Ashleigh sat down in the chair by the fire that Alistair had previously sat in. Placing her new handbag neatly on her lap, Ashleigh retrieved her cigarettes, placing one to her lips as she delved back into her bag to locate her lighter.

“Need a light dear?” said a familiar female voice.

Ashleigh stopped what she was doing and peered up to find Bridget standing before her, holding out a lighter not far from Ashleigh.

“Yes…thank you,” replied Ashleigh, leaning forward to light her cigarette. Ashleigh took a long darg before sitting back in the chair, closing her eyes as she looked up towards the ceiling, exhaling as she did so.

“I think I’ll join you,” said Bridget, lighting up a cigarette for herself. “What’s wrong sweetie, you look like you have the whole world resting on those pretty little shoulders of yours,” stated Bridget as she continued to look down on Ashleigh in her seat.

“Oh it’s nothing… honestly…I’ll be fine,” replied Ashleigh as she opened her eyes and looked towards Bridget and smiled.

“Ah…young love,” stated Bridget with a huge smile on her face, before taking a puff of her cigarette.

“Excuse me?” said Ashleigh, still unable to think clearly after her kiss with Wesley.

“Oh Ashleigh, I was young once and can spot this sort of thing a mile away,” answered Bridget, “I was just like you,” she added.

“What? A guy, duped by his best friend into becoming a woman, just to be his date…Oh yeah…I’m sure that thing happens often,” thought Ashleigh, hoping that Bridget hadn’t noticed her involuntary roll of the eyes.

“OH…Really?” asked Ashleigh, hoping that her tone didn’t come across as sarcastic as it had sounded in her own head, placing her cigarette to her lips to take a long, deep drag.

“Yes of course dear,” exclaimed Bridget, “I was a rather shy and modest young lady, just like you are…whereas Jasper…oh heavens…Jasper couldn’t keep his hands to himself, even in public…If Our Wes is anything like Jasper he just wants the whole world to know that you are his lady and that he’s proud to call you his.”

“Taking advantage of a situation more like the little…the little…creep…” thought Ashleigh, searching around for an ashtray as she felt her face beginning to flush.

“Ha…yeah…maybe…” she replied as she noticed the ashtray, littered with cigar stubs, to her left on top of a marble pillar that was just to say shorter than the arm of the chair.

At that moment Pippa appeared in the doorway of the sitting room and began to wave her hand, beckoning to Ashleigh before pointing at her nails.

“Oh hey…I gotta go, Pippa’s calling me for my nail appointment,” explained Ashleigh, stubbing out her cigarette in the ashtray.

“Wow… that’s a sentence I never expected to say in my life…I have a nail appointment…what the fuck,”  thought Ashleigh picking up her bag and getting to her feet.

“Oh of course my dear, no problem at all, we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other more soon, I’m sure,” replied Bridget with a smile.

“Yes of course…” said Ashleigh reluctantly, before making her way across the room to where Pippa was standing holding open the sitting-room door.

“Having fun with my Aunt Bridget?” asked Pippa with a giggle as the pair made their way out into the hallway.

“Oh yeah…I never wanted it to end,” replied Ashleigh with a roll of her eyes and a giggle as the pair headed to the dining room.

Pippa opened the door to the dining room and Ashleigh stepped inside. The dining room was not quite as wide as the sitting room, yet it was just as long. The floor was of white marble, just as it was out in the hallway. At the far end of the room was another large fireplace, similar to the one in the sitting room, with a large candelabra standing tall on either side. To the far right of the fireplace, nestled in the corner of the room,  was the door that Vivian had earlier described to Ashleigh as the one that leads to the kitchen. The wood-panelled walls were adorned with various tapestries and pieces of artwork,  most of which were portraits of the Ashton-Burns family. In the centre was a rather long dining table with one chair at either end and six chairs on either side.

Ashleigh and Pippa approached the young, dark-haired lady who was already seated at the table with a variety of nail products spread out across the table, as well as a large silver case that sat on the table and a small lamp that was plugged in at the wall via a rather long extension cable. As Ashleigh followed Pippa, all she could hear was the sound of her heels as they clicked and clacked on the marble floor, echoing throughout the dining room. What Ashleigh found interesting most of all, was how the sound of her steps were almost in sync with the loud ticking of a grandfather clock that stood on the left-hand wall of the room, a few feet from where the lady was seated.

Ashleigh and Pippa sat down in the seats beside the lady, with Pippa sitting closest to her.

“So ladies what can I do for you?” asked the lady.

“Nail extensions for me and…” answered Pippa before turning to look at Ashleigh who had a rather blank expression written on her face.

“Oh…erm…I don’t really know…” replied Ashleigh.

After a few brief moments of silence, the lady spoke up once more.

“Well…do you want extensions like your friend…a gel manicure…what would you like my sweet? Have you ever had your nails done before?” she asked with a smile, trying to ease Ashleigh who by now had a rather anxious look about her and was still unable to respond.

“Oh…I just thought…Ashleigh, you’d be better off just going for a colour…for now, anyway…you have that…that thing…on Monday…that thing where…you won’t really be able to have extensions…right…remember,” stated Pippa, her eyes now wide open as she tried to assist Ashleigh in her decision.

Ashleigh’s blank expression lasted for another brief moment before her eyes widened and she realised what Pippa was referring to.

“Oh…yeah…that…that thing with Wes,” replied Ashleigh.

“Okay then…I’ll get started on you first whilst you pick out a colour and then we can do yours whilst you are under the lamp,” the girl explained.

Pippa nodded along to the lady’s explanation whilst Ashleigh went back to being completely baffled.

“What on earth is she talking about with lamps and extensions and all that jazz…god being a woman can be confusing,”  Ashleigh thought to herself as the lady went to work on Pippa’s hands.

Ashleigh sat in complete silence as the two other women made idol chitchat. That was until the lady looked at Ashleigh once more, now looking rather bemused herself.

“You…are okay picking out a colour…right?” asked the young lady in a somewhat condescending tone, pointing to the large, silver case on the table that was already open.

“Sure…sorry…yeah” replied Ashleigh with a giggle as she began to look inside the case. Inside there was a whole rainbow of colours to choose from, pinks, purples, reds, browns and even white.

“What colour is your dress tomorrow sweetie?” asked the lady, now clearly becoming a little agitated by Ashleigh.

“It’s erm…blue…” stated Ashleigh.

“She’s wearing navy blue for the daytime and a LBD for the evening…both dresses are stunning,” Pippa interjected.

“LBD…what the hell is that?” thought Ashleigh.

“Oh…so I personally think a nice shade of red would go lovely…” said the lady as she smiled at Ashleigh.

“Oh yes I think so too…like a deep red…you have a red lipstick too, don't you Ash?”  asked Pippa.

“Was that one of the ones from today?” Ashleigh asked, still sounding confused. All this talk of nails, makeup and dresses, still felt as though the ladies were speaking in a foreign tongue to her.

Pippa simply nodded before turning her attention back to the young lady doing her nails.

“Yeah we went out shopping today to get Ashleigh here prepared for the wedding,” explained Pippa with a huge smile on her face.

“I thought you were the bride?” asked the girl.

“Oh…yes of course, but Ashleigh, leaving things till the very last moment, suggested a little retail therapy before my big day…don’t worry though, my older brother paid for everything,” Pippa clarified.

“Oh how lovely of him,” stated the lady as she continued her work on Pippa’s nails. “So are you and her brother…?” asked the lady glancing at Ashleigh who froze at the question, almost like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

“Yes…she and my brother, Wesley, have been dating a while now…” stated Pippa with a smile thrown Ashleigh’s way.

“Oh…okay, so your brother is dating one of your friends…that’s so cute,” said the lady as she placed Pippa’s left hand on the table and manoeuvring it beneath the lamp, pressing the button to switch it on. The young lady then picked out a deep red nail polish and sat herself to the right of Ashleigh. “Place your hands on the table for me sweetie,” instructed the lady.

Ashleigh did as she was instructed and placed both her hands flat on the table so that the girl could begin working on her.

“Wow…this feels weird,” thought Ashleigh, as she watched the girl slowly and carefully paint each of her nails in a deep shade of red. “It feels strangely cold too,” thought Ashleigh.

“So…just think…one day the two of you may be sisters-in-law,” stated the lady with a huge smile, “Has there been any talk from him about…you know…putting a ring on your finger,” she added, much to the amusement of Pippa.

“Erm…no…I don’t think so…I think we’re just…happy the way we are…you know…” replied Ashleigh nervously, throwing an anxious look to Pippa whilst the girl was focused on Ashleigh’s nails. Pippa however, found the situation rather amusing and it was clear to Ashleigh that she was trying hard to contain her laughter at the question the lady had put forward.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the lady looked up from Ashleigh’s hands.

“There we go my sweet, that’s you finished. We just need to allow for them to dry,” she said with a smile, closing up the pot she had used and getting up from her seat to sit beside Pippa once more.

Ashleigh looked at her hands, still laying flat on the table,

“This…feels…so weird,” she thought as she admired the soft, delicate hands that were placed on the table, their rather short, small nails now painted a deep shade of red.

“I still can’t believe the fact…they are MY hands,” she pondered as she sat in silence,  the sound of Pippa and the nail technician sounding rather like muffled, background noise to her. “They just look… so soft…so small…so feminine and delicate,” thought Ashleigh.

“That colour looks sooooo freaking cute on you,” said the lady, interrupting Ashleigh’s train of thought, “Have you ever thought about growing them out… or getting extensions in the future?” she added.

“No…no…I…can’t say I’ve thought about it,” replied Ashleigh, her gaze still fixed upon her glossy, red nails, however, a slight smile had now managed to creep its way onto her face.

“Well, in my opinion, you should, they’d look amazing on you,” replied the lady somewhat enthusiastically. “And, I’ll tell you what else would look so cute too… a wedding ring…or at the very least an engagement ring, am I right,” she added with a giggle.

“I…I guess so,” replied Ashleigh apprehensively as she still looked towards her hands.

“Tell your brother he needs to get a move on, he can’t keep such a beauty as her waiting around,” stated the lady as she continued to giggle, now looking at Pippa.

“Are your nails dry yet Ash?” asked Pippa in an attempt to change the topic of conversation after noticing Ashleigh’s awkwardness.

“I...I don’t know…I daren’t touch them in case I mess them up,” replied Ashleigh.

“Here, I’ll have a look, let me see,” stated the lady.

Ashleigh followed the lady’s instructions and carefully leaned across Pippa to show the lady her hands.

“Sure they’re all dry,” stated the lady as Ashleigh sat back in her seat once more.

“Do you wanna go and get sorted for tonight Ash? I’ll come to see you when I’m done here, the nails are my treat to you by the way, ” said Pippa with a smile and a wink.

Ashleigh stood up from her seat, “okay…thank you,” she said timidly as she began to make her way back towards the door to the main hallway.

“Lovely to meet you,” stated the lady as Ashleigh got to the door.

“You too,” Ashleigh replied with a rather modest smile before opening the door and stepping out into the hall, closing the door behind her.