There wasn’t a place in the world where I’d rather have been in that moment – quite literally, I realised with some surprise.
‘I saw an interview on the news one night during the first Iraq war – a teenager about my age had seen his mother shot right in front of him. Mum was pretty important to me, and it kind of rocked me that things like that could go on in the world. It put a lot of things into perspective, actually. I thought the guy who was standing there interviewing that kid was a superhero. He was in a war zone and giving that kid a voice. So…’ I shrugged, ‘that was that.’
‘But print, not television?’
‘That was an easy choice. I wanted to do the groundbreaking interviews, I didn’t want anyone to watch while I did it. I do get asked to do some television stuff occasionally – giving commentary on conflict events mostly – but I don’t love it. I much prefer having the space to tinker with words until they express my thoughts properly.’
‘Right,’ she said, and she drew in a deep breath. ‘So I need to get myself a defining moment like that one.’
I chuckled and said, ‘I don’t think you can just buy them at a shop.’
‘Leo,’ she smiled at me patronisingly. ‘I’m Molly Torrington. I am the kind of person who can make things happen.’
‘I’m not suggesting for even a second that you are anything other than extraordinary,’ I assured her. ‘I like your attitude.’ I loved the confidence behind it too. ‘I really hope it works out for you.’
‘It will,’ she said with some determination, and she finished the last of her wine and sat the glass down heavily against the table. ‘God, I need another drink.’
‘Allow me,’ I said, and I shuffled along the bench so that I could stand. ‘I could do with another too. Should we split a bottle?’
‘That wasn’t a hint,’ she said, and she fumbled for her purse. ‘I can get it.’
‘Oh no, I insist,’ I said, and I tried for a joke. ‘I know your company posted record profits yesterday, but you can’t just go buying drinks willy-nilly for every person you meet up with. You still need to watch the pennies.’
I just wanted to get her a drink. It was a macho thing – a stupid male ego thing, Molly might have said. But whether she was a bazillionaire or not, she was just a beautiful woman, I was enjoying her company and I wanted to be the one to buy the wine – although I was well aware that she was probably earning more money from investments while we sat there chatting than I would make all year.
She wrinkled her nose at me and was laughing as she nodded. ‘Thanks for the financial advice, Leo. I’ll make a note of that. Wine would be lovely.’
Over the next few hours we nibbled on finger food from a tapas platter and shared a bottle of wine as we chatted. The sun set over the buildings on the west side of the harbour and I got to watch Molly’s expressions change as the light shifted and faded. Eventually darkness settled and soon we were chatting by the softer light of the restaurant’s table lamps. The people at the tables around us gradually moved on and were replaced by new patrons, but Molly and I stayed. The passage of time became irrelevant. My entire focus was on her.
With the tension and the secrets out of the way, we shared common memories of her brother that were wistful rather than fraught. She reminded me of all of the times when she’d follow him around the house like a shadow and marvelled that Declan always used to play with her whenever she asked, even if he was studying.
‘He was such a great brother,’ she sighed.
‘He actually told me that he’d learned the quickest way to get rid of you was to play with you for a few minutes and wait for you to get bored and move onto something else,’ I told her, a little reluctantly.
‘Well, that probably explains it,’ Molly laughed. ‘Even so, he was so tolerant of me.’ She glanced at me. ‘You were his first rebellion, you know. I don’t remember him ever disagreeing with Dad until you started turning up at our house.’
‘You never really spoke to me,’ I said suddenly. ‘I had a feeling I scared you.’
‘No, you didn’t scare me, I just knew Dad didn’t like you. And I always do what Dad wants.’ There was a bitterness in her tone. She sighed suddenly and shook her head. ‘It’s pathetic.’
‘He likes me even less now,’ I pointed out. ‘And yet, here you are.’