Until I Met You(90)

“Your auntie seems a lot younger than your mum. What gives? Everyone’s younger than everyone else who they shouldn’t be younger than.”

“Okay,” he said, looking at me completely confused. “That made a lot of sense, but here goes. They share the same dad. My grandparents split up when my mum was about sixteen, seventeen. My granddad found someone twenty years younger than him, and the rest is history.”

I shook my head. “Your family are completely confusing. I can’t possibly keep up.”

“Well, I think you know by now that my family gets around a lot. Despite what I was like when you met me, it was never something I was happy with. I suppose, I just wasn’t happy. Period.”

I looked at his solemn features and my heart reached out to him. I caressed his face and smiled, turning our bodies to face each other. “You know how much I love you right? I want nothing more than to make you happy. You mean the world to me. You’ve taught me just how good love could be.”

He took my hand and kissed me gently on the lips. “I only wanted to be happy. My dear Cookie, you’ve made me delirious.” He smiled showing that sexy dimple of his.

“When can you take me back so you can show me more of your massaging techniques? I have this sudden urge to have you all to myself right now.”

Seth gently bit the bottom of my lip. “You know, I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Can I interrupt you two lovebirds for a moment,” Thomas asked.

We both turned around and I instantly blushed. Melissa was standing there with her arm through Thomas—and she still looked like she was chewing a wasp.

“You two look positively giddy with each other. It’s nice,” Thomas said, smiling. “Now, I know you probably want to get going soon. I remember what it was like when I first met your mother. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other.”

Thomas laughed, Melissa cooed in his direction, and Seth looked away in mild disgust.

“Dad, that’s not something I want to picture right now, so moving on please.”

“Okay, very well,” he said, chuckling. “I just thought it would be nice to go inside for a little while and have a little chat here with Angelina. She’s important to you, so I would like to get to know her a little bit more. It’s too noisy out here and I’m sure our guests could spare us for a few minutes.”

I was nervous as I didn’t know what to expect. I was wrong to feel that way as Thomas just wanted to know a little more about me. I told him about living in Cornwall and being offered this job in London. I told him about how persistent Seth was when we first met, and that he wore me down with his charm.

“Good job, son. I’m proud of you, buddy.” He looked over at Seth, smiling. We were both sat together on one sofa whilst Thomas and Melissa sat on the other. Luckily for me, Thomas asked all the questions, Melissa just sat there, smiling falsely.

“Thanks, Dad. She was worth it.”

The rest of the conversation was about the Jacobs’ and how they found their fortune. It would seem they weren’t from entirely poor families, but Thomas made a huge amount on the stock market. Due to some very wise choice investments and great timing, he made an absolute killing. It would seem that the Jacobs’ had a winning streak, considering Seth seemed to have carried the luck with him also.

I got the feeling though that Melissa wasn’t entirely comfortable with Thomas sharing his story of wealth with me. I never once felt it was because he was bragging in anyway. It just seemed like a nice success story. Melissa, on the other hand, didn’t want me to know a thing—for obvious reasons. Little did she know I just didn’t care whether he had money or not. If only she knew just how much he really meant to me.

We all shared a bottle of the finest scotch after that, and things were very pleasant and relaxing. I could tell Melissa wanted to throw me some more daggers, but she was being very cautious with when and how she did it. She wasn’t giving into me anytime soon—that was for sure.

We left a little after that, and it was already starting to get really dark. It took a while to get going considering the amount of people we had to say goodbye to.

Once in the car, I took a great big sigh and closed my eyes a little. I didn’t realise just how exhausted I was until now. Did meeting parents always feel this draining?

“Are you okay?” Seth asked. “I’m sorry I put you straight into the lion’s den like that. I hope it wasn’t too much for you?”

“No, of course not,” I said, shaking my head. “They’re all lovely, Seth. Very welcoming and kind. Thank you for bringing me.”