Page 63 of King of Hearts

“AmIready? You naive, unsuspecting soul. Just remember, she might only be five-foot tall, but her mouth is large. Let’s go.” I said, as I opened the door and stepped out into the cool evening air.

“Wait, what? What’s that mean?” He bumbled.

Poor, poor guy didn’t know the ambush he was walking into and it was enough to make me skittish with immense joy.

I didn’t bother knocking, instead walking in and slipping my shoes off, waiting for Andy to do the same. Closing the door to keep in the warmth, we walked through the lounge room and into the kitchen, where as expected, Dad was seated at the table reading the paper while Nan moved around the kitchen with her homemade apron tied around her waist.

“Hey Queen, hey Dad.” I said casually as I reached for some of the red liquorice Nan always placed in a bowl in the middle of the table just for me. I pointed to Andy who was watching me with a nervous smirk.

“This is Andy.” I said around bites. “Andy, this is my dad, Pete, and my Nan. Who you can call Queeny.”

The screech of Dad’s chair being pushed across the tiles filled the room as he stood holding out his hand.

“Nice to meet you mate.” Dad said.

Andy leant across the table and shook Dad’s hand. “Same to you. Thanks for having me over.”

I almost fell as Nan shoved me aside and positioned herself right in front of Andy, not even acknowledging my greeting.

“No need to thank him,Iinvited you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Andrew. Arna has told us so much about youandwe’ve also been reading a little lately too.”

“Nan! Can you not, we literally just arrived.” I drawled, grabbing another handful of liquorice.

“How about you slow down on the sugar? Can’t have you filling up on sweets when you need to save some room for my shepherd’s pie.”

“Oh, yum.” Turning to Andy I smiled. “Nan’s shepherd’s pie is delicious.”

“Did you want a beer, Andy? You’ll probably need one to survive these two tonight.” Dad asked and Andy grinned before shaking his head.

“Just water, thanks, mate. Coach will kill me if he finds out I had a drink on a Sunday.”

“Suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Dad said as he headed to the garage to grab one for himself.

I pointed to the seats around the table and Andy and I sat down.

“So, Andy, who was that blonde you were photographed with over the weekend. Wasn’t my Arna.” I coughed the liquorice which had lodged itself in my throat and reached for the Pepsi Max Dad placed on the table as he handed Andy a water.

“Give him a break, Mum, he just walked in.”

“It’s okay,” Andy said, lifting his chin in thanks for the beverage. “I, well, I guess I don’t have a great history with the media.” He shrugged, looking down at his drink. “And photos like that are exactly why. I would never do that to Arna despite the way they portray me.” I put my hand on Andy’s thigh giving it a gentle squeeze. He placed his over the top of mine and squeezed back, reassuring me he was doing okay despite the awkward lilt to his words.

“I guess you know you’ve made it big when the paparazzi start turning innocent actions into front-page scandals, huh.” Dad said before taking a sip of his beer.

“Wish I could charge them for the entertainment. Seems like every time I sneeze the tabloids think it’s breaking news and worthy of an embellished story.” Andy groused.

“If they’re going to publish the lies, you two should give them something nice and spicy to share, right Arns?” Queeny grinned as she reached for the oven mitts and took the steaming tray out to rest on the bench.

“Jesus, woman.” Dad said as I snickered both at the wide-eyed glare of Andy and Queeny’s audacity.

“I’m just saying, they’re going to photograph them anyway so why not do something a little naugh–”

“Oh, for the love of god, please just serve the pie.” I said, saving Dad from the headache which was sure to come if she didn’t stop with the sexual innuendo.

Dad nodded in agreement while looking at me in sheer exasperation. I grinned and shrugged. Even though I would prefer to not talk about that in front of my father, she had always been like this and I knew bringing Andy here was going to be entertaining. Whether he was able to survive the night would be the determining factor in if we would make or break. Once you won Queeny’s affection, you were good. If you didn’t, there was very little that could redeem you in my opinion.

Placing the plates in front of us, Nan then moved to sit in front of her own meal.

“Bellsy, how is Marlee doing? Bumped into her folks at the shops and they said she had been busy lately?” Dad said as he cut into his pie.

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