Tales From a Broad by LLC Melange Books Read Free Book Online

slang. Or...”
Tess gasped, “She can come in an older version and be a trashy,
classless cheeseball.” Tess winced and looked at me apologetically.
“Aunt Lu, I really think we’ve read enough.”
    “No,” I said through gritted teeth. “Go
on.”
    Tess groaned and reluctantly looked down at
her phone. “In London, the chav trademark is none other than
Burberry.” She pressed a button on her phone and tossed it into her
bag.
    My mouth fell agape. “Wow.” I paused and
swallowed. “ Wow . The hat and shoes I’ve been proudly
sporting all over London basically has marked me, a forty-two year
old woman, as a certified chavberry . ”
    “So much for playing it safe with labels,
huh?” Tess poked me in the ribs with her elbow. “You hell raiser,”
she teased.
    I pulled the hat over my eyes and slumped
down in my seat.
     

 
    Chapter
Three
     
    Goodbye London, Hello Amsterdam!
    Facebook Status June 6 at 10:00pm
     
    Tess and I ran to the platform just as the
train to Brussels pulled into Victoria Station. I was pleasantly
surprised when we stepped into the car, which was in pristine
condition, both immaculate and rather luxurious.
    The plush seats were also inviting with their
soft, navy blue velvet covers. After we’d settled, I immediately
reclined my chair.
    “Ah,” I sighed with a smile. “I hope our
connecting train to Amsterdam is just as nice. Clean, comfortable
seats, a menu... Now these are the unexpected joys of
travel.” I picked up the menu and read the dinner options.
    Tess gave me a sideways look. “Well, what did
you expect? You purchased first-class tickets.”
    I nodded. “True. Well, I’ve had enough of
feeling like a second class citizen. All I have to say is, Cheerio !”
    “Oh come on,” Tess admonished. “We had some
fun, no?”
    “Absobloodylutely,” I said in a British
accent, mocking the guy we’d met the night before. “No seriously,
London was amazing. I loved everything we did. St. Paul’s
Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby.... “ I frowned and
paused. “It’s just that some of the extraneous variables threw me
off.”
    Tess nodded her head knowingly.
    “I vote we stay somewhere a bit nicer when we
stop back here on our way home. I need a re-do. Those living
conditions were awful.”
    The train began to pull out of the station.
When I looked at Tess for a response, I noticed she was staring out
the window, looking forlorn.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. The last thing I wanted
was for my niece to regret taking the trip with me. Because my
wedding day was supposed to have been the next day, I think I was a
little more down than usual. I bit my thumbnail and waited for her
to look at me.
    She seemed to be lost in a world of her own
as she played with the hem of her skirt.
    “Tess?”
    She turned to look at me. “Hmm?” she said
with a tight-lipped smile.
    “I’m sorry I complained so much.”
    “Oh, please,” she said with a wave of her
hand. “We stayed in a dump. I just feel...” She paused and shifted
uncomfortably in her seat. “Kind of bummed we’re leaving. My
experience was a little different than the one you had.”
    “Mark?” I wiggled my eyebrows and smiled.
    Tess’s cheeks turned pinkish as she nodded.
“We had so much fun last night, Aunt Lu.” Her eyes sparkled, and a
slow smile spread across her face.
    “I figured. I didn’t even hear you come in.”
I hoped that I sounded nonchalant, but all day, I’d been dying for
the details. Tess had always been honest with me, but still, I
hadn’t wanted to pry and make her uncomfortable. On this trip, I
may have been more of a friend than an aunt, but one fact still
remained. I was her mother’s sister.
    “I got back late. Very. We spent the entire
night talking,” she added quickly. “We stayed in the pub for about
three hours after you left, and then we took a ride on the London
Eye.”
    I sucked in my breath and placed a hand on my
chest. “Doesn’t that go like two hundred