Dinner at Six. Sharp #2
Everyone in the room remained uncomfortably silent after that sarcastic remark and even Miles, I thought, winced for a second, probably feeling sorry for me. Well, welcome to my dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship.
“Your point is, Mum?” I finally asked her.
“My point, Florence, is that you aren’t getting any younger—”
“She is twenty-nine!” Jo cut in protectively.
“And the time is ticking. When I was your age, I already had you two!”
“Oh, admit it, Mum,” I shot back, “that’s because you and dad just couldn’t keep it in your pants!”
Suddenly, the corner of my eye caught Miles’ hand rising to his mouth, quickly stifling another snort. I swear, if my mother did like him before, he very soon might well be her enemy number two. One was already taken, sorry.
Face red, my mother eyed me as she exclaimed, “Have you lost your mind, Florence?!”
“Alright, alright, let’s not get carried away here,” Jo jumped in, trying to lighten the mood.
“Miles—” My mother turned to him. “—please excuse my daughter’s behaviour. She evidently lacks some manners.” Oh, please , I nearly rolled my eyes.
“That’s alright, Elizabeth!” he muttered, glancing at me for a moment longer than he intended to. Well, at least I thought he did. And as I caught his gaze on me, disinterested, I looked away, just like he had the very first time.
Finally, my father’s voice stretched from across. “Florence will find her own path, in her own time,” he said, evidently tired, too, of hearing this conversation and very much eager to wrap it up.
“Speaking of time—” I gulped my wine down and glanced at my watch. “—there is this one place I need to be. Um, my bed.”
“Well, fine then.” My mother raised an eyebrow, a smug smile curving her lips. And just as I was going to ask them about the room I was staying in, she continued. “Your luggage is in the Amber Room. I hope you have a good night, Florence!”
“The Amber Room?” I managed with a lump stuck in my throat. Freaking great! How nice of her to give Miles my room. And then put me right next to him.
***
I was almost asleep when I heard a gentle knock against my door, which creaked open.
“You up?” Jo whispered.
“Yeah. Come in,” I muffled from under the sheets, reaching for the small light on the nightstand.
The warm glow instantly bathed the room, revealing the intricate details of the wallpaper: each delicate flower, each golden leaf, and every meticulous detail seemed to awaken.
For a moment I thought I saw a branch weave its way to the ceiling.
“You okay?” she asked, looking at me.
“Oh.” I glanced back. Then smiled. “Yeah.”
“The dinner was…”
“Uneasy?” I asked dryly, well aware that was an understatement.
“More like on a knife edge,” she said, slowly walking towards the bed.
“I know.”
“She is just upset.” Jo nestled next to me, curling her fingers around mine.
A moment of silence fell. This, my relationship with my mother, was never easy. She would naturally get frustrated and disappointed with me, and I would naturally give her reason to. That’s how it had always been, and the truth was, I didn’t even have to try hard.
“You look—”
“Please don’t say ‘thin.’”
“I was gonna say…tired?”
“Well, I guess I am.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” A whisper escaped me. “Remember when we were little—” I smiled. “—we would burrow under the covers and tell each other secrets?”
“That is one of my favourite memories,” Jo laughed, quickly crawling into our fort of white fabric. “Are we five again?”
“I wish,” I chuckled softly.
“I missed this.” She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “You wanna secret?”
“Absolutely! Spill it out!”
“Hmm.” I smiled, thinking of one. “I did consider escaping tonight through the window.”
“This is not a secret!” Jo laughed. “Why do you think I came here to check on you?”
“Wow, you know me so well, huh?” I winked at her.
“I do. I was even expecting to catch you climbing out and, to be honest, I was surprised you didn’t.”
A grin spread across my face. “Maybe we should both do it? For old time’s sake.”
“God! Imagine?” Jo giggled, her eyes lit up with a mischievous glint.
“Oh! By the way?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“What’s with the perpetual sneer on that one?”
“Who?” Jo shot me a confused look. I groaned, clearly referring to Miles’ obnoxious character. “Who?” she repeated with the same blank stare.
“Oh my God! Seriously? I’m obviously talking about overly impressed with himself Mr. Smokin’ Ego!”
“Oh!” Her eyes widened in understanding. “You mean Miles?”
“Yep! That’s the one!”
“Why?” Jo immediately asked. “Are you interested?”
“What? No!” I blurted, perhaps a little too quickly. “Um…” I cleared my throat, regaining my composure. “No, of course not!” I said, my voice returning to its normal pace. “Definitely not interested.”
“Sure?” She drawled the question sceptically.
A sudden laugh burst from me. “Please. The guy’s a total jerk!”
“Well—” Jo pressed her lips together in a thin smile. “—he has always been very nice to me. Though, I’m still trying to figure him out.”
“I thought being nice wasn’t something he was capable of!”
“Let’s just say, it takes time to warm up to him. But there’s more to Miles than meets the eye.”
“I see,” I said with a plain nod.
“Why are you asking?”
“Just asking, don’t give me that look!”
“So?” She raised a brow at me. “Not your type?”
“Nope!” I lied, biting my lip. A pang of guilt washed over me, not just for the lie itself but for lying to Jo here, in our haven, where honesty was supposed to flow freely.
“Well, good then, because there is someone else I would like you to meet.”
“Oh.”
“Unless you are seeing someone?”
“I beg you to stop this nonsense. You know I date my job.”
“Well then, because some of our friends, and Blake—” She was beaming with excitement. “— the guy,” she emphasised, drawing out the words, “is arriving in a couple of days, and I think you two might hit it off.”
The guy, huh?
“Alright, alright, but let’s not get ahead of time and start the wedding plans, okay?”