The Perfect Location (40 page)

‘Rose,’ they cried and ran towards her.

‘Oh my goodness,’ said Rose, surprised, looking around for Max.

He stepped out from the side of the steps. ‘Hello, Rose,’ he said, waiting to see her reaction.

‘Hello, Max,’ she said, her breath taken away by the sight of him.

She turned her attention back to the boys. ‘Come in, come in,’ she said, and opened the door and switched off the alarm.

The boys crowded her with questions and news as she tried to put down her things.

Max calmed them. ‘Let Rose into her own home, please.’

‘All right then, who wants something to eat?’ she asked, knowing the answer.

‘Me, please. We were waiting for you for hours,’ said Milo. ‘My bottom has gone to sleep.’

Rose pinched it. ‘Is it awake now?’ she asked, and Milo ran away, screaming with delight.

Walking into the kitchen, Rose opened her fridge. Except for a lemon and a jar of cocktail onions, courtesy of the home’s owners, she had nothing suitable for the children to eat. ‘Okay, I have nothing, it’s very much Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard,’ she said, peering into the fridge. ‘But I do know the best place in the world for cupcakes.’

The boys cheered. ‘Let me get changed and we will go for a walk, okay?’

Max stood with his hands in his pockets. ‘Sure,’ he said, smiling at her.

Rose felt her stomach flip and ran upstairs to get changed. While she dressed in jeans and a pale pink cashmere sweater and her beloved Chanel ballet flats, she cursed him for still having that effect on her and then listened as she heard the boys banging on the piano, while Max tried to stop them. Grabbing her warm Prada jacket, she listened for a while at the top of the stairs and then came down to see them sitting in the living room waiting for her.

‘My bottom likes this chair better,’ said Milo from a feather cushion on top of a wing back chair by the fireplace.

‘I’m glad,’ said Rose. ‘Let’s go for a walk and wake your bottom up.’

She grabbed her keys, purse and sunglasses. ‘Everybody out,’ she cried, and the boys tumbled out onto the street covered in a fresh sheet of snow.

Rose and Max walked behind them silently. Finally he spoke. ‘Thank you for being so kind to the boys.’

‘I love the boys,’ she said simply.

‘I know,’ he answered.

She stopped, the boys playing on the sidewalk ahead of them. ‘Why are you here, Max? What do you want? You made it clear in London you’re not over Alice yet. I cannot fight for you with a dead person.’ She felt tears forming behind her sunglasses.

Max took his hands out of his pockets and held her arms. ‘Rose, I’m sorry. I behaved appallingly. You bloody cleaned my house and then I tell you I can’t be with you. It was like an episode of
EastEnders
. It wasn’t just Alice keeping me away from you, it was the difference in our lives. You saw how I live. I was ashamed to bring you into that. You deserve better. After you left I thought about you constantly. I was so confused that I finally went and saw a counsellor and talked about you and Alice and the boys.’

Rose held her breath, trying not to cry.

‘I was sitting at home, drinking that venom that Lucia gave me, the limoncello. She gave you some too, didn’t she?’

Rose nodded.

‘Paint stripper but it was as close to Italy and you I could get and it came to me. You’re the one I’m supposed to be with. I wanted to find you and speak to you face to face like this. I would go anywhere to talk to you, Rose, you must know that.’

‘I don’t know that, Max. I don’t know anything. I didn’t mean to fall for you but I did. I thought it was just sex, but it seems I can’t do casual sex very well.’

‘Me neither, Rosie,’ he said gently.

Rose’s face was pale beneath her oversized glasses. She pulled them off and held them in her shaking hand.

‘I want to be with you, Rose. I will just have to show you, I guess.’

‘Maybe, but I can’t promise anything, Max. I have a new life here and I like it. I feel like I’m a part of something. It’s good. Even if some of my dreams didn’t come true, I’m not sorry to be here.’

Max stood with his hands in his pockets, looking defeated. Rose didn’t feel as bad as she thought she would; she felt powerful and strong. She was sorry he had come all this way to New York but if he thought she would fall into his arms then he was mistaken.

‘I have things to do, Max. It’s great to see you and the boys again but I have to go,’ she said, crossing her arms.

‘If you don’t want me to contact you again, I won’t.’

‘I’m not sure, Max. Just give me some time to think.’

‘Okay,’ said Max, stopping the boys running ahead. ‘Boys, come back.’

‘I thought we were getting cake,’ complained Milo.

‘Another day,’ said Max.

‘Daddy’s doing a play here,’ Jasper said to Rose. ‘We’re going to see it.’

‘Great. That’s great, Max. Well done,’ Rose said genuinely.

‘Yeah, the film has opened up some doors for me and shut some others it seems,’ he said, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice.

Rose let the comment slide.

‘Bye, Rose,’ said Milo sadly, and he reached out to her to be picked up.

Rose held him close and kissed his soft cheek. Hugging the other boys, she waved them off and watched as they walked down the avenue. There was a time when Rose desperately wanted to walk with them. Why had she refused Max’s offer to have that moment, she wondered.

Rose spent the next ten days avoiding Max’s calls. He sent her flowers each day, till she texted him to stop. The house was looking like a funeral parlour, she thought. He then sent her books he thought she might like, tickets to
La Bohème
at the Met and a gift basket of Jo Malone Orange Blossom products. She texted him thank you messages on her phone but gave him no indication of her decision.

Instead, she used the time to learn her lines for
Private Lives
and explore New York. The city revived her and the walking gave her time to think. A walking meditation, her trainer called it, back in LA. She had stopped training in New York; instead she walked and even ran, feeling more energetic than she had in years.

Max had written her letters and hand delivered them to the house. She saw him on the security video, his handsome face trying to peer through the frosted glass by the door. But she didn’t answer, still unsure of what she should do. To go back to Max and have him push her away again, away from him and the boys, seemed like the cruellest punishment and she wondered if she could endure it again. Perhaps it was better to be alone than to love. Love is a risk and she was through taking chances, she thought as she watched Max walk down the front steps of her house and onto the street.

Rehearsals started on the following Monday for
Private Lives
and Rose headed to the theatre filled with excitement. It was good to be a part of something and although dreams of Max filled her nights, she hoped the days of rehearsal would tire her out and fill her sleep with Noël Coward instead of Max.

As she pushed open the door to the studio space, she saw Nick, the director, who waved at her. ‘First one here, Rose. Gold star to you.’

Rose hugged him. ‘Hi, thanks so much. It’s so great to be here,’ she said warmly.

Sitting down at the trestle table, she pulled out her script and her pencils and Nick brought her a coffee. ‘The other actors are on their way. I’m thrilled to have you all on board.’

‘Who are the other actors, actually? Randy, my agent, said he didn’t know,’ Rose said, sipping the bitter coffee.

Nick was about to answer when his assistant handed him a phone and Nick gestured he would have to take the call.

Rose sat waiting for the other actors, feeling like it was the first day of school.

The door opened and an actor walked in who Rose recognized from his work on some art house films and who she knew had recently done a play in the West End. He walked over to her. ‘Hi, I’m Marcus. I’m a big fan.’

‘I’m a big phoney, haven’t done a play in about twenty-five years,’ said Rose conspiratorially, ‘so any help would be greatly appreciated.’

Marcus laughed and Rose stood to lean over the table to shake his hand and spilt her coffee all over the table. ‘Oh, shit!’ she exclaimed loudly and looked up and saw Max standing in the doorway.

He took one look at her and turned and walked out of the room.

Rose saw the look in his eye and realized he thought she was swearing about him. Pushing back her chair, she ran out of the room and into the corridor of the theatre. He was taking long strides down towards the entrance and Rose ran after him. ‘Max! Max!’ she called but he didn’t stop.

As he pushed open the doors and walked into the street, he walked towards the kerb to hail a cab. Rose caught up to him and tugged the sleeve of his jacket. He spun around. ‘It’s okay, Rose. I didn’t know you were in the play, that’s how Nick likes to work. He needs an ensemble and your reaction was enough to tell me you can’t and don’t want anything to do with me.’ Tears were in his eyes.

Rose cupped his face in her hands. ‘No, you fucking idiot. I spilt a cup of the world’s worst coffee on my suede skirt. I was swearing at that. I didn’t even see you come in.’

Max wasn’t listening. ‘I’ve tried, Rose. I’ve tried over the last two weeks. Maybe I need to work harder and longer to try to convince you that I love you, that I want to spend the rest of my days with you, but I don’t think I can go through you pushing me away like you did when I came to your house. Maybe you did it to me because that’s what I did to you in London and I’m sorry. You deserve more, Rose.’

‘I know. I do deserve more than that, I had to realize that also.’

‘I’ll leave the play, Rose, don’t worry. I’ll disappear from your life, you just have to say the word. Tell me now and give us both some peace and I’ll be able to move on.’

Rose took her hands away from his face. ‘I do love you, Max. I’m just afraid of us hurting each other, of it not being forever. I want it but I’m afraid of it.’

‘Nothing is forever, Rose. But we can have a bloody good time while it lasts. We come into the world alone and we leave alone. But with the time we have left, let’s make it the best we can.’

A cab pulled up next to them. ‘You want me to go?’

Rose looked at him and silently asked the universe what she should do. She looked to the sky. There was a jet flying overhead, leaving a vapour trail in the cold sky. As the wind blew across the man-made clouds they spread out like angel wings. Somewhere Alice was smiling, she was sure of it. Rose laughed and turned her face to Max and smiled. ‘Stay,’ she said and Max pulled her into his arms.

Rose and Max wasted no time coming together again. The boys and Max moved into the house and Rose and Max looked for schools, found a nanny for the boys and helped them settle into the city.

The rehearsals were fantastic. Rose and Max were in perfect sync in every way and Nick could not have been happier with their performances. ‘It’s amazing, you two live together and then spend all day together and every night. Don’t you get sick of each other?’ he asked one day during a break.

Rose and Max laughed. ‘We were just talking about this last night. I’ve spent my whole life waiting for him, so I take whatever time I can with him now,’ said Rose, looking lovingly at Max.

Max smiled and winked at her. Rose forgot how much fun it was to be in a theatre again, watching the other actors run their scenes. The bustle and the waiting that goes with theatre. Rose would sit with Max in the seats up the back and marvel at her own luck to be with him now, to go home to the boys.

On the eve of opening night, Rose was terrified. ‘I can’t do it, I can’t, I don’t know what I was thinking,’ she said, sitting on the chaise longue in the bedroom, clutching her knees to her chest.

‘Yes, you can, Rose, you can do anything. You’re talented, so funny on stage I have to stop myself laughing. You are going to blow everyone away. People will barely remember me. I will be that man who acted opposite Rose Nightingale,’ he said, sitting down next to her.

Rose leaned her head on his shoulder. ‘That’s not true. You’re a much better actor than I am. Coward rolls off your tongue. I would love to hear you read Shakespeare.’

Rose and Max sat on the chaise longue together then she jumped up. ‘What are the boys doing?’

‘Watching the hundred and nine channels on your TV, some of them four at a time with the new split screen feature they’ve discovered. A show for each of them and one left over,’ said Max, shaking his head.

‘Good,’ said Rose, sliding out of her bathrobe.

Max raised his eyebrows at her. ‘Whatever are you doing, Ms Nightingale?’

‘Feel like working off my nerves. Want to help?’ she said, standing in front of him naked.

‘What an excellent idea,’ he said, and picked her up and tossed her on the bed.

Opening night was a huge success, made all the better with Rose’s parents and Kelly and Chris in the audience.

Rose and Max danced at the after-party to old show tunes played by the band. Rose was delirious with success and happiness; Max content to have her in his arms again.

‘You’d be so easy to love, so easy to idolize, all others above,’ sang Rose in his ear.

‘Extraordinary how potent cheap music is,’ he quoted Noël Coward in her ear.

She laughed. ‘All you do is quote Noël Coward,’ she said. ‘Have you not had enough of him yet?’

‘Not yet,’ he said, and they swayed together, both a little tipsy from the champagne.

‘Time to go,’ said Max, seeing Rose’s eyes begin to close.

‘Yes, please. I’m stuffed,’ she moaned.

And saying their goodbyes, they went into the New York night.

‘The boys loved it,’ said Rose in the back of the car, her head leaning on Max.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Dominic tried to convince me he should come to the after-party, so he was very disappointed when the nanny said it was time to go home.’

Rose laughed. ‘Dominic wants to be a grown-up. Bless him, he can go to an after-party when he stops sleeping with a teddy.’

Arriving home, they looked in on the boys, all asleep in their beds. ‘So sweet,’ whispered Rose, looking at Jasper, his arms stretched above his head.