Mars? Yeah Right!

Chapter 16

16

"Are you alright honey?" Dad asked as we drove home about twenty minutes after the Awkward Moment of the Century. "You're being really quiet."

I shrugged. I was definately not going to explain to him about what just happened. As far as Dad was concerned, I still drank from a sippy cup and played Barbies with Teresa every day.

"I'm fine," I said, carefully nonchalant. "Just tired is all. Terry called me at the crack of dawn this morning."

He nodded. And that was it. He let it go.

God I love my Dad.

I was still somewhat traumatised from my experiance with Eamonn when we got home, but Dad cheered me right up by managing to walk in to the gable of the house instead of through the door.

Twice.

When we did enter the kitchen, it was to find it in a considerable state, with vegetables half chopped on the counter, a pot of half cooked potatoes in the sink and a load of ironing dumped on all of the chairs. There also seemed to be a lot of activity upstairs, judging from the many thumps, bangs and curses I could hear. Half afraid already, I turned to Dad. "What the heck is going on here? Does this have something to do with why you guys needed me home?"

To my surprise, Dad gave a little snort of disgust, then gestured extravegantly to the hall and stairs. "Why don't you go and ask your mother? She knows more about this than I do," he said sarcastically.

Okay. Now I was worried.

"Mam?" I called as I made my way up the stairs. "It's me!"

There was a short period of scuffling, then Mam's head appeared over the banisters, her hair soaking wet and sticking up all over the place. Evidently, she'd just been in the shower.

"Oh good, you're home Aine! Come up here, I need your opinion on something."

Then she disappeared again. I made my way up the stairs, humming the theme song to Psycho. Clearly my mother had finally gone insane and Dad was afraid to tell me, for fear of forever being known as the man who blighted my innocent girlhood.

When I walked into my parents' normally scrupulously neat bedroom, my first impression was that a bomb must have gone off at some stage. Clothes were scattered everywhere, the floor was covered in pair after pair of high heels and in the middle of it all was my mother, dressed in what I had to admit was a very pretty purple dress.

"So?" she said expectantly as I stood in the doorway, utterly bewildered. "What do you think? I'm not sure about the colour. And is it too casual for a party?"

"What party?" I asked. Mam sighed. "Your father, I swear to god! He didn't explain to you did he?"

"Um, no."

"As I thought. What's going on is, we've been invited- on ridiculously short notice, I might add- to a garden party in Dublin by my boss. And I feel we have to go, because I'm hoping to get that promotion to Management he's been dangling in front of my department for the past two months."

"A garden party?" I turned to look out the window. It had started out a very nice day, but now heavy dark clouds blanketed the sky and it had already begun to drizzle slightly. A storm was definitely on the way.

Mam shook her head. "I know, I know. But I suppose we'll have to deal with it. Now seriously Aine, what does this dress look like on me?"

It took me an hour to convince her to leave it on and another two to get her fully dressed and ready. In typical man fashion, Dad waited until it was almost time to leave and Mam was in a complete flap about being late before sauntering up the stairs and returning about two seconds later completely dressed and ready.