The Timeline

50.

February 25th, 2017:

Out of all the people from her university experiences, there was one Claire never imagined she would've heard from again, and that person was Beatrix Goodwin.

Okay, no, if we want to be real, the number one person from LAMDA Claire was sure she wouldn't hear from ever again was actually Emma. Not after what had happened between the two of them. Nor did Claire want to hear from her. If they ever met, actually, Claire would've loved to kick her down, or trip her up. Just as a little funny revenge.

But she was so much better off without her and her negativity in her life.

Beatrix had been a close second. Working with her had been really good, for Claire, because her guidance on set had been very respectful but pushing at the same time, and she had also introduced her to Alfie Allen, which had led to her audition in LA - she still had to hear from them, by the way. But, she had reasoned, Beatrix mustn't have liked her that much.

Not only had Claire contradicted her so much, during their first one-on-one meeting, but she had also found her short movie too close to her own personal feelings and experiences, which had led her to dissociate on set and keep to her own devices whenever the rest of the cast gathered together.

When saying goodbye to her, the night of the short movies' premieres, Beatrix had hugged Claire and had told her she looked forward to hearing from her in the future, and also work together more. But Claire had taken that comment as you're supposed to take these types of comments from people in the industry: a mere formality, words uttered in the utmost politeness. Not something to be taken seriously, because the people you said it to were so many you tended to forget who they even were, after a while.

So, seeing her number on her phone had been a pretty big surprise, the previous morning, as Claire was grocery shopping at the local Tesco, Theodore in his stroller pointing things out that he found interesting and Claire telling him the names of said things, to see if he would've tried and repeated them. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't. But it was still a progress in the right direction, according to the pediatrician, so Claire was satisfied.

Her phone had rang while she was in the frozen aisle, comparing different brands of frozen peas. She had stared at the screen for a good 30 seconds before finally swiping her thumb over the 'Accept' button and bringing the device to her ear.

"Hello...?" - her voice had sounded unsure, as if she expected Beatrix on the other side to apologize and say she had gotten the number wrong, she didn't mean to call Claire!

Instead, Beatrix had sounded pleased to hear her voice.

"Claire! I'm so glad you picked up! Hi. You remember me, right?" - she had let out a small laugh at the last question, and Claire had felt compelled to imitate her. Beatrix's voice was still as soft and kind as Claire remembered it, even through the phone, which by definition distorted one's voice to a certain extent.

"Of course I do. Hi. Hi. How are you?" - closing the freezer door, Claire leaned with her back on it. She was alone in the supermarket aisle, and she hoped no one would walk past her, so she could remain like that.

"I'm just fine. More than fine, actually, I've got some exciting news lined up ahead of me. What about you? How've you been holding up since graduation?"

"Really... well. Considering. I've had a couple auditions, I'm in talks for more audiobooks contracts. Your usual. Everything's pretty up in the air, right now, but I have some interesting things to look forward to at the moment."

"I'm glad, I'm glad to hear that. You're really talented, so I'm sure you'll find something in no time." - Beatrix sounded like she was sorting through something on the other side of the phone, because Claire could hear faint noises that resembled papers and pens.