SPOILERS!!!
Despite having been a convinced commitment-phobe, Nick realises that he is crazy about Anna. She is all he can think about all day long, and when she proves to be unlike any other woman he has ever met, he believes he has found the one for him. So only after dating for three months, he asks her to marry him, and she can’t be happier.
Their announcement is not welcome by everybody in the same way. Nick’s parents are pleased, but when they skype Anna’s, they are far from being excited. They think that it is too early and they are worried. We learn that the relationship between Anna and her parents is awkward, and at first, we don’t get what is the problem. It is only later that Anna explains why she has such a difficult relationship with her family. Zoe is not happy about her sister’s engagement either, and she agrees with her parents on the fact that Anna doesn’t really know Nick.
Nick thinks that since it is difficult to find a venue for their reception, the engagement may last one year or two. Yet, Anna gets a call from one of these venues, telling her that there has been a cancellation, so their wedding will take place in three months. The thought makes Nick nervous, but he tells himself that he loves Anna and wants to spend the rest of his life with her, so marrying her in just eleven weeks is what he wants.
A change in the mood in the couple happens when Nick and Anna arrange to meet two of his friends from university. Anna’s comments about the way they met puts Nick on the spot as his friends know that he has always been a womaniser, unable to be faithful. So when Anna moves to the bar to order some more drinks, these friends give Nick a hard time, telling him that he is unable to be faithful. Then tired of their banter, Nick makes a comment, saying that there is nothing wrong to have the real thing at home and from time to time have something on the side. After that comment Anna returns with their drinks, and Nick worries that she might have heard what he has said. Then on the way home Anna is quiet and cold, and Nick simply says that that actions speak louder than words.
Anna did hear what he said, and the following days she is irritated and upset. Even though she wants to talk to someone, she doesn’t want to tell anyone. Yet, she finally ends up telling Zoe, who naturally gets annoyed, and after their phone conversation Zoe tells herself that she will do anything to protect her sister from this man she wants to marry. And the next thing we know is that Zoe is flying to London for some work-related thing. Anna is worried because even though she loves Zoe with all her heart, she knows that she can be a problem. Then she talks to Nick, and he and we readers learn what the matter is with Zoe. Anna explains that Zoe is an addict. Since she was a teenager, Zoe got into trouble because she drank too much, and she started taking drugs as well. Their parents tried to bail her out more than once. As a result of her addictions, Zoe was expelled from university, and then her father got her a job in a restaurant, but she was caught drinking and then having sex with the maitre. There are a few other examples of Zoe’s extreme behaviour, which shocks Nick. Because of all this, their parents stopped talking to Zoe a while ago, and this is the reason why the relationship between Anna and her parents is so awkward. Anna would like her parents to reconsider their attitude and make up with their daughter, especially as now Zoe has been sober for a while. Despite this, Anna is worried about Zoe’s presence in London. I am also worried because even though Zoe loves Anna and her first priority is to protect her sister, she might harm her if she meddles in her relationship with Nick.
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