Page 91 of The Missus
‘I could get used to that title,’ Keira said as she climbed in. But she already had. Alanna treated her like a queen, always. She made it so easy to feel like she deserved the love she’d run away from her whole life. In turn, that made it easier to give it back, too. The fuck up she was waiting to make hadn’t happened. Not yet. Every day, it felt a little less likely to ever come.
***
Later, at home, they were relaxing in front of the TV. On the coffee table was a piece of post that had been received this morning, an invitation.
‘So, are we going?’ Keira asked, looking at the invitation. It was very fancy. It was going to be a big deal, this shindig. She didn’t want to go for numerous reasons, but ultimately, it would be Alanna’s call.
‘Why the hell would weevergo to that?’ Alanna asked.
‘Because it’s your mother.’
‘Exactly,’ Alanna said.
‘Your choice.’
‘I just don’t know if I can do this one,’ Alanna said, dread in her voice.
‘But what if this is the one where she gets hammered and does karaoke? You’d kick yourself.’
‘That would never happen,’ Alanna said flatly.
There was a knock at the door. They swapped a look. ‘Shall we pretend we’re not at home?’ Alanna whispered.
‘I heard that,’ Sandra said through the door. ‘These doors are practically made of balsa wood.’
Alanna shook her head and got up to answer the door. She opened it to find Sandra with her fiancé.
‘So, are you coming to the wedding or not? Because everyone else has RSVP’d,’ her mother said sharply.
Keira didn’t want to get involved, but she got up and joined Alanna at the door, placing a hand on the small of her back for support. She felt Alanna’s spine loosen a bit at the contact.
‘To be perfectly frank, Mother, I don’t know if I’m going to come,’ Alanna said.
‘Why not?’ Sandra demanded.
Alanna gestured at the intended groom. ‘Our previous relationship makes it a bit odd. Can you not see that?’
Benjamin rolled his eyes and slipped his hand into Sandra’s. ‘Look, you said you were over us.’
Alanna nodded. ‘And I truly am, Benjamin. It’s all good in that department. But it’s just weird to be Eskimo sisters with your mother.’
Sandra frowned. ‘You keep using that phrase, what on earth does it…’
‘I’ll tell you later,’ Benjamin said to Sandra, and she nodded. Keira would have paid cash to see that discussion.
‘Well, give it some thought. We’d like you to be there,’ Sandra said with a small nod. She and her young husband-to-be went back across the hall to their place.
Alanna shut the door. ‘It’s normal that I’m creeped out, right?’ she said to Keira. ‘I’m not going mad here?’
‘You arenotgoing mad,’ Keira said. ‘I can’t even imagine how it feels to know…’ Keira shuddered. ‘I can only thank god Jeremy Kyle’s not still on the air.’
‘Look, let them do…’ Alanna winced, ‘…whatever. But I don’t think it’s fair to ask me to sit there watching them swap spit at the altar. It’s the stuff of nightmares.’ She paused. ‘You know, when we broke up, I called him a motherfucker. Little did I know…’
It was a shocker, no doubt. Benjamin had apparently ‘taken solace’ in Sandra after the big party bust-up with Kelly and it had taken a romantic turn. Poor old Jonty was quickly dispatched, and Sandra and Benjamin set up home soon after. They should have seen it coming. Benjamin always had seemed a little too pleased to see Sandra and vice versa. All that time, they’d thought her mother was trying to get them back together and that Benjamin was on board. How wrong they’d had it. And now wedding bells were in the air.
‘Hey,’ Keira asked, sitting back down on the sofa. ‘Do you think Benny ever asks your mother to—’
‘If you finish that sentence, I’ll never sleep again,’ Alanna told her.
