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Kathryn rolls her eyes at me before I stand and hug my mother. “How are you, Mother?”
She pinches my cheek hard and turns my head left then right. “I’d be better if you came here more often than when your brother’s home. Now, where is this beautiful girlfriend I’ve heard so much about?”
Massive exaggeration based on the three-minute phone call earlier in the week when I first mentioned Dayna.
“I think Clark might be biased,” Dayna says bashfully as she stands.
My mother holds her by the shoulders and looks over her, head to toe, in a way that makes my blood boil. “Nonsense, you are just divine. What do you do, Dayna?”
“I’m in oil, actually. I rotate positions right now because I’m still training up.”
My mother lifts her eyes to the ceiling over-dramatically. “Another one. Well, I’m sure you’ll fit right in with Harold. Who, incidentally, is going to be late. Apparently his golf game was delayed teeing off or some such, and one of the men playing is particularly slow. We’ll start; come on everyone, let’s go to the dining room. Elspeth is almost ready to serve.”
We file out of the lounge behind the matriarch, but I tug Dayna’s hand and keep her back behind the others. “We’ll get out of here as soon as we can.”
“No, it’s fine, I’m enjoying myself. Your brother is home; you should see him.”
“Why do you have that look in your eye, like I’ve done something wrong?”
“I just wonder why you didn’t tell your family about me?”
I take hold of her face. “You’ve seen the best of them so far, trust me. I just wanted to keep you to myself, in our bubble. Is that so bad?”
Her lips curve upwards, and she shakes her head.
“You’re incredible,” I tell her before kissing her deeply. I just can’t ever sate my need for her.
We sit around the large walnut table in the dining room, and Elspeth serves a lunch of sea bream and vegetables. Conversation is easy between my brother, my sister and Dayna. My mother even starts to relax and doesn’t perform at her usual level of show-off.
I hear the front door open and close, then my father’s footsteps coming down the hall. “I’m going to change!” he shouts, not bothering to come into the dining room. He knows Spencer is home, he knows I’ve brought my girlfriend to meet the family for the first time, yet the wanker doesn’t bother even dipping his head around the door to apologise.
Dayna must feel my temper flare, because she rests a hand on my knee and squeezes gently until I look at her. “It’s okay”, she mouths.
I take her hand and raise it to my lips. I respect my father for everything he is. The head of the house, an astute businessman. I fucking despise him for everything he’s not.
Our plates are almost empty by the time my father, the mighty Harold Layton, graces us with his presence.
He takes a seat at the head of the table and looks at my mother at the opposite end. “Tell Elspeth I’m ready.”
“I’m here, sir. Your lunch.”
Elspeth places my father’s plate in front of him and pours him a glass of wine. He takes a bite and subtly nods to Elspeth, then turns to Spencer at his side. “Hello, son.”
I’m seething.
“Dad, this is my girlfriend, Dayna.”
He looks up and finishes chewing as he stares at Dayna. “I recognise you,” he says. Not “nice to meet you”, “pleasure to see you”, not even “hello”.
Dayna clears her throat and nods. “You might have seen me at a conference, perhaps. I also work in the oil industry.”
My father stops eating, places his fork down and dabs the side of his mouth with a napkin. My skin starts to prickle, and my fists clench beneath the table.
“Is that right? Who do you work for?”
“Subsea Petroleum.”
“And what do you do?”
