Contents
Friday, 12 July
Overview
Alix’s dinner with Josie and Walter becomes a tense disaster when Nathan fails to come home, exposing Alix’s own marital vulnerability and giving Josie ammunition to judge him. Walter privately warns Alix that Josie lies and controls situations, but Leon later reveals Josie was listening outside the studio.
Back home, Josie and Walter’s silence erupts into a vicious fight. Walter’s claim that Alix is not truly Josie’s friend destabilizes Josie, and his final insult pushes her into a state of furious resolve to act and reveal what she has been holding back.
Summary
Alix prepares dinner for Josie and Walter while Nathan texts that he is having a quick drink with Gio and will be home before 7:30. Nathan does not return, leaving Alix anxious, sober, and alone with Leon in the house while Eliza is at a sleepover.
Josie arrives with Walter, dressed up and unusually bright, carrying roses and expensive champagne. Walter appears shy, freshly groomed, and awkward, but Alix reminds herself of Josie’s claims about him. Conversation at the kitchen island is strained: Walter asks about Alix’s home and family, mentions Erin gaming at home, and then discovers that Alix’s project involves Josie, despite Josie having concealed the real nature of the podcast from him.
Alix calls Gio after Nathan repeatedly fails to answer, and Gio passes the phone to Nathan, who is drunk and promises to come by cab. Josie sharply condemns Nathan’s behavior, making Alix feel exposed and threatened. When Josie suggests Alix show Walter the recording studio, Josie stays behind while Alix takes Walter outside.
In the studio, Walter gives Alix his version of his relationship with Josie, insisting their age gap never felt strange and portraying Josie as unusually mature. Walter refuses to be recorded but warns that Josie has an “elastic relationship with the truth,” likes control, and may be controlling Alix without Alix realizing it. Alix distrusts Walter and suspects manipulation, but the warning unsettles her.
Dinner continues awkwardly without Nathan. Josie’s pitying remarks about Alix’s absent husband provoke Alix into anger, and the evening collapses. After Josie and Walter leave, Alix drinks the remaining wine and sits with Leon, who reveals that Josie stood outside the studio listening while Alix and Walter talked and looked extremely angry.
After 10 p.m., Josie and Walter walk home in silence. At the flat, Josie broods over the failed dinner, criticizes Walter for embarrassing her, and is devastated when Walter says Alix is not her friend but is studying her. Their argument escalates until Josie says she cannot keep everything locked inside and must tell Alix. Walter calls Josie stupid, and Josie, remembering that she overheard Walter warning Alix, feels a furious certainty that the moment she has been waiting for has arrived.
Who Appears
- Alix SummerHosts the disastrous dinner, questions Walter, and feels increasingly trapped and unsettled.
- Josie FairArrives eager to impress, overhears Walter, judges Alix, and reaches furious resolve.
- Walter FairJosie’s husband; warns Alix that Josie lies and later cruelly insults Josie.
- NathanAlix’s absent husband, drunk with Gio and failing to return for dinner.
- LeonAlix’s son; later reveals Josie was listening outside the studio.
- GioNathan’s drinking companion; passes Alix’s call to Nathan.
- Erin FairJosie and Walter’s daughter, mentioned as gaming at home behind her door.
- FredJosie’s dog, greets her when she returns home.