All Chapters of Family Secrets: Chapter 301 - Chapter 310

One more smile and she left me there, arm still outstretched, one or two of the people around me grinning before they turned away."Oh fuck, oh fuck me," I whispered to myself.I drained the remains of my champagne, and braced myself as Tracy closed in for the kill."How the fuck did you manage to score one on one time with her?" she hissed as she caught my arm and pulled me away."Um... pure ignorance, I think?"She blinked."You don't know who she is, do you? You're literally clueless about who you were just... monopolising.""No. She and I worked that out earlier. She was laughing about it. I still don't know...""Amanda Sutcliffe, you're enough to turn me into an alcoholic. That's Yi-seul Cho, for God's sake!""Tracy - I know you're trying to tell me something, but that doesn't help me at all.""She's a... actually, you know what, never mind, it's really not your scene. Listen, I'm going to mingle some more. You okay?""Yes. But... I think I'm going to go, if that's all right?""Y

Life was cruel in so many little ways. I'd wanted to play the flute like my friends had done. But I'd never got the chance. We'd never had money for instruments or lessons. Art had been cheaper - something my parents could afford to give me - and it had allowed me to express and hone and free my creative side and, somehow, land a career even if it was ludicrously far from where I'd thought I'd end up.But part of me was still the scrawny, broken-hearted girl pining at the window, staring in through the glass during breaks between lessons while other, luckier children got to touch real instruments and, eventually, play them. I lacked the language, lacked the understanding, lacked even the most rudimentary knowledge. Was probably too thick to get it, anyway... the one teacher who'd tried had given up after two lessons and moved onto more promising options.I wondered what Sue's childhood had been like.Probably full, I decided. You didn't get good at things without working for it. She p

"Let me guess - painting? No... come to think of it, you're probably more a sculptor.""How on earth did you...""Call it... a hunch," she said. "So... was I right?""Some sculpture," I agreed. "But actually mostly ceramics.""Ceramics? Okay, so... think of a key like... the colour of the glaze, the tones, the form, the... feeling, I suppose. Ugh. I'm probably not making sense and using the wrong terminology...""No... I mean yes... I mean... I think I understand?""I don't know how; I butchered that badly. I'm awful at words", she sighed."Your piano says what words can not."A silence."You have this unsettling way of saying really sweet things when I least expect it. Is that something you do, some skill you've practised?""No," I said. I stopped pacing, forced myself to sit on my bed. "Normally I'm just a stream of nonsense.""You've said several profound sentences to me, and I've spent less than thirty minutes talking to you. Nonsense is not the word that comes to mind. Amanda, I'

"No!" she exclaimed. She reached out and brushed my hand with her warm, smooth fingertips. "Don't be. It's good. Sharing things, I mean. I like that you share things with me. It's... intimate. But... you should eat, too - the little steamed dumplings are mandu; they're pork, and best hot. Oh, our wine. Here. Cheers, Amanda.""Cheers. Sorry for...""No. Shush. I'm enjoying being honest. It's good to feel that I can talk about things and that I don't have to pretend like I do for my parents. Talking to you is nice. Now - meokja. And enjoy yourself. That's a demand, in case it's unclear," she added, with a smile.And I did, despite the cranberry pang of memory. People bustled around us, coming and going, the kitchen roared and laughter echoed around us. But she and I sat there in a little bubble, just talking - and it felt like I had permission to ignore the rest of the world for once.Not that it strictly mattered, since she was all I really saw."Amanda?" she said, what felt like bliss

"She's... different. She's weirdly open with her thoughts, but at the same time it's like she's... I don't know, reading from a script at times. Do you know what I mean?""Maybe she just struggles with people?""She's... really outgoing.""Mm. Could be a mask."Beth turned on her chair and watched me, fingers tapping a gentle beat on the table top."In isolation of all of that, how was today? What did you do?""She took me a to a Korean restaurant and then seduced me into going with her to a piano shop.""A what now? A piano shop?""Yeah. This huge, sodding enormous palace in Central. They kept it open specially for her, and she played... and... and..."I took a breath, got control of myself again."She's amazing," I whispered. "Oh my sweet fucking heavens, she's a goddess. She's tall, and... and gorgeous, and she has this dark wit, and... oh God, Beth, I want her so much it aches here," I added, touching my heart. "I... I just don't think she's for me. It sucks.""Hold on, poppet. Le