“And as I say, we’re on a budget,” says Luke in implacable tones. “I’m sure you’d agree that successful budgeting is the first rule of a happy marriage, Jane?”
“Yes, yes, of course…” says Mum, looking distracted. Suddenly her face brightens. “The Greenlows!”
The who?
“Your cousins in Australia! They sent a check for your wedding present! I’ve been meaning to give it to you. It’s in Australian dollars… but even so, it’s quite a lot… ” She roots around in a drawer and pulls it out. “Here we are! Five hundred Australian dollars!”
“Fantastic!” I take the check from her and examine it.
“So now you can treat yourself and Jess to something nice!” Mum squeezes my arm with a smile.
“You see?” I say in triumph.
“OK. You win. This time.” Luke rolls his eyes.
Suddenly excited, I hurry into the living room.
“Hi, Jess!” I say. “D’you want to go out somewhere? Like to the shops?”
“Oh.” Jess looks taken aback. “Well…”
“Go on, love!” says Mum, coming in behind me. “Have a little spree!”
“We can go and have lunch somewhere… really get to know each other… What do you think?”
“Well… OK,” she says at last.
“Excellent!”
I feel a zing of anticipation. My first-ever shopping trip with my sister! This is so thrilling!
“I’ll go and get ready.”
“Wait,” says Jess. “Just before you go. I brought you something too. It’s not much, but…”
She goes over to her rucksack, opens it, and takes out a parcel wrapped up in paper printed all over with the words happy new year 1999.
That is so cool!
“I love kitsch wrapping paper!” I say, admiring it. “Where did you find it?”
“It was free from the bank,” says Jess.
“Oh,” I say in surprise. “Er… excellent!”
I rip off the wrapping and find a plastic box, divided into three compartments.
“Wow!” I exclaim at once. “That’s fantastic! Thank you so much! It’s just what I wanted!” I fling an arm round Jess’s neck and give her a kiss.
“What is it, love?” Mum asks, looking at it with interest.
To be honest, I’m not actually quite sure.
“It’s a food saver,” explains Jess. “You can keep leftovers in it, and they all stay separate. Rice… casserole… whatever. I couldn’t live without mine.”
“That’s brilliant! It’ll be so useful.” I look at the three compartments thoughtfully. “I think I’ll keep all my lip balms in it.”
“Lip balms?” says Jess, clearly taken aback.
“I’m always losing them! Aren’t you?” I put the lid back on and admire it for a few more moments. Then I pick up the wrapping paper and crumple it into a ball.
Jess winces as though someone just trod on her foot.
“You could have folded that up,” she says, and I look at her, puzzled.
Why on earth would I fold used wrapping paper?
But then, maybe this is one of her pet habits that I’ll have to get used to. We all have little quirks.
“Oh, right!” I say. “Of course. Silly me!”
I uncrease the crumpled paper, smooth it out, and fold it carefully into quarters.
“There we are.” With a cheerful smile I drop it in the wastepaper bin. “Let’s go!”
Eleven
IT ONLY TAKES fifteen minutes by car to get to Kingston, which is the nearest big shopping center to Mum and Dad. I find a meter, and after about twenty attempts manage to park the car vaguely in a straight line. Jess sits stoically beside me in the passenger seat, saying nothing. Not even when the lorry driver starts hooting at me.
Anyway, never mind. The point is, we’re here! It’s a fantastic day, sunny but not too warm, with tiny clouds scudding across the blue sky. As I get out, I look around the sunlit street, feeling all buzzy with anticipation. My first shopping trip with my sister! What shall we do first?
As I start to feed the parking meter, I go through all the options in my head. We should definitely get a free makeover, and check out that new underwear shop Mum was talking about…
“How long exactly are we planning to stay here?” Jess asks as I shove in my sixth pound coin.
“This should take us up to six o’clock… and after that, parking’s free!”
“Six o’clock?” She looks a bit stunned.
“Don’t worry!” I say reassuringly. “The shops don’t close at six. They’ll be open till at least eight.”