The Perfect House

Chapter 15: a birthday party

The house was running smoothly - everybody pulled their weight - and the friends continued to get on well together.

Towards the end of March, Macy invited Florina to her eighteen birthday party.

"Florina?" Florian asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, I don't see enough of her." Macy pulled a face. "It's only going to be a small affair at home, and I sort of wondered, hoped, that maybe you wouldn't mind coming as Florina."

Florian put on an amused, but very doubtful look.

Macy responded with a sweet appealing face, "It would be a nice birthday present for me."

Florian started laughing, "Okay, okay."

Macy filled Florian in on the situation.

"Mum and Dad have accepted me as gay, but they weren't happy when I told them that I was going to be living with Adele when I went off to uni - they think I'm too young, but they have met her on a couple of occasions and they are coping with it. My parents are pretty good really, they don't get too stressed about stuff."

"So Adele will be coming then, won't she?"

"Yes, of course."

It was fun. Macy's parents, Mr and Mrs Skar were both blessed with a good sense of humour and the mother, in particular, was very sharp-witted. Florina's early nerves settled quickly and she moved among the guests with confidence.

Adele was more subdued, perhaps she felt a little awkward. Florina and Macy made sure that she wasn't left out.

The Skars lived in what would be called a 'working class' area and were clearly 'working class' people themselves - the father was a truck driver employed by the local council. They had four children, with Macy, now eighteen, as the oldest while the youngest was only four years old. Florina suspected that putting Macy through university was a heavy financial burden for them.

Macy herself possessed neither car nor phone and she worked Saturday mornings in the university coffee shop.

Towards the end of the evening, Mr Skar began to gently interrogate Florina.

"So you're doing medicine as well, Florina. How's it going?"

"Fine, Mr Skar. So far, so good."

"How do you think Macy is handling it?"

"Easily. She is one very intelligent girl."

"Yeah, we know that she's pretty smart, but we worry sometimes that she gets a bit too frivolous."

"Well, I'd agree that she's certainly vibrant and full of life, but I've not seen any signs that she's not taking her studies seriously."

Nodding from the father, "Adele seems a sensible girl, so I suppose that in some ways that's good for Macy."

"Yeah, perhaps," Flori replied a little uncertainly because she didn't feel that Macy had any real need for a minder.