AFTER THE RAIN (Bonus edition)

32. A bit of corniness is allowed

"Stormy!" Lilly threw herself on Stormy as soon as she walked through the door and put her mouth to her ear. "Thank God you're here, Sue and Val are basically mad!"

At that moment, as if on cue, Sue walked in from the adjoining bathroom. "Stormy," she pointed imperiously. "Nails. Hair. Make-up... Go! Now! Oh, and hello, nice to see you."

And then after a quick hug, Sue dragged Stormy towards the pair of women on the other side of the room, who were wielding brushes and hair dryers. The one looked at Stormy's hair and pointed, said something in Czech, and then shook her head.

Sue looked at her watch. "Yes. Making good time, people. But let's not slow down. Come come people." She clapped a few times and then tapped on a clipboard that she seemed to be carrying around. "Go people, go!" She was saying 'people' an awful lot.

And then Val swooped in. "I need a steamer, pronto. Dress has a crease. Steamer. Now. Crease." And she darted back and forth a few times for added urgency.

"See what I mean," Lilly whispered to Stormy with a smile. The room was manic with frantic activity, and Stormy made sure to obey Sue by sitting down for her manicure. And to make matters even worse, Lilly's mom tottered in, and the whole room stopped and stared. She was carrying an open bottle of champagne; clearly, she'd started early – which was not unlike her.

"DAHLINGS!" she shrieked to the room at large. She always made a loud entrance. It was probably from her decades on the stage – she was a renowned theatre actress of some fame and fortune.

She looked towards Stormy, and let out an exclamation of delight. "Dahling step-daughter! Kisses," she cried, swishing over to Stormy and giving her a few of her signature air kisses. Then she looked around and burst out crying, before slumping down in a chair.

Lilly and Stormy looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "What's wrong, mom?" Lilly asked wearily.

"It's just..." She wailed and put her hand on her forehead. "My baby has grown up. My baby Lilly has blossomed into a woman."

Lilly went over and gave her mom a hug and a pat on the back, still smiling resignedly at Stormy. "It's okay mom, it's okay."

And then her mom jumped out of her seat and threw her arms wide with dramatic flourish, spilling a few drops of champagne as she shouted, "As Shakespeare says, men are April when they woo, December when they wed. Maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives."

Everyone had stopped what they were doing and were staring, transfixed. Lilly's mom took this as the sign of an appreciative audience and did a bow. "Thank you. Thank you. You've been a great audience."

She turned back to Lilly. "But seriously, dahling, I'm so happy for you." More air kisses were dispensed, and then she turned to Stormy again. "Don't you dare marry. I don't think I could bear both my girls leaving the nest."

Lilly and Stormy hadn't lived in "her nest" for over ten years, but hey. Stormy suppressed a smile and made a non-committal noise as her former step-mother pulled her in for another hug.

"And please change out of that hideous top. Love you, sweeties." She swung around and looked at Sue and Val. "Love you all." She nodded in the direction of the hair and make–up people. "I don't know you. But I could love you, too."

And then, with one last bow, she was gone.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds; there was always silence after Ida exited. Sue cleared her throat and tapped the clipboard loudly, breaking the stunned hush. "Well, that performance made us lose two minutes, so hurry, we need to make it up."