He watches his glass as he continues to spin it. “Do you want to hear what she had to say?”
Oh shit, not really. “Only if you want to tell me. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it,” I reply.
He nods and takes a sip of his wine and I hold my breath waiting for him to speak.
“She asked me to not ring my father.”
My heart drops. “Oh,” I whisper.
His eyes stay glued to his spinning glass as I watch him.
“Joshua, things sometimes happen.” I frown as I try to articulate my words. “Don’t just look at the end result.”
He looks up at me and frowns. “What do you mean?”
I shrug. “When she told me the story I felt real pity for her and for the first time I saw her as a woman who had made mistakes.”
His eyes watch me and I can hear his brain ticking.
“Nobody is perfect, Josh. Look at us. I broke your heart and then you slept with Amelie and you didn’t mean it to happen.” I shrug my shoulders. “Unexpected things happen sometimes, Josh.”
He shakes his head in disgust and I grab his forearm over the table. “A baby could have resulted from that, Joshua. You and Amelie could have had a baby together very easily and it would have ruined our whole future.”
He fakes a shiver. “Don’t even say that,” he murmurs.
“What I am trying to say is, whatever has happened with your mother I don’t think that it was ever intentional and that she didn’t find out until it was way too late to tell anyone.”
He closes his eyes. “Tash,” he whispers in frustration.
“Just listen to her. Don’t judge her until you know all of the circumstances.”
He shakes his head in frustration and our meals arrive. “Here you are.” The waitress puts our meals down. “Will that be all, sir?”
“Yes, thank you,” Joshua replies.
I give him a sad smile as I rub his forearm again. “Josh, I’m not taking sides on this one. I need to stay out of this because you two will work this out eventually but if she and I fight again I doubt we will get past it.”
He shakes his head as he cuts his fish. “I can’t believe you’re defending her. Don’t bother, she’s a witch.”
I drop my head to hide my smile and what I really want to do is point at him and scream oh yeah baby, you nailed it in one but I bite my tongue. I’m so taking the high road with this one.
He takes a bite of his food. “Leave my mother to me anyway. You just concentrate on organising the wedding.”
I smile broadly. “What do you want me to organise?” I whisper.
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Whatever needs to be organised.”
I bite my bottom lip in excitement. “I’ve never done this before.”
He frowns. “And I have.” He shakes his head like I’m an idiot.
“Well shit, I don’t know what to do,” I mutter as my head starts to spin.
He smiles as he eats.
“Where do you want to get married?” I ask.
“Wherever you pick,” he replies nonchalantly.
“When?” I ask.
“A couple of weeks.”
I screw up my face. “A couple of weeks. I need to lose like five kilos before I get married.”
“Stop eating McDonald’s then,” he mutters under his breath.
I fake a smile. “Ha, ha, you’re so funny.” Fuck, Operation Slimdown is back on with a frigging vengeance. I sit still as I try to comprehend what to do first-this is overwhelming.
He stops eating. “What is it?’ he asks.
“I can’t do it in a couple of weeks,” I murmur in a panic.
He smiles sympathetically. “When would you like to get married presh?” he asks gently.
I think for a moment. “I would like to get married in fourteen weeks.”
He smiles. “In May?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He gets out his phone and scrolls through his calendar. “How’s May the 21st?” he asks.
I bite my bottom lip to stifle my smile. “Perfect.”
He smiles again. “And where would you like to get married presh?”
I think for a moment and narrow my eyes. “Kamala, on our ledge,” I reply hopefully.
He picks up my hand and kisses the inside of my palm. “Sounds like a date.”
Our eyes meet and I am overcome with emotion. My eyes start to fill with tears. After all we have been through this is finally happening.
He smiles and points to my plate with his knife. “Eat your fish,” he mutters.
I drop my head and smile as I pick up my knife and fork. May the 21st… May the 21st… May the 21st… May the 21st… this shit just got real.
“Where’s Bridget?” I ask Joshua as I come down for breakfast the next morning.
“Out by the pool,” he replies as he shakes his protein shaker.
I walk out and find her sitting on the edge of the pool drinking her coffee, her feet dangling in the water.
“Hey babe.” I smile.
“Hi,” she replies.
I sit next to her and put my arm around her. “You ok?” I ask as I drop my feet into the water.
She nods. “Yeah.”