Page 37 of Pillow Talk
His father laughed. Loudly.
Sen just stared at him. His father pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his eyes. He tried to control his laughter. He stopped, took a breath and began to speak again.
‘Senthil, what are you doing?’
Sen sat back. ‘I don’t know, Dad.’
‘How about starting by admitting that you’re in love with her?’
Sen’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘Who are you and what have you done with my father?’
His father shook his head. ‘Sen, we’ve never ever got involved in your dating life. And believe me there have been times when your mother wanted to wring your neck. Senthil, some of those women…gold diggers. Anyway, I’m guessing you can’t go to Sam for advice because you and Shona are hiding your liaison…’
‘Dad, you know too much. How do you know all this? This is insane,’ Sen interrupted.
‘I have my sources. Now, I’m here to give you advice. Tell me what’s going on.’
Sen stood up. ‘It’s getting late. You’re right, I don’t want to do this. Can we pack up and leave?’
His father nodded.
‘Senthil.’
‘Yeah, Dad?’
‘You didn’t say something back then, but you should say something now.’
Sen looked away.
Shona was on her way to Who’s Brew, a quaint coffee shop on Main Street. In a town where everyone knew your business, she was surprised that no one confronted her about leaving the shop.
She looked nothing like the girl she used to be, wearing sneakers to work. She was in tailored black pants, an off-the-shoulder top and shiny black heels. She was meeting Felicity. The wedding planner had called the day before to say she urgently needed to speak to her about something important. Shona told her she could meet at her office, but Felicity wanted to come to Rally.
Shona entered the coffee shop and spotted Felicity at a table next to the window. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore a vintage, black and white polka dot dress.
‘Shona, this is such a cosy coffee shop. I love it,’ Felicity said, as she stood up to hug Shona as if they were old friends.
The waitress came over and took Shona’s order – a café latte.
‘I’m so excited and nervous about this,’ Felicity began.
Shona raised an eyebrow. ‘Nervous?’
‘I’m nervous because I don’t know how you’ll react.’
Shona was starting to get nervous too.
‘Oh Shona, don’t look so scared. It’s nothing bad.’
‘Then just tell me,’ Shona replied, laughing.
‘I snooped. Well, not really snooped because it’s in the public domain. I looked at your business page on social media.’
Shona was confused and then embarrassed. ‘Felicity, I know it’s not up to scratch. It just hasn’t been updated in a while. My friend Anni is a marketing guru and she used to manage it, but she got married six months ago and we’ve all been busy.’
‘No Shona. It’s not that. I’m actually impressed. I snooped quite far back and found a picture of a wedding dress you designed and sewed,’ she explained.
Shona’s forehead wrinkled, remembering the only weddingdress she’d designed.
