All eyes on me, I wasn’t sure where to begin. I told myself I may as well start with the wedding debacle and the fact that there wasn’t going to be one. “Well. The thing is…”
“I have to go back to the US,” Fin said, interrupting me mid-sentence. “To start another work project.”
I flashed him a look wondering what he was doing.
“Ooh, that sounds exciting,” Mum said. “For the telly?”
Fin nodded. “It is, yes.”
“Are we allowed to know what it entails?” Mum asked, clearly keen to know more.
Dad leaned forward in his seat. “In America, you say?” he said, sticking to the salient point.
Fin nodded.
“So when do you have to leave?” Dad said.
Here we go,I thought.
“On the 31st,” Fin said.
“Of January?” Dad said.
“December.”
Mum appeared mortified. “But what about the wedding? How can you plan a wedding if you’re in two different countries?”
“About that,” I said, ready to explain there was never going to be any wedding for a second time.
“I’ve asked Holly…” Fin looked at me nervously, “…to come with me.”
Mum and Dad stared at him aghast. “But you leave in a week,” they both said.
“I do,” he replied.
“Andareyou going with him?” Dad asked me.
Fin shifted to the edge of his seat, evidently wanting to know the answer to that question too.
I looked at Fin direct. “Yes.”
“You are?” Fin asked, appearing both surprised and relieved.
“You are?” Mum and Dad said.
I smiled at Fin. “I am.”
“Fantastic.” Fin couldn’t seem to stop grinning, his gaze not leaving mine.
“That is good news,” Dad said.
“It certainly is,” Mum said.
“Excuse me?” Frowning in confusion, I immediately turned my attention to my parents. “Are you for real?” I thought about my Caribbean holiday and the response it had received. While Dad might have understood the reasons behind it, Mum hadn’t at all. The guilt trip I’d been put through every time I spoke to her had been unbearable. After the way she’d gone on, I’d expected at least some dissent on her part.
“Like you keep saying,” Mum said. “You need some excitement and adventure in your life.”
“Not too much adventure, mind,” Dad said, looking at Fin. “We all know what some of these TV people are like.”
