Page 56 of It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
I decided to get a head start on step three by sending a quick message to Ryan:
Mally:
Hey, Ryan! Fun night last night! Any update on the car?
It was a good ten minutes before he replied, which afforded me some extra sleep – after I’d downed the rest of the water.
Ryan:
Soz, still got a backlog. Hoping to get to it tomo or the day afterbut no promises.
Tomorrow was just about acceptable, but I made a mental note to research other mechanics as a back-up plan. My phone buzzed with a follow-up message:
Ryan:
Btw, Darren’s asked for your number. Can I pass it on?
Urgh, absolutely not. Sure, a disastrous date would no doubt give me some useful material for my article, but there was no way I was going to go anywhere alone with someone like that. And he’d been quick to show his true colours last night.
Mally:
Sorry, I’m kind of seeing someone back in London.
I mean, it wasn’t a total lie…? Who was I kidding. I had to accept that me and Billy were never going to happen.
Ryan:
Does Brinton know? ;)
I felt a little wobble of promise about what Ryan was insinuating here. Would Tom be interested in knowing this about me? That said, he might already be aware – I could’ve told him my entire life story last night for all I knew.
Mally:
?
Ryan:
Lol, forget it. I’ll be in touch as soon as ur car’s ready.
Hmmm. I needed to ruminate on this some more. But I needed to empty my bladder and fill my stomach first. I staggered out of the bedroom and almost tripped over a thick wad of material that had been neatly folded on the landing. A handwritten note lay on top of it, the stems of the letters long and straight, like masts on a yacht:
Good morning,
In case you need a summary of what happened when you got in last night:
We discussed adjectives.
You were a little bit sick (not a problem, please don’t feel bad!).
I helped you into bed.
I stayed for a while to make sure you were OK.
Sorry about the curtain, but it was the only thing I could find…! Not sure how long you’ll be around but the soonest I can pop round to put it back up is tomorrow morning so hope that’s OK. Please message me when you wake up so I know how you’re doing.
T x
07700 900174
