The Big Day by Aliya Ali-Afzal

Author:Aliya Ali-Afzal [Ali-Afzal, Aliya]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800245747
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

19

March: 14 weeks to The Big Day

Gemma and I leant on each other, half asleep on the Northern Line on our way to work. The gentle swaying of the Tube and the warm silence just before rush hour made it a perfect place to transition from sleeping to being fully awake by the time we exited London Bridge for work.

We sat up as we got closer to our stop and both smiled.

‘Good things come in threes,’ I said. ‘I’m so happy for us!’

Gemma had been given the lead in a major deal, working closely with a senior partner, and Dave had taken her to Paris and asked her to move in with him when I left.

Things had also started to go well for me. First, the bridal boutique for the red traditional dress had postponed our appointment to April, because of an emergency shutdown of their building. That meant that I wouldn’t try the red dress until after I had bought the evening dress I planned to wear.

DD had been to Chalfont and had somehow persuaded them to allow a swap, so that one of his other clients would ‘take over’ our booking, and DD’s complex strategy of reciprocal favours to the Chalfont team had led to them agreeing to a full refund.

Finally, Carlotta had texted me a couple of days earlier and it was a nice text.

Carlotta: I would like to invite you for dinner with Daniele and if you like, maybe show you how to make the fresh fettuccine. It’s my nonna’s recipe and Daniele’s favourite. If you’re free after work on Thursday? Ciao X

Perhaps she was regretting her behaviour at that dinner and had realised that I was going to marry her son whether she liked it or not, so it would be best if we both got on. I wondered if that dinner had been a sort of test to see if she could scare me off, and I had passed.

Food was their family’s love language and Carlotta sharing her grandmother’s fettuccine recipe with me felt like being accepted by her, even more than the engagement party and presents had. I had received a fettuccine-shaped olive branch.

I replied straight away, hovering over the x after signing off, unsure whether to add it. In the end I added not just one but two. I had to show her that I had forgiven her and that, although I was not Mimi, I was the perfect person for Dan. I would love-bomb Carlotta into submission. She probably expected me to get angry or retreat, but she didn’t know me. I did not give up so easily and nor could she frighten me with some hurtful words. She had given birth to Dan, he adored her, and in the end those two factors would cancel out almost any amount of bitchiness towards me.

Me: Thank you so much, Carlotta Aunty. Yes please, to both. I will be at your house by 7 tomorrow. Please let me know if I can bring anything for the fettuccine.

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