Id just left my Pilates class, feeling at least two pounds lighter, when I noticed seven missed calls from Mum. Seven! Is the house on fire? Has the cat learned to talk? I open a text: CALL ME BACK! Well, Mum does love a good panic, so even though it was nearly eleven, I dialled her up. Mum begged me to pop over, sobbing about something catastrophic, and hinted the wedding could be off.
My sister, Daisy, is almost twenty-three and fresh on the scene as an up-and-coming designer. She finished her degree a year ago and landed a job straight away. Daisy had interned as a designer, then got snatched up as soon as she graduated. Shes always been the golden girlclever, stylish, and a bit of an icon in Mums eyes. At least, she was until now.
Daisys been seeing Jack for just over a year. Hes three years her senior, living alone, steadily working, and saving his pennies for a housevery London boy done good. Mum approved wholeheartedly; Jack is terribly polite, and has never once put his feet on the coffee table.
Daisy and Jack booked their slot at the registry office, and the big day was just two weeks away.
Well, Daisy got a message on social media, I told Mum, who was already pale. Stranger danger! It said, We dont know each other, but I know you, and you might want to learn something before the wedding Daisy checked the profile: a lady in her fortiesnot exactly spilling state secrets, she thought.
But this mystery woman was persistent. She started messaging from all sorts of accounts, so finally Daisy agreed to meet her for coffee near work.
Mum slapped Daisy upside the head and said, Dont go meeting strangers for coffee! I recounted. Daisy sat waiting, sipping her cappuccino, when in waddles a pregnant woman. Daisy figured she must be lost, until she headed straight for our Daisy.
Are you Daisy? Pregnant Lady said, like she was about to offer her a slice of cake. Im Kate. Ive been seeing Jack for over a year, and Im expecting his son in four months.
Obviously, Daisy thought this was total rubbish. Surely not Jackher Jack, whos about to be her husband in two weeks! Kate didnt fight or fuss, just left her number and the promise to call if any questions popped up. She also suggested Daisy speak directly to Jack.
And what, pray tell, did Jack say? That was when the real fun kicked off. Jack admitted Daisy insisted romance was strictly pre-wedding, so theyd been walking around like awkward teenagerskissing, hugging, but nothing more. Daisy, raised by Mum who thinks Jane Austen was a modern woman, had no idea this was possible in 21st century Britain. Honestly, I was gobsmacked too. Daisy might have finished school and uniand had plenty of mates, but still.
As it turns out, Jack had decided to find his, shall we say, comfort elsewhere. He met Kate, told her upfront there would never be anything serious, and in the beginning, she was fine. Kate was freshly divorced, getting a good bit of child support, and workinghappy enough not to press for more.
Jack promised when the baby arrived, he’d do a DNA test. If the child’s his, hell help financially, but blamed Daisys medieval morals for driving him to Kates arms.
Nobody expected Kate to throw this bombshell before the vows. Now the familys wondering if theres even room for one more at the table.
Jacks convinced Daisy shouldn’t break things off because he loves her, and insists Kate was just a way to scratch an itchthat if Daisy had been more modern, there’d be no Kate and no awkward café confessions.
Hell help if hes the dad, but hes adamant hes not playing happy families. Kates on her own, and Jack even offered some cash for an operation, but Kates having none of it.
So, should Daisy run for the hills, or forgive Jack’s masculine urges as he claims? Is a lack of intimacy really an excuse for cheating these days, or is Jack just making excuses for dodgy behaviour?
