The Decoy Date

Chapter Ten

What am I doing, I’ve never brought a woman home before! Charlie thought as his heart leapt to his throat hammering against his windpipe trying to suffocate him. He’d just swung the car into the drive at his mother’s house in Hampstead, she’d moved to a smaller place when his father had died and it still felt like he was parking in front of a stranger’s house every time he went to visit. Molly and Catherine had already arrived, they’d parked in the drive that would easily accommodate five cars; who the hell had that many vehicles anyway.

Turning the engine off, his hands remained attached to the steering wheel as he stared at the front door. He knew his mother would be behind the curtains looking out for him and a glimpse of the girl he had brought with him, sure enough there was a slight twitch as Imogen put her hand on his arm. He turned to see her smiling at him but her shining eyes showed she was as nervous as he was.

“Ready?” He tried to smile at her but it never reached his eyes; it wasn’t that he didn’t like visiting his mum, they were really close, he just always thought the first girl he’d take home to meet his mum would be the one he would marry. Even as a teenager he never took girls back to his house, they either went to hers or hung out in the park or at friends’ houses.

It just felt weird he was taking a fake girlfriend home to meet everyone as if he was in love with her and spending the rest of his life with her. The thought made him smile, Imogen was definitely the type of woman he could see himself settling down with; a couple of children and dog in the suburbs. Obviously it wouldn’t be Imogen herself, he knew she’d never truly forgive him for what he did and he’d accepted that when they’d run into each other again.

The walk from the car to the doorstep wasn’t long enough for him to calm his nerves, they had settled a little when Imogen had taken his hand in hers but his heart still fluttered as his hand reached up towards the doorbell. Before he could press it the door swung open to reveal Molly standing in front of the two of them, she was smiling broadly as she looked from him to Imogen.

“Hi, again. It’s nice to meet you properly without football to distract anyone.” She gave Charlie a meaningful look that meant she wanted to know everything about their relationship and everything about Imogen as well. He stepped through the threshold and gave her a quick hug whispering behave in her ear so only she could hear, when he pulled back she had a face portraying pure innocence but her smile flickered with a touch of evil. Maybe I should warn Imogen about my family, they can be a little eager. Molly was now giving Imogen a hug like they were old friends, though they hardly knew each.

He heard his mother banging pots around in the kitchen and aroma of roast chicken and rosemary made his mouth water in anticipation. Marie Ramsey was an amazing cook, she could have done it professionally but chose to look after children instead as a primary school teacher; she’d been there since her own three children had gone to the school. When he thought about, Charlie had to admit she had been a big influence on him becoming a teacher himself.

In the living room Harry and Adam were having some sort of animated conversation, they both looked up and smiled as he walked in, the latter rolling his eyes obviously not sharing his partner's opinion. Catherine his elder sister by three years stood up and walked across to him, well waddled was more like it. Her stomach protruded roundly out of her body carrying her first child and his first niece or nephew; when she’d told him, he’d been so excited for her and Harry.

The two of them had met at Oxford University, he was studying medicine and she was reading law; both said is was love at first sight and they’d been married for nine years now.

“Hi Kit, how are you? How’s my future niece or nephew?” She pulled him into a tight, awkward hug, trying to angle the bump sideways so she could reach him and kiss his cheek.

“So who’s this girl Molly hasn’t stopped talking about? You have brought her with you haven’t you?”

“Yes, Molly’s trapped her in the hall. She’s probably told her our life story by now.” He looked behind him to see the two of them standing in the hallway through the open door, Imogen was hanging on every word his little sister was telling her. He only hoped it wasn’t some embarrassing story from his past, the bubble of laughter from the two of them suggested it probably was. Oh God don’t let me be naked in the story, every tale she tells I’m always naked.

“Ha! You wait till mum gets the baby photos out, she’s got them ready to share all your naked childhood glory.” She giggled as his mouth dropped, there was no wonder he never brought women home to meet his family, they enjoyed humiliating him way too much. He needed to try and get those photo albums out of his mother’s reach as soon as he could, nobody needed to see him running round the garden of their old house wearing nothing but a fireman’s helmet.

Molly had finally let Imogen into the living room, both still chuckling from the secrets they’d shared a few minutes earlier. When she reached him he put an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, using only his eyes to ask what they had been talking about.

“Molly was telling me about what you were like as a brother while she was growing up.”

“All good I hope.” He looked round sharply as Molly burst out laughing and said “Not bloody likely!”

“Of course it was all good. She said she couldn’t have wished for a better brother.” The arm she’d snaked around his back gave him a little reassuring squeeze as she looked up into his eyes and smiled warmly at him. He could definitely see himself settling down with someone like her. Harry and Adam moved over to join their circle and he introduced Imogen to everyone, giving an little detail about each one as they shook hands.

Leaving her in the capable hands of his two sisters, he slipped into the kitchen to see how his mum was getting on. The roast chicken was steaming on the side waiting to be carved and the vegetables were boiling away in the pan, his mum was pulverising some potatoes trying to get the mash as smooth as possible. He also saw roast potatoes browning in the oven and few jersey royals sat in a dish with a knob of butter melting through them.

“You didn’t have to go to this much trouble mum, one type of potato would’ve been enough.” She looked up from her workout and a smile spread across her face, she dropped the masher into the pan and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Well, it’s not every day you bring a girl home Charlie, I’m going make sure everything’s perfect so she’ll come back again.” She let him go and moved back to her workout. “You can sort that chicken out if you want, everything else is nearly ready.” Charlie rolled his shirt sleeves up to elbows and picked up the carving knife his mother had left next to the meat and began cutting.

                                     *

Imogen felt a little overwhelmed talking to Charlie’s sisters, both Molly and Catherine were nice and were really interested in her bookshop. They asked questions about setting it up and the types of customers she got, they also asked where her interest in books had come from; she revealed that her father was a book editor but omitted the fact that she’d used books as a coping mechanism for her childhood bullying.

“Mum’s gone all out with the food tonight, I’ve never seen her cook so many different types of veg or potatoes for one meal.” Molly took her through to the dining room and sat next to her, as they waited for the others to join them.

“Hasn’t she cooked for Charlie’s other girlfriends?”

Imogen felt a little nervous when everybody else in the room – Molly, Catherine, Harry and Adam – all burst out laughing. “What other girlfriends? Charlie’s never been a settling down type of guy, he’s never dated anyone for more than a month except Sarah and she turned out to be a nutcase. You’re the first girl he’s brought home, he must really like you.” Molly smiled at her but her words made Imogen feel even more uneasy, at school Charlie would have a different girl hanging off his arm every week and the rest would follow him around hoping to be his next choice.

Nevertheless since they’d been pretend dating he hadn’t seemed like a player, in fact he seemed like the type of man she’d like to marry in the future, only without such a horrible past between the two of them. Before she could reply Charlie and his mum began bringing plates and plates of food through, there was easily enough to feed a small army battalion rather than the seven of them. When all the food had been placed at the table, Charlie took his seat next to her and began spooning peas and chicken onto both their plates.

An hour later she had eaten so much food she wasn’t sure she could move, she’d listened to stories about the children as they’d grown up including lots about a naked Charlie and watched in amusement as his cheeks turned a shade of violent pink each time. Carrying plates through to the kitchen she was glad of her experience waitressing while at university, there was so much crockery to move and get washed up. She and Charlie both offered to help his mum and she seemed grateful to have the help. With all three of them working together it took no time at all to get cleaned up.

When they’d put the last dish away, Marie went to check on the others leaving her alone with Charlie for the first time since they’d walked through the door earlier. She turned to find him leaning against the kitchen counter smiling at her with a tired look on his face.

“So, what do you think of the family? I bet you wouldn’t have agreed to date me if you’d met them first.” He grinned as she moved over to stand next to him.

“They’re really nice, Harry’s nice too. He and Catherine seem so happy together, he’s really excited about the baby as well.” She looked at her feet and back up at him before continuing. “Is it true you’ve never brought a girlfriend home before?” His smile faltered slightly and it was his time to look away and think what to say.

“I guess I’ve just never met someone I’ve wanted to introduce to everyone. I’ve dated a lot of unsuitable girls, women I wished I’d never met but you’re the first one I’ve wanted everyone to meet and get to know. They all love you by the way, my mum especially; she thinks you’ve had a good influence on me already.” He smiled and once again his cheeks were a little more flushed than normal, he moved in front of her and looked straight in her eyes. “I think I’d probably have to agree with her as well.”

He leant his head down and she found herself reaching up to his face and kissing him gently on the lips, his arms moved around her waist and pulled her lightly into his body. Letting the initial adrenaline rush slow, she settled into the kiss and began to enjoy the feel of his lips on hers. She knew she shouldn’t be doing it but there was something about the way his lips touched hers that she just couldn’t get enough of.

Somewhere in the background someone cleared their throat, the two broke apart slowly and looked round to find Adam staring at them. Her face and neck grew hot as heat flared red there, she looked at their intertwined legs as Adam tried to keep the smile off of his face.

“We’re having a launch night for the exhibition on Saturday, I got the two of you tickets for it if you’re interested in going. It’ll probably be boring but there’s free booze and finger food for everyone.” Once again she tried to hide the giggle from the finger food comment, she really needed to grow up. He handed two tickets to the opening of a World War One exhibition at the British Museum to Charlie, he looked expectantly at her, she shrugged her shoulders and nodded. Why not.

 “Seeing as there’s free food, we’ll see you there mate.” Charlie put the two tickets into his wallet and led her through to the living room where everyone was sat down watching the large television. Imogen took the empty seat next to Marie and Charlie sat on her other side. Before she knew what was happening, a photo album was placed in her lap and Marie began showing her snapshots of the three children, all of whom now blushed with embarrassment as she told more awkward stories from their childhood.