Pretending to be Pregnant

Thirteen

The party was buzzing with family, friends, my father's corporate clients and some people I'd never met. The music was blasting from a high tech sound system and the dance floor was covered by a few enthusiastic people. Around an hour ago, I'd lost Ryan. He'd wandered off to greet his family and I'd not seen him since. I wasn't lonely. No. There was plenty of people desperate to talk to the birthday girl, but the thing is, I didn't want to talk to them. If Diana and the girls had been here, I'd have had a great time. We would have danced and sang and just generally have made the most out of the expensive party. But no, they were preparing to sue me over the 'pregnancy pact', instead. I quickly pushed the thought to the back of my mind. where I couldn't reach it, and stared around at all of my guests. Unthinking, I took a sip from the cocktail glass in my hand.  I quickly spat the alcoholic beverage out, realising that I was pretending to be pregnant. I should be drinking juice or water, not cocktails!

As I processed the people in the room, I made eye contact with a guy in a smart shirt and trousers. The guy, who I could only assume was one of my father's corporate clients, was making his way towards me. I couldn't bear the thought of sitting through another ten minutes of 'congratulations' and 'best wishes'. But, too late now, the guy was in front of me, his hands casually gesturing towards me.

"Esme. Can we dance? Maybe you'll give me chance to give you your birthday present?" I squinted at the nice smelling guy, who was casually winking at me, before realising who it was.

"How did you get my number?" I blurted out, refusing to take his outstretched hand. This guy was Luke and he was the guy whom I had met whilst in the supermarket.

"Your father gave it to me a couple of months ago. He wanted me to take you out." Luke confessed. I rolled my eyes and grasped his hand, allowing him to help me up.

"Come on, we need to chat." I told him, marching him towards the exit of the marquee. We made our way across the dance floor and out of the marquee towards a quiet end of the garden. On the way there we passed over-enthusiastic couples, sobbing girls and the odd loner or two. Luke was walking beside me, or rather, he was striding beside me, his hands placed casually in the pockets of his trousers. I led him towards a private, enclosed, area of the garden and sat down on a bench placed there.

"This is pretty." He said, sitting down next to me and looking around.

"In the summer, I usually bring a book out here and just sit and read. I like it because it's private. It's a place where I can think." The ground was covered in frost and trees up above were now free from leaves. I shivered, realising that actually, it was rather cold out.

"Are you cold?" Luke asked, shrugging off his jacket and wrapping it around my shoulders before waiting for an answer.

"You look different." I told him. "Not as stressed and a little bit more relaxed." He chuckled and his face instantly transformed.

"That's because I'm not with my hormonal sister. No, half sister sorry." I looked him. There was so many questions I wanted to ask him. I wanted to ask him about his life. I wanted to ask him about his sister. His job. My father. For some reason, I felt completely comfortable with this stranger.

"Why did my father want you to take me out?" I asked him. He sheepishly looked away.

"I think that's irrelevant considering you're now engaged to be married." He told me. Had I just imagined it or had an expression of spite and jealousy just crossed his beautifully handsome face. "Congratulations, by the way." He said, refusing to look at me.

"I don't think it's irrelevant." I whispered. For some reason, I instantly felt like apologising to him about my engagement. But, why?

"Well, if I really must say, he thought that I was, let's say, a more suitable match for yourself." I gazed into his eyes and a thought crossed my mind. Maybe my father was right. "He wanted me to take you out, woo you, if you must, and well, he wanted me to drag you away from that boyfriend, sorry fiancee, of yours." I processed this information, slightly confused. For some strange reason, this just didn't seem to add up.