The Movies Make It Look Easy

Chapter 34

Shannon's P.O.V:

'Shotgun!' I called as soon as we got within sight of Ryan's battered old Peugeot.
I let go of both of them and hurried over to lean against the passenger door. I tapped my foot impatiently on the ground as I waited for them to catch up.
Okay, I'll admit that I was being just a tad bit impatient, but all I wanted to do was get home.
After Ryan had stored our luggage, we got into the car and he started the engine.
After buckling my belt, I twisted around to the right so I could talk to both Ryan and Nick, who was in the back behind the driver's seat.

'So who's at home?' I demanded as we slowly made our way to the exit.
Ryan glanced at me, a slight smile pulling at his lips.
'Everyone, we've all been avidly awaiting the prodigal daughter's return' he said snarkily.
I grinned, 'of course, it's just what I deserve' I told him, my tone just as sarcastic as his.
He snorted but I ignored him.
'Has Conor dropped by yet?'
Ryan glanced at me again, this time frowning before checking his mirrors. 'You haven't been talking to him?'
I shook my head, 'I've been really busy'
He threw me a disbelieving look, 'you two are never too busy for eachother, if it wasn't for the fact that you lived in different countries, you'd be joined at the hip'
'We're not that bad' I said, rolling my eyes.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nick silently watching our exchange, his eyes flicking back and forward between us. I managed to pull my attention away from him.
'Why do you ask if I've talked to him or not?' I asked Ryan curiously.
'Because he called mum the other day to tell her that he wouldn't be able to make it this year'
I felt my face drop, 'why?'
He shrugged, 'something about having to work' he said vaguely, 'You'll have to ask him'
I nodded, 'I'll call him later...he always visits at Christmas'

We were quiet for a while, all of us lost in our own thoughts, the low murmur of the radio in the background the only thing breaking the silence until Ryan spoke up.
'So Nick' he said, glancing at him quickly in the rearview mirror as he turned onto the motorway.
'What's it like living with my sister? I hope its not too difficult. I know what it's like - she has tendencies to be moody, bitchy crazy and just plain weird. Especially if she has to get up early or there's no tea' Ryan shuddered in horror.
'God forbid' Nick said chuckling.
I turned my head to glare at Nick but he just smiled innocently.
When Ryan stopped laughing, I glanced at both of them with a small smile,
'The sex is great' I said conversationally as if I was merely commenting on the weather.
Both guy's heads snapped in in my direction with equal expressions of shock on their faces. Nick went pale and looked at me in horror, clearly not liking me telling my brother that we'd had sex - even if it wasn't true.
I waved my hand in front of Ryan's eyes, 'um, Ry? road?' I said pointing out the windscreen.
He quickly looked straight ahead again but I knew his attention was firmly locked on me.
Thankfully, the road was straight so there wasn't much chance of him crashing.
'What did you just say?' Ryan asked in a deadly voice, his hands clenched around the steering wheel.
'I said, The. Sex. Is. Great.' I told him, annunciating each word.
'Shannon' Nick said in a strangled voice.
I was really trying hard not to laugh. I saw Ryan giving Nick a death stare in the mirror. I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing.
Both guys once again turned their attention to me.
'Just kidding'
Ryan glared at me.
I shrugged at his accusing stare, 'Karma's a bitch' I said happily.
He focused on the road again, 'you better not have had sex'
He glared at Nick again, who was still a shade paler than usual, 'Shannon, you're to wait until you're married'
I jokingly made a show of pulling my collar away from my neck in a guilty fashion while I gulped audibly.
He leveled a hard stare at me, obviously not finding me very funny, 'preferably not even then' he continued.
I stifled a laugh.
'And you' he said, looking at Nick again, 'don't even think about it or Adrian and myself might decide to have a little chat with you'
I rolled my eyes, 'stop being dramatic Ry, you and Adrian won't be having any "chats" with Nick or I might have a little chat with you' I threatened.
Ryan nodded, taking my point and focused on the road again, looking decidedly greener around the edges at the topic of our conversation.
I glanced back and when Nick noticed me looking he narrowed his eyes and mouthed 'you're dead'.
I just smiled, winking at him before facing the front again.

We were silent for most of the journey after that.
I think Ryan was freaked out by our earlier conversation and I had absolutely no idea what was going through Nick's head - but then I rarely did.
I glanced back a few times to see him gazing avidly out the window.There wasn't much to look at considering we were on the motorway - but then everything was around me was familiar and I kept having to remind myself that this was Nick's first time away.
At one stage I was just turning back from checking on Nick - again - with a small smile on my face when I saw Ryan throwing me questioning looks.
I shrugged slightly, I knew he was wondering whether there was something going on with the two of us but I wasn't going to even attempt to explain our complicated relationship - we lived together, we were just friends though I liked him (loved him?)...ye try explaining that to your protective older brother! - especially with Nick around.

Familiar landscape rolling past the windows brought me back to the present.
I sat forward in anticipation - we were about five minutes away from my house. Ryan chuckled quietly as I started fidgeting in my seat.
'You live near here?'
I turned around, completely expecting the shocked look on Nick's face. I nodded in affirmation.
'It's in the middle of nowhere' he exclaimed as he peered out the window.
I laughed, 'you get used to it'
'Ye, we'll make a farmer out of you yet' Ryan added as he guided the car down the small country road and around twisty bends.
Nick looked horrified at the idea. I looked out my own window and tried to imagine how it looked from Nick's perspective.
The road was lined with big hedges and old stone walls and beyond were trees - sometimes dotted in small clumps and sometimes grouped in dense forests - there were hills and rolling green fields in which were cows, sheep and horses.
'Where are we?' Nick asked.
'We're in Glencullen, but the bottom of the valley where we live is in Enniskerry'
He looked like I'd started speaking another language.
We passed by a mixture of small cottages and big modern houses with ornate electric gates as the road began to dip. We slowly drove down the road into the valley.
We got stuck behind a tractor and Ryan had to drive at a snail's pace until he was able to pass it. Nick's mouth was open slightly and he leaned across the backseat so he could get a better look at the tractor as we passed by.
'Its wheels are bigger than the car' he practically whispered, 'and is that a dog?'
I glanced up to see a typical sheepdog sitting behind the farmer way up in the cab of the tractor,
'Yes and yes' I confirmed.

Finally we reached my house.
Ryan pressed the button on the dashboard to open the gates. When we were able, we drove up the tarmac driveway bordered with small hedges on either side.
Beyond the hedges were fields.
Ahead of us the driveway turned sharply to the right and was lined with an avenue of trees so you couldn't see what was around the corner.
As the car followed the driveway around the bend, the trees on either side were so dense that they created a tunnel, throwing us into shadow. The branches were bare, the leaves long dead but in summer this particular stretch of the driveway was thrown into near darkness tinted with a green hue from the leaves above; the darkness broken only by the paler patches where the sun shone through the foliage.
In front of us sat my house. I smiled when I saw it and I heard Nick inhale sharply.
'You never told me you were rich'
I frowned, 'I'm not rich'
'your house is huge'
I rolled my eyes, 'it's not huge and we're not rich'
I heard him snort faintly and again I tried to view the house through his eyes.
I cocked my head slightly to one side. I suppose the house did look sort of...impressive.
The avenue we were driving through framed the house and the backdrop was a far green hill with a blue sky - it was a bright day though it was freezing and had clearly been raining.
The house itself was a big old restored farmhouse. It had grey stone walls, wide double front doors flanked on either side by big bay windows with smaller windows on the second floor.
There was a tall chimney rising up from the back of the back of the house on the right hand side.
To the left of the house was a small garage which Ryan aimed the car for, though he parked just outside it.
He turned off the engine and we all slowly got out of the car. Nick spun in a slow circle, taking everything in.
The house had fields ringing it and it had both a walled and a vegetable garden behind it. To the right, across the field lay a small barn which housed three stables, an old tack room and some decrepit farm machinery.
Ryan went to grab our luggage from the car.
When Nick tried to take his bag from him, he waved him away, 'it's fine, I'll take these inside while you go meet everyone'.
He took a suitcase in each hand and headed for the oak doors.
Nick and I didn't move.
When he stopped looking around, he turned to me.
'You ready?' I asked him.
He hesitated before nodding, 'ye I'm just not good at meeting people, I don't make a good first impression'
'I'll say, as I recall you called me a stripper when we first met' I laughed when he winced.
'Don't worry, I already told you, if I like you they will too, trust me'
He looked as if he was trying to convince himself that I was telling the truth. Eventually he nodded.
I smiled and grabbed his hand, tugging him towards the open front door. He gripped my hand as we stepped inside and I smiled at him reassuringly.
He looked around with interest.

The doors opened into a large foyer. Immediately to the left was the study and to the right lay the door to the living room. I caught a glimpse of a giant, decorated Christmas tree with presents arranged underneath it as we walked past.
Along the left wall lay a large staircase leading up to the second storey where all the bedrooms were.
I headed straight ahead into a small corridor. The first door on the left was a bathroom and the second led to a utility room. The only door on the right led to the kitchen which is where I headed to with Nick trailing close behind.
The aroma of cooking food had wafted even to the front door and I realised that I'd really missed my mother's cooking.
I stepped into the familiar room. It was big but still managed to stay cosy. To the left of the door sat a couch that was placed near to an old wood-burning stove. On my right was an old, chipped circular table with a couple of chairs surrounding it. Counters lined both the left and right walls along the length of the kitchen, broken only by the giant fridge, the Aga cooker and a door leading outside.
An island dominated the centre of the floor and beyond it was an arch that led to the dining room, and it in turn had an arch that led into the living room.

I dropped Nick's hand and quickly crossed the tiled floor to hug my mother, who stood stirring a giant pot of what looked like soup on the Aga. She dropped the wooden spoon when she saw me and pulled me into her arms.
'Shannon! I didn't know you were here, I would've come out.'
'It's okay mum' I told her, 'now could you please let go? you're crushing me'
She chuckled as she held me out at arms length.
'I'm sorry for being happy to see my youngest child and only daughter'
I smiled, 'it's good to see you too'
She looked at me and clucked her tongue as her brow puckered, 'have you lost weight? have you been eating properly?'
I rolled my eyes, I was barely in the door and she was already nagging - typical.
She looked up and saw Nick hovering uncomfortably beside the table.
'Shannon, don't be the rude' she chided me, 'introduce me to your friend'
I rolled my eyes again as I gestured for Nick to come over, she knew exactly who he was.
When he was close enough, I reached out and grabbed his arm, dragging him over to stand beside me.
'Shannon' my mother scolded, 'don't grab the poor boy'
I closed my eyes and quickly counted to ten, the initial happiness at seeing my mother was already fading. When I opened my eyes again, I glanced at Nick whose mouth was twitching as he tried not to laugh.
Sighing, I made the introductions; 'Mum, this is Nick. Nick this is my mother; Carol. Feel free to ignore her when she nags, everyone else does.'
She sent me a reproachful look before smiling up at Nick.
She was a couple of inches shorter than me. She had bright blue eyes and her hair was almost entirely grey with streaks of silver and brown running through it. She had a penchant for nagging, nothing ever got past her and I could swear she had eyes in the back of her head.
'It's nice to meet you Nicholas'
In fairness to him, he didn't even blink at her use of his full name as he stuck out a hand for her to shake.
'It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Doherty, Shannon's told me so much about you'
I had to stifle a snort.
'And thank you so much for letting me stay, it really means a lot to me' he then proceeded to give her his most dazzling smile as she shook his hand.
I think my mouth fell open as her free hand fluttered to her chest.
'So polite' she murmured.
My mouth opened wider, was she blushing? - guess even mothers weren't immune to Nick's charm - Damn, I thought, I need to learn how to smile like that. All I got for my troubles was a disapproving look.
'Close your mouth dear, it's not very becoming. Now, I'll go get your father from the garden, he's been dying to see you'
With that she bustled out the door to the garden in search of my dad.

As soon as the door closed behind her, I turned to Nick, placing my hands on my hips with one brow arched.
'You're such a suck up' I told him, 'I don't make good impressions' I mimicked him as I rolled my eyes - I swear my eyes were going to be permanently stuck mid-roll by the end of this trip.
He eyed me with a slight smile, 'I don't know what you're talking about' he said innocently.
'Pshh, it's like the two old ladies from that teashop all over again'
He grinned.
'You're making me look bad' I pouted but he just laughed.
'Who's making you look bad?' a voice asked mildly from behind me.
I whipped around, 'Adrian!' I smiled.
He stepped out of the dining room, and wrapped his arms around me, picking me up and squeezing me. I laughed, hugging him back.
'How's my favourite sister?' he asked as he set me down again.
His green eyes, so similar to mine were magnified by his black wire-rimmed glasses. His hair was dark brown and was cut short. He was an inch or two taller than Ryan but wasn't as wide. He was still strong - he'd need to be to help build houses in Uganda - but he was more studious than Ryan and didn't spend as much time at the gym.
'You know that might be compliment if I wasn't your only sister' I giggled.
'True' he laughed, 'where's mum?'
'She went outside looking for dad, after she'd finished nagging'
He laughed again, 'nagging's just what she does'
I pouted, 'it didn't help that Golden Boy here' I said, jerking my thumb in Nick's direction, 'was being "so polite" ' I said sarcastically.
Adrian looked at Nick, 'what's your secret?'
Nick looked confused.
'My mum rarely likes people when she first meets them' Adrian explained.
I smiled at the slightly proud look that crossed Nick's face - for someone who didn't make a good first impression, he was doing a good job.
Adrian leaned around me and held out a hand, 'I'm Adrian, Shannon's brother'
Nick grasped his hand, 'I'm Nick, Shannon's roommate'
Adrian nodded, 'ye mum's been cleaning for days in anticipation of you coming to stay'
Nick frowned, 'why?'
Adrian shrugged, 'we don't get visitors very often'
I stepped back so I was standing between them.
'Speaking of visitors' I addressed Adrian, 'is Katie coming to stay?'
He nodded, 'she's going to stay for a few days over New Years'
I smiled. Katie was Adrian's girlfriend of over three years. She was pretty and very outgoing and more than made up for Adrian's naturally quiet demeanor.

I heard the door open and my mother walked in followed closely by my father.
He was medium height and had a stocky build. He was balding and what little hair he had was a wispy blond. His eyes were the same vivid green as mine and Adrian's and he had laughter lines around his eyes.
He grinned when he saw me.
He pulled off an old, unraveling pair of gloves and dumped them on the counter as he made his way over to me. He was wrapped up in a thick coat and as soon as he was in reach, he pulled me into a hug. His coat was cold and slightly damp, and had a fresh earthy smell to it that always reminded me of him.
I buried my head against his chest, not caring about the cold or damp.
'How's my girl?' he asked.
'Happy to be home' I looked up at him and smiled.
'It's good to see you honey' he told me as he looked down at me.
'You too' I said as I hugged him tightly again - I was a definite daddy's girl.
Finally we broke apart.
I looked at Nick and saw him watching us with the strangest expression on his face. I didn't have time to think about it though.
'Nicholas, this is my husband Peter. Peter, this is Nicholas' my mother stepped forward.
My dad moved away from me and grasped Nick's hand.
'It's nice to meet you sir' Nick said politely.
My dad nodded his head in acknowledgement. 'You seem to have made a good impression Nick'
Nick was silent, my dad still gripping his hand.
'and my daughter seems to like you' he smiled quickly at me, 'and she's a good judge of character. So as long as she's happy, I think we'll get along wonderfully'
My dad's message was loud and clear; hurt me and answer to him (and probably Ryan and Adrian aswell) - I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes - yet again.
Nick though, didn't seem to find the situation amusing in the slightest, he just nodded solemnly, 'I understand'
My dad nodded and released his hand.

'Everyone sit down, soup's ready' my mother announced from the counter where she was piling bowls and plates.
She handed the crockery to Nick, the cutlery to me and the glasses to Adrian before pointing imperiously at the table.
We hopped to.
'Ryan!' she hollered as we set the table.
'Get down here, soup's ready'
'Just a sec!' came his faint reply from somewhere upstairs.
Dad left the room to take off his boots and get rid of his jacket and gloves.
Adrian, Nick and I sat down and my dad joined us a couple of seconds later in an old work shirt. Ryan clattered into the room next, making enough noise to wake the dead as he took his place beside dad.
My mother laid a hot, just out of the oven loaf of brown bread on the breadboard in the centre of the table and beside it a knife and a dish of butter while Adrian poured drinks.
Next she served her home-made tomato soup and we all dug in. Well, all of us bar Nick dug in. He was staring at the spread in front of him, wide-eyed.
'Well eat up dear' my mother said kindly.
He looked at her for a minute, 'Thank you' he said finally.
'You're welcome' she said, beaming at him.
Ryan, Adrian and I all rolled our eyes in unison as we watched our mother blush - again - while dad eyed Nick approvingly.

When everyone returned to their meals, I leaned in and whispered in Nick's ear, 'you did good'
I reached over and lightly squeezed his arm as he smiled happily at me before we continued to eat.