1. Rainy Day Option - a synopsis
Strung out and suicidal, MacIntyre wakes from a drunken sleep in Cornwall to find a young girl at the
window of his car. She calls herself Charley and, from the moment the 43 year old, ex-marine Falklands
veteran meets her, he is hooked. Charley bears an unsettling resemblance to MacIntyre's estranged 19
year old daughter Kirsty, appears to him to be a runaway and, he soon discovers, is apparently going
'anywhere'.
In soliloquy, MacIntyre recalls his escape from deep despair: a broken marriage, enforced separation
from his two teenage daughters, the disappearance of his criminal business partner Jack Reynolds,
drunken, unprovoked Falmouth fights and failed attempts to take his own life. Similarly, she withdraws
- but to her happy childhood in Norfolk and London - hiding a dark secret of her own whilst gradually
becoming drawn to his tragic past.
Sassy, bright, sensitive and stunningly pretty, Charley flirts with MacIntyre and is an instant hit with his
colourful friends, David and Rosie Patience, whose narrow boat the pair take on a leisurely cruise along
the Thames. They revel in boozy sessions at riverside pubs and, over intimate meals, Charley probes
him for the source of his problems, manifest in guilt, isolation, depression, violent rages and intrusive
thoughts. They both take comfort from the homespun philosophy and easy wit of Tina, Australian
'earth-mother' and barmaid, at one of their stops.
MacIntyre slowly opens up to Charley, recounting in detail his service in the Special Boat Squadron
during the 1982 Falklands Campaign and the doomed men of his patrol - the stoic Liverpudlian Scazz,
dependable Corporal Andy Murray and the creative and talented marine, Lee Thompson, tragically
killed by 'friendly-fire' from another covert patrol. Charley displays a maturity that MacIntyre finds
reassuring and provides the counselling that he has steadfastly rejected since the war. She introduces
him to astrology and quotes Shakespeare freely. He becomes more sure of his sanity and more
inquisitive about her.
Although he is captivated and comforted by her charm and deep concern, MacIntyre initially rejects her
clumsy and naive advances before they ultimately become lovers - clinging to each other and immersing
themselves in the river journey, a shared interest in music, and their devotion to an orgy of self
discovery and abandoned hedonism.
Triumphant in the discovery of lost confidence and love, MacIntyre is further cheered by police who
inform him of his ex-partner's death at the hands of Colombian drug dealers and the recovery of his
embezzled assets. He is then devastated by Charley's confession: she is suffering an incurable disease
and has briefly escaped before she confronts her family and her own death. She stresses that their time
together has enabled her to come to terms with this but fears that the revelation will plunge him back
into despair. She reluctantly leaves him with the boat's owner, David Patience, promising that she will
call him to join her later.
Finally, MacIntyre is summoned to Cornwall by Charley's parents, but arrives too late. They have read
her comprehensive diaries of their relationship and welcome him as a member of the family. Plunged
back into the horror, self-reproach and uncertainty of his past, he excuses himself, walks to the cliffs and
puts his war souvenir gun to his mouth once again.
