‘Yes, just a few minutes ago,’ Soli confirmed, to Xavier’s chagrin.
‘Well. You are a dark horse, McQueen. We had no idea marriage was on the cards for you.’ Hugo’s confused frown deepened as he looked between the two of them.
‘No, well, it all happened very quickly,’ Xavier said, his heart sinking through his chest. ‘We’ve dated on and off for years but only recently decided we should make a proper go of it,’ he lied, silently begging his friend to take him at his word.
‘Really?’ Hugo said with a tinge of disbelief in his voice. ‘It happened so quickly you couldn’t even wait to invite your friends to the wedding?’
Damn. He was well and truly busted. He’d never hear the end of it from his old friends now.
‘Neither of us wanted a big do,’ Xavier said gruffly, feeling heat rise up his throat. The last thing he needed was Hugo and his old social group to find out he’d had to pay Soli to marry him in order to keep his family home. He hated the idea of that getting back to Harriet. His humiliation really would be complete then.
‘We thought we’d have a party for close friends and family some time in the near future,’ he said, deciding the only thing to do was to bluster his way through this.
Hugo flashed him a knowing smile. ‘Fair enough, old chap. I suppose I can understand why you’d choose not to shout about it to all and sundry.’ Turning away before Xavier could comment on that, he asked, ‘And what do you do, Soli?’
He noticed her shoulders stiffen at the question and silently prayed she’d be able to handle this unexpected confrontation without making Hugo suspicious about the real state of their relationship. ‘I’m a small-business owner in the catering industry and one of Xavier’s clients,’ she said, somewhat mechanically.
Xavier cringed at how that must have sounded to Hugo, but mercifully he didn’t seem to find anything odd about it.
‘Well, I must congratulate you, Soli; I never thought I’d see a woman manage to make an honest man of Xavier McQueen,’ he said, aiming a cheerful grin in her direction. ‘Any particular reason for getting married right now though? Do we have the patter of tiny McQueen feet to look forward to?’ Hugo asked with a sly wink.
‘No,’ Xavier stated coldly, feeling the atmosphere thicken between them. ‘It just felt like the right time for us both,’ he added, trying to smooth over the extremity of his reaction.
Hugo didn’t take offence though and slapped him hard on the arm. ‘Sorry, old chap, didn’t mean to put my foot in it. The wife’s always telling me off for that! Very happy for you both, obviously. I’ll have to tell Veronica I saw you; she’ll be delighted.’
He felt Soli look round at him but didn’t turn his head.
‘In fact,’ his friend went on, completely oblivious to the discomfort he was inflicting, ‘if you’re not going on honeymoon right away…’ He paused and looked at them expectantly.
The only thing they could do was shake their heads dumbly, caught out by the question.
‘Well, in that case, why don’t the two of you come over to our place next weekend? We’re having a bit of a do to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary – all Veronica’s idea, you know,’ he added with a pseudo grimace towards Soli. ‘I know she’d be delighted to see you, McQueen, and to meet you too, Soli.’
‘I’m not sure—’ Xavier began to argue.
‘Don’t be a bore, McQueen!’ Hugo broke in before Xavier had chance to air an excuse. ‘You can’t hide from us forever. And Veronica will never forgive you if you don’t accept at least one of our social invitations. We’ve not seen hide nor hair of you for years! Now you’re married you’ve no excuse not to come along to see the old crowd. You don’t want folks thinking you’re shunning them, now, do you?’ he said this with a laugh in his voice, but Xavier knew it covered a real sense of hurt. Clearly Hugo was nursing a sense of resentment about being ignored and avoided for so long.
He was trapped. Damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.
They’d have a week to prepare for it though. That ought to be enough time for him and Soli to get to know each other well enough to convince Hugo and Veronica, and anyone else they’d invited, that they were a real, loving couple.
‘I’m pretty sure we’re free then,’ he conceded. ‘We’ll check our diaries and let you know.’
‘Great! I’ll get Veronica to send you an official invite,’ Hugo said with affable gumption. ‘You still in your aunt’s Hampstead pad?’
‘Yes. I’m still there,’ Xavier said, feeling a desperate urge to get away from his friend now so he could regain his shaky composure. ‘I look forward to receiving the invite, Hugo. Anyway, we’d better get on. We need to take a couple more photos, then we have some celebrating to do,’ he added in an upbeat voice that didn’t sound like his own, forcing himself to give Hugo a happy-looking smile.
‘You’ve picked a real charmer there, Soli,’ Hugo said with another wink in her direction. ‘I hope he’s intending to treat you like a princess today.’
‘Oh, I fully expect him to,’ Soli replied, smiling back. ‘He’s the most generous man I’ve ever met.’
Xavier experienced a rush of gratitude towards her for that.
‘I tell you what, Hugo,’ Xavier said, as a flash of inspiration struck him. ‘Since you’re here, let’s have you in the photo too. It’ll only take two seconds. We just need to grab someone to press the button for us – it’s all set up.’
‘Sure! Be happy to!’ Hugo boomed, clearly pleased to be included. ‘This lovely lady will do it for us, won’t you?’ he said, making a large beckoning motion to a woman in a big red hat who was just about to enter the doors of the register office.
‘Er… yes, of course,’ she said, looking over at first Xavier, then Soli, and giving them a warm, indulgent smile.
