Crystal Balls by Amanda Brobyn

Author:Amanda Brobyn [Brobyn, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781842235324
Publisher: Poolbeg
Published: 2012-03-12T13:40:02+00:00

16

Chink!

Our glasses slam together as we toast the bride once more.

“To Sam!” we cheer.

“To the girl we thought was still a virgin!” Jessie squeals.

Sam rolls her eyes, as reluctant as ever to be dragged into any conversation concerning her personal life. “Just because I didn’t put myself about, Jess!” she retorts boldly.

“You didn’t put yourself anywhere, Sam, apart from in a bloody library!”

We laugh in chorus.

“Now, now, children.” I step in to protect my sister even though I know Jess is right. “Look at Kate and me – we put out with everyone going in our student days but our Sam is the only non-singleton amongst us. She must be doing something right.” I pat her hand patronisingly “Exactly what are we doing wrong, Sam?” I ask, only half-joking. She’s one step closer to passing Go than I am. Funny, after all these years when I always thought Sam was the complete nerd who would be stuck on the shelf while I would be married to some handsome tycoon, carrying our beautiful children on my slender hips while handing out autographs. It never dawned on me that she would have the high-flying career, retro apartment and be married first. The fact that she’s carrying a little extra weight and has no fashion sense hardly seems relevant now. Life has a funny way of working out.

“Your problem, Tina, is that you expect too much,” she replies, slightly slurred in speech. She’s only had three drinks.

It was a rhetorical question actually, Sam.

“You want the fairytale and it doesn’t exist.”

Will someone please steer the conversation away from my love life and quick?

“Pretty Woman was a film,” she continues. “That crap doesn’t happen in real life!” She takes a gulp of wine, placing the glass clumsily on the wooden floor. Crack! The stem breaks in two and the glass falls on its side with the red content spilling out across the beech-laminate flooring. “Oops!” she hiccups.

“Don’t move.” Jess uses her long nails to collect the large pieces of glass followed by the smaller fragments while I run into the kitchen to grab the kitchen roll and duster-buster. These wet and dry things are a godsend. How did our parents cope with such a lack of appliances and gadgets? And Rabbits?

Kate follows me in. “How much has she had?” she says under her breath.

“Not enough, Kate! It’s her hen night and if she remembers it then we’ve let her down!”

Kate claps her hands together with spiteful glee. She can be such a bitch sometimes. “Oh, you’re so mean!” she says, sending the blame back to me with a boomerang effect. “But I’ve never seen Sam drunk before so I’m in for it!” We high-five each other before returning to the lounge to clean up the mess.

I’m so glad Kate has made it. She has always been a major part of my life, and Sam’s, that it would seem strange giving my sister a send-off without my side-kick next to me. When we were nearing sixteen Mum and Dad let us go out into town one night with Sam.

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