"Before we go shopping today I want to make a stop at Forgotten Hollow, there's some people I want you to met" Angus tells me as we are leaving the apartment. I feel all my insecurities and social anxieties come bubbling up inside me.
"I'm not good at meeting new people" I fret to Angus.
"You'll be good with these people Zoey, they will love you as much as I do, it's the first time I've introduced them to a girlfriend too so it's kind of a big thing for me" He tells me.
Angus drives out of the city to Forgotten Hollow, pulling up out the front of the cemetery, I look at him confused but he doesn't say a word, he just gets out of the car and walks around to open my door, I climb out of the car and he takes my hand.
The cemetery is quiet, there's only us and another man visiting the graves. Angus leads us down the back of cemetery and stops in front of two graves, I read the names on the headstones and it becomes clear to me who I am meeting today, I let go of his hand and wrap my arms around him.
"Hey Mum and Dad, I want you to meet Zoey, the girl I've been telling you about, she's the sweetest girl I've ever met, she's become such a big part of my life, she calms me down when I get worked up and she always knows how to make me smile. You would love her too, she's like a beautiful ray of sunshine." Angus tells his parents as he sits down at the foot of the graves, knees pulled to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs. I sit myself on the grass beside him and put my arms around his waist.
"Hi Mr and Mrs McKenzie, it's an honour to meet you, you should be so proud of your son, he's become such an outstanding man and he treats me like a princess too. I love him more and more everyday. I know you are watching over him, Imogen too and I promise to take care of him for you" I vow to them, tears welling in my eyes.
"My Mum use to grow strawberries in our backyard when we lived in Newcrest, she would go out every morning to the garden and pick them from the vine and we would share them together for breakfast" Angus tells me, that's why he loves strawberries, they remind him of his mother.
"Tell me about your Dad, what special memory you have of him" I ask him, holding him tightly
"My Dad would take me to every Llamas game of the season, we would sit in the cheap seats together, he would drink a beer and he would buy me sugary snacks and we had the best days, even when the Llamas lost he would still make me feel like we had won, He was the best Dad and my Mum was such a sweet, beautiful soul and I miss them everyday Zoey" He breakdown in tears.
"Thank you for introducing me to your parents Angus, it means a lot to me that you did, they would be really proud of you baby" I say and he gives me a small smile.
"They would love you Zoey. They would see in you what Imogen and I see, that you are the woman I am going to spend the rest of my life with" He tells me, leaning in and kissing me softly.
"I'm going to go for a walk so you talk to your parents privately, I'm sure there's more you need to catch them up on." I tell him, hugging him tightly before I stand up
"Thank you Princess" He says to me.
I take a stroll through the graves, looking at the names and dates that they were born and when they died, it makes me saddest when I come across ones with short dates and the ones with sweet messages on tombstones. Angus comes and finds me 20 minutes later.
"Ready to go shopping Princess?" He asks me, I can see his eyes are red from crying but he feels better after talking to his parents
"Yes baby, do you want me to drive?" I offer, not because I want to but because I feel he needs me to, he hands me his keys and we walk hand in hand to his car. I don't want to ask him about his talk with his parents, if he wants to bring it up on his own he can but I won't push him.
I drive us to the Magnolia Promenade, pulling in to the furniture precinct. We look at the bedding place first because Angus believes it's the most important piece of furniture we will ever own. We lie on soft beds, hard beds, ones with different levels of firmness for each side.
"Do you like it hard or soft baby" Angus asks me, flashing that cheeky smile.
"I like it firm" I tell him and he sets out to find me the best firm mattress.
"Zo, come lay on this one" Angus calls out to me from across the store. I stretch myself out on the mattress he has found, it's firm but not too firm, it feels perfect, Angus lays down next to me, "What do you think Zoey?" He asks me
"Yep, this is the one for us" I confirm.
"Can I help you?" A snotty sales person asks us rudely.
"We are thinking we may take two of these mattresses and two timber bed frames" Angus tells her and she stares at us like we are germs she needs to clean away.
"The cheaper bedding is down the front, it may be more suited to your price range children" She says as if we are wasting her time.
"Pretty sure I said I'd take two of these and two timber bed frames." Angus tells her firmly
"Do you even realise how much these are?" Sales lady questions him, I look at the price tag behind me and am glad I'm laying down, it's more than what I'd make at The Cupcake Factory in a decade and he wants to buy two of them.
"Can I see your manager?" Angus asks snotty lady and she runs away but returns with a tall, older man who I assume is the manager, snotty lady smirking like she's won and he will kick us out of the store.
"What seems to be the problem sir" The manager asks Angus
"I want to buy two of these mattresses and two timber bed frames, I've asked your sales assistant here repeatedly and she insists on insulting me by implying I can not afford what I want. Does your employee often talk potential customers out of sales and insult them?" Angus asks, to his credit he is staying calm
"I'll put the sale through for you sir" The manager tells us, giving his employee a look of disgust
"Thank you, it's nice to see someone has good customer service skill in this place" Angus says, paying for our order and we watch the snotty sales lady's face drop, she knows she's in trouble with her manager, that's what she gets for being rude.
"Your order will be ready in about 3 weeks, I hope that's ok sir" The manager says as he hands Angus the receipt
"Awesome, thank you" Angus says, shaking his hand before adding, "You may need to retrain your staff member so she doesn't talk down to more of your customers"
We visited 5 more stores that day and placed orders for two lounges, bookcases and a dinning table with chairs.
"I have some money saved up from working, it's not a lot but I'd like buy some towels and bedding" I tell Angus as we are driving home.
"Save your money Princess, I've got it covered" He assures me
"Please" I beg him and he looks at me with the big, beautiful smile.
"Ok, you can get towels and bedding" He tells me, placing his hand on my leg as he drives us back into the city. We arrive back there mid afternoon, tired from a day of shopping. Imogen is in their lounge room, watching a movie alone, she jumps up when she sees us come up the stairs.
"I've been waiting for you, I have some big news to share" She tells us, throwing her arms around Angus and then me.
"We have news too" Angus says smiling
"You go first Gus" Imogen says as we take a seat on the lounge next to her
"I bought the house in Brindlton Bay" He tells her and she kisses him on the cheek
"That's awesome news, I'm so proud of you Gus, Mum and Dad would be too" She praises him, big smile on her face
"We move in in 4 weeks" Gus tells her
"I thought you said 6" I ask him
"I thought it would be 6 too but they wanted 4 so I agreed to it and forgot to tell you, sorry Princess" He apologises, kissing my hand, "What's your news big sis" He asks Imogen.
"Well it came as a bit of a surprise, so much so that I was in denial for about 2 weeks but I had it confirmed officially yesterday, Justin and I are pregnant" She announces to us and Angus wraps his arms around his sister.
"That's awesome news, I'm going to be an uncle" He cheers
"Uncle Gus" Imogen confirms
"Uncle Angus" He corrects her, "Calling me Gus stops at you, I don't want it being passed down to your children" He laughs
"And Aunty Zoey" Imogen says warmly to me, I feel like I'm really part of their little family
"Congratulations Imogen" I tell her, standing up to hug her.
"Thank you Zoey and who knows, maybe he or she might be blessed with a cousin around the same age" She jokes, knowing it will stir Angus up.
"Justin has siblings who have kids, yours already have plenty of cousins to play with" Angus tells her firmly
"Oh Gus you never know" She laughs and he looks at me with that worried expression, I place my hand on his shoulder to reassure him that that's a long way off.
"We saw Brian last night" He tells Imogen, in an attempt to change the subject
"Now there's a name I haven't heard for many years, How is he?" Imogen asks and I'm actually surprised that she doesn't show more anger towards Brian
"I didn't talk to the piece of shit" Angus scoffs
"You should, you two were best friends, it's a shame you can't get passed what happened and work it out. His family was a big help to me after Mum and Dad died, I'm sure Brian misses you too" She attempts to reason with him
"He slept with my girlfriend" Angus exclaims
"She treated you like shit Gus, if anything he did you a favour" She states
"I could never trust him again, not around Zoey" Angus shouts
"You can trust Zoey though" Imogen points out and I watch as he starts to soften
"I can trust you Zo, I know that, I know you wouldn't cheat on me" He tells me and I kiss his cheek
"I wouldn't do anything to lose you, it would hurt me too much" I confirm to Angus
"So I think you can build that bridge with Brian" Imogen tells him
"You're so pushy" Angus laughs, "I think he has a thing for Tess, he was chatting her up at The Stargazer last night"
"Well thats good, you two can double date" Imogen suggests and Angus screws his nose up at the thought of having to be around Brian for a night.
"Tess has just broken up with Declan, I doubt she's looking for her next victim yet" I reassure him.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that Zoey" Angus says smiling as if he knows something I don't.
"Why's that?" I question him
"I received a text from Annabelle this morning, apparently your sister went home with Brian last night" He laughs and I'm floored, I know Tess, she wouldn't just go home with a guy but then again, she had a boyfriend for 4 years.
"Im sure he just drove her back to my place" I defend my sister in her absence
"Maybe Annabelle got it wrong" Angus says.
Tess would of texted me if she had gone home with Brian, I'm sure of it.
"I'm not good at meeting new people" I fret to Angus.
"You'll be good with these people Zoey, they will love you as much as I do, it's the first time I've introduced them to a girlfriend too so it's kind of a big thing for me" He tells me.
Angus drives out of the city to Forgotten Hollow, pulling up out the front of the cemetery, I look at him confused but he doesn't say a word, he just gets out of the car and walks around to open my door, I climb out of the car and he takes my hand.
The cemetery is quiet, there's only us and another man visiting the graves. Angus leads us down the back of cemetery and stops in front of two graves, I read the names on the headstones and it becomes clear to me who I am meeting today, I let go of his hand and wrap my arms around him.
"Hey Mum and Dad, I want you to meet Zoey, the girl I've been telling you about, she's the sweetest girl I've ever met, she's become such a big part of my life, she calms me down when I get worked up and she always knows how to make me smile. You would love her too, she's like a beautiful ray of sunshine." Angus tells his parents as he sits down at the foot of the graves, knees pulled to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs. I sit myself on the grass beside him and put my arms around his waist.
"Hi Mr and Mrs McKenzie, it's an honour to meet you, you should be so proud of your son, he's become such an outstanding man and he treats me like a princess too. I love him more and more everyday. I know you are watching over him, Imogen too and I promise to take care of him for you" I vow to them, tears welling in my eyes.
"My Mum use to grow strawberries in our backyard when we lived in Newcrest, she would go out every morning to the garden and pick them from the vine and we would share them together for breakfast" Angus tells me, that's why he loves strawberries, they remind him of his mother.
"Tell me about your Dad, what special memory you have of him" I ask him, holding him tightly
"My Dad would take me to every Llamas game of the season, we would sit in the cheap seats together, he would drink a beer and he would buy me sugary snacks and we had the best days, even when the Llamas lost he would still make me feel like we had won, He was the best Dad and my Mum was such a sweet, beautiful soul and I miss them everyday Zoey" He breakdown in tears.
"Thank you for introducing me to your parents Angus, it means a lot to me that you did, they would be really proud of you baby" I say and he gives me a small smile.
"They would love you Zoey. They would see in you what Imogen and I see, that you are the woman I am going to spend the rest of my life with" He tells me, leaning in and kissing me softly.
"I'm going to go for a walk so you talk to your parents privately, I'm sure there's more you need to catch them up on." I tell him, hugging him tightly before I stand up
"Thank you Princess" He says to me.
I take a stroll through the graves, looking at the names and dates that they were born and when they died, it makes me saddest when I come across ones with short dates and the ones with sweet messages on tombstones. Angus comes and finds me 20 minutes later.
"Ready to go shopping Princess?" He asks me, I can see his eyes are red from crying but he feels better after talking to his parents
"Yes baby, do you want me to drive?" I offer, not because I want to but because I feel he needs me to, he hands me his keys and we walk hand in hand to his car. I don't want to ask him about his talk with his parents, if he wants to bring it up on his own he can but I won't push him.
I drive us to the Magnolia Promenade, pulling in to the furniture precinct. We look at the bedding place first because Angus believes it's the most important piece of furniture we will ever own. We lie on soft beds, hard beds, ones with different levels of firmness for each side.
"Do you like it hard or soft baby" Angus asks me, flashing that cheeky smile.
"I like it firm" I tell him and he sets out to find me the best firm mattress.
"Zo, come lay on this one" Angus calls out to me from across the store. I stretch myself out on the mattress he has found, it's firm but not too firm, it feels perfect, Angus lays down next to me, "What do you think Zoey?" He asks me
"Yep, this is the one for us" I confirm.
"Can I help you?" A snotty sales person asks us rudely.
"We are thinking we may take two of these mattresses and two timber bed frames" Angus tells her and she stares at us like we are germs she needs to clean away.
"The cheaper bedding is down the front, it may be more suited to your price range children" She says as if we are wasting her time.
"Pretty sure I said I'd take two of these and two timber bed frames." Angus tells her firmly
"Do you even realise how much these are?" Sales lady questions him, I look at the price tag behind me and am glad I'm laying down, it's more than what I'd make at The Cupcake Factory in a decade and he wants to buy two of them.
"Can I see your manager?" Angus asks snotty lady and she runs away but returns with a tall, older man who I assume is the manager, snotty lady smirking like she's won and he will kick us out of the store.
"What seems to be the problem sir" The manager asks Angus
"I want to buy two of these mattresses and two timber bed frames, I've asked your sales assistant here repeatedly and she insists on insulting me by implying I can not afford what I want. Does your employee often talk potential customers out of sales and insult them?" Angus asks, to his credit he is staying calm
"I'll put the sale through for you sir" The manager tells us, giving his employee a look of disgust
"Thank you, it's nice to see someone has good customer service skill in this place" Angus says, paying for our order and we watch the snotty sales lady's face drop, she knows she's in trouble with her manager, that's what she gets for being rude.
"Your order will be ready in about 3 weeks, I hope that's ok sir" The manager says as he hands Angus the receipt
"Awesome, thank you" Angus says, shaking his hand before adding, "You may need to retrain your staff member so she doesn't talk down to more of your customers"
We visited 5 more stores that day and placed orders for two lounges, bookcases and a dinning table with chairs.
"I have some money saved up from working, it's not a lot but I'd like buy some towels and bedding" I tell Angus as we are driving home.
"Save your money Princess, I've got it covered" He assures me
"Please" I beg him and he looks at me with the big, beautiful smile.
"Ok, you can get towels and bedding" He tells me, placing his hand on my leg as he drives us back into the city. We arrive back there mid afternoon, tired from a day of shopping. Imogen is in their lounge room, watching a movie alone, she jumps up when she sees us come up the stairs.
"I've been waiting for you, I have some big news to share" She tells us, throwing her arms around Angus and then me.
"We have news too" Angus says smiling
"You go first Gus" Imogen says as we take a seat on the lounge next to her
"I bought the house in Brindlton Bay" He tells her and she kisses him on the cheek
"That's awesome news, I'm so proud of you Gus, Mum and Dad would be too" She praises him, big smile on her face
"We move in in 4 weeks" Gus tells her
"I thought you said 6" I ask him
"I thought it would be 6 too but they wanted 4 so I agreed to it and forgot to tell you, sorry Princess" He apologises, kissing my hand, "What's your news big sis" He asks Imogen.
"Well it came as a bit of a surprise, so much so that I was in denial for about 2 weeks but I had it confirmed officially yesterday, Justin and I are pregnant" She announces to us and Angus wraps his arms around his sister.
"That's awesome news, I'm going to be an uncle" He cheers
"Uncle Gus" Imogen confirms
"Uncle Angus" He corrects her, "Calling me Gus stops at you, I don't want it being passed down to your children" He laughs
"And Aunty Zoey" Imogen says warmly to me, I feel like I'm really part of their little family
"Congratulations Imogen" I tell her, standing up to hug her.
"Thank you Zoey and who knows, maybe he or she might be blessed with a cousin around the same age" She jokes, knowing it will stir Angus up.
"Justin has siblings who have kids, yours already have plenty of cousins to play with" Angus tells her firmly
"Oh Gus you never know" She laughs and he looks at me with that worried expression, I place my hand on his shoulder to reassure him that that's a long way off.
"We saw Brian last night" He tells Imogen, in an attempt to change the subject
"Now there's a name I haven't heard for many years, How is he?" Imogen asks and I'm actually surprised that she doesn't show more anger towards Brian
"I didn't talk to the piece of shit" Angus scoffs
"You should, you two were best friends, it's a shame you can't get passed what happened and work it out. His family was a big help to me after Mum and Dad died, I'm sure Brian misses you too" She attempts to reason with him
"He slept with my girlfriend" Angus exclaims
"She treated you like shit Gus, if anything he did you a favour" She states
"I could never trust him again, not around Zoey" Angus shouts
"You can trust Zoey though" Imogen points out and I watch as he starts to soften
"I can trust you Zo, I know that, I know you wouldn't cheat on me" He tells me and I kiss his cheek
"I wouldn't do anything to lose you, it would hurt me too much" I confirm to Angus
"So I think you can build that bridge with Brian" Imogen tells him
"You're so pushy" Angus laughs, "I think he has a thing for Tess, he was chatting her up at The Stargazer last night"
"Well thats good, you two can double date" Imogen suggests and Angus screws his nose up at the thought of having to be around Brian for a night.
"Tess has just broken up with Declan, I doubt she's looking for her next victim yet" I reassure him.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that Zoey" Angus says smiling as if he knows something I don't.
"Why's that?" I question him
"I received a text from Annabelle this morning, apparently your sister went home with Brian last night" He laughs and I'm floored, I know Tess, she wouldn't just go home with a guy but then again, she had a boyfriend for 4 years.
"Im sure he just drove her back to my place" I defend my sister in her absence
"Maybe Annabelle got it wrong" Angus says.
Tess would of texted me if she had gone home with Brian, I'm sure of it.
