‘Finley! There you are, son! We were about to send out the search party.’ His dad clapped his son firmly on the back.
Fin stumbled backwards. He could barely keep his head up, let alone stand still; his body was rocking back and forth. Each time he steadied himself, the bottle of champagne slipped a little further out of his grasp.
‘Fin, why don’t we go and sit down for a second.’ Eleanor was by his side, trying to sound soothing. Her grip was vice-like around his arms in a subtle attempt to keep him upright.
‘No,’ he mumbled.
‘Fin, please.’ She lowered her voice so only he could hear her plea. ‘Come on. Let’s go.’
‘No.’ His voice rang out loudly over the music. The bottle of champagne dropped on to the floor as he toppled into Eleanor. ‘I want to speak to my dad on this happyhappyoccasion.’
Eleanor couldn’t bear to look at the faces of the guests. Hushed whispers rippled around them as the scene unfolded.
‘Son.’ His dad stepped towards them, his voice flat and solid. ‘I think you need to go and lie down. Just for a bit, and I’ll be up in a moment to check on you, OK?’
Eleanor felt Fin lurch forward. ‘How about … no!’ He pushed his dad square in the chest, but the motion took him so far forward he tripped over his shoes and landed on the floor.
‘Brian! Get. Him. Out. Of. Here.’ Aneka marched over, the venom in her voice making Eleanor wince. ‘Now.’
‘Oh, hello,Mum.’ Fin was on his back now, pointing up at Aneka. ‘Mum.’ He burst out laughing. ‘Can you believe I get to call a stuck-up bitch like you my mum now? Only … what is it … only a year after my real mum was left heartbroken and alone?’
The look on Aneka’s face as she took in the sight of Fin rolling around on the floor was terrifying. It was as though her skin had folded in on itself and melted into pure fury. Eleanor wanted the ground to swallow them both up. Her heart was breaking for Fin as the tears rolled thick and fast down his face. She dropped to her knees and threw herself over him.
‘Fin, please. Please come with me. You need to get up and you need to go.’ She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly.
‘I hate her. I fucking hate her.’ He hadn’t adjusted the volume of his voice, so the words came out loud and clear.
‘Enough.Eleanor, move, please.’ She barely had a second to react before Fin’s dad had reached down and hauled his son up to standing. ‘Get out of here right now. I don’t want to see you for the rest of the evening.’ The look on his face was mutinous. Both men, father and son, glared at each other with such anger that Eleanor could feel it thundering through the floor.
Then Fin broke. The tears erupted from deep inside him.
‘Fine, pick her. See if I care.’
Eleanor grabbed his hand and led him gently away. The moment they were outside he collapsed on to her, his body shaking with the force of grief.
‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s OK,’ she cooed, lowering them both on to the ground. ‘You’re OK. I’m just going to call Dad to come and get us.’
‘Elles. Please never leave me.’
‘Uh-huh Fin, hold on, keep your head up for me if you can.’
‘Promise me?’ he whispered, as he laid his head on her shoulder.
‘Promise you what?’
‘Promise me that you’ll never leave me.’
She took a deep breath and kissed the top of his head.
‘I promise you, Fin. I’ll always be here. No matter what.’
Now
Eleanor
It had been three days since the wedding and Eleanor still hadn’t got over the unexpected presence of Finley Taylor. Ideally, she would have behaved like she’d had at least some level of social skills and not stared at him, mouth open, fumbling over her words, but what was there to say? It had been years since they had spoken. Probably decades! The last thing she needed at her first solo event post-break-up was that sort of surprise being thrust upon her. Luckily, Eleanor had been sitting next to Kate’s extremely chatty uncle and so barely had time to breathe, let alone engage in conversation with anyone else at the table. After dinner she had purposefully disappeared off to the toilets, latched on to one of Kate’s work colleagues, and spent the rest of the evening downing tequila shots at the bar. Fin, she hoped, would stay clear of that particular area, and thankfully their paths didn’t cross again.
