Bow Tie

                                    

                                          


                          
"Turn left here," Sophie says, pointing at the turning that I blatantly overshoot. Sighing, Sophie shakes her head and mutter, "Or drive completely past it."
                          
Rolling my eyes at her attitude, I do a u-turn at the end of the car park and the turn right into the turning that I'd missed. Entering a secured parking area, I stop the car at the security gate and wait for them to check the credentials that I show them. After taking their time checking the registration, make and model of the car and cross referencing the details with their computer system, the balding man motions his arm at someone out of sight and I watch as the gate opens. Driving through, I wave at the men in the booth and follow Sophie's navigation until we find the row of cars that belong to her family. 
                          
As I'd predicted when we left the Guinness Factory earlier, we were late. And by late, I mean that we're here a good four hours before the time the party was due to start. Apparently, last night during drinks in the drawing room- while the men were in the library- the women had all decided that they would get ready together at the Delaney. This meant that all the gowns had to be couriered over, as well as shoes, bags, make-up, hair accessories and jewellery, at an unreasonable hour of the morning. Since then, all Sophie's done is worry about the state of her dress and bemoaning the fact that it would undoubtedly need steaming before she could possibly wear it.
                          
Compounded to this drama was the fact that all her calls to Echo had gone unanswered. Moira had asked Sophie to take Echo shopping today to make sure that Echo had a dress 'suitable for the occasion.' Sophie, being Sophie, was delighted to be tasked with dress shopping but all her calls to her cousin were sent to voicemail, meaning that there was a new panic that Echo would either turn up wearing jeans or that her dress would be wholly inappropriate for the occasion. 
                          
The fact that Echo text- GOT DRESS. ALL OK- was not a good sign. "I dread to think what she's gone and bought!" Sophie exclaimed while we were supposed to be on a tour of the world famous Guinness Factory. "Maybe I should FaceTime her or something and see what type of dress she went for. What do you think?"
                          
"I think we paid a ridiculous amount of money to come to this factory and you're not taking any notice of what's going on around us," I told her, motioning at an old... whatever that thing was. Some sort of wheel that did something to one of the ingredients in Guinness. When Sophie glared at me, I sighed and told her to try giving Echo another call. "After that, I'm taking your phone off you and you're not getting it back until we leave this building."
                          
That was more than an hour ago and ever since then, Sophie has been in a foul mood, all of which she's taking out on me. Her passive aggressiveness reached new heights when she kept turning the music up louder and louder in the car until it was barely possibly to hear her above the noise of Justin Timberlake. 
                          
Being in the dog house wasn't so bad, if I'm honest. The fact that she wasn't talking to me meant that I didn't have to listen to her rant on and on about who was wearing what dress tonight and the whole debacle over the fact that Emma and Noelle both had bought the same pair of heels to wear for the big party. Instead, she furiously text this information through to Charlotte and would give me daggered looks whenever I read any of the texts over her shoulder while at a stop light. 
                          
"Are you sure you packed a bow tie?" Sophie asks as we jump out of the car and head for the boot. Popping it open, I take out my weekend bag as well as the suit carrier while struggling to carry Sophie's tote. For someone who supposedly sent over the bulk of her stuff to the hotel this morning, Sophie doesn't travel light. "Daniel! Did you bring a bow tie?"
                          
"Yes, I did," I say, reaching up and pulling the tailgate shut. "Sophie, I hate to tell you this, but you really need to calm the fuck down. We've got four hours until we need to be at the party for the photos and whatnot, so even if I did forget my bow tie- which I haven't- there would be more than enough time to go and buy a new one."