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“Old school. I like it. A cosmo it is.”
“So, what are you guys doing out? Special occasion?” Ionee asked as she sipped her drink.
“Our mum fell. She had to have surgery,” Laura replied matter-of-factly.
Her hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry. Here’s me moaning about my crappy date and you were worried about your mum.”
“Don’t be silly. You weren’t to know,” Sophia reassured her.
Laura finished her drink and yawned. “I’m exhausted. Aren’t you, Soph? Shall we share a cab?”
“What, no… I was going to get another… ow! What are you doing?” Laura kicked Sophia under the table, thinking she was being discreet and I wouldn’t see.
Laura stared, wide eyed at Sophia before looking between me and then Ionee, finally getting the unsubtle message Laura was giving her. “Oh, yes. So tired.”
“Take my car. It’s outside. Just tell the driver to come back here once he’s dropped you both home.”
Sophia smiled. “Are you sure, Arch? You know I love the Rolls. Can I play with the privacy screen?”
“If it makes you happy, Soph, you can do anything you want.”
She laughed. “I’ll remember that! That car is so pimped.”
“Ionee, did you want to go too? Or do you want to stay, keep me company?” I wanted to thank the alcohol for making me braver than usual.
“Well, I don’t want to leave a famous rock star to sit alone, so everyone thinks it was him that was stood up.”
I pressed my hands to my heart and put on my best American accent, which was awful. “Why, thank you kindly, ma’am.”
My sisters hugged us both before they left, giggling as they made their way out of the restaurant to the waiting car, one of my security guards following them at my request.
Once we were alone at the table, I let out a long sigh, letting my head fall back while I took a few long deep breaths. I’d been trying to be strong for my sisters all day and I was exhausted and emotional, but I would never want them to know that.
“What’s wrong, Archer? Your mum?” The cadence of Ionee’s voice was like music to my ears, soothing my frayed edges.
I sat up, signaling to the waiter for more drinks. “Yes. I mean no… well, sort of.”
Her brows furrowed.
“She fell. Broke her hip, snapped her ankle. She had surgery to fix it and she will be off her feet for a few months.”
Ionee reached out and entwined her fingers in mine like it was the most natural reaction in the world. “I’m so sorry, Archer. You must be so worried about her.”
“She has dementia. Early onset.” The weight of those words never got any easy to carry. “So, her broken bones are a problem, but how she’ll react to not being allowed to move, disrupting her routine… that’s what’s worrying me.”
The waiter placed our drinks on the table and she thanked him, never once breaking our gaze. “How old was she when she was diagnosed?” she asked when we were alone again, circling her thumb over the back of my hand, making me feel safe to open my soul and let my secrets out.
“Thirty-nine when she started having symptoms. Forty when she got the official diagnosis. That was twelve years ago.”
She gasped. “That’s so young. How old were you?”
“Fourteen.”
Ionee released her hold on me and stood, walking around the table and sliding into the booth next to me before taking my hand again.
“That must have been hard.”
I nodded.
