn’t do in a relationship. That aspect especially resonated with me, and I’m sure it will touch audiences. I jumped at the chance to perform here again. Manchester and its people—they’ll always have a big place in my heart.”
A smile tugged at the corners of Alex’s mouth.
Q: You just completed filming A Promise Unspoken in Dublin with your Constellations co-star, Fallon Delaney. Your play’s director praised what you both bring to your roles. He said: “The reason Fallon was cast is because she has a sizzling chemistry with Mark. You can’t fake that, especially live on stage.” Mark, care to say a few words about her?
A: “Fallon and I have known each other since we were kids, so yeah, there is a shorthand that we bring to the stage. She’s a very talented actress.”
Q: There are rumours that you two are dating…
A: “I’ve learned the hard way that a private life should be just that—private. I’m protective of it and those I hold close.” Keegan smiles. “Nothing to see here.”
Alex sighed as she pushed the paper away.
“All right, love?” Joan patted her hand.
Alex stared out the window at the slow-moving shops and buildings that signaled their stop was next. “That Q&A left me with more questions than answers.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” said Joan. “Sometimes we don’t like the answers we’re given.”