Page 87 of The Wedding Pact
August looked like she was about to say something to Callie, but stopped dancing while her gaze fell on her downstairs neighbours. Her grin didn’t falter for a minute, but Flynn knew her well enough now to know that behind the fake smile was a very realOh, shit.
‘Callie, look,’ she said, ‘Here’s our other lovely neighbours. Why don’t the three of you have a catch up while I get you all some drinks. Where’s your mum gone?’
‘We see each other all the time,’ Callie waved her away and zeroed her focus in on Joe again.
Flynn caught her this time, taking her into his arms and dancing her in the general direction of the kitchen, i.e. the opposite end of the room to Joe. This was also where Callie’s mum was. She in deep conversation with Kenny, who was delivering a monologue about how beautiful Flynn and August’s wedding had been.
Kenny winked at Flynn in camaraderie, and continued saying, ‘I was Flynn’s best man and I managed to convince the whole wedding party to go swimming in the sea right before the ceremony.’
Flynn managed to unhook Callie’s hand from his shoulder, placing it onto Kenny’s instead and swung back around to help August with Allen and Maud. En route, he whispered in Joe’s ear, ‘If anybody says anything to you this evening about August and I being married, please just go with it.’
Joe’s eyes crinkled at the edges and he started to laugh, his loud, booming laugh that made his whole beard shimmy. ‘What—’
‘No time to explain. I’ll owe you one.’ With that, Flynn returned to Allen just as he was about to open the door to August’s room. ‘You all right there, Allen?’
‘Just looking for your bathroom, if you don’t mind?’
‘That door there,’ Flynn pointed and off Allen shuffled.
Flynn caught August’s eye across the room, where Maud was showing her photos on her phone of her grandkids, and August mouthed to him, ‘I’m sorry.’
He shook his head at her and smiled. It wasn’t her fault. Spotting Callie’s discarded card on the side, he picked it up to read the wording.
We’re having a Christmas Party! We hope you like parties, but just in case you don’t we’ll keep the noise down. From 7 to 11 in our flat (the middle), ready for you to have a ‘silent night’ afterwards. Merry Christmas! Love, August and Flynn x
Well, it was certainly enigmatic. He wasn’t surprised the neighbours thought they were invited. This was going to be an interesting evening.
Chapter 62
August
August needed some air, just for a minute. She’d just got away from Maud, who was lovely, but was in full flow about her grandkids and where they lived, and when August happened to mention that she too used to live in West London it started a whole fresh batch of pictures to be brought out. Not to be unkind, but it was kind of killing her party buzz.
She stepped from the apartment, closing the door behind her and nearly colliding with Abe as he descended the stairs from the top floor.
‘Abe!’
‘Hello, August.’
‘M-merry Christmas,’ she stammered. It had been a while since she’d seen him, the last time being when he was in her apartment, and she’d rested her head on his shoulder. Since then, she’d felt his distance, noticed he hadn’t been around as much, missed him finding reasons to text her, and vice versa. He was such an unexpected sight on the corridor; one, because she hadn’t been expecting to see anyone out here, as most the residents were safely (or not safely) in her flat, and two, because she’d come out here for a breather, and not to have her breath taken away.
He looked relaxed in dark jeans, Nike trainers and a grey hoodie. His sandy hair seemed a little longer now, and he was a little stubblier, but not in a too-busy-to-shave way, more in a, I’m-just-taking-a-few-days-to-chill way. He stopped, right in front of her, his hand on the bannister, his body close.
‘Merry Christmas to you,’ he replied. And then, quietly, ‘How are you doing?’
‘I’m good,’ she smiled, her gaze falling on his lips. She saw Abe glance at her door, where the sound of Jackson 5’s ‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town’ could be heard within.
‘We’re having a little Christmas party, mainly for friends … but um, some neighbours have shown up too. Would you like to come in?’
He hesitated. ‘Well, I’m just on way down to the coffee shop at the end of the street to get Mum some pastries. Do you want anything?’
‘They’re open now?’
‘It’s Thursday, late night shopping. If I’m remembering correctly from last year, they stay open late too. Come with me if you like.’
‘That’s nice,’ she paused. How she’d love a walk down the hill right now, a bit of cold air and space to think, but she couldn’t leave Flynn dealing with the guests on his own. ‘I’d better stay. But drop in on your way back past, it’s good to see you.’
‘Maybe,’ he said.
