A LITTLE HEART-TO-HEART
Abigail arrived at the old family home in the morning and was on her way to what her mother saw as her happily ever after. She had been married to Clive for five years and in the recent months; ever so often could be seen placing a hand protectively across her swollen belly. Although Emily had been more than willing to follow in her sisters’ footsteps, thus far, nothing was going according to plan.
She scowled at Abigail when she yelled at her to put on the earrings she had picked out.
“Emily Jane Vaz! If you don’t put on those damn earrings right now I’m going to pull those ears and put them on you myself! I don’t care if it means I’ve made another hole!!”
Emily smiled. She knew that Abbey was quite capable of following through with her threat. She took the earrings in her hand and stood in front of the full-length mirror in the room the girls had shared for so many years and said, “I know! I know! Don’t think I’ve forgotten that stunt you tried to pull after watching Parent Trap.”
The two women looked at each other and burst out laughing. When Emily was about six years old and Abigail all of ten, Abbey had taken a cue from Lindsay Lohan’s character in the Parent Trap movie and armed with nothing but a hot needle and half a lemon, she had tried to pierce an additional set of holes in Emily’s tiny ears. Fortunately, their mother had found them in time and was able to stop what would have definitely been a disastrous beauty enhancement experience!
Emily put on the eighteen carat gold chandelier earrings and looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing Abbey’s sapphire blue dress with delicate floral self-thread work. Abbey insisted that the dress suited her little sister better than it ever suited her and claimed that the colour brought out the chocolate-brown richness of her eyes. The waist length hair that was usually bunched up into a messy knot on top of her head had been painstakingly blow-dried and it cascaded down her back like a magnificent black waterfall. Abbey had even done her makeup mumbling something about how Emily couldn’t possibly be related to her if she didn’t even know how to use eyeliner to add some oomph to her look. Thin gold bangles clinked together and made gentle music every time she moved her left arm. Studying her reflection, she couldn’t believe what a difference it made when Abbey took charge. Emily found that she was beginning to look forward to the meeting a little bit.
She turned and gave her sister a hug. “Thanks for the makeover Abbey!”
Abbey grinned and pulled away tapping her swollen belly; “Gently now Em, don’t want to squash Dot do you?”
Emily chuckled and then sat down on the edge of the bed, playing with her bangles. “If Number Eight does indeed agree to a second meeting, I don’t think he will recognize me when I show up without all this makeup…”, as her sister turned to glare at her, she stopped talking. Then, “Seriously though,” she continued, the smile fading from her face, “what if this doesn’t work out either?” her voice had dropped down to almost a whisper. Abbey, who had been her closest confidante for twenty-six years, looked at her intently.
“There have been so many meetings with so many hopefuls. It hasn’t worked out before. I can’t take any more rejection…or rejecting. It’s becoming too hard. I was never girlfriend material Abbey, forget wife! Didn’t have one boy look at me all through college, did I? Now, who’s to say that wasn’t a sign? I wish Ma and Dada would consider the possibility that perhaps marriage isn’t the only path to attain nirvana or whatever; or at least that this may not be my time to get married. I mean, they’ve called you in haven’t they? Ma must sense I’m stuck in a rut.”
“Well, first of all, I got roped in because while you were off playing in the dust or at sports tournaments all those years, I was learning what colours best compliment my skin tone. I spent my time buying pretty dresses, like the one you’re wearing, instead of basket balls.”
She paused to see if she could get a giggle out of Emily. When that didn’t happen, she said softly, “Since when do you believe in the right time and all of that? Ma and Dada want you to have what they have and what they believe Clive and I have. Marriage can be a beautiful thing you know, see what’s come of mine.” She paused pointing at her ever-growing baby bump. “Dot will be here soon and I couldn’t be happier. I know how much you adore babies. I could try to tell you how much you can love a child, but there aren’t enough words in all the languages that exist, including klingon, to quantify it until you have one yourself. Easier to make a baby when there’s a man around? No?
“And it’s not only about babies. Ma and Dada have been married for more than thirty years now! They’ve been together so much longer than they’ve been apart. I’m quite sure they can’t imagine life without each other and want you to experience that partnership as well. They want you to be complete and happy and completely happy too, even though it may not always seem like it.”
Emily sighed and squeezed her older sisters’ hand. “I know Abbey. I know. I’m only suggesting the idea that perhaps we could stop this whole husband-hunting business for some time. Please talk to them?”
Abbey looked into Emily’s imploring eyes. She could see the process was becoming an arduous one for her and that they probably needed to call off the search for a little while if only to give Emily a chance to see if she could find Mr. Right on her own. So she said, “Alright. If this Ethan chap who you’re meeting with today doesn’t seem like ‘The One’ for you, I’ll talk to Ma and Dada and you can go on with life the way you see fit.”
Emily threw her arms around her sister ignoring her protests, thanking her for understanding what she was trying to say.
******
Please come back tomorrow to see what happens next! You can read the previous chapter here.
Am posting everyday in an attempt to complete the Ultimate Blog Challenge this month.
Filed under: Fiction, novella, UBC October, Ultimate Blog Challenge Tagged: Emily, fiction, novella, story, UBC October, ultimate blog challenge 
