‘Stay out of this, Sol – Laura should be no concern of yours,’ she hisses. Which means so many things.
‘No, that’s right, she’s yours and Jack’s baby, isn’t she? The two of you get to play God over somebody else’s life. You accuse Laura of wanting glory? The two of you couldn’t be worse.’
While they shout abuse at each other, Laura looks from one to the other in alarm. Her eyes fill with tears, her hands go to her ears at the awful sound, the venom, the anger and hatred emanating from two people who are supposed to love each other.
‘Stop it!’ she shrieks.
They both look at her. She’s trembling. She looks directly at Bo.
‘The show bought me these clothes. I have to return them when it’s over. Bianca gave me these magazines. Every single one of them has asked me to do an interview or a photoshoot. They wanted me to look through them to see. I said no to all of them but the one I said yes to are paying me. In case you haven’t noticed, I have no money.’ She says this, anger rising in her voice. ‘I can’t pay for my food because I have no money. I can’t pay for my clothes because I have no money. I can’t buy you anything or give you anything in return for what you’ve done for me because I have no money.
‘Aside from not having any money, I couldn’t get a passport. I had no birth certificate. I had no baptism records, no school records, not even a letter from somebody who could attest to me being born in Ireland. I had to go on national radio to tell my personal story to get a passport,’ she says, tears of frustration welling in her eyes. ‘Do you know how humiliating that was? Do you think I wanted to do that? Apparently, the contract that you assisted me in signing states that I’m obligated to carry out all promotional duties that StarrQuest request of me. Australia is included in that, but you don’t need to worry because it doesn’t look as though I’ll be able to get my hands on a passport because there is nobody in the world who is a witness to my birth or existence.
‘Our agreement, Bo, was that you follow me while I try to move on with my life. And I took you up on that because I had no choice. You told me Joe didn’t want me at the cottage any more, and as I had nowhere else to go, all I could do was follow you. You encouraged me to take part in this talent show because you said it would give me options. This is me, trying to make a choice, to make something for myself in the only way that I know how. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I trusted you.’ This she says to Solomon and her voice breaks. Then returning to Bo, she says, ‘You were supposed to follow me, but what I was really doing was following you. You were the only people I had to help me and you have no idea how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I try to cook as much as possible to show you my thanks, I try to stay in my room, or on the balcony as much as possible to give you both your privacy. Bo, I really do try to stay out of your way. I’m doing what I can.’
Laura seems to make a decision because the tears dry and a determination appears on her face. ‘Unfortunately, instead of trying to build something up, I am clearly breaking things down. I’m going to honour the documentary because I’m an honourable person and I am thankful to you, but I think the best thing for me to do is to get out of here. To leave you in peace. I don’t want to cause you both any more trouble.’ She looks at Solomon, her eyes filled. ‘And I certainly don’t want to come between you two.’ She turns away and moves towards the door.
‘Laura, you don’t have to leave,’ Solomon says, feeling the pain rising in his chest.
‘Yes, I do,’ she says quietly, closing the bedroom door behind her.
Solomon turns to Bo, thunder on his face.
‘Go on, Solomon,’ she says, teeth bared. ‘You have a go at me one more time over something I’ve said or done and I’ll scream bloody murder. She can’t go anywhere anyway.’ She lowers her voice. ‘Where’s she going to go?’
Solomon thinks about it. Bo is right. There is nowhere for Laura to go, which makes him feel hugely relieved, and sad for her at the same time. But he needs to get away from Bo quickly before he says or does something he’ll regret. ‘I’m out of here,’ he says, grabbing his jacket. ‘Because, right now, I cannot stand to look at you or be anywhere near you.’
‘Good. The feeling’s mutual.’
‘I’m out of the documentary. I don’t want anything to do with it,’ he adds angrily, without thinking it through.
She pauses, then replies less confidently, ‘Good.’
‘It started as something beautiful, but you made it ugly.’
‘Great, thanks.’
‘You hear me, Bo?’
‘Loud and clear, the verbal bullying again. I’m a terrible person, Solomon, you’re a saint. Got it. Why don’t you run away and leave everybody else to clean up the mess? Then you can get on your high horse as usual and blame everybody but yourself.’