by Linda W Payne
sour wine
“This is a lovely
piece of satin. Nice for a wedding dress.”
“Yes, but
…”
“I took a photo of
the dress and then come home and copied it. Same colour, same material, even the
same drape.”
“Yes but
…”
“I know what you
are thinking; you’re a woman in her mid-40’s you shouldn’t be wearing a white
wedding dress. Well it’s not white it’s ivory.”
“Yes but
…”
“There’s no buts I
didn’t have a proper wedding dress at my first wedding so I’m going to this
time. Well almost. I’ve shortened the pattern so the dress is knee length. Even
I could see that a long dress would be ridiculous.”
“Yes but
…”
“I couldn’t wear a
veil either so I compromised by wearing a hat. What do you think of
it?”
“It’s very nice
but …”
“I bought a pill
box hat. Don’t tell anyone but I got it from a charity
shop.”
“I won’t but
…”
“I then covered it
with the same ivory material as the dress and put some netting of the same
colour around it. I decorated it with creamy coloured roses and freesia. I’m
very pleased with it.”
“So you should be
but …”
“I was extravagant
with the shoes. I took a bit of the material to the wedding shop and bought silk
shoes had them dyed to match the dress. I bought a crystal shoe clip to decorate
the shoes. Bit plain otherwise. What do you think?”
“Very nice but
…”
“Is that all you
can say very nice? I thought they were better than that.”
“They are. They’re
really beautiful. It’s just that …”
“I did the same
with the bag look.”
“Gorgeous but
…”
“I thought it
would be silly to carry a bouquet so I made a corsage of roses and freesias for
my wrist. They smell lovely. Here smell.”
“Beautiful aroma
but …”
“Ooh is that the
time? I’ll have to be leaving soon, don’t want to keep George waiting do
I?”
“No you don’t. But
don’t you think you’re being a bit unfair.”
“Unfair? Why am I
being a bit unfair.”
“You waited until
your son and his intended bride had made all the arrangements for their wedding.
You let them book the church, the restaurant for the wedding breakfast and
the hall for the evening reception. You were kindly allowed to accompany
your future daughter-in-law to choose her dress. She didn’t have to invite you
because a lot of brides just take their mum and friends. You even photographed
her dress so you could copy it – down to the very last
detail.”
“I’ve shortened
the hem and made the sleeves short instead of the three-quarter length that she
has. So it’s not quite the same.”
“It’s the same to
look at. You’ve even asked the photographer to come early to take your photos at
the time when the guests should have started arriving for your son’s
wedding.”
“Well he’s already
at the church isn’t he.”
“No you
deliberately waited until they had arranged their wedding then chose that day to
renew your vows. You managed to make George feel guilty enough to go along with
you even though he didn’t agree. Why did you do that?”
“I thought it
would be easier than …”
“No you didn’t. If
you thought it would be easier you would have asked your son and his bride if it
was okay before you went ahead with your arrangements. Then if they agreed you
would have renewed your vows after their wedding ceremony not before. And you
wouldn’t have gone behind her back and copied everything she had with the dress
and the flowers.”
“But
…”
“Don’t but me.
There are no buts for you. You did it because you are jealous and you can’t bear
for someone else to be the centre of attention instead of you. Not even your
son’s bride. She’s a lovely girl but what do think the aftermath of all this
will be. Don’t bother to answer but there’ll be repercussions mark my
words.”
*
10 years later
“Hi
Grandma.”
“Happy birthday
Liam.”
“I’ve had a lovely
load of presents and thank you for yours. We’re round Nanna’s house and she’s
making me a lovely birthday tea.”
“That’s nice.
Where’s your sister.”
“She’s just
coming. Come on Susie, Grandma’s on Skype.”
“Hallo Grandma.
Mummy when are me and Liam going to visit Grandma?”
“Never. Never
ever.”
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