Champagne Problems

Part Five

Theo moved the conversation on as if he said nothing out of the ordinary. As if I hadn't cried for months to him, crying that I couldn't live through that again. I would never live through that again. Suddenly, the lamb roast didn't taste as appetising as it was before, and the buttery roast potatoes weren't as addicting as the first bite had been.

I push the bits of food around on the plate, forcing myself bites to be polite as Theo's family chattered and laughed amongst themselves with no care at all.

"So, Mallory, when do you plan on moving into Theo's house?" Arthur asks, sipping on his bourbon as he pushes his now empty plate away from him.

"Oh um I'm not sure." I say, "I'm not sure how it will work out with my job in the city. I'll figure it out when the time comes."

"Better figure it out soon then, girl." 

Dread overwhelms once more, all the slight subliminal messages they've been sending me all night only confirms my suspicions more and more.

Half an hour later, dinner and dessert was finally over. I shoot up from my seat and start gathering empty dishes, cutlery and plates to take into the kitchen. Beelining for the sink, I set the dishes inside and start scrubbing them clean.

"Never seen you so eager to clean up, Mallory." Eleanor comments, taking out plastic containers out of the cupboards to store all the leftovers. I chuckle awkwardly, busying myself with cleaning the dirty plates and cutlery.

"Talk to your mum, recently?" 

I haven't talked to my mum properly in years, after completely cutting off contact with my father once I was eighteen. Once in a blue moon, I'll occasionally call to catch up on all the things going on in my life and she would do the same.

"Ah, only a bit a month ago, still a bit strained between us."

After a prolonged silence, the only noise accompanying us was the calming swish of water, I noticed something.

"Where is everyone?" I ask, turning around and noticing the kitchen was empty of no one but me and Eleanor.

"Tessa's getting something from her bag and the men are doing something in the living room.

I gulp, "Living room?"

"Yeah, they're quickly doing something up."

Tessa bursts into the kitchen, holding creams, makeup and a comb and dumps it onto the kitchen island.

"Mallory! Stop washing up and come here." Tessa drags me away from the sink and brings me to the centre of the kitchen. She starts moisturising my hands with a strawberry scented hand cream before inspecting my nails.

"Cute colour." She comments, dropping my hands to grab a lip gloss from the pile and start swiping it across my lips. 

"Thanks, they're just a baby pink gel manicure..." I mumble between the lip gloss wand being dabbed onto my lips.

"Yeah, yeah..." Tessa screws the wand back on to the tube and replaces it with the comb to run through my curtain bangs.