the crowd of people who’d congregated in the large open-plan kitchen of her beach house, she made her way over to the unexpected and unwelcome guest, not knowing what she was going to say to him when she got there, just knowing that she had to say something.
‘You weren’t invited,’ she said, pulling herself up onto the breakfast bar, crossing her legs up underneath her as she looked at him.
Michael kept his eyes on her all the time, his hands in his pockets, his demeanour that of a man who wasn’t going anywhere until he’d had a chance to say his piece. And India hadn’t spoken to him since it had all happened, had she? So maybe she at least owed him the chance to explain his side of things. Or was that just her letting those never-ending feelings for this man get in the way? Again.
‘Did you really think I wouldn’t come here, India? That I wouldn’t try and talk to you? After everything that’s happened?’
She didn’t say anything, just looked at him, continuing to drink her beer.
‘Have you seen Dominic?’ Michael went on, not comfortable with the silence she was offering up.
‘Your son, you mean?’
‘Come on, India. You can’t blame me for that, I had no idea he existed…’
‘Yeah, you did. For a little while. You knew, at some point, who he was yet you still chose not to tell me, not to let him know you knew. You helped turn a crazy, complicated situation into something way off the page, Michael.’
‘And he’s completely innocent in all of this, is he? He used you, honey. Don’t you see that?’
‘Oh, yeah, I see it. Of course I see it. I know exactly what he was playing at, but you didn’t help matters. You were just as bad as he was. Jesus, talk about like father like son!’ She slipped down off the breakfast bar, leaning back against it, taking another swig of beer. ‘You’re back to being the same old Michael Walsh, don’t you see?’
‘Because I still love you, India.’ He moved closer to her, trying to be heard above the sound of the music and the noise going on around them. ‘I still love you, and everything I did, I did it because…’
‘You love me, yeah, yeah, I get that. I get it, okay? But why does everything have to be so bloody twisted with you, Michael? Huh? Why do you have to keep secrets and then use them to your advantage in a way that only ever ends up hurting people? We had something so good, y’know…’
‘And we can have that again, baby. I promise you, we can have that again.’ He reached out to take her hand but she pulled it away, shoving it in the pocket of her denim shorts.
‘We can’t have anything anymore, Michael. We are over, it’s finished. And it should have been finished a long time ago. I should never have decided to do this movie, it was a mistake…’
‘No! Nothing was a mistake, India. Not the movie, not what’s happening now…’
‘You’re saying you don’t think what’s happening now is a mistake? You’re crazy! The whole situation is crazy, it’s ridiculous! It’s a fucking mess, Michael.’ She threw her head back and sighed heavily. ‘Did you bring Ethan home with you?’
In all of this she had to remember she was a mother, too. She had other, more important people to think about other than herself.
‘He’s at my place, with Emma. Just as well I didn’t bring him here then, huh? With his mother carrying on like a teenager.’
‘Don’t give me that shit, Michael. Don’t you dare turn this around on me, do you hear me? Do you see what you do? Do you see the way you behave? It confuses the hell out of me because one minute you’re telling me you love me and the next you’re accusing me of partying like I don’t give a fuck about my kids! I don’t need that, okay?’
‘Ethan needs you. And I’m sure Ellie does, too.’
‘Ellie’s fine, I was with her today. Look, this is pointless. We’re getting nowhere, and now isn’t really the right time for any of this, is it?’
‘We need to talk before we go back to Vegas, India.’
‘Do we? Really? You see, when all is said and done, the only things you are to me anymore are the father of my son, and my director. That’s all. And that’s all you’ll ever be, Michael. Because I don’t have the energy