Tears prick at the back of my eyelids again. ‘I’m not enough for him.’
‘Oh, sweetheart, it’s not that at all. Archie needs to get his head straight. It’s not you, it’s him.’ Sasha’s gentle hand tilts my face up to look at hers.
‘I’m banning that man’s name from being mentioned again today, girls, okay?’ Chloe pops the champagne cork, sending it whizzing through the air. It hits the wall with a bang.
Dave, my newly assigned bodyguard, flies through the door. ‘Everything okay, ladies?’
‘It is now.’ Chloe raises the bottle of champagne to him in a toast.
He doesn’t smile. His surliness must come with the job.
An hour later, my sisters have given me a full make over.
‘You look beautiful.’ Sasha eyes my Bottega Veneta silk dress, dyed a gorgeous shade of jade green. Even with a slashed neckline, it’s a million times more conservative than the ones I used to wear for a night out in the city.
‘Thank you.’ I examine my reflection in the gilded full-length mirror. Not bad for a woman who’s spent the last six weeks crying.
‘I can’t believe it’s your graduation! Six years seemed like a long time, but it flew by.’ Sasha twists her wrists, a wistful expression creasing her face. ‘I wish Mam and Dad could see you now. They’d be so proud of you! Who’d have thought we’d have a doctor in the family?’
‘You know I still have a long way to go…’ The postgraduate placement looms at the forefront of my mind.
‘Did you decide where you’re going to apply?’ Chloe asks. ‘You know, you could always come to the States for a couple of years. We’d love to have you, and their health care system is out of this world.’
If I hadn’t fallen head over heels in love with Archie, I probably would have jumped at the chance. ‘Thanks, but my applications went off last week.’
‘Last week?’ Sasha squeals. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t keep us in suspense. Where did you apply to? Please tell me you’re coming home.’
Home. It isn’t a place, it’s a person.
Don’t go there Victoria. You’ll ruin your make-up. Again.
‘I applied for three.’ My finger zips over my lips. ‘I’m not saying another word until I get an offer.’
‘You’ll get offered all of them, trust me.’ Chloe pats my arm loyally.
I hope so. But if I only got one, at least the decision would be taken out of my hands.
‘Could you do your placement in Dublin?’ Sasha is like a dog with a bone.
‘It’s easier if it’s UK based.’ Which is a saving grace because it’s easier than admitting out loud that it’s not Ican’tcome home, it’s that I don’t want to.
My sisters still baby me.
They probably always will, to some extent. I am ten years younger than them, I suppose. But that doesn’t stop me hating it. Archie was the only person I didn’t mind calling me baby, purely because he never treated me like one. He treated me like a woman. His woman. His queen.
My throat thickens.
The suite door flies open again. This time it’s Ryan, followed by his brother, Jayden. They both look every bit like Hollywood stars, in similar tailored Tom Ford suits which showcase their gym-toned bodies.
My heart flips. Not because of the men, but because of the way they look at their women, my sisters. The adoration is inescapable.
My four nieces and nephews traipse in behind them. Graduation is an affair the whole family insisted on attending.
‘Aunty Vic, you look so beautiful,’ Pippa squeals, running a small hand over the jade fabric falling from my waist.
‘You look beautiful too, honey.’ Her long dark hair falls in soft waves, exactly like her mother’s. She’s even wearing a similar red dress.
‘Twinning.’ I eye Chloe and shake my head.
