“How was your day, sweetie?” my mom asked as I entered the house again. She looked like she was ready to go out, all done up and putting some heels on.
“It was fine, mom, thanks.” I didn’t want to tell her about Jack, because I knew she’d tell John, and I didn’t want him worrying. I didn’t see him often, he worked long and late in the city taking care of his business, but whenever I did see him he always made sure to ask how I was settling in, if there was anything he could do to help make my move over here easier. I was thankful for it, but I definitely wanted to keep away from the topic of his son.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Where are you going? Heading out?”
“Yes dear. I was feeling a little bit faint this morning, so Anita thinks I should go to have a doctor check things out. Also, John and I have settled on a date. We’re getting married May 12th, so I’m also visiting the wedding planner to get things started.”
“Congratulations! That’s not very much time to plan the wedding.”
“It’s not, but neither one of us want to wait. Listen, this talking is quite hard on me, and I have to get going, alright?”
“Sure, mom. I hope you feel better soon,” I told her, knowing she would. She always did. I wondered if it really was Anita’s suggestion to go to the doctor, or if my mom forced the suggestion onto her. Still, she was my mother, and I loved her despite her faults.
I gave her a quick hug as she left, and made my way up to my room to get a bit of studying done. Then, Annie and I had decided to meet at one of the local bars and go out for drinks. I was looking forward to visiting a real English pub, which I hadn’t done yet. The Pig and Keg, this one was called, and according to Annie it was the hot place to be near campus.
After a few beers with my new best friend, who ended up going home with a random guy from one of her other classes – who I had to admit was pretty damn good looking – I went home and fell asleep, never so thankful for the ability to call the kitchen and ask for a greasy breakfast delivered with a side of Advil as the next day when I woke up with a wicked hangover.
I was definitely not used to the more liberal drinking age here in England, I had never managed to sneak more than one little cooler at a time from my mom’s collection in the fridge back home. The next morning I really suffered for my lack of experience.
Chapter Six
Sure enough, my mom was completely fine after her visit at the hospital. It was Saturday, and when I finally rolled out of bed, I had a nice hot shower, then made my way down to the kitchen to see what kind of other greasy foods I could convince the cook to make me.
A couple fresh pretzels in hand, I made my way upstairs, where I found my mother in the large dining room with the wedding planner, all sorts of patches and pictures spread out across the huge table.
Well, at least all that size is finally coming in handy, I thought to myself as I nibbled a bite and watched from the door as the ladies worked.
“I think purple and white will work wonderfully as spring wedding colours,” the woman drawled in her upper class accent. She sounded like the Queen. “However, I wonder if you might not consider cream instead of white. White is quite a harsh colour, especially in bright sunlight, and cream has the same classy effect with a little bit of softness.”
“That’s a wonderful idea Susan. Yes, I think we will go with cream and white instead.”
Suddenly, my mom noticed me standing at the door.
“Julianne, come in, please!” my mom exclaimed. “Susan, this is my daughter, Julianne.”
“It’s lovely to meet you,” the wedding planner told me, holding out a hand.
“Why don’t you come and give me a hand with some of these choices Julianne. It would be nice to have your input,” my mom said.
“Thanks, mom,” I replied, and went over to the table.
For the next few hours we bonded over flower choices and centrepieces. Of course everything was really far from being finished. I found out that I was going to be the maid of honour at the wedding, at my mother’s request, as I had been at the last three. It was going to be held right here on the estate, and as I saw just how happy my mom was about it, I put aside my feelings that this wedding was going to be like all her others.
Finally, Susan left, after my mom and I had made quite a few of the important decisions. Invitations would be sent out that Friday, after coming back from the printer, and after giving me a warm hug and a thanks for the help, I made my way back out to the main room.
Suddenly, John Alcott pushed past me, obviously very upset about something.
“Are you alright?” I asked out of instinct.
“I am, thank you Julianne. Everything is fine, I just need to speak with Mary for a little bit,” he replied with a forced smile, and continued on.
I wondered what was wrong, since he was obviously lying to me, and went back up to my room to check on social media for a little bit.
A couple hours later I heard a knock on the door.