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‘Thank you,’ I reply softly. ‘And she’s not that bad, she’s just a little oblivious to social cues sometimes.’

‘She has the attention span of a gnat.’

I just about choke on my drink when an uncharacteristically heavy cackle fights to leave my mouth.

‘Mr Petrov, there are some things we just don’t say out loud.’ I’m still fighting the remnants of a laugh as he looksat me with that bored expression on his face. ‘No matter how true they may be.’

‘Hmm,’ he hums, completely disregarding everything I just said. ‘Shall we go and sit down?’

‘Sure.’

We begin to walk towards our table but are stopped before we get there.

‘Daphne?’ I hear a male voice calling from behind me.

I turn around to see my Cousin Camilla and her fiancé waving, walking over to us.

‘Hi!’ I say and sign, after I pass my drink to Milosh. ‘Milosh, this is my Cousin Camilla and her fiancé Oscar Huang. Oscar and Camilla this is my boyfriend, Milosh.’

A boyfriend, Daph? Bella told me you had one but I didn’t expect him to look like this, Camilla signs, eyebrows raised. She gives Milosh a once-over.To be fair, I get it, he’s gorgeous.

I mean, look at the arms, I had no choice,I sign back, but don’t repeat that part out loud. She laughs and turns her attention fully onto Milosh, waving a hello.

‘Hi,’ Milosh says to Camilla and Oscar, taking Oscar’s outstretched hand for a brisk shake. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know sign language but it’s nice to meet you.’

‘Honestly, neither did I until I met Cam,’ Oscar replies verbally and in sign. ‘But she’s really good at lip reading, so just enunciate your words and you’re good for now.’To that, Camilla nods her head, smiling before looking back over to Milosh.

So, Milosh, tell me, what exactly are your intentions towards my cousin?Oscar starts translating as she signs.

He looks to me for a moment, his jaw ticking and his eyes moving from my mouth to my eyes before he turns back to Camilla and shrugs. ‘To love her the way she deserves to be loved.’

Well, that was a statement and a half.

28MILOSH

‘So, Daphne,’ a stuffy-looking older woman drawls. ‘What are your plans now that you’ve finished school?’ My arm is slung around Daphne’s chair and as soon as the woman finishes her question I can feel Daphne tense in her seat as she plasters a polite smile on her face.

‘I’m going to study Midwifery, starting in October.’

‘Oh, how… noble.’ The woman has the audacity to look disgusted. ‘And what does your father think about this? Surely he thought you should take Business, no?’

I lift my arm slightly off the back of Daphne’s chair and lightly touch the back of her shoulder, moving my hand in small lazy strokes. I don’t think she realizes she leans back slightly, sinking into my touch as she braces herself to explain her choices to this random woman.

I want to jump in and tell her to mind her business but I decide against that. This is Daphne’s world, has been for all of her life, so she’s more than able to handle people like this.

‘He knows I’m not all that interested in business and thinks midwifery is a great fit for me, but, hey, I’m very young so I have plenty of time if I change my mind!’ She keeps her tone light and sweet, but I know she’s itching to make a sarcastic remark.

‘You don’t think it’s a little…’ the older woman trails off, probably looking for some politically correct words. ‘Beneath you?’ she finishes.

Daphne’s eyes narrow slightly. ‘How exactly is healthcare beneath me?’

‘Well, for starters your father is George Green,’ the woman says, like the statement is self-explanatory.

I know the Greens have money but I don’t think I grasped quite how much until I came here. Isabella, Camilla and Daphne are the only Greens in attendance at the moment and it seems everybody wants a piece of them. But not to actually talk to them and get to know them, more to talkatthem about their parents. Daphne hasn’t gone one conversation without someone asking where her father is or how he and the business are doing.

‘I think midwifery is cool,’ chirps a handsome black guy who looks to be about my age, as he takes his seat between Daphne and the older woman, not before pressing a kiss to Daphne’s cheek. ‘Been a long time, Daph.’ He smiles as he places his drink down, holding out his hand to me. ‘Hi, I’m Jake.’

‘Milosh.’

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