Just Play Along

Forty-Three & Forty-Four

PART FORTY THREE

We strolled up to the front door, Aston knocking twice on it before twisting the knob and pushing it open.

“Always unlocked,” he groaned, “Drives me nuts.”

“Ok Mr. Celebrity,” I replied with an eye roll.

He winked cheekily at me before dragging me through the house to the kitchen. “Mum!”

“Aston, I didn’t hear you come in!” a middle-aged woman exclaimed, appearing out of the pantry wearing a flowered apron. She was much shorter than I expected, which I guess made sense considering Aston was so small himself.

“That’s why you shouldn’t leave the door unlocked!” Aston retorted with a grin.

“Not this again,” his mum sighed, turning to me with a broad smile, “You must be Jessica.”

“Jess,” I said, trying to be as friendly and warm as possible. In reality I wasn’t a fan of meeting new people. I preferred to stay in my own little bubble.

“Jess, right,” Aston’s mum replied, “Well it’s a pleasure to finally meet you!”

“You too,” I smiled, "You've got a fantastic house."

We shared a quick awkward hug and then I stepped back so Aston could greet his mother, my eyes scanning around the kitchen. It was clear that this was the center point of the house, where everything always happened.

“Cup of tea?” Aston’s mum asked me.

“Sure thanks,” I replied, following Aston over to the big kitchen table where we took seats side by side.

“How do you take it?” she asked.

“Black, please.”

I could feel Aston rolling his eyes next to me, clearly not impressed with my drink choice.

“What?” I asked him, turning and catching him out.

“You’re nuts with your caffeine.”

“I just like how it tastes,” I shrugged, "Why change it with milk or sugar?"

“Nuts,” Aston repeated.

I smiled over at him fake-sweetly before turning and taking my steaming hot mug from his mum.

Together the three of us sat at the kitchen table and chatted for a while, waiting for everyone else to come home from wherever they were. It was nice, just sitting there and relaxing. I didn’t feel like I had to act like someone I wasn’t and Aston's mum was so curious about my life.

“Jess, Aston’s told me you work in Parliament,” his mum stated.

“Yeah,” I replied, “I run my father’s office. He’s an MP in the House of Lords.”

“Wow.”

“Her Dad’s an Earl,” Aston clarified.

“Oh!” his mum exclaimed.

“It’s nothing fancy,” I replied. And really it wasn’t. We were just like any other family… we just happened to have a title involved which meant we were required to go to lots of charity events, and my father had inherited his spot in the House of Lords.

“Well it’s certainly fascinating,” his mum said.

“I suppose,” I said, “But anyways, you’ve got your own celebrity in the family,” I joked, nudging Aston lightly.

He grinned at me, grabbing my hand under the table. I knew this was meant to be part of the act, to look all loved up for his mum, but it still had me just a little bit nervous.