The Wedding

DEFINING DINNER

In the large dining room in Bloom's mansion, Nancy Bloom sat on her father's right hand, her hair thrown in a messy bun and her face filled with a bright smile as she listens to her father's stories and laughed heartily at his jokes not having a care in the world. Martha who was seated opposite Nancy could only fake a smile and pretend to be happy.

She was all too familiar with this scene, she has had many dinners in the Bloom's mansion in the past and she was not a stranger to Allman's jokes and heartfelt stories when he was with his daughter. It was one of the numerous things she was secretly jealous of Nancy about.

As a girl who came from a single parent where her father didn't want her mother or want anything to do with her, the Blooms unknowingly made her covet a good relationship with her father. One that she knew she could never have, so all she could do in the past was pretend to be happy for the father and daughter.

But today, she wasn't jealous of them or excited to hear Mr. Allman's stories, today when she looked at her friend and her father, she saw betrayers. People who didn't let her be with the one she loved. Even though, she didn't know the full story yet, she was sure the Blooms were keeping Richmond in the relationship with Nancy somehow, I mean which relationship doesn't change after so many years, how can he still love Nancy after so many years? What was so great about her?

Martha thought these things while putting on a fake smile and giving off a fake giggle which the Blooms thought was due to their discussion. Her phone suddenly beeped and she looked at it and saw Richmond's number. The one person whose number she didn't delete after so many years with the hope that he would still call and come back to her.

Her lips curled into a genuine smile and she looked up at Nancy and then Allman to be sure she wasn't discovered before opening the message;

"9 am at Rosa's diner tomorrow morning. I would explain everything, why I had no choice but to leave you. Please come, Martha, I want to make this right."

She looked at it thoughtfully and nods satisfactorily then looked at Nancy who met her gaze and gave her a genuine smile, one that she reciprocated with a fake one.

.......................................................................................................................................

While Martha was acting out her award-winning pretense act at the Bloom's mansion, Evelyn and Sharon walked into the Noosa's villa in another part of the city quietly.

While Sharon was expecting Evelyn to go straight to the dining room to face Steve with all they had discussed in the office earlier Evelyn headed for the stairs,

"Where are you going?" Sharon asked with surprise.

"My room." Evelyn replied as if she didn't remember a word of the conversation she had with her mother at the office.

"But your dad....."

"Mom," Evelyn began with an irritated attitude, "I can't stand dad and you know that he can't stand me either. Why don't you go and have a good night sleep or probably have dinner with him since you love it so much, I'll ask him about his health at the company tomorrow." Evelyn said and turned to climb the stairs leaving her shocked mother standing at the foot of the stairs when a maid hurried to them.

"Miss Evelyn, Madam, Sir Steve has been waiting for both of you in the dining hall for the past thirty minutes." The maid hurriedly said.

"What?" Sharon asked, then immediately headed for the dining room.

She had been so sure that her daughter would help her talk some sense to her husband and find out what exactly was going on, she didn't expect that her daughter would postpone it for her own convenience, she was just like her father. Both of them did not care for any other person but themselves and she was not going to be like them. Sharon thought to herself as she walked into the dining room.