Plastic diamonds - Marjorie's backstory.

Chapter 15

A few weeks had passed and Marjorie was doing better than ever. She had been a lot more open and honest with Reece. Every time a parent had done something to upset her she'd express how she feels to the siblings. Reece would reassure her and do everything in his power to make sure she didn't believe the words that came out of their mouths. But every time Marjorie told Autumn what had been said to her, Marjorie had to hold her back from a few fights.

She had laughed a lot more, smiled a lot more, starting to feel more like herself. She was trying on different outfits, testing out different styles and colours to see what she liked more. And Reece was always by her side, telling her how beautiful she looked in everything she tried on. Sometimes when she was overwhelmed she'd go on walks during her lunch breaks with Winter, they could talk about anything and everything to each other. Charlotte and Marjorie had also been going to grab food together once a week, whether that was during their lunch hours or after work, they wanted to make sure they were both okay. Marjorie will always have a different kind of love for Charlotte, she was her first ever friend.

Even Marjorie and Mia became a lot more familiar with each other. They admired each other's confidence and growth, realising that maybe they could make a good duo for the future. Sometimes they would start arguing with each other, but Charlotte was always stood in between them and telling them to stop. She started to feel more safe and protected around her work family, no longer having a fear of them possibly judging her. They all had a huge impact of Marjorie becoming a much happier version of herself.

Marjorie, Reece and Autumn are currently sat in the girls' office. Marjorie and Reece had spent the weekend away in a little lodge by the woods. Marjorie was attempting to show Autumn pictures from their weekend away. "And then.. This was the balcony area!" Marjorie said, her tone of voice sounding exciting as she showed Autumn the pictures.

Autumn quickly glanced at Marjorie's phone, her tone sounding the same as usual. "Lovely." She then moved her eyes back to the computer screen.

"And then-" Marjorie started, but she was quickly cut off by the phone ringing. She quickly answered. "Hello, the nursery! ...Thank you Agatha, i'll be down now." She then hung up the phone, and looked between Reece and Autumn. "It was just Agatha, letters have arrived, i'll be back now." She smiled at them both and walked out the office.

Reece smiled as Marjorie left the office, he then slowly turned to Autumn and raised his eyebrow. Autumn slowly looked up at him. "What?"

"Be nice, Autumn." He said.

"How am I supposed to 'be nice' when she's shown me the same photo but from different angles for the seventeenth time?" She replied and narrowed her eyebrows.

Reece slightly laughed. "She's just excited." He started. "She's never been there before."

Autumn then heard a notification come through on the laptop, so she quickly diverted her attention back to the screen. As Autumn was reading the email that had just come through, Marjorie walked back in. "Hey you two." Marjorie said while flicking through the letters, she picked out one, it was labelled 'the Knight family.'

"Oh, look, this one's for you two." She said holding out the envelope. "Looks like an invitation to something." She then handed it to Reece.

Reece opened the letter and silently read it. His eyes widened at the realisation of what this was an invitation for.

Dear The Knight family,

You have been invited to the 30th wedding anniversary of Howard Van Gould & his wife, Amanda Van Gould.

02/08/24 – 6PM – Calton Gardens.
Feel free to bring a plus one.

— The Van Goulds.

Reece stood there for a second, staring down at the words written on the paper. His silence and shocked expression caught Marjorie's attention. "What's the matter my love?" She asked.

Reece's head shot up, realising the Marjorie was staring at him, he slowly turned his head and saw Autumn staring too. "Big brother?"

"Marjorie.." He said, turning his attention back to her. He slowly handed the piece of paper to Marjorie, as soon as it reached her grab, she took it off him and started reading. It only took her a few seconds for her expression to quickly change, she slowly moved her eyes upwards to look back at Reece.

Marjorie shook her head and forced the invitation back into Reece's hands. "What is it?" Autumn spoke up.

Marjorie turned her head and spoke while an annoyed expression. "It's a thirtieth wedding invitation. For my mum and my step dad."

Autumn tilted her head slightly, Marjorie had told Autumn bits about her childhood, but she had never gone into full detail about it. "Did you not get one?" Autumn asked.

"No. I never have." She replied, she was clearly hurt. "I don't understand, how are you two invited, and yet they can't even get in touch with their own daughter."

Reece stepped closer to Marjorie and placed his hand on her waist. "It's our dad, the Knights and Van Goulds did some business in the past, which is probably why we get invited every decade."

"What do you meaning every decade? You've been invited to all three?!" Marjorie said, looking back and forth between them as she spoke.

"We've never been to one." Autumn spoke up. "They always seemed like a big waste of time."

Marjorie looked down at the floor and shook her head, she sighed. "You know what, it's fine. I'd much rather spend my time with the people who actually care for me anyways."

Reece placed his finger under Marjorie's chin and lifted her head up. "Don't let them get to you, my love. We can plan something special instead of going."

Marjorie smiled. "I'd like that."

"That's my girl." He said, and leaned down to kiss her. "I should probably get going, but call me if you need me."

Marjorie nodded and waved goodbye to Reece as he walked out the office. She then turned to go sit down at her desk. "By the way, we have an inspection next week." Autumn said.

"That's fine." She replied. "Do we know who?"

"Yeah, the email is singed off from someone called Terrance." She quickly scanned through the email again. "Oh, and he mentioned he doesn't need to be shown around, he used to work here."

Marjorie's head shot up, realising who this could be. "Wait... Is this the same Terrance who was manager here? About 20 years ago?" She asked.

"Hmm.." Autumn said in response. She then clicked on his email profile picture, turning the screen towards Marjorie. "See for yourself."

Marjorie's eyes widened. It was him.