Page 41 of Plight
Danielle snort-laughed, loud, and I swear my heart skipped a beat. She’d done it a lot when we were kids and was always so embarrassed by it.
I placed my hand over hers. “That always was and always will be one of my most favourite sounds in the world.”
“Oh, shut up.” She smiled sheepishly, as we stopped at the table.
I winked and pulled her chair out.
“Just in time,” Mum said, excited. “It’s starting.” She rubbed Laura’s arm. “Here we go, sweetheart.”
The chandeliers above dimmed, and the emcee introduced himself, explaining to the patrons in the room what the program for the evening would entail. Laura’s presentation was third on the list, right after dinner was to be served.
We listened to the first presentation, and I casually leaned back and draped my arm over Danielle’s chair, my fingers lightly tracing circles on her shoulder. She fidgeted at first, even kicked me under the table, but her skin was so soft; I couldn’t help myself.
“So,” Laura said, before forking some quail into her mouth, “how’d you and Danielle get back in contact after all these years?”
“Facebook.” My answer was short, sharp and quick.
“Of course.” Laura nodded, smiled at Danielle, and took in another mouthful.
I glared. If she thought she could successfully cross-examine the cross-examination king, she was sadly mistaken.
“So how long had you been seeing each other before you got engaged?” she continued to probe.
“About six or seven months.” Again, I didn’t lie; that was the approximate time it had taken before I proposed to her with the Cheezel.
“Huh,” Laura said, poking her fork back into her entrée.
“That long?” Mum exclaimed. “Why didn’t either of you say anything?”
“Because we didn’t want to.”
I smiled at Danielle, the kind that told her I could handle this, that she was safe and to trust me.
She smiled back and picked up her glass of wine. “We just wanted to keep it to ourselves for the time being. That’s all.”
“That’s fair enough, dear. We all need our privacy.”
“So where’s your ring?” Laura mumbled, nodding toward Danielle’s hand.
Danielle looked at her ring finger, twiddled her fingers, and giggled. “I ate it.”
I laughed. “Yeah, she did. I’ve been meaning to buy her an inedible one ever since.”
“But I like the edible ones. They’re tasty.”
“What on earth are you two talking about?” Mum asked.
Danielle shuffled in her seat and dropped her hand to my lap. It surprised me. I never expected her to play along as convincingly as I would.
“He proposed with a Cheezel,” she explained.
“Elliot Elijah Parker! Please tell your mother that you proposed with a proper ring.”
“Whaaat? A Cheezel is a proper ring.”
Mum dropped her head to her hands and then peeked through her fingers. “Is he serious?” She looked to Laura for an explanation.
“I’m not sure,” my sister replied. “Elliot has a very good poker face.”
I did.
And she’d be wise not to forget it.
