An Email a Day (Andy Barber)

Chapter 9 - Delilah

I finish putting the last of the touches to the bouquet  for the window display that I'm making and then - Abi comes through into the back.

"Erm...Josh and Hannah are here..." She says and looks awkwardly at me.

I put down the scissors that are in my hand and blink. Josh is Will's younger brother and Hannah is his girlfriend. I haven't seen either of them since the funeral.

"O...kaaaaay" I say slowly and walk out, seeing the pair looking around the shop and talking to one another.

"Delilah! Hiiii!" Hannah now says too cheerily for my liking and almost suffocates me in a rather forced hug.  "Oh my gooood, look at you! She looks great doesn't she Josh?"

If by 'great' she means running on 3 hours sleep, fuelled by caffeine and having bags under my eyes bigger than Mulberry can offer then she needs her eyes tested.

"Sure does, great to see you again Delilah" he hugs me a little more gentle but still awkwardly, "hope you don't mind, we erm...well we wanted to see you and erm, ask a favour"

"You two want tea or anything?" I ask, wondering what the actual fuck is going on. Will's family have all but ditched me since he died and now suddenly his brother's in my shop wanting a favour?

Hannah brushes it off, "only if it's a skinny latte!" She now jokes but I can tell she's one of these people who go to a Starbucks and order some skinny chai mocha choka bullshit. She's always been into fitness and wouldn't even dare sniff a fairy cake for fear of just putting on weight from it.

"Just tea" I smile tightly.

"We'll pass thanks, it's only a flying visit anyway". Josh says.

Well can you make like British Airways and fly the fuck off?

"So...this favour? What was it?" I now ask, wanting to just get this over with.

"So erm...we're getting married!!" Hannah now trills and I raise my brows on surprise, but smile and nod.

"Oh wow...congratulations".

"I knooooow, what a stud right?" She laughs and eye roll in my mind. "So erm, yeah well, we came here because...well we wanted to ask whether you would give your engagement ring that Will's nana gave to him, back to us..." Hannah says a little awkwardly, "I mean, I know she gave it to will, but it belongs to the family and..."

"And now that Will is dead I'm no longer considered that..."

Josh now shakes his head, "No, No it's not like that, it's just...well Hannah was hoping that it would've been passed to me eventually..."

"But Nana gave it to Will." I state, "to give to me".

"Yeah but...now Will's gone you don't really have a reason to wear it anymore? But as it's a family piece? Well it's only right it's passed back to us so it can be given to me?" Hannah now tries to justify the reason.

"This isn't a game of pass the fucking parcel!" I say. "Nana wanted Will to have it, if she wanted Josh to then it wouldn't have been given to me".

Hannah stares at me, "but you're not married technically, Will's dead and there's not really a reason that you should wear it anymore - besides he brought you the wedding ring, that one should be more special?".

I look down at the plain wedding band against the stunning engagement ring. I didn't want two large rings, the engagement one was too nice to be overshadowed. Plus it meant more. Will's Nan have it to him especially.

"No" I say firmly. "It was given to me by Will, just because I'm widowed it doesn't mean that I'm not married to him anymore. I always will be."

If Will heard any of this then he'd be turning in his grave.

"It's a bit selfish though, it's a family heirloom!" Hannah argues.

"Nana made the decision. Just because Will's gone doesn't mean to say that I have to rid myself of everything he ever gave me. He's still my husband and I know he'd be pissed off if he was here now".

"He'd want his family to be happy". Josh puts in.

I shake my head. "If you want your fiancée to feel special then pick her out a ring yourself, you've got the money to do so after all. Now please leave" I say and storm out to the back of the shop.

"Will would be fucking disappointed in you!" Hannah yells at me as Abi now ushers them out and locks the shop door behind them.

She comes through to the back and sees me standing there. "You alright?"

I nod. "I need to go home for a while, clear my head..."

"Whatever you need babe, that bitch was out of line. I can't believe how fucking entitled they think they are".

"I can..." and grab my coat. "I have to go..." all but fleeing from the shop and speeding home where I curl up and sob uncontrollably.

Did I do the right thing?

Perhaps I should've just given in and gave it to them, but Will gave it to me. Every time I look at it I'm reminded of the day he asked me.

I take out my phone and in a dazed state begin to draft an email while my head is spinning. He's the only person who can probably bring me out of this mental state, and I don't even know what I'm really typing, but I don't care.

Please help me. I don't know what to do or who to talk to about this. 😭

I'm desperate.

Please reply.

I need you! 😭😭

Please!

Deli.