A Greater Good (girlxgirl)

Dinner

They sat opposite each other at the dinner table, Everlyn making a point to avoid eye contact with her and she started pointedly  Everlyn every opportunity she had. James sat at the top of the table, continuously looking between them to see if he was missing something... again.

"So, Lyn, work's been busy?" James and Jane's dad, Mitchell asked politely.

Everlyn looked up and smiled at him, he was a really nice man and he got along with her own father, Tony, but she couldn't help but feel judged by him and his wife because of things that had been said about her by Jane.

"Yeah, it's hectic, it always is, but you know, lately it's been more so," she stumbled. She made herself quiet, she felt pathetic for being so flustered all because Jane was sitting opposite her. She would rather be a loud person, not quietly struggling with her fury.

"They're expanding, aren't they?" Steph, Everlyn's sister asked.

"Yeah, by 20%."

"Wow," Tony whistled.

"When will you have time to plan the wedding?" Everlyn's mum, Anne inquired.

"Well, weekends... and James' pretty much organised the whole thing, so..." Everlyn looked over and smiled at James, who smiled back at her. She wished desperately that they were alone, cuddled up on the couch drinking red wine. God! Years ago that thought would have bored her, but she'd gotten used to her slow paced life now.

"I'm loving it actually," he said and the table chuckled. "No, seriously!" he laughed. "It's good fun, we're having forget-me-not blue napkins and a four layer cake." He looked over to Everlyn. "All you have to do, my love, is choose a dress and rock up, that would be nice."

"Speaking of your wedding dress!" Steph announced, the thought re-entering the front of her mind. "We need to sort out the weekend that we'll go look." Steph looked across at Jane. "Do you want to come, Jane?"

Jane looked up from her meal, she locked eyes with Everlyn who was begging her not to with their communication through looks that had lived through time. 

"She hates shopping," Everlyn and James said in unison and they looked at each other awkwardly because of the unspoken reasoning behind their statements.

Everyone at the table was looking between Everlyn, James and Jane, cutlery ladled with food midway to their mouths. Rick, Everlyn's younger brother was smirking at at her, he was the only one who knew the full history between Jane and Everlyn, the only one at the table (apart from Jane and Everlyn) to know anything at all really. Mitchell was trying to see if the things Jane said that Christmas were true by reading into the glances between his children and Everlyn. Everyone else was basically clueless as to what was going on, only that tension was now stronger than it had been all night.

"Oh?" Jane said smugly.

"I mean... you can come if you want," Everlyn added quickly, trying to defuse the situation and make everyone believe nothing was going on or wrong. "But it'll be boring, just a bunch of white dresses, one after the other."

"Oh come on, Lyn," Steph said, "make it sound a bit fun!" She turned to Jane. "We'd love you to come, you'll make things a lot more entertaining."

Jane took a moment to think. Everlyn stared at her begging her to say no, how could she not feel awkward after being rejected the other day? For Heaven's sake, this woman had too much confidence. 

"Sure, I'd love to come," Jane said kindly.

Everlyn smiled quickly at her and the table agreed that whatever had just happened in the short amount of time was defused and turned back to their meals. But if anything, more power had been given to something much more serious brewing down the track.