𝑫𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔 ⎯ Jonny Goodman

chapter four

At 7'O clock on the dot, the Goodman household began to fill up. Mostly with friends and family of Jackie's, but it was a party nontheless.

"I mean, she was just so patronising." Sephy growled at the memory of their little visitor, Kelly "Just because I don't have a job or a degree or a fiancé doesn't mean I'm nothing." She leant back on the sofa.

Jonny bit his lip and nodded, passing her another glass of wine. "She doesn't know anything." He shrugged.

"I mean, I care about real things. I care about my friends! I care about you, for example!" Sephy's hand found Jonny's knee.

Pink cheeked, Jonny looked up at Sephy. "You do?"

At that moment, Adam joined them. "What are you two doing then?" He knocked his brother on the elbow tauntingly. Jonny rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Adam. Are you single?" Sephy interjected, leaning forward a little to talk "Because I know someone that would be great for you. He's really funny, and clever-"

Adam stopped her. "Hang on, it's a man? ...Sephy, I'm not gay."

Sephy's eyes widened as she realised her mistake. She offered a nervous laugh in apology. "Oh god, Adam. I'm so sorry. You know what I'm like, god..."

Jonny would only grin smugly. "Excellent."

—

"Thanks for staying with me. It's really weird not knowing anyone." Sephy laughed as she took Jonny's arm. He nodded and lead her through to the dining room.

"That's not nessasarily a bad thing, wait until you meet horrible grandma..." Jonny smirked, handing Sephy a paper plate from the buffet table.

"Well, can't you introduce me to your normal grandma then?" Sephy teased, grabbing some crisps and chicken wings.

Jonny laughed, but all went silent when there was a sudden clatter and exclamation of "Shit! Shit! Shit on it!" from the kitchen.

Jonny and Sephy rushed into the kitchen at the sound of all the commotion, discovering Val, Adam and Jackie were already there to scold Martin.

"Martin! Look what you've done! I spent hours making that!" Jackie sighed.

Sephy stepped forward, still arm in arm with Jonny, to see what everyone was fussing over. There was the remains of a ruined cake allover the floor, and Martin scrambling to get it back onto the tray.

"Well done, Martin. Ruined all Jackie's hard work. Hope you're proud." Val hissed, standing by Jackie protectively.

"I didn't mean to bloody do it! It was a very slippery tray!" Martin insisted.

"What's going on?" Sephy furrowed her brows, looking about this scene of disaster in the kitchen.

Adam sighed and turned to Sephy to explain. "Mum made you a cake and Dad just dropped it all on the floor."

"Oh, I love cake!" Sephy grinned, but shut herself up "I mean... I could do without a cake, it's no big deal."

Jackie sighed in frustration and turned to her eldest son for a solution. "Adam, you'll just have to go down to the shop and buy Sephy a new cake."

"Me?" Adam groaned "Can't Pissface go? Him and Sephy could walk down there together." He suggested a little teasingly on his brother's behalf.

—

"This is ridiculous..." Jonny huffed, dragging his heels along the floor and kicking the pavement a tad as he walked.

Sephy laughed and shrugged. "I mean, I am quite hungry for a bit of cake..."

They turned the corner to the first bakery they saw. Jonny led Sephy inside, his hand resting on her hip, which Sephy was very aware of.

"This is nice..." Sephy looked up at Jonny, who was oblivious and still eyeing up the various macaroons on offer.

"What? Looking at cakes? I guess so..." Jonny shrugged. Sephy laughed, shaking her head.

"No, I mean hanging out with you again. Just us two." She smiled, squeezing Jonny's arm affectionately "...And I like that cake, there." She added, pointing to a marzipan coated one in the window.

Jonny went quiet, and nodded. "I like it too."