Contents
Monday, 8 July
Overview
Alix’s interview pushes Josie to reinterpret her denim obsession as a relic of Walter’s early grooming and romantic control. The session also makes Alix more emotionally exposed, as Alix confides in Josie about Nathan’s drinking and disappearances.
Josie’s shopping trip with Alix briefly lets Josie imagine a renewed self beyond Walter, but Josie returns home to the same squalor and secrecy. The chapter ends with Josie stealing Alix’s bracelet and inserting herself further into Alix’s marriage, deepening the unsettling imbalance between intimacy and violation.
Summary
Alix interviews Josie in the studio about Josie’s fixation on denim. Josie explains that the habit began in the early years of her relationship with Walter: he romanticized her denim jacket, treated it as part of her essence, and made Josie feel cherished, so Josie kept wearing denim as if it might preserve that feeling.
Josie shows Alix two old photographs of herself and Walter. Alix is struck by Walter’s youthful attractiveness and privately recognizes how a young Josie could have been drawn to him, while also feeling sickened because Josie was a child and Walter was an adult. When Alix asks what Josie would tell her thirteen-year-old self, Josie admits that despite the stability Walter gave her, she now wonders what her life could have been and would tell the girl to run.
After the interview, Josie asks about Alix’s cat and whether Alix still wants a puppy. Alix unexpectedly confides that Nathan has a drinking problem, goes on benders, and has recently started behaving as he did before their children were born. Josie asks whether Nathan cheats, and although Alix denies it, the question unsettles Alix and makes her remember Nathan’s disappearance after Alix rejected him on her birthday night.
Josie then connects the denim conversation to a desire to refresh her life, saying Walter no longer sees her and that Josie has some inherited money. Josie asks Alix to help her shop for new clothes. Alix agrees and takes Josie to a nearby boutique, where the friendly staff fuss over Fred and Alix selects dresses, knitwear, and a red blazer for Josie.
Josie tries on the clothes and feels transformed by soft, flattering garments that make Josie look like a woman she wants to know. Josie spends far more than she ever has before, buoyed by the celebratory atmosphere, but the feeling fades when Josie returns to the grim flat, sees Walter, smells Erin’s room, and feels exposed to the bus passengers outside.
In the bedroom, Josie hides her new clothes and then removes a gold bracelet with diamond droplets that Josie stole from Alix’s console table. Josie kisses it and hides it in her underwear drawer. Thinking that Alix’s confession about Nathan shows vulnerability, Josie sends Alix a Pinterest quote about weak men being unable to love strong women, accompanied by hearts and strong-arm emojis.
Who Appears
- Josie FairInterview subject; reassesses Walter’s influence, buys new clothes, steals Alix’s bracelet.
- Alix SummerPodcaster; probes Josie’s past, confides in Josie about Nathan’s drinking.
- Walter FairJosie’s husband; appears in old photos and symbolizes Josie’s youthful attachment.
- NathanAlix’s husband; absent but central through Alix’s worries about drinking and disappearances.
- FredJosie’s dog; accompanies Josie shopping and attracts friendly attention in the boutique.
- ErinJosie’s daughter; absent, but the stench from Erin’s room marks the flat’s misery.