Gaby Book 14 ~ The Girl ~ Chapter *35* House Ridden

Printer-friendly version
gaby book 14 cover.jpg
 
 get the complete book here! {Or here (US)}
 
 
*Chapter 35*

House Ridden

 
 
“Right, young lady,” Mum started once we were in the car, “ground rules.”

“Ru-ules?” I moaned.

“Yes rules,” she confirmed.

“Go on then,” I sighed.

“The doc was deadly serious about not riding or any strenuous exercise for at least another fortnight, she might allow something gentle then depending on how you are healing.”

“I’m gonna be so out of condition!” I groaned.

“It’s your own fault, you had to push things last weekend, couldn’t wait.”

“But…”

“Don’t try blaming anyone else, instead of three weeks it might be eight.”

“That’s nearly Weihnachts!”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Mine,” I allowed.

I’m gonna go round the bend, no bikes or even dance class, I might as well join a monastery – on second thoughts maybe it should be a nunnery
 
 

“You still fancy going to the BLCA do?” Mum queried as we waited for the kettle.

“BLCA?”

“British Ladies, we’re both invited and Manda too.”

“I’d forgotten about that.”

“Evidently, so?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Your Dad’s taking Anita and Erika on the ferry, he’ll pick us up from Leeds Bradford, I’ll book the tickets later.”

Anita and Erika.

“Guess I won’t be doing the cross,” I moped.

“Well we can go on the BLCA ride instead and watch the cross afterwards, our flight back will be about seven thirty.”

BLCA ride eh?
 
 

“The prodigal daughter returns.” Dad offered when he got in.

I blew him a raspberry.

“Nice I’m sure, your mother talked to you about Yorkshire?”

“Yeah, should be pretty cool.”

“Well some of us will be working.” He noted.

“Um, how are we all gonna fit in the car? There’ll be like six of us?”

“Seven, Carsten’s coming too,” he advised, “we’ll be using the bus – plenty of room.”

“Oh right.”

Yeah the Apollinaris bus, nine seats and a huge luggage area, makes sense.

 
 
“Ga-ab! Phone!” Mum yelled up the stairs.

“’Kay.”

Who’s ringing me at eight thirty on a Saturday morning, the girls are coming later so it won’t be one of them. I made my way downstairs, the house phone was waiting for me on the hall table.

“Hello?”

“Gaby, it’s Gloria von Strechau.”

“Oh hi er morning, Gloria.”

“Morning, next week,” she started.

“Analise's wedding?”

“The wedding yes but you are invited to the Polterabend Freitag also.”

“The what?”

“Polterabend, it’s a dinner for family and friends, there was the big meal in Augsburg if you remember?”

“Uh huh,” I agreed.

“It’s not so formal for Analise and Joachim, a restaurant in the city.”

“Okay,” I allowed, ever the conversationalist.

“Your mother says you are home schooling this week so I’ll pick you up in the afternoon and we can get ready at the hotel.”

“Hotel? We’re staying overnight?”

“Didn’t I say? We can’t be driving up on Saturday, silly, you’ll need to be dressed with the other maids and of course Willy will want a drink or several!”

“Um right, I hadn’t thought about that.”

“We’ll bring you back to Dernau Sunday morning.”

I’m guessing there’s a post-wedding do to attend, lot of fuss for someone else’s nuptials if you ask me. But of course no one is – asking me that is.

“Er right, so two nights then. Do I need to fetch my dress from the shop?”

“Of course not, everything will be there waiting, all you need to do is bring the prettiest girl in the Ahrtal.”

“Someone else is coming?”

Gloria spluttered on the other end of the line, “You are so funny sometimes. You have a dress for the Polterabend? Nice but not too formal.”

“Er yeah, I think so,” I allowed, the Biba probably, have to check it’s clean.

“Good, I’ll confirm the time later in the week, tschuss.”

“Yeah, um, tschussie.”

 
 
Deep joy, I thought I was just going as a guest, then it changed to bridesmaid and now there’s this Polterabend thing. And getting out of it isn’t going to happen.

“You sorted?” Mum enquired.

“We’re staying in Bonn Friday and Saturday.”

“Gloria said the other week.”

“No one told me.” I harrumphed.

“You were probably occupied elsewhere,” she opined raising a brow.

What’s that supposed to mean?

“I’m getting a shower!” I mumped as I set off back upstairs.
 
 

“And I’ve got to go to this Polterabend dinner thing too.”

“You are so lucky, Gabs,” Nena sighed.

“You can call it lucky, I, I, oh!”

“Nen’s right, Gab, we get to see it in Stern, you get to be in it,” Steff stated.

“But?”

“Hey, we could go up and watch,” Con suggested.

“That’s all I need, all my friends gawping at me.”

“Oh come on, Gab, how many chances do we get to see a society wedding?”

“It’s hardly society, Analise works for the Post and I’m sure this Joachim chap has a job, we aren’t talking landed gentry, are we?”

“So any old post clerk gets hitched in Bonn cathedral do they?” Bridget offered.

Hmm, Brid, I still owe you one for my bald forehead!

“I don’t see why not.”

That got several sets of rolling eyes.

“I wouldn’t mind getting married there,” Con stated.

“Ahrweiler will do for me, much more atmospheric,” Pia opined.

“Well I still think it’s all a bit much.”

“Where are you and Max getting hitched?” Nena enquired with a grin.

“That is so not happening!”

“It’s a broken record,” Con mentioned.
 
 

“Where’s Amanda, I thought she’d be here.” Steff queried.

It was a slightly sore point.

“Dad’s taken her and Roni to the Radstadion to train.”

“No rest for the Radrennen,” Brid told us, “ride, ride, ride.”

I want to ride!

“I was supposed to do a cross tomorrow.”

“You really have a one track mind, Gabrielle Bond.”

“Max, Max and more Max,” Pia teased.

“We’re just friends,” I stated through gritted teeth.

 
 
“We going to the Cosplay thing in Koblenz?” Connie asked.

“When is it?”

“Hang on, I got a flyer,” she dug in her bag and pulled out a slightly crumpled bit of blue paper, “erm first weekend of January.”

“I’ll have to check, I might be racing,” I suggested.

“For two days, Gabs?” Steff questioned.

“Probably not,” I agreed, “I’ll check with Dad.”

“Whatever her majesty is doing the rest of us can go anyway,” Pia stated.

“Maybe she’d be more interested if Max was going,” Brid put in with a smirk.

 
 
“How’d it go?”

“Better than Wednesday, Roni is a bit lacking in skills but she goes like a rocket!” Mand enthused.

The girls left just after four leaving me to help Mum with the ironing for the rest of the afternoon. It’s Devil’s work, ironing – I bet it was a man who invented it, no sane woman would! Dad and Amanda got back home just after six.

“What you been up to, Gab?”

“Oh you know, coffee and gossip with the girls, big pile of ironing and getting dinner going.”

Sheesh I sound like some middle-aged hausfrau!

“If I’d known I had some ironing to do.”

I gave her the look.

“I probably should practice.”

 
 
“That’s nice, “Dad told me when I mentioned the Polterabend, I thought I might get some sympathy there.

“Have I got anything in the diary in January? There’s a con down in Koblenz.”

“At the moment there’s nothing certain, have to see how you recover eh?”

Great, one little setback and everything is out of the window.

“Fine,” I sighed.

“What’s for dinner?”

“Sausage casserole,” I advised.

“You’ll make someone a great wife.”

Oh right, just what I wanted to hear from my Dad, what is it with people and weddings today?

 
 
Maddy Bell 12.01.16

up
313 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

She is learning there is a

She is learning there is a lot more to being a female than good looks and stylish clothing. As a teenager, I was so happy when wrinkle free and iron free clothing and fabrics came on the scene. Although there are still items that I believe should be at least touched up by an iron where possible.
I can remember my Mom ironing everything that was made of cloth; including my Dad's boxers. As Gaby said "no sane woman" would invent ironing. Boys should also learn this "art", as they will discover that sometime during their life they will need to know it. Same as cooking, and cleaning.

No Joke!

I may have an indifferent relationship with my clothes iron (several years without a dedicated surface to do it on, and who has time to do much of it?), but I've known how to and, importantly, done my own, my brothers', and even occasionally my parents' laundry and ironing from the time I was twelve, and have cooked, cleaned, and done simple sewing and mending about as long (I was quite popular with roomies when I lived in Russia, not so much at university, as none of them wanted a regular time to table). There's no excuse not to have at least some of those skills, even for boys (all four of my brothers are pretty handy in the galley, if nothing else, and can clean too without completely destroying things, if motivated). Honestly, if a potential mate can help shoulder some of that burden, I know it'd be a massive turn-on for me.

-Liz

Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"

Ironing

It wasn't till I joined USMC that certain things werent done by all genders. Yea I'm old enough to remember clothes that nowadays wouldn't even do, just looked better back then... I know blue jeans did.... The material changed. I'm not so sure it was for better the. Tho old stuff were more ... Hmm ... Stout.
The marines required our boxers and t shirts be ironed and starched ... That went too far as I believed ... So I kept my inspect set in a plastic closable box just for that purpose. By time I hit Sgt, I'd acquired a complete set for inspection. And a whole other for actual wear. Anything to make life simpler.
But. Yeah I do agree all humans need complete ability in knowing more than just basic 101 on most hold chores . good probability of being single at some point.
Then ya either do it yourself... Or pay for it.
My drycleaning bills were bad enough with out adding additional expence ... Thus allowed more play time money if I. Did as much as could on my own