The oldfashioned way

For Jenny, there was no going back…

Iknew it was going to be the wedding invitation. I opened the envelope and looked at the gilt-edged card. It wasn’t the traditional kind and the message was hand-written, explaining that it was going to be an informal affair with just a few friends. Friends! Neil was my ex and Angela was my one-time friend.

Of course, it was all in keeping with what we had agreed when Neil and I got together. Well, I hadn’t actually agreed, but had gone along with what he’d said. We’d be free agents, living together, enjoying life as a couple. It was a modern way of doing things and it would be fun.

And it was fun, except I really loved Neil and I never saw what was coming when Angela began turning up at our place more and more. Neil had never once mentioned marriage when we were an item, but obviously Angela had other ideas.

There was no way I was going to the wedding. The few friends would include Ted, and seeing him would mean more heartache. After all, I’d loved him, too.

I cried an awful lot after the break-up, but as practically everyone told me, life had to go on.

One good thing was that I lost some weight. I wasn’t interested in food but, of course, a girl has to eat, so

I did have to go to the supermarket. And it was there that another good thing happened. I met Mark.

I didn’t know he was Mark when we met. I was heading for the checkout with my head down, not looking where

I was going. He was coming from the coffee bar, holding a takeaway drink that didn’t have a lid. I was full of apologies, even though the coffee had gone all over me, and he was full of concern about me.

We went back to the coffee bar and while we were there I actually laughed and felt wonderfully happy. We had two cups of coffee each and some cheese scones, and I felt so good that when it came to leaving, I walked out without taking the basket of shopping I’d put under the table.

The waitress thought I had some kind of memory problem when I went to collect the shopping, but I didn’t care what

anybody thought about me, I was happy again. Mark had asked me to go out with him…

****

I couldn’t make up my mind about how I would answer the invite, but it didn’t matter in the end because I bumped into Angela at the newsagent.

‘Oh, do come, Jenny,’ she said in a mock-pleading voice. ‘We’re all adults with broad-minded approaches to life, so there is no reason why you can’t come and enjoy yourself. You’ll know absolutely everyone who’s going to be there. It’ll be fun!’

I remembered the last time I’d been told about having fun, and I wondered how things might turn out for Angela.

‘I suppose,’ I said, as casually as I could make my voice sound, ‘Ted will be at the wedding?’

For the first time, she gave me a sympathetic look.

‘Yes, he will. All dressed up for the occasion.’

She was gushing again. ‘Oh, do please say you’ll come. Honestly, Neil and I want you to, and I know Ted would love to see you again.’

‘Positively, definitely, no,’ I said. Then I added, ‘And actually, I don’t think I’m free that weekend. I think that’s when I’ll be away with Mark.’

‘Mark?’ Angela’s eyebrows shot up by inches.

‘Who’s he?’

‘He’s someone I met in the supermarket,’ I said, trying to maintain an air of casualness. ‘We’ve been seeing a lot of each other lately and I wouldn’t want to call it off because I know he’s booked the hotel.’

‘Darling!’ shrieked Angela. ‘How absolutely lovely, and how wonderfully old-fashioned.’

‘Old-fashioned?’ I said, somewhat surprised at her reaction. ‘Yes, darling. Meeting him in a supermarket. Nobody gets into a relationship like that any more – it’s all online or through an app.’

Or, I thought, by taking someone from another person.

But I didn’t say that. Instead, I said that I hoped it would be a very happy day for them all. ‘And,’ I said, as a kind of afterthought, ‘you can give Ted a kiss and tell him I hope he’s okay.’

Angela leaned over and gave me a theatrical kiss on each cheek, and we parted company.

It would have been good to see Ted again, but he belonged to the time I was with Neil. Anyway, it’s going to be all good in the future. Mark loves dogs and we’re going to the rescue centre to choose one to live with us.