And begin it did. Aunt Gladys was absolutely thrilled about her party once she was over the initial shock, and was particularly excited to see her two nieces from up north who she saw very little of these days. Rachel's first thought upon seeing her was how fantastic she looked for her age. She was a typical older lady, grey hair and rosy cheeks. She was quite short but she certainly hadn't lost her willowy figure over the years and had retained her elegant sense of style. She hugged Rachel tightly when she came over to them and asked her how she was, before turning to Mel and repeating the pleasantries. Rachel felt sick to the stomach when Mel introduced Eddie as her fiancé and Aunt Gladys proceeded to ask them lots of probing questions about their relationship. She was quietly pleased to notice that Eddie didn't look any more comfortable than she felt, and must have been squirming inside to have to listen to Mel's gushing after what had happened between them just a few hours ago.
Rachel scanned the room looking for an escape route and was pleased to notice another familiar face standing at the bar talking to a typical tall, dark, handsome man. The first thing that struck Rachel, as it always did upon seeing her cousin Julie, was how she didn't look any different than she had when they were both 21. She still had the same beautiful blonde hair, long legs and flawless skin, of which Rachel had always been jealous during her acne-ridden teenage years. When she saw Rachel approaching, Julie squealed and flung her arms around her, squeezing her tight and proclaiming how wonderful it was to see her. Rachel laughed.
"Nice to see you too," she responded, "It's been a while hasn't it?"
"Too long, again!" replied Julie.
"And who do we have here?" Rachel questioned her, turning to the man who was standing next to her at the bar, "You kept this one quiet didn't you?!"
"Oh sorry, Rach this is Oliver, my boyfriend." Rachel noticed Oliver beam when he heard her cousin say this, "Oliver, meet my favourite cousin."
"It's lovely to meet you Rachel." Oliver said with a kiss to her cheek and a smile.
"And look at Mel over there with her fella too," Julie commented looking over to the other side of the room, "He's pretty handsome isn't he! That just leaves you eh Rach? No bloke on the horizon for you?"
She noticed that Rachel's face had dropped and her gaze had turned away momentarily, leaving her wondering why this was such a sore subject.
"There was... well, there is kind of... actually no, probably not any more, though... I don't know Julie. It's complicated I suppose, but in short no, no one at the moment."
Julie heard the slight sadness in her tone, and quickly whispering to Oliver that they were going to sit down and have a girly chat, asking him if he would be ok for a while. When he replied in the affirmative, she quickly steered Rachel to the bar, ensuring she had another nice large glass of wine, before ensconcing them in a quiet corner for a good catch up.
Rachel managed to divert all the unwanted questions about her love life, playing it safe and just saying she was in a complicated situation at the moment and didn't really want to dwell on it at the party. Once the topic of conversation changed and they began to discuss their jobs, friends and the rest of their lives, she managed to take her mind away from the turmoil that had been infested there for weeks and began to relax and enjoy herself more. When the buffet opened a while later, they rejoined Oliver and filled their plates. Rachel hadn't realised how hungry she was, her exertion earlier on in the swimming pool had slipped her mind until now and she was suddenly ravenous. When she turned around however and saw that Julie and Oliver had sat down at a table with Melissa, Phil and Eddie, Rachel's heart sank. So much for avoiding him all night. She had known that at some point Julie would want to speak to Mel, she just hoped by then she would have someone else to speak to and distract her. But there were very few other people in the room who she actually knew, leaving her with no choice but to go over and join their table.
As she approached the table and found that the only spare seat remaining was in between Eddie and Oliver, she was very tempted to turn around and sit by herself in the corner. She couldn't though as Mel noticed her coming and waved her over. Great, she thought, her hands shaking slightly, she really didn't have a choice now.
Glancing at Eddie out of the corner of her eye, she didn't think he had noticed her approaching yet, as he was engaged in conversation with Julie. So Rachel sat down, moving her chair as far away from him as possible, and began to eat her food, her eyes fixed firmly on the plate in front of her. On the other side of her, Oliver and Phil were discussing Phil's favourite topic, football, comparing the merits of his Manchester United with those of Oliver's Arsenal. Rachel knew from experience that these sort of conversations, in which she had no interest whatsoever, could quite easily go on forever!
Eventually, Eddie had had enough of the girly talk and turned away from Melissa and Julie, intending to join in the football conversation going on next to him, and it was only then that he realised with a jolt that Rachel had taken the seat next to him. It didn't look like she'd done it willingly he noted, as she had sat as far away from him as possible without landing in Phil's lap, but it was progress none the less. He had a feeling she had been avoiding him for most of the evening.
"You having a good evening then Rach?" Eddie enquired in an attempt to break the ice between them.
"What do you think?" She responded in an icy whisper, "I'm having a great time playing piggy in the middle with you and Melissa, whilst trying to make out to my family that everything is fine, that I am completely fine."
"And aren't you?" he questioned gently?
"Seriously Eddie, how do you think I'm feeling? Anyway, this is neither the time nor the place for this conversation, I'll just get on with my food and then attempt to talk to Aunt Gladys."
"But Rach, we need to talk, you know we do."
"As I said Eddie, not the time or the place, and to be quite honest, I'm not sure I have anything to say to you anyway."
With that Rachel stood up from the table, tears glistening in her eyes, and turned towards the exit.
"What's up with her?" Phil asked, noticing his Aunt's sudden movement.
"Nothing, just gone to the bathroom I think." Eddie replied, "She'll be back in a while."
Accepting this, Phil turned back to Oliver, and this time Eddie tried his best to join in with the conversation and not arouse suspicion. Rachel was gone for quite a while, walking around the hotel car park trying to calm down and clear her head. Eventually she decided that she should go back, any longer and she would have some awkward questions to field. Upon entering the room, Rachel realised that Aunt Gladys was about to start her speech. She thought that this ought to be quite amusing, and settled herself down at the nearest table so as not to interrupt. She laughed as she always did at the stories her aunt could tell, describing her childhood and teenage years, before moving on to the birth of her daughter and two nieces who had been so close growing up. Rachel became lost in memories of her own for a while, remembering the antics they had got up to, particularly herself and Julie when they had been almost old enough to hit the town and had sneaked into clubs after a hard day at college. Then she remembered with a smile all the times she had been able to rely on her aunt after her mum had thrown her out, for a hug and a meal and even somewhere to sleep in the holidays when necessary. They really had been through some times together over the years.
Looking up, Rachel realised with a start that the dancing had begun whilst she had been lost in her own little world. 'Proper' dance music had been requested and couples were currently trying their best to waltz around the dance floor. Rachel looked on with a grin as Oliver and Julie spun around the floor. He was quite good Rachel noticed as he expertly lead her cousin. Several other couples she didn't recognise were also trying their best to join in. Over at her previous table, Melissa was trying her best to persuade Eddie to dance, but after several minutes with no results, she gave up and headed for the bar. At the end of the song Rachel saw Julie join her and order a round of tequilas. This was sure to get messy!
Deciding that they were probably going to be busy at the bar for a while Rachel debated what should be her next move. Should she go over and join Eddie at the table where he was sat looking awkward with Phil and his cousins, or should she just escape for a while? Mel and Julie were never going to notice her absence after a few of those tequila's she thought, so she'd sit it out for a while longer then leave Eddie and Phil alone and hide in the room. It was the most sensible idea; she couldn't risk being left alone with Eddie. As she sat down at the table however, one of the boys produced a football from under their chair, and they ran outside to avoid the adults and the dancing, leaving Rachel and Eddie well and truly and unavoidably alone.
Sitting as far away from him as possible without looking suspicious, Rachel took a deep breath and wondered what on earth to say to him. Eddie pulled his chair up closer, and briefly brushed his hand against her arm, making the hairs there stand on end. He knew the effect he was having on her as he watched a pretty blush creep up her neck and across her cheeks.
"Rach," he breathed, making her spine tingle at the shortening of her name and his breath on her ear, "Please, talk to me, let me explain how I'm feeling."
"You know what Eddie," she whispered back, trying to keep the quiver in her voice from betraying her emotions, "I really don't care how you're feeling right now. What about Mel? Can you imagine how she would feel if she knew what had gone on earlier? You're meant to be her fiancé for goodness sake, you can't just go around kissing random women you know!"
"You're hardly some random woman Rach, surely you know that, you're special, you're absolutely beautiful, look at you in that dress, I mean..."
But what he meant Rachel was not destined to find out right then, as they both felt a hand on their shoulders and turned round to find Aunt Gladys tugging them towards the dance floor.
"Come on you two love birds, come and show us oldies some moves!" she began with a grin.
"Oh no Auntie Gladys," Rachel replied, the blush returning to her cheeks once more, "Eddie is Mel's partner remember, not mine."
"Nonsense," replied Gladys, "Melissa is too busy at the bar as usual, I'm sure you can accompany each other for this next one, you used to be a good dancer when you were younger Rachel!"
"Looks like we don't have a choice," said Eddie with a grin, "Come on Rach, let's show them how it's done, Mel won't mind."
And with that his arm was slipped round her waist as he steered her towards the dance floor.
"I didn't realise you knew how to dance Eddie," Rachel said, trying to relax so as not to look too awkward to any on lookers, which was proving extremely difficult as Eddie snaked his left arm to join his right around her waist and puller her close.
"I don't," he replied, "I'm relying on you for this one I'm afraid."
"Eddie I haven't danced in years, no make that decades," Rachel retorted, "And anyway, the man is supposed to lead, this is a bad idea, let's sit down."
"Rach, relax, you're not going anywhere now I've got you." Eddie tightened his grip round her waist and she knew there was no escape now.
"I can't believe you Eddie!" Rachel hissed into his ear as they swayed together to the music, I was supposed to be avoiding you tonight, I can't be close to you like this, don't you see?"
"Well how else am I supposed to get you to talk to me? You can't just hide away from me after what happened earlier Rach, we need to talk, surely you can see that?"
"I just don't get you Eddie, you're marrying my sister for goodness sake, you just cheated on her, I would be mad at you if you had done that with anyone, but with me, how on earth do you think that makes me feel?"
"Rach I'm so sorry, what do you want me to say? This is you, that's the whole point, can't you see that?"
He began to trace circles along her lower back with his finger tips, making her go weak at the knees. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.
"What on earth is that supposed to mean Eddie?" She was becoming hysterical now, her voice beginning to rise, "Can't you see that makes it worse? This is my sister were talking about, this can't happen."
With that Rachel could take no more. Pulling from his grip she fled the room as quickly as she could without drawing further attention to herself.