You Are So Not a Fallen Angel

Chapter 27

“Come on, Eliza, rise and shine.” My mother burst into my room and threw the curtains open with a flourish.

“I cannot believe you just said that,” I said, burying my head below my pillow, then pulling the sheet up for good measure.

“It’s time to get up,” she said, placing a cup of coffee on the bedside. I sat up, squinting in the light and reached for the beaker of sacred liquid.

“What’s this about?” I asked. My mother didn’t care about when I got up, and she wasn’t in the habit of bringing coffee either. This didn’t smell right. “Why aren’t you at work?”

“I’m working from home this morning.”

I glanced at my bedside clock. Nine thirty. I dropped back onto the cushions with a groan. The sun had been well over the horizon by the time I’d staggered up the stairs and collapsed onto my bed. I lay there, face down in my pillows, and thought it might be a good idea to have a shower, or take off my shoes, but I couldn’t move. Lorris could burst through the door and carry me off and I wouldn’t be able to move, I was that exhausted. It couldn’t have been more than three hours ago.

“It there a reason for the pitch invasion or it is just sadistic pleasure?”

“Don’t stay in bed too long, darling. We need all hands on deck to prepare for this evening’s party.”

I groaned again and burrowed even further under the blanket. How had I forgotten that tonight was my parents’ last party of the summer, the big bash before everyone scurried off on holiday? And every member of the household was expected to pull their finger out and contribute to making it a success. Not for my parents the practicality of a professional party planner. Oh no, they liked to do it themselves. Or, to be exact, get Eli and me to do it. part of their plan to keep us humble.

Since further sleep was impossible, I dragged myself from my feet and into the bathroom, thankful my mother hadn’t noticed I had taken to wearing sneakers in bed. I tried to revive myself with a warm shower, but my wits were still cloudy when I arrived downstairs, hot on the trail of more coffee.

“You look like something the cat dragged in,” Eli kindly pointed out as I searched for something to quell my churning stomach.

“Please stop, you’re embarrassing me,” I said, reaching for a banana, thinking better of it and grabbing an apple instead. “Where’s Flora?”

“In the village somewhere,” he said. “What were you doing, crashing about in the early hours of the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a run.”

“Maybe you should cool it on the running. It’s not doing you any favours.”

I fled the kitchen before Aunt Mandy could shanghai me into whatever domestic task she had in mind and retreated to my room. I didn’t have much time. Participation in the preparations for the Big Party was not optional, and with Mandy in charge, I would soon be hunted down and put to work.

I dialled Ivan’s number and paced up and down while it rang, yelling out a scream of frustration when I was redirected to voice mail. I shoved the phone in to my pocket and sneaked downstairs. But my efforts were vain. I was cornered by the back door by a belligerent aunt with a to-do list.

“Just the person I was looking for,” she said, a manic glint in her eye suggested it would take all my powers of persuasion to get out of this sticky spot.

“Sorry, gotta rush.” I threw the door open and bolted, not slowing until I had vaulted the gate and was halfway up the street. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.