Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

Maid of Marvels

Lurking with Intent
Joined
Jul 30, 2001
Posts
5,184
Edwina Wallingford had it all: a six-figure income, a condo in the city, a summer home in the Hamptons, men (when and if she wanted). She was her own boss and answered to no one. No one except...

"You will be coming home for my birthday won't you, Edwina?" Virginia Wallingford asked, though it wasn't so much a question as it was a command. "I have invited Allan Barstow for dinner to even things out."

Edwina sighed. Evening things out was her mother's way of saying: I've found a man for you to marry. You'd think she'd have given up after the first ten or so, but no... Virginia's sole purpose in life was to marry her eldest daughter off -- after all, she'd been successful with her two sisters.

"I said that I would, mother. I've arranged to take time off from work and I'll be there for the whole weekend." But how, she wondered, could she avoid this latest bit of matchmaking?


Read along as Tibvo and I explain just how Edwina plans to manage this feat.
As always, comments are welcome by PM and IM.
Enjoy!

Maid and Tib​
 
For someone who was used to making million dollar deals, Edwina Wallingford was still at loose ends when it came to thwarting her mother's marriage plans. She'd even tried to tell her that she was a lesbian but Virginia had poo-poohed that idea with a confident "It's not in our genes, dear. You'll understand when you settle down and start a family like your sisters."

That was the thing. Edwina didn't want to settle down like her sisters and their dull as doors husbands and their passels of children. She liked being single, coming and going as she pleased. As for men, well, variety was the spice of life, wasn't it? And they could come and go as she pleased also.

"I've met someone, mother," she had finally told her, liquid courage goading her on as she crossed her fingers and her legs for good measure. "Yes, he's very nice. We've been discussing marriage." Her mother had been delighted. "His name?" Edwina looked around her living room, her eyes falling on the morning newspaper. "Clayton." She took a sip from her glass. "Clayton Redwine. Of course I'll bring him with me. He said he wouldn't miss your sixty-fifth birthday for the world."

As soon as she'd hung up, Edwina had placed an ad in the personals hoping she could hire someone to fill in as her "date" -- better yet her fiancé. She'd interviewed several candidates and slept with a couple, too, but... what she needed was someone near her own age. Someone who could pass himself off as a successful business type and survive her mother's third degree. Was there no one out there like that? There didn't seem to be and her mother's birthday was this week.

She jumped as the phone rang. It was her mother of course. Making sure that she and Clayton were still coming. She couldn't wait to meet her future son-in-law. Edwina buried her head in her arms.
 
Nige Cowley

Nigel Cowley took another look behind him as he strode down one of the busy streets of the city that he had called him for the past year. He was nervous and he had good reason.

"No-one double-crosses Mean Eddie and usually gets away with it."

That was what Jake, his friend, had told him once when he started working for Eddie Crockran.

Of course, Nigel (known to most people as 'Nige') had no intention in following Jake's advice. All his life, he had to rely on just himself and being a petty thief and conman, that usually meant to the expense of anyone else. And although he got on with most people (until he conned them), he seldom made any genuine friends. Jake being one of them.

That is, until the night he had returned to his flat after helping himself to some of his Crockran's takings just in time to see some of his goons finishing 'questioning' his friend.

Damn!

He had hoped to get back in time to warn him but was too late. Luckily, the hoods were enjoying their work too much to notice him, and Nige quickly slipped off into the night.

But he had a problem. He had hoped that it would have taken a little longer for Crockran to find out what he had done. Giving him time to make good his escape.

He would be alright. He told himself. It wasn't as if he hadn't done this sort of thing before.

Nevertheless, he couldn't help being a little apprehensive. Mean Eddie Crockran hadn't been given his nickname because he was kind to his mother.

The best thing was to get the hell out of Dodge.

In fact, he had already decided to return home to England and the best way to do that was to drive to the next state and catch a plane.

Sorted!...

Long time no write, Maid. ;)
 
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