Treating myself to a mini quiche, I made my way over to my mom, who looked me up and down.
“That dress is quite beautiful, Julianne. Very nice choice,” she told me approvingly, nodding at my fashion sense. It must have been Christmas, she didn’t even make a snide comment about the quiche going straight to my hips!
I smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks mom. You look great too,” I replied. I wasn’t lying, either. It seemed like no matter how old I got, my mom stayed the same age. She had a timeless beauty, a classic look about her that whenever I really noticed it made me understand just how she might have had a shot at being a celebrity back in the day.
For a while I mingled with my mom, idly chit-chatting with Sally and Henry about how different life was in England compared to America, how my studies were going, how my exams went, what after-school activities their kids were involved in, that sort of thing.
Eventually a bell rang and we were all herded towards the dining room table. To my surprise, at some point Jack had come in as well. I thought he’d told me he wasn’t expected at dinner. Well, it shouldn’t have surprised me that he would have lied to me. I could never really trust anything that guy said, that was for sure.
It was all so formal, when we got to the table there were little nametags set out for everyone. I found mine to the right of my mother, who was seated at John’s right hand side at the table. His brother Henry was at his left, with Sally next to him, and Evan next to her. Jack was sitting next to Evan, looking even more bored than usual. That, unfortunately, left Amy sitting next to me, and the children were led with their nannies out of the room, presumably to have lunch elsewhere, away from the adults.
The bread bowl was passed around, with some exotically flavoured vinaigrettes and olive oils being passed around for dipping on the bread plates.
The chatter died down for a few moments while everyone began eating their food. I couldn’t help but notice John’s nervous glances towards Jack every couple of minutes, and I wondered to myself if I wasn’t the only person here who hadn’t expected Jack at lunch. Perhaps he hadn’t been lying after all. But if not, what was he doing here, when he could easily skip the family lunch that he obviously didn’t want to attend?
Then as person after person finished their bread, the conversations resumed.
“So, Mary, you were telling me about getting used to driving on the different side of the road?” Henry asked, a smile on his face.
“Yes, well the main thing I’ve found is that when you’re in the city, you’re completely fine,” my mother replied. “After all, there are cars all around you. You can always follow someone, it’s not like I’m going to just drive into the oncoming traffic because I’m so used to it. But when I go out into the country, when I might not see a car for five minutes at a time, then I’ve caught myself driving on the wrong side of the road. But never any close calls. At least not yet, and hopefully not ever.”
I looked at my mom in surprise. I didn’t realize she’d been driving herself places, I assumed she’d been taking up Michael’s services as much as I had. Then I wondered if I shouldn’t learn to drive here myself. After all, I wouldn’t always have a chauffeur at my disposal. I had never needed a car when I lived in New York, and I always assumed I would move back there and not need one in the future, but it would still be a good skill to have.
“The thing I find most difficult, funnily enough, is the use of the windshield wipers and the blinkers. They’re on the opposite side on cars in America, so whenever I try to turn and put my blinker on I always end up throwing the windshield wipers up instead. Which not only shocks me, but is in no way useful to the people behind me who need to know I’m turning!”
A bit of laughter escaped everyone’s lips as they enjoyed at my mom’s stories. She certainly was a charming hostess. She was basically designed to be one of those heads of households who planned dinner parties regularly and wrote thank you cards when she was invited to dinner at other people’s houses.
As the appetizer plates were brought out, there was another small lull in conversation, but then when the plates were taken away and the main course brought out, a cooked ham with so many side dishes I couldn’t even begin to list them all, everyone started complimenting the food and the chatter started up again once more.
“So, Julianne,” Sally started, “how are you liking Oxford?”
“I love it, so far. The classes are challenging, but not impossible. It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding as well. I’ve made a few friends, so I’m happy.”
Sally smiled at me, but I saw the smile get wiped off her face when Amy opened her mouth.
“It’s so nice that they let people like you in there now, even if you had to buy your way in.”
The silence in the room was palpable.