Page 2 of Whimsical Ink

Sage scoffs. “Good luck. I hope Oliver doesn’t kill you.”

“What’s with the whispering?” Maddy asks, wheeling her chair back to us.

“Nothing,” I say.

She rolls her eyes. “When you say something that quickly, it’s real believable.”

She wraps Sage’s arm and takes him to the counter to pay, while I stay put beside her station.

“Have a good Christmas. See you later, Dan.”

“Merry Christmas,” I yell. The door slams behind him. Now to execute my plan. “What are you doing for Christmas?”

She locks the door, returns to her station to sanitise everything, and slips the gold ring she always wears back on her pinky finger. “Nothing. Oliver’s travelling, Mum’s on a cruise. I’ll probably keep the studio open instead.”

My eyes widen. I knew she’d do something like this. Keep the studio open for no reason instead of joining friends for Christmas. “Even tomorrow?”

She shrugs. “Why not?”

“It’s Christmas Eve and your birthday!”

“So? No one’s around or they’re too busy to celebrate.” She rolls her eyes. “As usual,” she mutters.

“Um, hello.” I gesture to myself, slightly offended she didn’t want to celebrate with me. Too bad. She’s going to anyway.

“You’re probably busy.” She finishes righting her station and sits.

“Nope. And what are you doing for Christmas?” I know exactly what she’s doing. Her brother buggered off, and she feels too guilty joining friends, so the plan is to kidnap her.

She sighs. Kinda in the way you would when a toddler keeps asking the same question. “I told you. Nothing.”

“Wrong. You’re coming with me to the family bach.”

She blinks at me. “No. I’m keeping the studio open.”

“Do you have clients booked?”

“No, but?—”

“You’re closing the studio and coming with me. Get some R&R before the new year.”

“I’m not coming to your family’s holiday home, Daniel. Don’t be ridiculous. And I’m not closing the studio.”

I cross my arms. “You always close from the twenty-third to the twenty-ninth. Why should this year be any different?” I analyse her studio more closely. There’s no one else here and no decoration whatsoever. Not even fairy lights. “You’ve given your staff time off, haven’t you?”

“So what if I have?”

“You deserve a break too, Maddy. Just because your family isn’t in the country doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to celebrate and drink champagne.”

She shrugs and I barely control my anger. How dare everyone fuck off and leave her? For her birthday and Christmas. She doesn’t deserve that. She deserves to celebrate and have a holiday surrounded by people who love her and want to spoil her.

Like me.

When Oliver said he was taking his girlfriend Ella to Austria for the holidays to propose, I was excited, but my mind immediately turned to Maddy. Apparently, he cleared it with Maddy before booking the trip, but how do you tell your brothernot to take the love of his life on a holiday to propose because it happens to be when your birthday is?

You don’t. You pretend to be happy and get on with everything. And I know Maddy’s happy for them, we’ve both been invested in their romance for years, but I’m sure it still hurts her. The fact she’s planning to keep her studio open for no reason tells me everything I need to know. That’s why I have a plan. Now to execute it.

A little deception never hurt anyone, right?

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