Out to Impress

“Why don’t we have your parents to dinner?” I asked Robert. It was a sunny Sunday morning in early summer and we were feeling too lazy to get up.

We’d been back from our honeymoon a week.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He frowned. “I mean, can you cook?”

“You know perfectly well I can!” I hit him with a pillow. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I,” came the quick reply.

Robert and I hadn’t known each other long before we got married. I’d only met his mother a few times, but I was sure she didn’t approve of my going out to work after we married. She’d once remarked to me that she’d given up work as soon as she’d become engaged to Robert’s father, and I’d been convinced that this was a veiled hint that I should give up my secretarial job as soon as I married her son.

I’d decided that I’d to prove that I could be a proper wife, and still keep working.

“What I thought,” I said, as Robert and I snuggled down under the covers, “was that they could come for a meal one evening during the week. We could do the shopping between us, and I’d leave the office on the dot of five-thirty, come home and cook it.”

“Well,” Robert said, wrapping his arms around me, “if your mind’s made up, at least let’s have them to dinner on a Saturday or Sunday evening, so that we can have all day to shop and cook.”

“But Robert, that’s the whole point.” It was hard to concentrate with my husband nibbling my ear. “I deliberately want to invite them during the week.” I disentangled myself and sat up. “Then your mother might imagine we always eat like that, and that it wouldn’t ever occur to us to buy all that junk and convenience food we fling together, for what we laughingly call the evening meal.”

The last thing I wanted was his mother offering to dash over every day to cook a ‘proper meal’ while I was out at work!

“Marion darling, I love the way you want to impress Mum,” Robert said, sitting up, “but you don’t have to worry. She can see I’m not starving to death.” He lay down again. “Anyway, what about your parents? Shouldn’t we invite them at the same time?”

I shook my head. “I’d like to, but you the table only seats four, and even then it’s going to be cramped.” There was no response this time, and when I leaned over Rob, to demand his approval, I saw that he’d dozed off. I wasn’t going to give up, though.

“What do your parents like to eat?” I persisted that afternoon when we were reading the Sunday papers.

He shrugged. This didn’t seem to be a good moment, either. “I haven’t a clue. Anything.”

I jumped up and went into the kitchen, returning with an armful of brand new cookery books – all wedding presents from ‘concerned relatives’ and friends. “How does this sound?” I asked eventually. “Melon to start with, then roast chicken, peas, new potatoes, and for pudding I could rustle up a chocolate mousse.”

“That’s rather ambitious, isn’t it?” Robert lowered the Sunday supplement, and a pair of bemused eyes met mine. “When did you last make a mousse?”

“Well,” I considered his question carefully, “not for a while. In fact,never. On reflection, let’s have strawberries and cream.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier,” Rob suggested, “if I pick up a cooked chicken from the delicatessen down the road, and we can have a packet of frozen peas and those chip things you heat up in the oven? We can open a tin of soup for starters and have ice cream for dessert.”

“Robert,” I groaned. “I want to impress your mother, not alienate her.” He does make me cross sometimes.

Rob had just landed a good job as a market-maker in the City. There wasn’t much he didn’t know about stocks and shares, and being in his mid-twenties he had a marvelous future ahead of him. We only had a small furnished flat at the moment, but soon we would be able to start house-hunting.

So, the battle was won, and I rang Robert’s mother and she said they’d love to join us for dinner that Wednesday evening.

“But you’re not to go to any trouble,” she said, sounding concerned.

“Don’t worry,” I laughed. “It won’t be anything special – just our usual evening meal.”

I then phoned my mother, and explained why I was having Rob’s parents to dinner before her and Dad. Proudly, I told her the menu I’d planned for the big event.

“Are you sure it’s such a good idea, darling?” my mother asked. I could almost hear her frowning. “I mean,” she continued, “it’s too late now, but wouldn’t it have been better to have had Janice and Keith over on a Saturday or Sunday, then you’d have had plenty of time to prepare everything?”

“But that’s the whole point!” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice. “I want Rob’s mother to see I can look after him and have a job at the same time. I mean, I haven’t only married Robert; I’ve married his family as well!”

“Hold on a minute, Marion, darling. I’m not trying to force you to change your mind,I only want to make a few suggestions. Now, you know, cooking isn’t one of your strongest points, so perhaps you should cook the chicken the evening before, then serve it cold with a nice salad?

“Mum, I’ve just been down that road with Rob. I must be seen to be giving my husband hot, nourishing food,” I said firmly.

There was a moment’s silence. “Well,” Mum said, at last, “why don’t I come over on Wednesday and prepare everything and then leave before they arrive?”

I nearly fell off my chair. “That’s the last thing I want you to do! I’ve got everything worked out, Mum. I can manage on my own. I’m nearly twenty-one. I mean, I’m a grown-up married woman.”

My mother sighed. “You always were an obstinate girl. You get that from your father’s side of the family.”

Another victory – well, sort of – and now it was time to attend to practicalities.

As Wednesday approached, however, I was overcome by an ever-increasing feeling of dread. Monday and Tuesday, I cleaned and polished the flat, and become so pernickety that Rob almost shouted at me. He said he would be glad when Wednesday had come and gone so that he could relax in the evening, or get on with his work without my looking put out, and throwing up my arms in horror at his papers scattered all over the place.

“When did you say your parents-in-law were coming to dinner?” Josie, the other secretary at work, asked, looking at me innocently as I dropped into my swivel chair on Wednesday morning. Four overfilled carrier bags collapsed round my ankles.

“You know jolly well it’s tonight.” I slumped even further under my desk. “I take it you’ve been early morning shopping.” Josie leaned over her desk and eyed my shopping.

I nodded. “Fresh chicken, fresh peas, new potatoes. Now all I’ve got to do is to belt home at five-thirty, prepare and cook them and look as if the whole thing was an everyday occurrence. The trouble is, I already have a headache with the tension of it all, and it’s only nine-thirty!

“No wonder they call it throwing a dinner-party,” I moaned. “I feel like chucking the whole lot out of the window. Wait till you get married; you won’t be smiling when it comes to entertaining your in-laws.”

But Josie resuscitated me with a cup of coffee, and somehow I managed to get through the morning.

By one o’clock, however, I was in a state yet again. I’d an appointment at the hairdressers, which lasted the whole lunch-hour, but they did actually manage to do something quite pretty with my long fine fair hair. I wanted to be like the women in the shampoo advertisements on TV.

The afternoon mercifully passed uneventfully, and at five-thirty precisely I trundled the shopping home on the bus. I had to stand all the way, though, and one jolt shot the potatoes all over the floor, sending everyone diving under the seats to retrieve them.

Once home I hurled myself into the preparations. I looked at the clock – six-fifteen. Janice and Keith were due at eight. I shelled the peas and scrubbed the potatoes without peeling them. I got that tip from one of the cookery books. But I didn’t it also say something about adding mint leaves to the cooking water?

I looked at the potatoes, which I had set aside in a saucepan, and they looked back at me, cold and alone – yes, they had to have mint! The whole dinner would be ruined if they didn’t have mint!

I galloped downstairs, and out of the front door.

“Mint leaves? No, we don’t have fresh mint,” the boy in the corner shop said.

“But you must,” I said, trying not to lose my composure.

“Well, we haven’t. What are they for, anyway?”

“To put in the cooking water of new potatoes.” I was almost hysterical.

“Tell you what, though,” he said, as he retreated behind his counter for safety, “we do a very nice line in parsley.”

This calmed me down. “Is parsley all right for boiled potatoes?”

“Yes,” he said, venturing out again, but keeping a watchful eye on me. “Here we are. You chop it up and fling it on the potatoes when they’re cooked.Very pretty it looks.”

I carried it home clutched in both hands, as if my life depended on it. There wasn’t much left by the time I’d taken the kitchen knife to the exhausted-looking bunch, but at least it was all green.

Now what? Should I have a bath, dust the flat, lay the table or put the chicken in the oven? Just as I was about to make this monumental decision, Rob came home. He dumped the melon and strawberries he’d bought on the kitchen table, then flopped down in an armchair in the living room and opened the evening paper.

“Robert,” I said icily, the colour rising in my face, “for goodness sake, you can’t sit down!”

“Darling,” Rob said, as he loosened his tie and made himself comfortable, “just give me two minutes to read the paper. There was such a crush on the Tube I had to strap-hang all the way. Have you any idea what it’s like having to stand on London Transport with a load of shopping?” He turned to the City page.

“As a matter of fact,” I started to inform him indignantly, “I’ve been through it myself.”

But I could see it was no good – I was wasting my breath. I glared at him, or more precisely at the paper in front of his face, and retreated to the kitchen, muttering. I popped the chicken in the oven and then managed to make melon balls with a small gadget I’d bought the day before. I yanked the stalks off the strawberries, which hadn’t had a happy journey home, and gave them a hasty wipe.

When I walked back into the living room Rob was still deep in his paper. Devastated by his unshakable calm, I stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door.

“Darling,” Rob said, rushing in after me, his voice soft and tender, “don’t be upset.” He drew me into his arms.

“It’s just that I do so want this evening to be a success,” I mumbled into his shoulder.

“And it will be. Now, can I go back to my paper for ten seconds, please?”

Robert sounded more like a small boy, asking if he could play with his friends a little longer.

“Sorry, darling. Of course you can,” I said, relenting. I was beginning to feel guilty about being such a dragon. I don’t know why it is, but Rob has a habit of making me feel guilty, even when I’m right – especially when I’m right.

I heaved myself off the bed, gave the flat a quick flick with a duster, and then went and had a bath. Then I did my face and put on my favourite dress. I surveyed myself in the mirror. My hair, beautifully done that day, had reverted to its usual take-me-or-leave-me style, and was it any wonder?

Robert was ominously quiet. I peered into the living room. He still had his head buried in the paper, but now there was a glass of beer on the table next to him.

Thunderstruck, I raced over to the table and snatched the glass up. I was horrified to see the glass had left a ring on the shiny surface.

“I’ve already polished this table,” I raged. “Look what you’ve done. Why couldn’t you have used one of those little mats?” I ran into the kitchen and tin of furniture polish and duster in hand, I returned and attacked the offending mark.

“Marion, I’m really sorry.” Rob took the polish and duster from my hands, and dropped them on the floor. “What do you want me to do? I’m all yours.” He pulled me onto his lap and pushed straying strands of hair behind my ear.

I looked into Rob’s large brown eyes, this time convinced I had no reason to feel foolish.

“Well,” I said, as I got up and tugged him by the hand, “let’s start by laying the table.”

We pulled the table away from the wall and lifted the flaps. We spread out the lace tablecloth and matching napkins that Rob’s parents had given us as a wedding present, and the wine glasses they had given us when we’d announced our engagement. It was only ten to eight, and I looked at Rob in triumph.

“We really must give dinner parties more often,” I enthused. “The table looks wonderful. Let’s put the melon out. I forgot to baste the chicken but that doesn’t matter. I’ll do it now.”

I skipped into the kitchen, humming cheerfully to the tune of ‘Hey, good looking, what you got cooking..’

My hand froze on its way to the oven door. Something was dreadfully wrong.

“When Mum roasts the Sunday joint,” I said slowly to Rob, “there’s always a lot of activity coming from oven.”

“Activity. What sort of activity?”

“You know, heat, and the sound of sizzling.”

We stared at the cooker. It was cold and silent. Horrified we looked at each other and, with a feeling of doom, I opened the oven door a crack and peeked inside. The chicken was sitting with its rashers of bacon and knobs of butter planked on top, just as I had left it.

I had forgotten to turn the oven on! I stood rooted to the spot, blinking in disbelief. I wanted my mother! I was led away from the scene of the crime in tears.

“Marion,” Rob said sympathetically, putting an arm round my waist, “don’t cry. It could have happened to anyone.” “No, it couldn’t,” I sobbed. “All I wanted to do was show your mother how well I could manage.”

“Darling, she knows you can. But, this time we’ll just have to take them out to eat.” “There’s this girl at the office,” I said, making good use of the handkerchief Rob had pushed into my hand, “who got married, and her mother-in-law thought this girl should give up work, and she didn’t, and the mother-in-law kept on about how her son wasn’t getting his vitamins.”

“And what happens now?” Rob looked decidedly amused.

“What happens, is that the mother keeps going round to their place with food parcels. The point is,” I added with a gulp, “he’s an only child, like you. His mother dotes on him, and spoils him rotten, too!”

Robert burst out laughing, much to any annoyance. He was in the process of giving me a massive bear hug to placate me, when the phone rang. I hoped it was my mother.

“Hello?” “Hello, Marion, it’s Janice.”

“It’s your mother!” I whispered to Rob, my voice husky with amazement.

“Hello, Janice.”

“Marion, dear, do you mind awfully if we don’t come tonight?”

Foolishly I shook my head.

“It’s just that Keith has one of his dreadful colds,” she continued, without waiting for a reply. “I know it’s short notice. We did get as far as the car, but Keith started sneezing and shivering, and I think it best he looks after himself.”

“I’m really sorry you can’t come.” I tried not to sound thrilled to bits – it wasn’t easy, though. “I hope Keith’s cold gets better soon.”

“Now, you haven’t gone to any trouble, have you? Just say so, and we’ll come right over.”

“No, no,” I said hastily, “no trouble at all. It’s just our usual evening meal, only more of it.”

“That’s what I thought. I do envy you young girls today,” Janice confided. “It was the done thing in my day for the girl to give up work once she got married. I think I told you when I engaged to Keith I gave up a good job. Almost from the day I married him I was tied to the kitchen sink, cooking meat and two veg, day in, day out..”

I made sympathetic noises.

“Of course,” Janice continued, “when babies come along it’s different.” She lowered her voice. “But between you and me I’ve always resented all those years I stayed at home before Robert was born. You’ve got much more sense.”

When I put down the phone Rob was looking at me with a bewildered expression on his face. “What did Mum have to say that called for all those touching sighs?”

“Oh, nothing much,” I said, grinning broadly. “Just that – amazingly – she wished she’d been allowed to be a modern woman, too!”

( Sandra Golding is identified as the author of this Work)

Assignments:

Ex. I. Answer the questions.

1. Had Robert and Marion known each other for a long time?

2. What was Marion sure about the thoughts of Robert’s mother?

3. Why did Robert suggest Marion to invite his parents on Sunday?

4. Why did Marion deliberately want to invite his parents during the week days?

5. Where did they take new cookery books?

6. Did Robert know anything about stocks and shares in his twenties?

7. Why did Marion have a headache the next morning when it was only nine-thirty?

8. How did Rob feel himself after having to strap-hang all the way with a load of shopping on the Tube?

9. Do you believe that her father –in- law really had one of his dreadful colds with lots of sneezing and shivering?

10.Was Robert impressed by her reply and arrangements for the dinner?

Ex. II. Mark the sentence T (True) or False (False).

1. Marion nearly fell into her chair she got to know that her mother would come that day too.

2. Marion cleaned the flat the whole week.

3. She had an appointment at the hairdressers which lasted the whole lunch-hour.

4. Marion bought a bunch of mint leaves to put in the cooking water of new potatoes.

5. Rob bought fresh chicken, fresh peas, new potatoes.

6. Rob was deep in his paper almost all the evening.

7. Marion had forgotten to turn the oven on that evening.

8. Rob’s mother didn’t give up her good job when she got engaged to Keith.

Ex. III. Give the opposites.

1. sunny

2. lazy

3. serious

4. approve

5. hard

6. convenience

7. impressive

8. worry

9. better

10. fresh

Ex. IV. Find grammar mistakes and correct the sentences.

1. Why don’t we had your parents to dinner ?”

2. I’d decide that I’d prove that I could be a proper wife, and still keep work.

3. “ Marion darling, I love the way you want impress Mum,” Robert said.

4. That rather ambitious, isn’t it?”

5. The battle was won, and I rang Robert’s mother and she said they would loved to join us for dinner.

6. I then phoned my mother, and explained why I have Rob’s parents to dinner before her and Dad.

7. I tried to keep the irritation from my voice.

8. Must I have a bath, dust the flat, lay the table or put the chicken in the oven? I was about to make this monumental decision.

Ex. V. Match the halves of the sentences.

1. “ Melon to start with, then roast chicken, a) trundled the shopping home on the

peas, new potatoes, bus.

2. Rob had just landed a good job as a b) then, you’d have had plenty of market- maker time to prepare everything

3. It would have been better to have had c) and then went and had a bath.

Janice and Keith over on Saturday or

Sunday,

4. “ I want Rob’s mother to see I can look d) and dropped them on the floor.

after him and have a job at the same

time. I mean, I haven’t only married

Robert;

5. “ You always were an obstinate girl. e) and for pudding I could rustle up

You get that a chocolate mousse”.

6. At five-thirty precisely I f) from your father’s side of the

family.

7. I heaved myself off the bed, gave the

flat quick flick with a duster, g) in the City.

8. Rob took the polish and duster from my h) I’ve married his family as well !’

hands.

Ex.VI. Complete the sentences with the proper article.

1. It was ___ sunny Sunday morning in early summer and we were feeling too lazy to get up.

2. I’d only met his mother ___ few times, but I was sure she didn’t approve of my going out to work after we married.

3. I deliberately want to invite them during ___ week.

4. ___ last thing I wanted was his mother offering to dash over every day to cook ___ ‘ proper meal’ while I was out at work.

5. “We really must give dinner parties more often. ___ table looks wonderful”.

6. There is always ____ lot of activity coming from ___ oven.

7. “ Marion,” Rob said sympathetically, putting ___ arm round my waist, “ don’t cry”.

8. The point is, “ I added with ___ gulp,” he’s ___ only child, like you.

9. When I put down ___ phone Rob was looking at me with ___ bewildered expression on his face.

10. She wished she’d been allowed to be ___ modern woman, too.

Ex. VII. Choose the word that is different.

1. parent - parenthesis - father - mother

2. frown - disapprove - smile - dislike

3. on the dot - exactly - precisely - late

4. concerned - interested - detached - involved

5. cooked chicken - I groaned - landed a good job - I explained

6. rush - accelerate - fly - delay

7. asking - relenting - beginning - darling

8. glass - hair - ear - hand

9. got up - got to - got by - got down

10. sob - laugh - cry - weep

Going places

From the balcony of our hotel bedroom I watched my husband swim back and forth in the pool below. Although it was still early morning the sun was already hot and the Mediterranean glittered like a mass of sequins.

I sat down under the sunshade and sipped my breakfast orange juice. I was so happy. Who would have thought a few months ago I would be on my honeymoon?

I looked over to where the clear blue sky met the sun-drenched cliffs on a far horizon. A far horizon. That was what Mark said on the day we first met.

It had been a warm Saturday morning in May. I dropped Amy, my daughter, off at my sister’s and gone on to the local supermarket in the north London suburb where we lived.

As I reached for the sugar perched high on a shelf, a voice behind me said: “Can I get that for you?” And a long arm stretched above me, a firm hand grasping the packet.

I turned round to see this good looking man. Everything about him was chiseled. His fair hair, his nose, his chin. He looked as he had just stepped out of one of those TV commercials.

Of course I just had to be wearing my faded jeans and T-shirt. This sophisticated ensemble was topped off by a pair of tennis shoes.

We eyed the contents of each other’s wire basket and burst out laughing.

“I find other people’s shopping interesting, don’t you?” he remarked, revealing a set of perfect teeth.

I nodded in agreement. “Have you noticed how some people have a load of fruit and veg piled in with junk food?”

He then invited me to join him for a milkshake in the café opposite the supermarket.

“I don’t usually have milkshakes with strangers”, I said as, casually, I tucked in a strand of hair that had escaped from the elastic band tying in back.

“Mark Ashton”.

“Kirsty Jones.”

Sucking our milkshakes through straws like a couple of kids, Mark told me he worked for an advertising agency but wanted to start up on his own.

“You see, Kirsty”, he said, “there’s a far horizon I’m aiming at”. The muscles round his eyes tightened fractionally with determination. “On that horizon I can see my agency in five years’ time. It won’t be big, it’ll be mega big. I’ve got some smart money prepared to back me”.

“Isn’t that rather ambitious?” I queried. “I thought companies were going bust.”

“You’re right there. But this economic climate won’t last forever. And when things start to move again, I’ll be all set up.”

I cleared my throat. “Doesn’t your wife usually do the shopping.”

“She did when we were married.” Mark threw up his hands in mock despair. “Now I have to fend for myself.”

“Oh.” I gave the straw another suck.

“And what about you?” He sat back and raised a chiseled eyebrow.

“I’m divorced too. My sister, Jane, says divorce is reaching epidemic proportions. She’s very wary of getting married.”

Mark said the worst part of his divorce was that he only got to see his two children occasionally as they lived with their mother.

“I’ve got Amy,” I told him. “She’s twelve and lives with me.”

“My two horrors are twelve and fourteen.” Mark’s eyes shone with pride. “A boy and girl. I’m sure they’d love to meet Amy. I think everyone should have a clear picture of where they’ll be in five years,” Mark was saying. He chased the last of his drink round the glass with his straw. “What’s your five year plan?”

I nearly choked. A five year plan? Half an hour ago I was agonizing over what to buy Amy and me for supper. I seemed to lurch from one twenty four hours to the next, trying to get my act together.

“I’m not sure I have a five year plan,” I said. “Luckily I don’t have any hassle with my ex over money so I can stay at home.” I shrugged. “I just take each day as it comes.”

Mark picked up the menu. “Why don’t we stay and have a spot of lunch?”

“No thank you. I can’t stay.” I started to get up. “Thank you for the drink. I’ve got to pick up my Amy, she’s spending the morning with Jane. Is that the time? Amy and I are playing cricket this afternoon with the people next door. We couldn’t possibly be late for that.”

I gathered up my shopping. Mark caught my wrist. “What’s your phone number?”

I stayed at Jane’s long enough to inform her I’d picked up a man at the shops.

Amy jumped out of the car when we got home and ran ahead of me up the garden path. “What are doing, Brian?” she called to our next door neighbour who was mowing his lawn.

Brian straightened up. He made his way over to the little flower bed dividing our two properties. “I’m cutting the grass, Amy,” he said smiling at her. “Doesn’t it smell lovely?”

Amy took a deep breath and nodded enthusiastically. “Mm it smells like sunshine.”

“Don’t forget, ladies, you’re playing cricket with Adam and me this afternoon. Adam’s been practicing hard, so I’m afraid you’ve no chance.”

“Well,” I laughed, gently pulling Amy’s thumb out of her mouth, “we’ve been polishing up on our bowling, so look out.”

Brian and Adam, his seven year old son, had moved in a couple of months ago. Another single parent and child in search of a family.

Mark phoned the next morning. He was just off to collect his children for a day in the country and wondered if Amy and I would like to join them.

I quickly said we were already doing something else, but accepted when he suggested he and I had dinner together the following Saturday.

“Have you told Mark about Amy?” Jane asked on Saturday evening. She was sitting on my bed as I was getting ready.

“That’s she mentally handicapped? No.”

“Well, he’s certainly going to get a surprise when he receives the usual inquisitive welcome.” Jane toyed with the duvet.

I hesitated. “I’m not going to introduce her. Not tonight.”

“Kirsty! How can you deny your own daughter!”

“I resent that, Jane! That’s an awful thing to say.” I stopped surveying myself in the mirror and spun round. “What do you know about it? I mean, what could you possibly know? Do you remember what’s his name? Alan?” The words caught in my throat. “I was dead keen on him. As soon as he met Amy he was off?”

I threw my arm out towards the window, in the direction of the street down which Alan had moved like greased lightning. “He ran so fast his feet never touched the ground. Even her own father left home when she as two,” I added bitterly.

“I’m sorry Kirsty,” said my sister, “I was shouldn’t have said what I did. You like Mark a lot, don’t you?”

I nodded. I sprayed myself liberally with the perfume I kept for special occasions. All I wanted was to get dressed up, go out and enjoy myself. That wasn’t a crime was it?

All the same Jane’s words had a horrible ring of truth about them, and it was with a feeling of guilt that I hurried Mark out of the house as soon as he arrived to collect me.

Mark and I went out a lot over the next few weeks. We had fallen in love.

“You’re not ashamed of me, are you?” he teased one evening when we were having dinner in our favourite restaurant.

I shot him a look. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you haven’t introduced me to your daughter yet.”

Mark, and the waiter hovering over us, waited expectantly. I laughed Mark’s question off with some excuse which didn’t seem to satisfy either him or the waiter, who went off in a huff.

“Let’s have some champagne,” said Mark.

I stared at him in amazement. “What are we celebrating?”

“Us! Darling Kirsty, I love you, I need you. Will you marry me?”

“Congratulations,” said Jane, when I told her Mark and I were engaged. He had just dropped me off. “I’m so glad you told him about Amy.” She studied my face. “Oh, Kirsty, you did tell him, didn’t you?”

I sat down and buried my head in my hands. “No,” I groaned miserably.

“Well, you’re just going to have tell him now,” insisted Jane.

I looked at my sister’s kind, concerned face. She was younger than me and I had come to depend on her. Working from home she would drop everything and come dashing over in moments of crises. Even though Amy went to her special day school and a respite centre on some weekends so that I could have a rest, there were still times when I got to breaking point.

These past weeks, when I had been going out with Mark, Jane had spent more time at house than her flat.

“Mark should be home by now.” I reached for the phone and dialed his number.

“Hello, Mark. You haven’t met Amy yet, have you?” Why don’t you come over on Sunday?”

“We’re having a visitor for a tea this afternoon,” I informed Amy after lunch that Sunday. “Let me look at you.” I tucked her shirt into her trousers and tidied her fringe. “You’ll do.” I pulled her to me and kissed the top of her head.

“Love you, Mummy.” Amy wrapped her arms round my waist and looked up at me with the loving, trusting look.

“And I love you too, darling.” A lump rose in my throat as she kissed me. “Come on,” I said, “let’s watch the television until Mark comes. Those cartoons we like are on.”

Amy took up her usual crossed legged position on the floor in front of the set. I roamed the room, adjusting the ornaments and rearranging the flowers.

I couldn’t lose Mark, I just couldn’t. As it was I felt I wasn’t good enough for him.

His world was a million miles from mine. I’d met those hot-shot friends of his in advertising at a party he took me to. They lived in the fast lane, those splendid people with their dazzling conversation. Fat, thin, tall, short, their very self-confidence made them attractive. I was hard pressed to think of a single original thing to say.

I had given a glazed smile and nodded in agreement at whatever they said. There was nothing I could contribute to the conversation. I was hardly going to enthrall them by telling about the little tantrum Amy had thrown with her cornflakes that morning.

At the sound of the front door bell, Amy leapt to her feet and flew into the hall. I rushed after her. She flung open the door.

“I’m Amy. What’s your name?”

Mark met this question with a stunned silence. I took her by the hand and lead her back to the television. With my heart thumping I returned to Mark who was standing in the hall.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked quietly.

“Well, it doesn’t make any difference does it?”

“You seem to think it does.”

I didn’t answer. Mark turned and opened the front door.

“Mark, don’t go. I love you.” I reached out and clutched his sleeve. “I know it’s a lot to ask of anyone, taking on someone else’s mentally handicapped child. I should have told you. I’m sorry. But once you get to know Amy, you’ll love her, you will.”

My gripped tightened on his sleeve. “She’s got lots of charm. It’s true she has learning difficulties, but she’s going places, Mark. She’s has a long way to go, of course, but…”

I could see it was no use, his eyes were like ice and my hand dropped to my side. Mark strode down the garden path, got into his car and drove down the road and out of my life.

Just as I was closing the front door Brian and Adam were leaving for the zoo. Brian asked if Amy and I would like to go along, and, fighting back the tears, I was only too glad to accept.

But now I could smile. Here I was on my honeymoon.

My thoughts were interrupted by the hot Mediterranean sun creeping up the balcony. I stood up and waved to my husband as he got out of the pool.

Mark waved back, picked up his towel and gesticulated that he was on his way up. I can see him now, waiting at the front door when we returned from the zoo. “Hello Amy, I’m Mark. I hear you’re going places.”

With the three of us sitting round the kitchen table, Mark explained why had gone off so angrily. It was because he was furious with me for not having the confidence to tell him about Amy. He had wanted to cool off.

Didn’t I know how much he loved me? And he told Amy all about the ready-made brother and sister she was going to have.

My sister and Brian are looking after Amy while Mark and I are on our honeymoon. Oh, didn’t I mention it? Jane and Brian got married last month.

( Sandra Golding is identified as the author of this Work)

Assignments

Ex.1. Answer the questions:

1. How did Kirsty Jones and Mark Ashton meet each other for the first time?

2. How was Kirsty dressed the day when she saw Mark for the first time?

3. How do most of the people make purchases in supermarkets?

4. What is a far horizon Mark is aiming at?

5. Why Jane is wary of getting married?

6. Why was Kirsty agonizing over what to buy for Amy and her?

7. Who was Brain?

8. How were the relations between Kirsty and Mark going on?

9. How did Kirsty introduce her daughter to Mark?

10. What about Jane who was looking after Amy during Kirsty’s honeymoon?

Ex.II. Fill the gaps with appropriate words given below. Choose the right word among four options:

1. Although it was still early morning the sun was already hot and the Mediterranean_____ like a mass of sequins.

a. showed b. glittered c. displayed d. was dark

2. I _____Amy, my daughter, off at my sister’s and gone on to the local supermarket in the north London suburb where we lived.

a. abandoned b. left c. dropped d. deserted

3. “Can I get that for you?”. And a long arm stretched above me, a firm hand _____ the packet.

a. purchasing b. avoiding c. releasing d. grasping

4. This_____ ensemble was topped off by a pair of tennis shoes.

a. naïve b. sophisticated c. cultured d. unrefined

5. “I find other people’s shopping interesting, don’t you?” he remarked,_____ a set of perfect teeth.

a. revealing b. concealing c. hiding d. suppressing

6. “Have you noticed how some people have a load of fruit and veg piled in with _____ food?”

a. rubbish b. trash c. junk d. wreck

7. I stayed at Jane’s long enough to inform her I’d_____ up a man at the shops.

a. spoke b. talked c. picked d. hunted

8. Mark, and the waiter_____ over us, waited expectantly.

a. resting b. settling c. waiting d. hovering

9. I_____ the room, adjusting the ornaments and rearranging the flowers.

a. roamed b. travelled c. rushed d. strolled

10. She’s got lots of _____.

a. displease b. irritation c. charm d. offend

Ex. III. Put modals can, have, should in the right tense form.

1.Of course I just_____ to be wearing my faded jeans and T-shirt.

2. On that horizon I_____ see my agency in five years’ time.

3. I think everyone _____ have a clear picture of where they’ll be in five years,” Mark was saying.

4.We_____ not possibly be late for that.”

5.“Kirsty! How_____ you deny your own daughter?!”

6.“Mark_____ be home by now.”

7.“I’m sorry Kirsty,” said my sister, “I was_____ not have said what I did. You

8.I _____ not lose Mark, I just couldn’t.

9.I _____ have told you. I’m sorry.

10.But now I_____ smile. Here I was on my honeymoon.

Ex.IV. Insert get, make, see in the right tense form.

1. “On that horizon I can see my agency in five years’ time. It won’t be big, it’ll be mega big. I’ve_____ some smart money prepared to back me”.

2.Mark said the worst part of his divorce was that he only_____ to see his two children occasionally as they lived with their mother.

3. “Thank you for the drink. I’ve_____ to pick up my Amy, she’s spending the morning with Jane.

4.He _____ his way over to the little flower bed dividing our two properties.

5.“Well, he’s certainly going to____a surprise when he receives the usual inquisitive welcome.”

6.All I wanted was to _____ dressed up, go out and enjoy myself. That wasn’t a crime was it?

7.Even though Amy went to her special day school and a respite centre on some weekends so that I could have a rest, there were still times when I_____to breaking point.

8.Fat, thin, tall, short, their very self-confidence_____them attractive.

9.But once you_____to know Amy, you’ll love her, you will.”

10.I mention it? Jane and Brian_____ married last month.

Ex.V. Translate the following sentences.

1. And when things start to move again, I’ll be all set up.”

2. Now I have to fend for myself.

3.My two horrors are twelve and fourteen.

4. I nearly choked. A five year plan?

5.I just take each day as it comes.”

6.I was dead keen on him. As soon as he met Amy he was off?”

7.I shot him a look. “What do you mean?”

8.Mark, and the waiter hovering over us, waited expectantly.

9.I sat down and buried my head in my hands. “No,” I groaned miserably.

10.She’s going places, Mark. She’s has a long way to go, of course, but…”

Ex. VI. Make up a dialogue between Mark and Kirsty.

Ex. VII. Write a message to a person you’ve met not long ago, invite him/her somewhere.

Ex. VIII. Crossword Going Places

Across:

1. What month did Kirsty and Mark meet each other?

2. At what sea did they have their honeymoon?

3. “Hello, Amy. I’m Mark. I hear you’re …. ……”

(What’s the title of this story?)

4. What did Mark and Kirsty have in the café?

5. Where did they meet at first?

6. What’s the name of the main male character?

7. Mark is Amy’s ……….

8. What’s the name of the main female character?

Down:

9. Something, which can be also the synonym of the word “holiday” at this text.

10. What day did Kirsty and Mark meet each other?

11. “I don’t usually have milkshakes with ………”

Answers:

1. May

2. Mediterranean (Sea)

3. Going places

4. Milkshake

5. Shelf

6. Mark

7. Stepfather

8. Kirsty

9. Honeymoon

10. Saturday

11. Strangers

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 832