Friday 21 September 2012

Telling the Family (Part 2)


The decision is made. In reality it was made a long time ago. Tonight was inevitable from the moment they met.  Now it has happened, there is one thing left to do.

"When are we going to let everyone know?" asks Matt

"You mean you haven't updated your facebook status yet?" Alex grins. Matt rarely lets a moment go by without telling the world. His enthusiasm for social media is one of the things she loves about him. He grins back at her, he loves her gentle teasing, it makes him feel part of their own special club. He pulls her closer to him on the sofa.

"Only Mum said to come over at the weekend. I thought we could tell them then."

"You've been planning this." Alex looks at him appreciatively. "I like a Man with a Plan."

He laughs, and gives her a peck. "No...not really...It just seems like a good time to do it." She kisses him back. "It is a good time to do it." She kisses him some more and soon they aren't thinking of anything except each other. Pretty soon they have rolled off the sofa against a pile of books waiting to be placed in the newly constructed shelf. Lolita,  Persuasion, Fifty Shades of Grey scatter in the path of their rampant bodies. At the time they barely  notice the book spines pressing on their backs, though they will feel the bruises later. And it takes them a day to spot the Dan Brown is so stained it has to be thrown in the bin. Afterwards, they lie on the blue pile rug stroking each others' skin as if for the first time. It is only hunger and Matt's urgent need to pee that forces them off the floor.

By the time he returns, she is already dressed and is in the kitchen rifling through boxes.

"What are you looking for?" he ask as he pulls up his trousers.

"The frying pan."

"What are we having?"

"Omelette...ah here it is," she finds it at the bottom of a blue crate.

"Yum. Champagne?"

"You really were prepared." She begins to chop vegetables. He takes the bottle from the fridge, carefully twisting the cork until the moment of release. Pop! It shoots up to the ceiling covering them both in the sticky spray.

"Cheers"  They clink glasses.

 "Here's to the rest of our lives."  Alex smiles. The future lies ahead of her. Everything she's ever dreamt of right here in front of her eyes. It's going to be great.

"I can't wait to tell my parents, " Matt smiles back, imagining the looks on their faces, the excitement they will feel. "I just can't wait."

5 comments:

Julie Cohen said...

I think I would like to be a fly on the wall at that weekend family dinner.

Anonymous said...

And now the flip-side! A really well-written piece, Virginia. I enjoyed this. Although the Dan Brown line made me cringe a little!

Steve Green said...

Heheh! I agree with Julie, it seems everyone will have something to add to the dinner-time conversation. :)

John Wiswell said...

It may be a rougher dinner than one of them is expecting...

Icy Sedgwick said...

Interesting way to flip the opening from one story to the next - with the common link of books!