Courtship

Part 8

When Marina got home she was beyond exhaustion. But that probably had a lot to do with the emotional stress in dealing with a man she had now labelled idiot, on top of the physical demands that came with being on her feet for hours. At least she had a day off to look forward to. She planned on sleeping. If she could stop thinking about that idiot man.

"Hey." Marina called tiredly as she stepped into the room and faced Cara and her older sister Isabelle, both of whom looked guilty. "What's up?" Her own concerns vanished.

Isabelle beamed. "Today," She said solemnly, and from what Marina could see, her sister was fighting the urge to blab, "Officially," Isabelle grinned, looked over at Cara, then back at Marina, "We are back in the black." She practically screamed. Which for Isabelle really wasn't normal behaviour. Well, not since she had taken over keeping this family afloat. The years had taken their toll. The carefree animated girl was replaced by a calm, collected woman as the family fought to stay financially viable.

"Really?" Marina broke into a smile as her sister's words sunk in. "Really?" She knew what they were talking about, but for so long it had seemed like a pipe dream.

Isabelle nodded vigorously. "Look." She gestured toward some papers on the table. "Ok, I know, it's just a thousand, but when was the last time we were in credit?"

Marina sank into a chair her tiredness momentarily superceded by the urge to whoop in delight. Credit. Magic words. Credit. Implications enormous. "So I can stop going to those bloody boring parties." She announced. Not that it really mattered. But at least if she stopped going to them she wouldn't have to see the idiot at work and at play!

"Not yet." Isabelle said apologetically, "We need to be really secure. Just maintain this for a bit longer." She knew that Marina was finding it hard, more so now that she was so near to completing her training. Marina groaned. Isabelle frowned. She put a hand on Marina's slumped shoulders, "Sorry Rina, just a few more weeks, two months tops. The investments are coming in. In a few months we should be in the clear. With a regular income. And no need to pretend we are solvent."

Marina huffed out a breath, "Good."

When their parents died, when Marina was just sixteen, it had changed everything. She went from being a child to being a socialite just to keep anyone from discovering the truth about the family's finances. The truth was that they were flat broke. Destitute was a more accurate description. The three sisters had struggled initially. But it wasn't long before Isabelle dropped out of Uni and they put a risky plan into action. A plan designed to keep anyone from finding out about their financial status, and a plan to rebuild.

It was a struggle. They quietly sold some family heirlooms to generate start up cash, and Isabelle used credit cards and risky but informed investments on a journey to recover their assets. They kept their social circle from finding out the true state of their finances, because they simply did not want the family name to be tarnished. Marina was delegated to live the high life. Party, mingle, show complete disregard for the way she spent money. But with help from Isabelle, and Marina's sheer tenacity, in reality she got her grades and went to med school. The fact that for years she held down two jobs, studied and kept up on the social scene were enough to put her off a hectic lifestyle. But for family she had continued.

Looking at the Sojour-D'Sa family from the outside, suggested a life of priviledge. The truth was that Marina put herself through med school. In order to keep up appearances she burnt the candle at both ends. The family couldn't afford to pay her uni fees, so she worked. Of course people thought she was pretending to slum it. After all she was turning up at all the key social events in the calendar, and she had new outfits for each event. What they didn't know was that Cara reinvented Georgiana's and Isabelle's wardrobe. It had taken Marina six years of hard work but she completed her studies, graduated and started working as a junior doctor at a hospital not far from home. She was now on her final rotation. She wanted to specialise in children's medicine, so this rotation was perfect. Or it would have been if she did not have to work with the idiot!

On tired legs she got up and went to the sink to fill a glass of water, "You know what? I think I should tell Harlington I want to marry him!"

"What?" Isabelle and Cara looked askance at each other. Where had that comment come from? Isabelle frowned at her youngest sister. Rina looked tired. Maybe they could cut back on the socialising. Or swap places. For clearly juggling her work and social life was starting to take a toll.

"It might keep him off my back, he'd be too scared to come anywhere near me." She turned, braced a hip against the sink unit, and grinned, "I really should tell the idiot that I want to marry him, it would scare him witless!"