Strawberry Lemonade

1

Life had never been fair for me or my sister Martha, not only were we named like we were the children of celebrities, but bad luck seemed to follow us wherever we went. Ever since I was a small girl I wanted to travel the world and see things that people only dream of seeing, my father always promised to take me with him on his trips around the world for work, unsurprisingly he never did.
My mother, Carla, flipped houses that had either been abandoned or reposessed then sold them on or rented them out as her job. When my sister and I were aged about twelve and fifteen, we moved into this gorgeous georgian country house. It was large with spacious rooms and high ceilings, with about 9,000 acres of land.

I loved it there but it didnt take long for the bad luck to catch up. our father, Jack, left and never came back after our mother found out he was cheating on her with the same mistress for over ten years, they had a massive argument and he just walked out. He was a politician, although I cant remember what party he was with, but he caused quite a stir in the papers back in the day. I lost count of how many times we were stormed by paparazzi when we were just trying to live our lives.

After my mother sold the georgian country house, she decided that we'd better settle down, although I was nineteen and I wanted nothing better to do than move away from her and Martha.
Although that never happened, by May 1995, I was 23 and still living with them in a small flat in london. I mean Martha and I were still sharing a room it was that bad.
It was on one particular morning (I'd gotten no sleep because of Martha's incessant snoring) that a letter addressed to all of us came through the letter box.
Everyone else was still asleep, so I sat at the dining table and ripped it open.

Dear Charlie, Martha and mum
You are formally invited to
The wedding of:
Andrew Moore and Poppy Henley
In Paris, France
on the 23rd May 1995 at 13:00
Please R.S.V.P as soon as possible
So that we may arrange your accomodation
Lots of love,
Andy and Poppy
xXx

Andy was my older brother by four years, nobody has heard from or even seen him for ages, not since he was a teenager, well he was ninteen, only just a teen when we last spoke. I read the card about a hundred times before it sank in that my older brother was getting married to this woman named poppy, who none of us even met. The phone rang before I could think properly. It had been left on the dining table instead of its charging port so I just reached out and grabbed it, then pressed the button to pick it up.
"Hello?" I call quizzically down the phone.

"Charlie" a rather old, tired voice comes down the line "if it isnt my favourite daughter, have you heard the news?".

"Why didn't you tell me Andrew's getting married?" I ask.

"Thats the winner, well done, are you and Martha going to be there?" He enquires.

"I dont know, we haven't spoken about it yet, im the only one awake and ive just opened the invitation. how about you?".

He stays silent for a second, "most likely yes, I spoke to Elenor and the kids, she was actually ok with it. So yes I guess I am".

"Thats good, well I'll speak to you soon, bye".

Almost as soon as I hang up my mother comes down the stairs looking like she has been dragged through a hedge backwards. She was out getting pissed with her mates last night, she seems to think that she can relive her youth now Martha and I are adults.
"Who was that on the phone?" She asks.