by A B Turner
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said excitedly.
“You look amazing!” I replied, “Absolutely amazing.”
She stepped back and looked at me quizzically,
“Really? I wasn’t sure about this dress.”
“Are you serious?” I asked back incredulously, she laughed at my reaction,
“Nah, I knew I looked awesome,” she replied, “I must have put on a hundred other before I chose this one, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the right one, a bit like when I saw Dylan.”
When she mentioned his name, despite all the glamour and polish of her appearance, she suddenly looked almost shy again,
“He’s just wonderful, he really is.”
I hugged her again,
“I am so happy for you, you deserve every possible kind of happiness.”
She smiled again and was about to speak when we both heard her name being called out over the noise of the party, she turned away from me and waved at someone,
“I think it’s going to be like this all night,” she chuckled, “I’d better say hello to people but I’ll be back, okay?”
I nodded and watched her walk through the crowd of well-wishers, greeting each one by name and gratefully accepting their gifts.
“She looks beautiful, doesn’t she?” said an instantly recognisable voice by my side, Louise’s mother,
“Yes she does,” I agreed, I felt her hand into mine,
“I can’t believe she’s getting married, the time has gone too fast, remember when we used to be in the car and sing along to the radio?” she asked wistfully, “that seems like yesterday whereas it’s actually over twenty years ago now, can you imagine?” After a few seconds, she let go of my hand and wiped a stray tear from her cheek,
“Are you alright?” I asked, she smiled weakly,
“I’m fine, sweetheart, it’s just hard accepting your children are grown, I expect your Mum felt the same when you left home.”
The temptation to respond to her remark with sarcasm was quickly overridden by my resolve to be nothing but positive, so I just nodded instead.
“So, will it be you next sweetheart?” she asked, “Is there someone we don’t know about in the city?”
Despite myself I wanted to tell her about Nick, but even though I did think she’d understand, there was no way it was going to be ‘me next’, so I just shrugged,
“No, Kathy, when it comes to kissing a frog to find a prince, I just seem to have found frogs..but it’s been fun looking,” I joked, trying to lift my own spirits about my love life as much as appeasing her curiosity. Kathy laughed,
“Well, I can’t argue with that, it took me a while before I could tell the difference!”
As she spoke, Cal passed us on his way to the kitchen, when he was out of earshot, she turned to me, almost conspiratorially,
“What about Cal? He’s gorgeous, there must be girls queuing round the block.”
It seemed weird to think of my little brother as being anything other than the little brother who I looked after, but as we watched, two young women stopped him and were obviously flirting. When one clearly wrote her phone number on his hand, he smiled and leaned forward to whisper something in her ear, which, whatever it was, made her blush, there was only one conclusion,
“I don’t know, Kathy, by the looks of it, you might well be right.”
At that moment, I noticed my mother standing in the doorway, she was scanning the room and on seeing Louise’s mum, she waved and walked through the crowd that somehow seemed to part before her like the Red Sea.
“Hello Kathy,” she said warmly, “What a wonderful party.”
“I’m so glad you could come, Jocelyn, it’s been too long.”
The two women embraced warmly, before Kathy indicated towards me,
“We were just saying, how quickly the time has flown since the girls were young.”
My mother smiled, what I used to call her ‘crocodile smile’, because you could see her teeth but her eyes were fixed, as if there was no life in them at all. But despite this being obvious to me, nobody other than Cal ever recognised it, so it was no surprise Kathy didn’t either.
“Very true, now where’s this lucky man who has captured Louise?” she asked, once more scanning the room,
“I shall introduce you, Jocelyn, I don’t doubt wherever Louise is, he won’t be far away.”
As they left my side, I wandered back through the house and out into the front yard, Cal was now sitting in a group, at the far end of the porch, he looked relaxed and happy. He showed the other guys his arm where the girl had written her number, they all roared their approval and he just beamed, I was glad to see him with friends, especially as for too long he had seemed on his own too much of the time.. Not wanting to be the ‘big sister’, even though the age gap between us really wasn’t quite so relevant any more, I left him and walked back into the house only to be greeted by a group of women, who apparently, had been students at the same school as me. I didn’t remember any of them, but they chatted excitedly about how many times we had allegedly shared, ranging from sports events to the end of year drama production – neither of which I had ever participated. But still they kept talking and giggling, mentioning the names of various teachers, only a few that sounded even slightly familiar. Such was the force of their presence, I started to feel practically trapped in their circle and started to frantically glance around, hoping to see someone, who I could reasonably say I had to catch up with immediately. Just as I was about to lose hope of ever leaving, I saw Uncle Jim leaning against the front door post and quickly made my escape, when I reached his side, he seemed lost in thought. He had a half-drunk beer bottle in his hand but didn’t seem to be particularly interested in drinking, his eyes seemed so fixed in one direction, he barely noticed me reach his side,
“I thought I’d never get away,” I sighed, the sound of my voice seemed to snap him out of his trance-like state,
“You alright, Chicky?” he asked, still obviously distracted by something, I replied I was fine and then looked to see what was absorbing all his attention, but all I could see was Cal and his friends.
“Is that Gino’s boy? Next to Cal?” he asked, nodding his head in their direction,
“Yes, I think it is,” I replied, “Why do you ask?”
Jim took a long drink from his beer, before answering,
“He’s not the best, always in trouble according to his Dad,” he replied solemnly, “I didn’t know he was mates with Cal.”
Still slightly mystified by his concern, I just explained I believed they worked together at the store, so maybe that was how their friendship had developed. Jim didn’t seem to take much comfort from this at all,
“Might just keep an eye on them, anyway,” he said, “We don’t want Cal getting into anything.”
I agreed but still felt confused, after all, this was a family engagement party, not some wild night out and Cal wasn’t a little boy any more. But I had to respect Jim had his reasons for suspicion, he had always looked out for both of us, so I trusted his judgement and thanked him for his concern – but he didn’t seem to hear me. Before I could repeat myself, I heard Kathy calling us all into the main room, so I started to move, I turned to ask Jim if he had heard her, but he had gone, so I went in on my own. As I reached the edge of the guests, I was just in time to see Kathy being helped up on to one of their dining room chairs, once she obviously felt secure, she began her speech, she spoke about how happy she was we had all come, her excitement at the forthcoming wedding but most of all, she talked about Louise.
“She’s just wonderful, the best thing I have ever done and I am so proud of her and I love her more than any of you could possibly imagine,” I heard her voice catch with emotion, “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry,” she sniffed. The whole crowd ‘aaahhhd’ at the same time as she regained her composure,
“So, I know people say, I am not losing a daughter but gaining a son,” she continued, “If
that’s the case, I am so lucky my new son will be Dylan.”
I looked over at the happy couple, he had his arm firmly around her waist as she gazed up at him, it reminded me of the picture I’d found of my mother, she and my father must have been just like Louise and Dylan. I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to change things so much between them and, whatever it was, I hoped nothing similar would happen to this couple. As we all raised our glasses, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mum, she was standing slightly apart from the crowd and looking intently at the young couple, there was a slight smile on her face. Was she remembering too? Was she thinking back to her own engagement? Her smile was warm, undeniably genuine, so whatever she was thinking about, was obviously something happy. As everyone applauded the speech, three women approached her and started talking animatedly, as I watched, she nodded and smiled, but there was no way, she was actually listening to them – I’d seen her do it before, be physically in a place, but mentally, be somewhere else. I often wondered where she went in her mind, but that would be another thing I had resolved a long time ago, it was unlikely I’d ever find out. Suddenly she waved to me and walked quickly over to where I was standing,
“I’m going now, please make sure your brother gets home safely,” she muttered quietly, while passing me her untouched glass of champagne, “I’ve got to be out early tomorrow, so if I don’t see you before you go back to the city, have a safe trip.”
As the words ‘thank you’ were still coming out of my mouth, she was gone, I went to the window, just in time to see a car draw up outside, Mum opened the side door and was inside within moments without seeming to say anything to the driver. As I watched it drive away, it was clearly not a taxi, there was no sign on the side or the roof, also, she would have gone to the back seat, not the front. She had obviously been watching the time all evening, as she had left the party exactly as the car had appeared. As I sipped her champagne, I couldn’t help but speculate, where she was going, who was in the car and how it was possible, to still know so little about my own parents. I knew from bitter experience, there was little or no point in pondering too much, whenever I had asked too many questions in the past, she always seemed to bristle with frustration, as if I was straying into her private world. As the music became louder, the group of chatty women kicked off their shoes, as if they were one person, and made their way to the centre of the room to start dancing. I took this as my cue to edge past the cheering onlookers and see if I could find Louise, as before, she was in the kitchen.
“What’s going on out there?” she asked, “The floorboards are literally shaking.”
I laughed,
“There’s this group of women who are dancing, they talked to me earlier and said they knew me? I have no idea who they are.”
Louise chuckled,
“I know who you mean.”
Suddenly Dylan burst into the kitchen, his crisp, white shirt unbuttoned to the waist, he looked first at me and then Louise, his face flushed and his hair wildly dishevelled,
“You two need to save me, those women are crazy!”
“What did they do to you?” I asked, slightly amused by his undeniable panic.
He shuddered,
“One of them undid my shirt and started trying to rub my chest,” he replied, “It was horrible, like being surrounded by cannibals.”
She gently put her arms around him,
“Don’t you worry, we won’t let them get you,” she said gently, “You’re mine, Dylan Sandford and if they need reminding, I will soon sort them out.”
He smiled broadly,
“Oh really? But you’re so small.”
“Don’t underestimate her,” I said with mock seriousness, “The last person who did, well, we don’t talk about it, do we Lou?” I winked at her,
“No,” she shook her head slowly, “It’s best not to say any more other than he was never seen again.”
Dylan laughed,
“Good to know I’m in safe hands.”
Louise touched his face and kissed him, he pulled her close to his body and suddenly I felt as if I was intruding on an intimate moment, so I slipped quietly out of the kitchen door and carefully closed it behind me. The air in the main room seemed to hit me, as if I’d just got off a plane in the desert, it was so hot and stifling, so I made my way through the bouncing throng, trying to avoid being hit by a flailing dancer. Once outside, I found Cal sitting on the wooden steps alone,
“Have your friends gone?” I asked, he nodded,
“Yeah, they’re going to some club in the city but Uncle Jim said it would be best to call it a night.”
I looked around for Jim,
“Where is he?”
“Oh he’s started to walk back, I said I’d find you and we’d catch him up,” he explained, “Unless you want to stay?”
We both looked through the window, just in time to see the women dragging some poor man to the centre of the room only to start gyrating wildly around him.
“Er..no, I think it’s time to go,” I replied, “They might find you next.”
Cal jumped up and started pretending to run down the street,
“I’m outta here!” he yelled back.
I ran after him and together we sprinted down the road, forgetting we were adults now and just chased each other, with me threatening to drag him back to the party if I caught him. We had gone so fast, we soon saw Uncle Jim ambling along the lane, we must have made a lot of noise, as he spun round,
“What’s up with you two?” he asked.
“She going to feed me to a bunch of scary old women,” Cal replied breathlessly while pointing at me accusingly. Despite the fact my lungs were struggling to find any oxygen at all, I managed to assure Jim, nothing was further from the truth.
“I think you got out of there just in time,” I added, he visibly exhaled.
“Lucky escape for both of us, eh Cal?”
Once we were both able to breathe properly again, we walked back towards the house with Uncle Jim, only stopping when we reached the field gate where he said goodnight and walked away into the darkness. Cal and I hastened up the lane, the night air was cold and we were both now keen to get inside the house, as we got closer, there were no lights on.
“Mum must have gone to bed,” Cal said quietly, “Time for us to keep the noise down.”
I didn’t contradict him, even though I knew she wasn’t at home, after all, I’d seen her get into a car hours ago. But again rather than cause any kind of problem I followed his lead, as he carefully opened the door and, after slipping off our shoes, we whispered goodnight and then padded silently up the stairs. As soon as I heard his door shut, I crept along the landing and opened her bedroom door just enough for me to see inside the room. As I suspected, her bed was still made, her nightclothes were neatly folded on the chair and there was no sign of her. I shut the door and tiptoed back to my room. Once inside, I switched on the bedside lamp and started to get undressed, it had been a really mixed evening, but despite everything, I was happy I’d gone to the party, even happier things between Cal and me, were good again. After turning off the light, I slipped gratefully under the warm bedcovers, I thought about Louise and Dylan, hoping they’d always be as deliriously in love as they were tonight. She had waited a long time for her Mr Right, it seemed a long time ago, she had come to the city to celebrate her 30th birthday. I had taken her out for cocktails, a lovely meal at ‘Hugo’s’ and then back to my place, for us to crawl into pyjamas and get steadily drunk while watching trashy TV. As can happen, once the alcohol supply had been exhausted, the conversation had turned to analysing how our lives had turned out – each one of us trying to affectionately outdo the other with the range of experiences.
“Chances are, I’m going to be a crazy cat lady,” Louise slurred, “’Cause let’s face it, my love life is pretty depressing.”
I struggled to raise my head from the sofa to look at her, as my brain suddenly felt ridiculously heavy,
&nbs
p; “What about mine? I love someone who’s married to someone else and they’re happy, that’s just sad.”
Louise attempted to sit up but quickly slumped back down n the second sofa,
“Oh that is sad, that is so so sad,” she agreed mournfully, “We are both sad.”
I grabbed the wine bottle and raised it to my lips, squeezing it slightly, as if this act would somehow result in gaining a few more drops. When this failed, I dropped the bottle on to the floor,
“We are out of wine too, that’s sad.”
Louise groaned,
“We are such beautiful people, we shouldn’t be sad at all, we should be riding around in a golden carriage, drawn by white horses and being met by handsome prinches.”
Even in my drunken state, this made me chuckle,
“What are you laughing at?” Louise asked, her head swaying unsteadily, as she tried to look at me,
“You said princh,” I giggled, she looked bemused and then she just guffawed, sending herself toppling back on to the sofa,
“That’s where we are going wrong, we’re looking for the wrong thing!” she cackled. After several minutes of helpless laughter, we slumped again on our respective sofas,
“Do you think we will ever get married?” I began, “I mean not to each other because that would just be weird, but to someone else?”
Louise thought for a moment,
“I think we will, I hope we will because I want to wear a white dress and everyone will look at me, telling me I’m beautiful.”