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They walked together arm in arm (Helen suspected this was partly for physical support as Elle’s high heels couldn’t have been comfortable) to the hotel entrance. It was a huge, grey block of windows and concrete. They twisted through the lobby, ignoring leering stares from foreign businessmen. Sophie’s party was downstairs in an Asian themed bar area. Tufts of bamboo sprung up out of low red sofas, and shoji doors decorated the walls. It looked a little bit like a club they would have tried very hard to get into five years ago.
Mr and Mrs Wu were standing stiffly at the front of the room welcoming guests, whilst Frank’s mum and dad looked like they had started early on celebrations; Mrs Edwards’ fascinator sat lopsided on her ginger curly hair. Chinese lanterns had been added on a string overhead, and there was a pile of oranges and Chinese cakes on a stand.
‘They look pretty good actually …’ said Helen, gravitating towards the desserts and pinching a glass of champagne from a waiter along the way.
As usual her mind was giving her helpful diagnostics of exactly how she felt in this moment: right now, she was thankful that the sense of anticipation/anxiety (anxipation?) wasn’t too overwhelming. Her hands felt a little sweaty around her champagne glass, but that was okay because Ish probably wouldn’t notice, unless they held hands?! Helen shook the thought out of her head, and reminded herself it was just Ish.
There was a distinct crackle of emotions in her stomach though. Not quite like she was about to go down a rollercoaster (never again), more like she was about to walk into a surprise party for herself. Wait, was that narcissistic?
‘Hels!’
Ish was walking over. Helen felt her stomach muscles reflexively tighten. Her hands really were a bit sweaty, where were the napkins? Ish was wearing an all-black suit, and looked … well he looked a lot different to when he was in one of his costumes.
‘He’shot,’ Elle whispered to Helen as she sauntered by with a wink.
‘Hi.’ Helen smiled as she waved Ish over.
‘How’s it going? Looks like a good party.’ Ish plucked a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
‘I thought you didn’t drink?’
‘Nanny G got me back into it!’ Ish shrugged and smiled.
Helen found herself struggling to smile back. Something had changed between them. An intensity cracked in the air now, and suddenly every small movement, every word she said, hung heavy with meaning. She could almost feel the heat that was radiating between them. She tucked her arms close to her sides: stepping any further into Ish’s space felt like it would start a chain reaction that she wouldn’t be able to stop.
The sound of a microphone buzzing on filled the room. Helen and Ish swapped glances and turned their attention to the front of the bar where Sophie, Frank (wow he really looked loved-up) and their parents had lined up to face the crowd.
‘Thank you so much for coming here today to celebrate our betrothal ceremony …’ Sophie smiled and caught Helen’s eyes in the crowd. She was wearing a lucky red dress.
‘She looks so beautiful!’ Elle had sidled back up against Helen.
‘My father would like to begin by saying a few words.’ Sophie gently handed her mic over to Mr Wu. The crowd gave a smattering of applause.
Sophie’s dad’s speech was mercifully short, he spoke in Mandarin and it was translated live by Sophie’s mum into English. It sounded like the sentiment was quite poetic, and included a story involving a dragon and a phoenix which Helen feared had been totally lost on her. The crowd gave dutiful applause when a long pause indicated that it was, in fact, the end of the speech this time.
Next Frank took the mic.
There were many things Frank was probably very good at, but Helen braced herself that speech-making probably wasn’t one of them. In all her months of knowing Frank, she’d yet to prise a really good conversation out of him. She knew he loved Sophie, and that was really all that mattered, but she wasn’t sure she could be with someone quite so … Anyway, she was glad Ish had so much personality. Not that Ish washerFrank or anything like that! She needed to stop thinking like that. Early days … early days …
Helen shuffled from side to side on her feet, and took a long swig of champagne, as Frank took the mic from Sophie’s dad and stepped towards the front. Was he tipsy? He didn’t really look entirely steady on his feet. His tie had been loosened, exposing his chest that was dialling up to a shade of bright red under the bob of the overhead lights and Chinese lanterns. Frank gave a loud ‘ah-hem’ into the mic: this was going to be bad.
‘May I start with a toast, to my enigmatic father-in-law-to-be Mr Wu!’
The crowd obliged by raising their glasses. Helen took another long swig, she hoped they were doing top ups.
‘Thank you so much for attending our special day, without all of you here, it wouldn’t be the same … but it would be cheaper!’
Elle’s eyebrows twisted out of shape and Ish conjured up a laugh that sounded more like a cough. Helen gave him a look of apology, which Ish returned with a shrug.
‘In all seriousness, I am so happy to be here today with all of you and my glowing wife-to-be …’
Sophie smiled awkwardly, and leaned into the mic. ‘Don’t get too excited Mum and Dad, I’m not pregnant!’ She turned to Frank and mouthed the word ‘glowing’ before handing the mic back.
‘Oh of course, “glowing” … well I mean … you look beautiful as always.’ Frank shuffled his cue cards. ‘On my way here today to our engagement party …’
‘It is quite cute how much he loves her, no?’ Elle whispered to Helen. ‘Though we both knew this was gonna beawkward.’
‘I kept reflecting on all thestepswe took to get here. I was very grateful that Rupert and Hugo convinced me to stay on for those extra drinks after our office Christmas party so we ended up meeting, and that all that extra whiskey helped me to summon up the courage to approach you.’
