Chapter 23
‘A most country-town indifference to decorum.’
Two weeks later, Alice and I were sitting in The Lazy Fox wine bar, a few minutes’ walk from Dom’s flat. Tania had moved in. They now spoke in shared sentences and rotated around the flat in tandem. We referred to them, only half-jokingly, as Tadom.
I sat a little taller than usual, feeling marginally more sophisticated.
I was just back from San Francisco, freshly engaged.
The final few days had been a blur of parties, clubs, meetings with decorators, plus the inexplicable ritual of the gift registry.
Chase and I had barely had five uninterrupted minutes alone.
If we weren’t being wined and dined, I was being ushered into stores by Bunny to view porcelain, crystal glassware and French linen.
I flew out of SFO the same day Chase flew to Taiwan.
I landed back in London with jet lag, a tan, and a knuckleduster on my finger.
‘Eight weeks from now and you’ll be Mrs Chase Fuller Jr,’ said Alice, raising her glass with ceremony. ‘Now, hand it over.’
I slid the ring from my finger and passed it across the table.
‘It’s enormous,’ Alice breathed, turning it this way and that under The Lazy Fox’s moody lighting. ‘Does he have any eligible friends?’
She’d just split from a graphic designer at work, who had turned out to have a secret girlfriend in Chiswick.
I frowned. ‘Of the three single ones, two are gay and the third monograms everything, including his jumpers.’
Alice cackled. ‘God, no thanks. Now tell me, are there any more pre-wedding parties or are you done?’
‘There’s a wine shower.’
Alice laughed. ‘A what?’
‘It’s like a bridal shower, only you’re gifted bottles of wine.’
We both laughed. The cultural learning curve was steeper than Everest.
I tore off a piece of pita bread and chewed it, head slightly swimming from the combination of wine and reversed jet lag.
Alice topped up our glasses and leaned in. ‘All right, come on. Give me another Bunny story.’
There were plenty to choose from. Every outing with my future mother-in-law involved some blend of spectacle and public humiliation. I pondered the catalogue, then chose one of the more theatrical entries.
‘How about the Garden Club annual luncheon?’
Alice perked up instantly.
‘I was the youngest person there by thirty years. We had to wear hats. Some women had gloves. It was held in this blindingly perfect rose garden with round tables, linen, silverware and waiters in white gloves. I didn’t wear tights because it was boiling.
Bunny picks me up, spots my bare legs halfway there and goes into full meltdown.
She pulls into Walgreens, basically American Boots, and insists I go in to buy a pair. ’
‘No!’
‘Oh yes. Only pair in my size were old-lady support tights. Colour: American Tan.’
I held my fingers a few millimetres apart.
‘They were this thick.’
Alice made a gagging noise.
‘I had to put them on in the car. By the time I got to the table, my feet were sweating inside my blue court shoes and it felt like I’d been shrink-wrapped.
I’m answering the usual how-did-you-meet questions when my legs start to itch.
Then burn. Like fire ants had colonised my thighs.
I legged it to the loo, stripped them off, and I’m covered in red welts. Hives everywhere.’
‘Oh my God. What did you do?’
‘Ran a guest towel under the cold tap and slapped it on myself like I was putting out flames. Then someone knocks on the door. “Madam, are you okay?” and I realise I have to go back out. I chuck the tights in the bin, walk back to the table holding my handbag low. Then this lady leans in and asks if I’m okay.
Another hands me a compact mirror. Hives had spread to my neck and face. ’
I paused for effect. ‘Bunny had to take me to the doctor for an antihistamine jab.’
Alice dissolved into laughter, her eyes streaming. Her joy was infectious, but my own laughter faltered, turned to tears.
‘Flo, hey,’ Alice said, taking my hand across the table. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s just going so fast,’ I sniffed. ‘Everything’s happening all at once.’ The wine and the time zones had knocked down my emotional defences.
‘Do you want to call it off?’
I shook my head firmly. ‘No. It’s not that. Chase is great. He’s my Darcy. It’s a fairy tale. His dad’s kind. Bunny’s… well, Bunny. The house is gorgeous, the weather’s perfect, even the crazy society stuff is sort of fun. But it’s there. It’s so far away. And I miss you. I miss Dom.’
She squeezed my hand. ‘I miss you too. We all do. But you’re just a flight away.’
I nodded again.
She passed me my wine. ‘Here. Drink. You’ve got a whole week in London. We are going to wring every last minute out of it.’
‘By night, yes. By day, I’ll be at my desk wading through Dad’s to-do list. He says if I clear it, he’ll help with the wedding.’
We grinned at each other. Some things never changed.