My Son(40)

Marc had looked a little lost for words as his eyes had shone brightly at her

“You painted this?” he had asked, a noticeable quiver in his voice, as she had nodded shyly

“I..I hope you like it”

“I love it” he said softly with such sincerity in his voice that she had flushed with pleasure

“You have a great talent” he said simply, and she was surprised to see that he truly looked choked up as his eyes had misted over.

Quickly Kelly had handed over the card which she had also made, a painted caricature of him and Max at a birthday party and he had opened it with an admiring smile.

“Thank you Kelly....I think your mummy topped the Ferrari” he said softly to Max.

Beth had watched the exchange between them both, a soft smile playing on her lips.

Later that evening, at 6, with the party due to start at 7 o’clock, Kelly’s dress had finally been delivered to the house, where she was pacing impatiently for it, moving backwards and forwards in concern at the lateness. With a sense of relief she had ran upstairs to get ready, but as she had opened the dress bag she gasped in shock. Instead of one of the other cocktail dresses she had chosen, the gold dress lay in its place, complete with shoes and matching bag and accessories. Running downstairs to Beth she had frantically asked for Celeste’s number, explaining the problem as she had dialled the number.

“I said any dress except the gold one”

She had groaned “She must have thought I said the gold one” moaning as the number remained unanswered, not surprising as it was the week-end. With finality Kelly had thrown up her hands, stating dramatically that there was no way that she was wearing the dress and that she was not going to the party. With a sigh Beth with Max in her arms had followed the flustered Kelly upstairs to see just how bad it was.

When she had walked into Max’s room where both he and Beth were sitting Beth had gasped in wonder

“Kelly….you look beautiful” The woman had smiled with admiration

“I feel half naked” she had countered uneasily, seeing as Beth had shaken her head firmly

“Believe me sweetie, you look wonderful. That is one classy dress”

Kelly had looked carefully at her reflection in the mirror. Over the past few weeks, she had developed more of a tan which complimented the gold of the dress and she could see that it skimmed over her body in a most flattering way, yet still covered her in the important areas. However, she had still felt self-conscious as to how exposed her back was.

Beth, however had snorted

“Have you seen what half of these young girls wear today, you’ll look like an old granny in that outfit”

Laughing Kelly had felt reassured that there was nothing inappropriate about the gown, before agreeing to wear it.

After a shower she had put her make-up on and pulled her hair into a soft bun which was adorned with some of the wonderful accessories provided by Celeste. She had felt strange slipping into the dress with no underwear, but when looking into the mirror she had to admit that she did indeed look good. She had earlier given Beth the mobile monitor to keep an ear out for Max, who slept soundly next door, and after peeking in to check up on him she moved down the stairs to join the party.

Although she herself was half an hour late due to her dress, she was surprised to see just how many people were there already. The large hallway was full of people milling about, talking and laughing and drinking from one of the many trays of beverages being carried around by waiters, and as she had carefully picked her way down the grand staircase, she had found her eyes scanning the area for Marc. However as she had reached the bottom of the wide stairway it had been Philip who had came rushing over to her, his expression tense.

“I need to talk to you” he had cried wringing his hands

“What’s wrong” she had asked in concern

“How did it go?”

Looking around he had pulled her over to a quiet corner where he could talk without being too overheard, leaning in close to tell her the story

“Everything went perfectly” he had said hurriedly getting the words out

“When we had finished the main course, one of the waitresses brought over a huge bouquet of flowers and I went down on one knee.” He had paused before continuing

“Then the waiter brought over the glasses of champagne, one with the ring, and I asked her if she would marry me”

Kelly had smiled softly “and…”

“And she said she would think about it” he had said a tortured note in his voice

“What does that mean - think about it?”

He had moaned, his eyes filling with tears of misery

“She doesn’t love me…..she doesn’t want to marry me”