The Decoy Date

Chapter Six

Her fear had been building all week, the dread of her mother finding out her boyfriend was fake, the dread of everyone finding out her fake boyfriend was one of her worst enemies, the dread of people reacting the same way as Jess had and judging her for her decision. She'd come close to calling her mother and feigning illness to get out of the visit, but it was her dad's day and she really wanted to see him; plus Charlie had been great all week, genuinely interested in her family and the stories she told of her childhood growing up with the world's most annoying mother.

Together they'd come up with a plan, deciding on a backstory to their relationship and that they would stay "together" until after Daisy's wedding, that way she had a date for big day and her mother wouldn't keep trying to find her one. They would sort out how to break up when the time came. When she'd met her mother and sister for brunch, she'd managed to avoid the questions both were firing at her, making them wait until the weekend. Mainly because she wasn't sure on the answers and didn't want to drop herself in the shit before they'd even met Charlie.

The week had gone too quickly, they'd only just begun to learn everything about each other when Saturday was upon them. Jess arrived at the shop early, they'd decided to close for the day instead of bringing in cover. She wasn't at all happy about the arrangement of going in Charlie's car, but gave in when she found out he had a vintage beetle and her only other option would have been on the back of Imogen's Vespa, an experience she'd endured a few times before and as she says never again.

The two of them waited for Charlie to arrive, an awkward silence had settled between them and had for most of the week; Imogen thought it must have been the longest Jess hadn't talked to her since an incident where she had thrown up in Jess' anorak hood after a trip on the Ferris wheel when they were eight. That time they hadn't spoken for a week and only had because Imogen's mother had enrolled her in ballet classes, which Jess found hilarious and made sure Imogen knew this. Even as an eight year old she was a little pretentious.

"I know you don't approve of this whole Charlie thing and I get that, but please don't give anything away today!" Imogen looked at her best friend through puppy dog eyes, hoping her pleading would work for the first time ever; Jess was a hard nut to crack.

"I wouldn't do that, I wouldn't sacrifice you to your mother I know what she's like; but I'm still going to give him a hard time on the drive there."

"That's okay, I think he's expecting it from you anyway after that punch you landed on him last week." They were both laughing as Charlie's car pulled up on the pavement in front of them, one look at his face set them both off again and it took five minutes before they were even capable of getting into the car.

"Is this thing really safe? it seems a bit of a hunk of junk." Jess settled into the back seat making a big show of putting her seatbelt on, rattling the door and bouncing on the seat to make sure it would hold her. Charlie watched her with an air of annoyance, Imogen could see him biting his tongue trying not to make a comment that would put him even further on the wrong side of Jess.

"Monty's fine. Both my father and I have taken great care of him, he's my baby." She noticed the slight crack in his voice at the mention of his father and let her hand drift to his on the gearstick, he smiled warmly at her and started the engine before Jess noticed their small interaction.

An hour and a half of jokes about Charlie being in love with a car, an argument about who was better: The Smiths or The Cure, in which no agreement could be reached and an almost crash caused by said argument and they arrived at her parents' house in Broadstairs, Kent. Imogen looked up at the large sea front house her parents had bought after her father had retired, there was always something about it that made her uneasy and the fact one of the neighbours had told her a ghost story about an old spinster dying there certainly hadn't helped. She tried to avoid coming down here whenever possible, but there was no ducking out now.