‘Who is the letter from?’ she asked, while running her hands up and down the front of his shirt, feeling the steady rise and fall of his chest.

‘My mother,’ Larry replied softly, stroking Ally’s hair.

‘Your mother?’ Ally exclaimed, obviously surprised by what she had just heard. She sat up straighter, pulling her head away from Larry’s shoulder and looked at Larry with a confused expression on her face.

‘Yes, my mother,’ Larry replied, wondering why Ally was so surprised. ‘What, you didn’t think I had one?’ he asked, half jokingly, half serious.

Ally looked annoyed for a second, but then answered his question. ‘Well, I realise you must have a mother, I just guess I…um…I never really thought about her. You don’t talk much about your family, except Sam of course. What was she writing about?’ Ally looked expectantly at Larry, waiting for his reply.

‘She says she wants to come and visit me,’ he said, looking back down at the letter, ‘I haven’t seen her for a few years and she says, quote, ‘I need to make sure my only son is making me proud’, unquote.’ Larry had a slightly amused look on his face as he glanced up at Ally.

‘Oh, where does she live?’

‘England’

‘England’ Ally screeched, her eyes widening.

‘Yes Ally, she lives in England and according to her letter she is on a plane right now – arriving here tomorrow.’ Larry covered his ears quickly, knowing what was coming.

‘TOMORROW. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.’ Ally jumped off the sofa and started to shake her head disbelievingly at Larry, her hands moving amazingly fast through the air. ‘Why didn’t you tell me, Larry? I need time to prepare for this.’ Ally bent down and started to punch Larry in the shoulder repeatedly.

‘Owwww!’ Larry cried, moving away from Ally’s swinging arms. ‘Ally, I only found out just then. How was I supposed to tell you if I didn’t even know myself? My mother is a bit like that, she likes to catch people by surprise, me especially.’ Ally sat down again, and put her hands in her lap.

‘Oh,’ she said, looking straight ahead, trying to process her thoughts.

‘Look, Ally. You don’t have to worry about her. She can be a bit intimidating sometimes, but she is virtually harmless.’ Larry put a hand on Ally’s arm, trying to comfort her. He looked at her face and noticed that it was a mixture of nervousness and worry – typical Ally.

‘I’m going to bed now, you coming?’ He asked Ally, trying to help her forget about his mother.

‘Yeah, in a second,’ Ally replied absently. Larry took another look at her and then walked off towards the bedroom, leaving Ally on the sofa by herself, feeling a growing uneasiness inside of her.

Ally and Larry were standing at the arrivals gate at the airport, waiting for Larry’s mother to arrive

‘Larry,’ Ally said, a hint of worry in her voice

‘Mmmm’

‘I’m scared,’ she said, her right hand reaching for his. Larry could feel the dampness of her hand, probably caused by sweat, and turned to face her.

‘Ally, honey,’ he said, entwining his fingers in hers, ‘You have nothing to worry about. She is going to love you – just as soon as she…’ Larry trailed off, realising his mistake.

‘As soon as she what, Larry?’ Ally cut in, her voice filling with concern.

‘Um…’ Larry suddenly began shifting his weight from one foot to another, looking very uncomfortable. ‘Well you see, Ally. I, uh, haven’t had a chance to tell my mother about you yet, about…us’.

‘No, Larry. No, no, no, no, NO!’ Ally could feel herself getting very angry and was about to start yelling again when…

‘Larry!’ Both Ally and Larry turned to see a woman who slightly resembled Larry standing before them, smiling. She put down her luggage just as Larry engulfed her in a hug.

‘Mom,’ he said, sounding genuinely excited, ‘How are you?’ He took a step back and looked her up and down, as if to see if she was really there.

‘I’m fine, thankyou darling, though the plane food was quite atrocious, and not much can be said for those flight attendants.’ She winced at the memory of the plane trip then looked across from Larry to Ally, motioning for Larry to introduce them.

Here we go, Ally thought to herself, the moment I have been dreading. Ally plastered a pleasant smile on her face as she looked at Larry, waiting for him to say something. He smiled at Ally and then looked back at his mother.

‘Ah, Mom,’ he said, taking a deep breath, ‘This is Ally McBeal, my girlfriend.’

Ally extended her hand towards her and said confidently, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Paul. I have heard many wonderful things about you.’

‘Well,’ his mother said, returning Ally’s handshake, ‘ He obviously hasn’t told you everything. My name is Mrs Williams, I changed it back to my maiden name after my husband died.’ Ally shot Larry a killer look then turned her attention back to Mrs Williams. ‘Though you can call me Marie,’ she finished off in a very forceful tone that scared Ally a little.

‘Well,’ Larry said, breaking an uncomfortable silence that lasted for a few seconds, ‘I guess we should be on our way.’ He picked up his mothers luggage and then they moved out off towards the exit.

‘This woman bumped into me, causing my bag to fall to the floor and its contents to spill, and then she had the nerve to walk off without apologising or helping me retrieve my scattered belongings. I was absolutely appalled at the rudeness and disrespect shown by this woman. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry, I would have chased after her and made it more of an issue. Absolutely appalling.’ Ally, Larry and Marie had been driving from the airport for about half and hour and Marie had been talking incessantly for most of that time. Ally had barely managed to get a word in, not that she minded much, she had just thought that Marie may have perhaps even feigned interest in her – if only to be polite. She yawned quietly, not that they could have heard her even if she had yawned loudly, and looked out the window at the passing houses and shops. That reminded her of something.

‘So Marie, where will you be staying while you are here in Boston?’ Ally said, in a rare moment of silence.

‘Pardon,’ Marie said, turning her head to look at Ally.

‘What hotel will you be staying at while you’re here visiting?’ Ally repeated.

‘Oh,’ Marie said, turning to look at Larry, ‘Well I just assumed I would be staying with you Larry, in your house.’ Larry pretended that he was concentrating on driving for a second, but Ally could tell he was thinking about what he should say. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke up.

‘Mom, I actually live in Ally’s apartment, with her roommate Renee. I had, well, also assumed that you would be staying in a hotel.’ He said this very quickly and looked at Ally to see how she was doing. Ally was looking extremely uncomfortable and felt as though she wanted to be swallowed up by the earth any second now.

‘Oh,’ Marie said quietly, as though her feelings were hurt. ‘Oh, I see. Well we will have to organise a hotel for the next few days then.’

‘Mom, I’m really sorry,’ Larry said apologetically, ‘I didn’t have a chance to tell you about Ally and our living arrangements.’ He reached across and touched his mother’s hand comfortingly. ‘Look,’ he continued, ‘I know of a hotel where you can stay, it’s very nice and quite close to the apartment. Hopefully they will have some vacancies.’ Marie looked out of the window and sighed.

‘That sounds nice,’ was all she said. Great, Ally thought, the perfect start!

‘That didn’t go very well did it?’ Ally said, as they were lying in bed that night after having successfully checked Marie into the hotel. They had offered to take her out for dinner and show her some of the sights, but Marie had politely declined saying that she was very tired after her flight. None of them had spoken much in the car after the hotel incident, and Ally had been grateful when they had finally left Marie at the hotel and gone back to their apartment. While Larry had gone out to pick up some dinner, she had filled Renee in on the details of the day, much to Renee’s amusement.

‘It wasn’t that bad, Ally,’ Larry said, stroking her face, ‘She was probably just tired, like she said. Tomorrow we will take her out for lunch and everything will be all right.’

‘I hope so, Larry. I really do,’ Ally said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep with her head rested on his chest.

Larry glanced down at his watch for what seemed like the millionth time in the space of about ten minutes. Where is she, he thought to himself, wondering what was taking Ally so long. He looked across the table at his mother who was sipping her sparkling water and continually looking at the entrance waiting for Ally to arrive.

‘She is coming isn’t she Larry? Are you sure you told her the right time?’ Marie said, rather impatiently.

‘Yes Mom, she knows. She was the one who organised the restaurant booking,’ Larry replied, feeling slightly annoyed at Ally for being late, after all, she was the one who had wanted to make a good impression. Just then, his cell phone rang, and, assuming it was Ally, he got up and walked outside of the restaurant to talk to her privately.

‘Hello’

‘Larry, hi. It’s me’

‘Ally, where are you. We’re waiting for you at the restaurant’

‘I know, I know. The deposition ran really late, but I am on my way. Please apologise to Marie for me. I’ll be there soon. Bye Larry. I love you.’

‘Yeah, me too. See you.’ Larry hung up the phone and sighed deeply

Ally rushed through the restaurant door and stood panting for a moment as she tried to locate Larry and Marie. She saw Larry waving her over to their table, and began quickly walking towards them – so quickly in fact that failed to see the small step in front of her. She felt herself flying forward as her foot caught the step, her arms flailing in the air trying to regain her balance.

‘Ahhhh,’ she screamed in a high-pitched voice as she landed heavily on her right side. The restaurant patrons all suddenly went quiet and she could feel eyes burning into her from every angle. Larry rushed over to her and helped her up, a look of concern in his eyes.

‘Ally, honey. Are you alright?’ He put his arm around her and gently kissed her forehead.

‘Physically, Larry, I’m fine. Just slightly mortified!’ She spat out the last word as if she had a foul taste in her mouth, and them brushed the creases out of her skirt. Larry’s face broke into a slight grin, a grin that was hastily wiped off his face as Ally shot him an ‘I-will-kill-you-if-you-think-this-is-funny’ look. Larry led her back over to their table, just as Marie stood up to greet them.

‘Ally, hi. Are you okay? You seemed to take a heavy fall back there.’ Marie extended her hand to Ally and they politely shook hands.

‘Oh that, that was nothing,’ Ally replied, taking her seat at the table. ‘I was just, uh, making sure the floor was clean. You know what they say, a clean floor is a sure sign of a good restaurant!’ Ally smiled convincingly at Marie as she finished speaking. Marie stared blankly at Ally for a moment before Larry burst into laughter. Not long after that, Ally joined in. Marie still seemed confused, so Larry took it upon himself to explain the situation.

‘She was joking, Mom. You know, haha, funny!’

‘Of course I knew she was joking, Larry. And I don’t appreciate being patronised.’ Marie said, seemingly annoyed at being the object of their amusement. ‘Now,’ she continued on, hoping to change the subject, ‘let’s order. I think we’ve waited long enough.’ She signalled to the nearest waiter that they were ready to order. Ally glanced sideways at Larry and saw that he was still amused by the situation. She looked him, pleading with him to help her get his mother on side. He smiled innocently back at Ally and she rolled her eyes at him. Oh this is going to be a loooong lunch, she thought to herself.

‘No Renee, she really does not like me. I think she may be beginning to hate me. This is not good. Not good at all.’ Ally sighed and ate a bit more popcorn. Renee looked across at her roommate and began to giggle.

‘Ally, you are so melodramatic. I’m sure she loves you – and, even is she doesn’t, so what? What is the big deal? I’m telling you, you are making a mountain out of the smallest of molehills.’ Ally turned to Renee and acted as though Renee had just suggested that she go bungee jumping or something equally as insane.

‘So what??? Are you kidding Renee? This is the woman that will hopefully someday be my mother-in-law. I think it is vital that she likes me. I could even settle for civility, maybe. Ohhhhhh, how did it get so complicated?’ Ally buried her face in her hands as she continued to moan and groan about life with Larry’s mother. Renee looked at her and smiled inwardly. At least life with Ally is never boring, she thought to herself.

‘I just have to pop in and see Ally, Mom. I won’t be long. Do you want to come in with me and see her office?’ Larry had taken the day off to spend with his mother, but he had to drop something off to Ally first.

‘Alright,’ Marie said, ‘I need to go to the bathroom anyway.’ They both hopped out of the car and made their way into the elevator in the office building. As the elevator doors opened at Ally’s level, Richard got in just as Larry and Marie were just exiting the lift.

‘Larry, nice to see you. Oh, and who is this lovely lady.’ Richard brushed his fingers against Marie’s wattle and then brought his fingers to his nose.

‘Richard,’ Larry cried, obviously embarrassed by Richards gesture, walked his mother towards Ally’s office, away from Richard and his crazy antics. Richard just shrugged as the elevator doors closed again.

‘Mom, the bathroom is over there,’ Larry said, pointing to the unisex, ‘and Ally’s office is just there,’ he continued, gesturing towards her office. ‘When you’re done in the bathroom, come over to Ally’s office. That’s where I’ll be.’

‘Alright,’ Marie answered, and walked off in the direction of the bathroom. She went in and entered one of the stalls, unaware that anyone else was in the bathroom. As she opened the stall and was making her way to the basin, she was shocked to see John, obviously a male, exiting one of the other stalls.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Marie questioned forcefully, ‘entering a woman’s bathroom when you must have a perfectly good one for yourself. How rude!’ John, a little surprised by the outburst, looked at her quizzically.

‘Actually madam,’ he began politely, ‘this is a unisex bathroom. A place of peace for both men and women.’

‘A unisex bathroom???? In a law firm??? One wonders how you manage to get any clients for this place. Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous…’ With that, Marie turned on her heels and headed for the doorway, leaving John to wonder what on earth had just gone on.

Marie continued on towards Ally’s office, ready to voice her complaints about the unisex to both Ally and Larry, and anyone else who would listen. As she knocked on the door, a woman opened it from inside Ally’s office and stuck her head out.

‘Ahhhhh!’ Marie shrieked as she gawked at this woman. ‘Wh…wha…what on earth have you got on your face?’ she finally stammered. Elaine was standing inside Ally’s office with her head poking out the door, and on it was her new and improved (if you are to believe what Elaine says) Face Bra.

‘Oh this,’ Elaine replied, pointing to her face, ‘this is one of my inventions. It’s called…’ Just as Elaine was about to explain to Marie the wonders of her face bra, Ally interrupted them.

‘Um, Elaine, that will be all, thankyouverymuch.’ Ally pushed Elaine out of her office and quickly ushered Marie in, slamming the door in Elaine’s face (bra). ‘Sorry about that Marie. Elaine has a tendency to catch people by surprise. Would you like a seat?’ Ally said, offering Maire her chair. Marie still seemed at a loss for words and stood staring at the chair for a few moments. Larry, sensing that his mother wanted to get out of the office, and fast, broke the silence.

‘Actually, Ally, I think we’d better go. You’ve got work to do and I want to show Mom as much of the city as I can before she leaves,’ Larry finished off. Marie quickly began nodding her head and Ally could see she wanted to leave.

‘Okay, I understand.’ Ally looked a little hurt at their eagerness to leave but she knew they should probably go. After all, she did have work to do. ‘But you will still come over for dinner tonight, won’t you?’ Ally asked, her voice filled with hope. She could tell that Marie was less than impressed with both her and her office and Ally wanted another chance to make things right.

‘Of course we are,’ Larry said, taking Ally in his arms. Ally felt a smile creep onto her face as Larry hugged her. An instant feeling of love ran through her whole body just at the touch of him. They stood in an embrace for a few moments longer until Marie, obviously feeling a little uncomfortable, suggested they leave. As soon as Larry and Marie had shut the door behind them, Ally fell back into her chair and sighed.

‘Please let this be over soon,’ she said to no one in particular.

The tension had eased only slightly in the time they had been sitting around the table at Ally and Renee’s apartment. There was five of them there in total; Ally, Larry, Marie, Renee and Jackson – Renee’s current boyfriend. So far it had been pleasant enough. They had eaten a little, drunk some wine and made lots and lots of small talk though the conversation at the moment was at a standstill. Ally looked around at her guests and was beginning to think this was a bad idea. C’mon Ally, she thought to herself, do something to liven this place up a little. She was about to suggest that the more musically inclined members could perform a few numbers, when Marie interrupted her thoughts with…wait for it…more small talk.

‘So Ally, Larry, tell me, how did you to meet? Oh no, Ally thought, I can see where this is going to lead. We are not going down that path! Ally looked across at Larry and saw that he was smiling. No Larry, NO. Oh no, he’s starting to talk. Shut up Larry. I’m gonna kill you, you bastard! All the time, Ally was smiling sweetly at Marie as Larry began to talk.

‘Well, it’s actually a pretty funny story,’ Larry began. He could see Ally fidgeting in her chair, obviously wanting him to be quiet. To hell with her, Larry thought, this is a funny story. If nothing else, it will fill in those uncomfortable silences that have become more and more common. He returned Ally’s smile and turning to face his mother, continued on with the story. ‘I was unpacking boxes in my office one day when Ally came to the door looking for Tracey, her therapist,’ Larry saw his mother flinch as soon as she heard the word ‘therapist’, and he stole a glance at Ally. She was looking extremely uncomfortable. He continued on. ‘I told her that Tracey had moved, though she had left Ally’s file behind, a very thick file at that. In it was everything – dancing babies, theme songs, cappuccino orga….’

‘Larry, SHUT UP!’ Larry turned back around to Ally and saw that she was angry, very angry. In fact, she was fuming. There was a sudden silence, where everyone was waiting to see what would happen next. Larry was too afraid to speak again, so he just sat there staring at Ally with a bemused look on his face. Finally, Renee broke the silence when she burst into a fit of giggles. Slowly, the others began to join her and even the sides of Ally’s mouth turned slightly upwards. Larry mouthed ‘thank you’ to Renee and both he and Ally began clearing plates and cutlery off the table. Once in the kitchen, Larry kissed Ally softly on the cheek and apologized. Ally murmured something barely audible and then moved back out to the lounge room to the others.

Later that evening, Ally decided to get a breath of fresh air and stepped out the front door onto their porch (A.N – I don’t actually think they have one but lets just pretend, ok). It was almost pitch black outside and as she walked towards the railing, she felt her foot hit something hard on the ground.

‘Owwww,’ someone screamed out, ‘what are you kicking me for?’ Ally looked down and squinted her eyes towards the person sitting on the floor. She realised it was Marie.

‘Oh, sorry Marie. I didn’t realise you were out here. If I had, I wouldn’t have come out!’ Oh shit, Ally thought, did I say that out loud? ‘I mean…um…you probably want to be alone out here. I’ll just go back inside.’ Ally’s face had turned a dark crimson, but luckily, Marie couldn’t see it. Ally turned to walk back inside when Marie protested.

‘Don’t go inside on account of me,’ Marie said, I was just going inside anyway.’ Marie stood up and brushed the dirt off the back of her pants. ‘I just came out here to think, and now I’m done thinking.’

‘What,’ Ally replied, ‘forever???’ They both laughed a little, and Ally began to relax. Say something Ally, she thought to herself, say something good. Right now, go on, say something. Hurry up…you don’t have all day. Ally’s thoughts were becoming all mixed up and she could see Marie was beginning to walk back to the front door.

‘Marie,’ she finally said, ‘I really do love Larry.’ Nice one Ally, now she probably thinks you’re some love struck teenager who has no future with her son. Why couldn’t you have thought of something witty or smart to say? Damn this brain. Note to self: bang head against wall many times – just make sure Marie is not around to see it. Marie stood looking at Ally for a second and Ally thought she saw her look soften, if only slightly. As Marie turned towards the door again, Ally heard he whisper something along the lines of ‘I know.’ It wasn’t much, but it was something.

A few minutes later, Larry joined Ally on the porch, sitting down beside her on the cold, hard ground. ‘Hmmm, this is nice,’ Larry said sarcastically, ‘I can feel my bum turning to ice already. Yours must be well and truly frozen like a Popsicle by now. I think we should go back inside and allow ourselves to thaw out. What are you doing out here anyway?’ He asked Ally.

‘Oh, I just came out here for some fresh air and to clear my head,’ Ally replied, ‘We can go back inside now if you like.’ With that, she stood up and headed back inside when Larry grabbed one of her arms and pulled her back towards him.

‘Ally, are you sure you’re all right. You seem kind of, I don’t know, quiet or something.’

‘I’m fine. I’m a little tired but nothing to be worried about.’ Ally said, looking at Larry’s sweet face. He put his arms around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder.

‘You would tell me if something was wrong, wouldn’t you?’ Larry enquired, his voice slightly muffled by her hair.

‘Uh huh,’ Ally said less than convincingly. ‘Really though, I’m tired, that’s all.’ I’m tired all right, Ally thought, tired of your mother. As though reading her mind, Larry said, as they began walking inside ‘Well, my mother is leaving tomorrow so things may get back to normal after that.’ Luckily for Ally, they were still covered by the blanket of darkness; otherwise Larry may have been able to see the wide grin that appeared on her face as soon as he said that. They stopped at the door just long enough for Larry to plant a kiss on Ally’s lips, and then they stepped through the doorway and back into the apartment.

They arrived at the airport after a long drive, one with a considerably less amount of talking than the same drive a week ago. Larry parked the car and moved to the boot to get Marie’s suitcases, then the three of them walked towards the departures lounge. Ally had seriously considered not going to the airport but at the last minute had decided to come, if only to be polite. Larry put down the suitcases as they got to the lounge, and them turned to his mother. Ally turned away from them and took a few steps backwards, giving them some privacy.

‘It was great having you here Mom. I wish you didn’t have to go so soon.’ Larry said.

‘Well, you seem to be doing okay, and I’m not the kind of person that likes to go sightseeing. I think it’s time for me to get back and see how everything is in England. Also,’ Marie continued, lowering her voice slightly, ‘I think Ally is eager for me to go.’ Larry laughed softly and then engulfed Marie in a warm bear hug. After a few moments, Marie moved over to where Ally was standing and tapped her gently on her shoulder. Ally turned to look at Marie.

‘Ally,’ Marie said, ‘it was nice to meet you.’

‘You too,’ Ally replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the formality of the situation. ‘Larry was very glad to see you. And so was I.’ She added, after a slight hesitation. They stood studying one another for a second until Marie moved towards Ally and gave her a quick hug. Ally body stiffened out of surprise and over Marie’s shoulder she could see Larry laughing to himself, probably at the expression on her face. Marie then turned back towards Larry, picked up her suitcases, gave him another sweet kiss on his cheek and moved off towards the plane. She turned as she was about to board and gave them a quick wave, then she was gone. Ally walked over to where Larry was standing and put a comforting arm around him. He looked down at her and smiled and then motioned for them to leave. Ally nodded and they walked slowly back to the car, hand in hand but each lost deep in their own thoughts.

They were sitting on the couch that night watching a movie on television with the volume turned down really low. Larry was bored. ‘Do you want to go out somewhere, get some ice cream or something?’ He asked. He expected Ally to say yes, as she usually did, and was surprised when she bluntly replied ‘no’. He opened his mouth to say something, and as he did, Ally turned her head towards his, kissing his mouth tenderly while stroking the side of his face.

‘Mmmmmmm,’ he replied, as their lips parted, ‘neither do I anymore.’ He moved his lips down to her neck and began kissing her hungrily. Ally moaned out loud and ran her hands through his thick hair as his lips moved further and further down her body. At that moment, Ally let out a high-pitched scream that surprised both of them and caused Ally to sit up, brushing Larry’s hands off her.

‘What,’ Larry asked, slightly out of breath, ‘what’s wrong? Did I hurt you?’ Larry was staring at Ally with a worried look on his face.

‘No, no,’ Ally replied, ‘It’s just that, well, you know how I have a great imagination, I just imagined that…’ Ally tried to continue her sentence but kept bursting into fits of giggles. Finally though, she managed to get it out. ‘I was imagining that you Mom was sitting there watching us.’ As she said this, she burst into yet another fit, laughing so hard that Larry could do little but laugh with her. He pulled her into a tight hug and whispered into her ear quietly.

‘My mother is gone remember. We put her on the plane this morning.’

‘I know,’ Ally said with a smile on her face, ‘It’s just my imagination doesn’t always know what my brain knows, if you know what I mean.’

‘I know.’ Larry said and then they both relaxed back into the couch and continued to watch the movie.

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