chapter 24: fawn's planning

~fawn~

       "Fawn!" I suddenly hear Uncle Winston call from down on the ground. I look down from the cafe's roof to where he's standing. "Are you almost done?! You must be getting hungry!"

       Every time I'm doing some work on my aunt and uncle's cafe, they're always so concerned that I get too hungry, even if I told them I just ate before getting to work. I mean, today is one of those days where I'm doing this late in the afternoon so I haven't eaten in a while, but sometimes I wish my aunt and uncle would just wait until I was done.

       "Yes, I'm almost done!" I say. 

       "Okay! I've prepared dinner for you so come eat when you're done!"

       I'm about to point out that it's probably not best for me to eat in the cafe when the bottom of my pants are soaked due to attempting to clear out the clogged gutters, but Uncle Winston walks back into the cafe before I can say so.

       I can try taking the food to go, but my uncle also likes it when I sit in the cafe and eat, so hopefully he's okay with my wet pants and shoes. Note to self; wear the boots next time I have to clean out the gutters. Or get one of the gutter cleaners I can extend from the ground.

       I finish cleaning the gutters, so I climb down from the roof. I fold up the ladder, bringing it and the cleaner to the cafe's storage room. Uncle Winston points out the food for me on the counter, so I walk over and point out my pants. "They're wet from the gutters."

       "Oh, that's fine," Uncle Winston says. "I need to talk to you and Ellie about something, anyway. I already invited her over here. She should be here soon."

       I want to ask Uncle Winston what he wants to talk to us about, but I realize there's no point for him to explain it twice. It will be easier for him to just tell me with Ellie once she gets here, so I just sit down on one of the stools at the counter to eat the dinner my uncle made for me.

       Ellie shows up when I'm about halfway through the dinner. She sits down beside me and instead of asking Uncle Winston what this impromptu meeting is about, she looks at me. "I can tell you're absolutely loving having a boyfriend."

       I furrow my eyebrows as I chew the current bite I took of my sandwich. Once I swallow it, I ask, "What exactly has brought up Marius unprompted?"

       "That hickey you're sprouting on your neck," Ellie says.

       My hand immediately covers the spot Marius passionately kissed me on this morning before he left my house. I should have checked the mirror to see if he left a mark, but I just went to work shortly after he left. Meaning this was probably visible all day. While I had multiple jobs.

        Ellie snorts a laugh. "There's no shame in having a hickey showing. If anyone shames you for it, just know that they're probably projecting because they don't have a passionate love life."

       I clear my throat as I look at my uncle. "What is it you would like to talk to the two of us about?"

       Uncle Winston doesn't answer my question. Instead, he says, "I agree with Ellie. You're a grown man. There is no shame. It's very nice to see you happy with someone like Marius."

       "Don't you have something you would like to talk to us about?" I ask again, hoping the conversation would move away from the fact that I have a boyfriend now.

       Uncle Winston looks at Ellie. "Don't mind him. Marius just makes him very flustered. I asked one question about Marius and Fawn's blushed very hard."

       "I'm sure that wasn't the only thing that was hard," Ellie says.

       "Ellie!" I say. Am I surprised Ellie said something like that? No, not really. Do I wish she didn't say that around my uncle? Yes, absolutely.

       Uncle Winston just laughs at the comment before he finally says, "Don't worry, Fawn, we'll finally talk about what it is I want. So this is going to be very top secret. I don't want anyone to know."

       "By anyone, does the include of exclude our significant others?" Ellie says. "Awe, Fawn, I can actually say our significant others since you have a boyfriend."

       "Wow, really?" I ask. "I had no idea. Thank you for informing me."

       "Oh, stop. You know I'm just teasing you because I'm very happy for you. I was waiting for Marius to man up and ask you out."

       "Marius told you that he liked me?"

       Ellie laughs slightly. "Are you kidding? He didn't have to. You'd have to be blind to not notice the way he was constantly looking at you."

       Uncle Winston nods. "I agree. I noticed it too. I just didn't want to say anything because I'm sure you would rather figure it out on your own than to have people get involved. Anyway, yes, you can tell Marius and Alyssa about what I'm about to tell you. I'm going to have more people helping out in the future but right now, I want to keep it as secretive as possible to prevent Cecelia from finding out."

       As soon as he mentions Aunt Cecelia, I have a feeling what Uncle Winston wants to talk about. "Does this have to do with her birthday coming up?"

       Uncle Winston smiles and nods. "Yes. Because she's turning seventy-five, I would like to throw a big party for her. Invite all her family, everyone in town that she has helped in some way, and maybe some childhood friends if we can find them. The reason I want you two to know first is because Ellie, you're extremely good at throwing parties so I figured you would like to help."

       "Yeah, I would absolutely love to help," Ellie says. "I will make sure it's the best party I have ever helped plan."

       "Thank you," Uncle Winston says. "And Fawn, you... Well, you know how to do everything and you know your great aunt very well."

       "Of course I'll help," I say. "But, uh..." I was going to ask Uncle Winston a question about the guest list, but I don't want to ask it with Ellie around. As much as I consider her one of my best friends, I could never find it in myself to tell her I no longer have a relationship with my family and why.

       I probably wouldn't have even told Marius, to be honest, if he didn't show up the time Quentin barged into my house. Well, maybe I would have eventually if I was hesitant to get into a relationship so he knew why.

       "I sense this is going to be a private conversation, so I will get going," Ellie says. "I'll create a group chat with the three of us so we could get started on planning, and then we could add anyone later on if we get more help."

       "Thank you again for wanting to help," Uncle Winton says. 

       Ellie smiles and leaves the cafe, so I take the opportunity to ask the question I have. "So you said you want to invite all of Aunt Cecelia's family. Does that include my parents and siblings? Because I'll have to mentally prepare myself for that."

       Uncle Winston shakes his head. "I'm not inviting them."

       "Oh. Why? Is it because of me? Because I don't want to be the reason Aunt Cecelia doesn't get to see them."

       "Fawn, it's not because of you. It's because of them and the way they treated you after they found out you wanted to divorce Quentin. And you have been here for us more than they ever have. We would rather you be comfortable at the party than invite them. I'm sure your aunt will agree with me. In fact, if she knew about the party, she would probably insist that they don't come."

       "Are you sure?"

       "Yes, I'm sure, Fawn. You won't have to worry about seeing them there."

       I release a sigh of relief. "Okay." As much as I want Aunt Cecelia to see them again, especially my niece and nephew since they have no part in how my family treated me, I'm also glad they won't be invited. I'm not ready to see them yet, and I don't know if I'll ever be ready to see them again.

       I'm not going to lie, I do miss how close we were before I got married to Quentin, so it did hurt after everything, but at least I'm doing better now. A lot better. The last thing I want is for it to completely go downhill again.

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i love how even though i'm writing this and decided not to have marius in this chapter (he's busy studying for his midterm), one of my thoughts will writing this was "i miss marius" lol.

i just love marius so much. fawn too, but fawn was in this chapter so i didn't have to miss him.