Chapter 2 - The Arrival
The catering staff had just begun serving the main course when the entire atmosphere in the room shifted.
I heard the disruption before I saw it—a familiar, booming set of voices near the grand entrance, loud and dripping with unearned authority, cutting right through the soft classical music and the polite chatter as if they owned the entire venue.
My family had arrived.
They were over forty minutes late, as they usually were to any major event, and they wanted to make absolutely certain that everyone in the room knew it. My mother’s laugh echoed sharply across the reception hall. It was a piercing, theatrical sound, the kind of laugh specifically designed to demand attention rather than express genuine joy.
My father trailed closely behind her, offering stiff, obligatory nods to relatives he had barely acknowledged all year.
Positioned perfectly between them was my younger sister, Olivia. One of her hands was resting delicately over a pregnancy bump that was virtually non-existent, while her other hand tightly gripped a designer handbag that likely cost more than my monthly mortgage. She moved slowly, deliberately, ensuring every eye in the room was drawn to her.
Just three weeks prior, at our grandmother’s eightieth birthday dinner, Olivia had dramatically announced her own pregnancy, choosing the exact moment the cake was brought out to successfully hijack the spotlight.
Watching her now, I felt that familiar, heavy tightening in my chest.
"They are heading this way,"
May you like
Monica, Daniel’s sister, whispered, leaning across the table with a sympathetic grimace.
I gave a tight nod, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on my plate of roasted salmon, silently praying that Daniel would walk back through the doors.
