Web Of Lies

Chapter 40~•~ Sorry

"This is something," Dad said as he took a seat on the couch in the living room. I responded with a shrug. "Did Estelle and Jack tell you what time their plane arrives?" I asked. 
"Yes but I forget. I have it written in my phone anyway. It turned out that my aunt and uncle were able to attend the wedding. "Well get some rest, Dad. I need to speak to you tomorrow."
"About what?" He asked but I'm sure he already knew. I looked at him with crossed arms. It was the same look he would give me when I was a child. "Luke told you?"
"What do you think?" I snapped. He got up and headed for the room I'd shown him to when we arrived. "I'll speak to you tomorrow then," he muttered.

I decided to start the dinner when I returned to the kitchen. I bumped into Darragh pouring himself a glass of water from the dispenser on the fridge. While in conversation with Darragh about our work, my phone started ringing from my back pocket. It was Luke. I showed Darragh the screen. "I've been summoned. Can you just caramelise the onions until I get back."
I headed up to the bedroom "What's up?"
"Wait 'til you see the wedding present Mark got us."
"What is it?" I asked. He took my hand and led me to the spare room that no one was staying in. He unlocked it with a key that sat above the door frame and held the door open. I blinked at the large rectangular box in the corner. Luke laughed next to me. "Something told me that would grab your attention. That's from Michelle."
I blinked. I was lost for words. "What's from Mark, then?" I prepared myself for something much worse than the white cot.
"Nespresso coffee machine," Luke replied.
I nodded and glanced at the red box in the other corner of the room. "Don't worry. The cot's already on eBay as we speak. The coffee machine came with a receipt. It was $298. So that's $149 for you and $149 for me."
"You can keep the money. I'm no longer doing this for the money."
"If you say so."
I nodded. I left him in the hallway and headed back down to the kitchen. Darragh stood by the stove. Courtney, Dean, and the twins were watching TV in the living room. Brittany was dropping her parents off at her place seeing as they were exhausted from the trip. She was going to be returning later to collect Darragh. He was also staying in her place. Mine and Luke's gran got along extremely well so they stayed together at John and Irene's place. "What do you wanna do before Brittany arrives to take me away?" Darragh asked. He planted himself in one of the white stools by the kitchen island. Surprisingly, he'd managed to caramelise the onions exactly the way I wanted. "You could help me out with the dinner?" I suggested.
"Brittany's shown and told me everything she's got planned for the big day."
I rolled my eyes at his ignorance. "And you're not gonna tell me?"
"No: But I can assure you that you'll absolutely love it."
"Of course I will because I enjoy being the centre of attention." I muttered sarcastically. Luke entered the kitchen. He headed straight for the fridge to grab himself the jug of orange juice. He silently poured himself a glass then left the room without returning the jug into the fridge. I sighed. I wasn't bothered to call after him. Darragh laughed as he put the jug back into the fridge. "Thank you." I turned back to the stove. "Do you wanna help me with this then?"
"No thank you."
I laughed. "I understand; especially with all this garlic."
"You're funny," he replied sarcastically. I giggled. Darren had lost a bet to Brittany so before he left Australia, he was forced to dye his strawberry blonde hair to snow white. Apparently, they'd bet on whether or not Brittany could persuade me into getting heels for the wedding rather than flats. I didn't know about the bet until after I'd bought the heels.

Luke re-entered the kitchen with his empty glass in one hand and a set of car keys swinging around the index of his other. He silently rinsed the glass by the sink next to me. "Stephen's coming over so you'll want to make more."
"We could just half the amount of food in your plate. It'll help with that stomach."
I looked up at Luke. His face expression was unreadable. "I'll have you know that my weighing scale-"
"Is how you got my phone number."
Luke grumbled something under his breath but whatever it was, was lost in the eruption of Darragh's laughter. "I'm out," he said while still laughing. He jumped off his stool and briskly exited. I was left alone with Luke. He looked at me without an expression. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you today?"
I anxiously bit the bottom corner of my lip. "Sorry," I muttered. He scoffed. I heard a heavy set of feet coming down the stairs. His lips suddenly attacked mine. Forgetting about who was coming down the stairs, I didn't hesitate to respond. I could feel his anger through the kiss with the way his tongue grinded against mine with frustration. "I'm sorry," I mumbled between kisses. He didn't reply. He crushed my back into the stove with his body against mine. I heard him switch off the stove, remove the pan from the hob,  then quickly grab a fistful of my hair. before it touched it. His other hand pressed my hips into his with it resting on the small of my back. He gradually moved down to my neck. His mouth was warm against my skin as he left me with open-mouthed kisses. I moaned quietly. It felt like only a second had passed when he abruptly parted. I blinked at him in question. As if there was someone with us, he very closely mumbled into my lips: "Tell your father that I don't care whether he gives me his blessing or not. I would care if I wasn't marrying you."
I took a moment to wrap my head around what had just happened. "I'm going out for a while. You can give Stephen my portion." He released me, grabbed his keys from behind me, and left. I now stood behind in front of Dad and Courtney. I wanted to run away at this moment. My cheeks were on fire. It took me a moment to realise what Luke had done. I was lost in my own thoughts that I wasn't even paying attention to what Courtney and Dad were saying. Luke had got me to apologise for being a bitch. I was happy to do so but he'd also found a way to get under Dad's skin and leave me almost too embarrassed to speak to him. "Yes?" I muttered. I struggled to make eye contact with either of them. I looked at the front door between them. "Dad has something to say," Courtney said while grinning. "It's probably going to make things much more awkward," she continued. I refrained from rolling my eyes. Dad's poker face to hide how uncomfortable he was, was much better than mine. On the other hand, Courtney was more than glad to grin like a sister who was excited to see their sibling get in trouble. It was the same expression she had on her after snitching on me to Dad because I'd snuck out at night. "After speaking to Courtney and Dean, I can fully understand why you didn't tell us about him. As long as he makes you happy, I would be proud to give Luke my blessing."
"Thank you," I said quietly. I wanted to hug him but was still mortified. Fortunately, he approached me and pulled me into a long tight hug. He released me after kissing the top of my head. "I'll be in the living room. I'll eat later. I'm not so hungry at the moment
"I laughed. "That's okay. I'll heep your food in a dish in the microwave."
I laughed. "Okay. I'll leave your food in a dish in the microwave for whenever you want it."
"Thank you, princess."
"You're welcome, my king." I turned back to the stove. "Thanks for talking to Dad," I said without facing Courtney. She laughed, knowing I was still feeling awkward. "Can I see the dress?" She asked.
"Yeah. Just let me put this to simmer. Get Darragh. I know he'll be dying to see the dress. Rather than going into the living room to where Darragh was, she yelled for him to come into the kitchen. I turned back to give her an annoyed look. She grinned. Darragh slouched into the kitchen. "Where's your poor Fiancé?" He asked. "I hope you apologised."
I rolled my eyes at the teasing look Courtney gave me. "What did she do?" Courtney asked.
"Just being her normal rude self."
"What's new?"
"She did more than apologise though." Courtney replied.
I chose to ignore her immaturity. "He's gone on some errands. Do you want to see the dress or not?" I led them up to the bedroom.
"It's in there." I nodded towards the wardrobe. I sat on the edge of my bed and laughed at both of them gawking at the size of the wardrobe. "If that surprises you; you'll be shocked to know that most of the clothes in there belong to Luke."
"I'm actually not that surprised," Courtney commented. Darragh slid open the large mirror doors. "Wow," Darragh gasped.