Weddings and Other Things I Hate by Elizabeth McGivern

Author:Elizabeth McGivern [McGivern, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pernickety Publishing
Published: 2020-03-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

I fiddle with the end of my dress and look in the mirror for the hundredth time.

“This is definitely too short,” I say to Helen as she finishes brushing her hair.

“It’s fine, I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up over this dinner, you’ve already met my dad,” she replies.

“In passing, maybe, but not a sit-down meal with him and his girlfriend. I want to make a good impression.”

“Well it’s her that should be worried about making a good impression on me.”

She throws the brush into a drawer and joins me at the mirror. She hugs me from behind and rests her head on my shoulder.

“If my dad can’t see how amazing you are then that’s just more proof of him being an idiot,” she adds.

“I thought you guys were on better terms these days?”

“We’re as fine as we’ll ever be. It’s never going to be a great relationship as far as I’m concerned. There’s just too much to forgive.”

I look at myself one more time in the mirror and walk out of the bedroom to stop me from changing into a different outfit. It would be my third change of the evening.

Helen jingles her car keys as she waits for me at the door.

“That’s rude,” I say. “A lady has to make sure she looks her best before leaving for an evening of socialising.”

“When I see a lady I’ll be sure to pass along that bit of advice,” she teases as she playfully taps my bum with her bag.

The drive to Wicklow is a quiet one. Helen seems to be lost in her own thoughts and I don’t feel like she wants to be disturbed. I try to make conversation a few times along the way but with very little response to my open-ended questions I give up and start prattling on about work.

I know she isn’t really listening but I don’t call her out on this. I doubt it would do little to help the tension she’s exuding.

We arrive at her dad’s townhouse and park outside. It’s not far from Annamoe and is close to the coast.

Ivy climbs over the outside of the house and there’s been very little done to modernise it. It’s nestled within a wild and overgrown garden but somehow it doesn’t seem messy or unkempt, more like it’s ingratiated itself into nature.

She knocks the door and we hear her dad call out and tell us to come in.

She takes a deep breath and says: “Here we go.”

I follow behind her and watch as her dad pulls her into a hug before holding her at arm’s length to take in the sight of her properly.

“You look lovely, darling,” he says.

She reciprocates with a smile but doesn’t say anything back.

“Helen,” he smiles. “We finally get some time to meet properly. I’ve seen glimpses but never enough time to get to know you.”

“I was saying the same thing to Helen, I’m glad we’re finally doing this.”

“Yes, well make yourselves at home, my lady friend will be with us shortly and then we can all sit down to dinner.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.