Page 62 of A Winter in Wonderland
Maybe I hadn’t been looking up enough. Maybe I’d spent too much time looking down, trying to get Christmas out of the way as quick as possible.
The pale swirl of lime green mist, far, far above, moved softly as if it were in time with our breathing, as if it were another world opening up before us, and I barely noticed I was shaking.
‘Are you OK?’ Josh whispered into the silent night; his voice close.
‘I’m great,’ I replied, and realised then that my lips were numbing. I sniffed, inhaling the cold more.
‘We should go in; we shouldn’t get too cold.’
‘Just a couple more minutes, just in case we don’t see them again.’
‘All right. Then … could I put my arms around you? I’m not trying anything; I just don’t want you to freeze.’
I glanced at him and managed to move my lips into a smile.
He laughed. ‘It’s not a line. But it’s fine if it’s a no.’
‘Come here,’ I said, and I let him step closer.
Josh tucked me in under his arms, and we stood side by side but leaning into each other. Despite the cold, I felt warm against him. I liked my arms around his waist. I liked the feel of his breath on the top of my head.
I felt him looking down at me, his breathing shallow like he didn’t want to make any sudden moves and break the spell. But by the time I looked up at him, he was back gazing up at the night sky.
Under the guise of searching for the Northern Lights, I gave myself permission to unashamedly study his stubbled jaw, his eyelashes, from beneath.
Twenty-four hours ago, if you’d told me I would be standing in the snow in the middle of the night with Josh’s arms wrapped around me, wondering if I was moments away from kissing him, I wouldn’t have believed you. Well, I would have blushed, denied it, told you he was way too annoying and then secretly wondered what his aftershave smelled like for a while.
Josh turned his head and looked into my eyes, the space dividing our lips no bigger than a whisper. His mouth curved just a tiny bit into a smile, which I returned. This was happening.
‘I’m telling you; it’s happening!’ came an excited voice from the door of the chalet, and we broke apart with surprise as five of our colleagues spilled out into the snow, their faces turned towards the sky. ‘Look up between the trees, over there, I saw it from the bathroom.’
Josh kept one arm around me and I glimpsed up to see him biting his lip.
At that point, Angelique spotted us. ‘Hey, it’s Myla and Josh. Did you guys see the aurora?’
‘Yep, just a little bit,’ I cleared my throat and called back.
‘Was it amazing?’ she asked.
‘Yeah,’ I said, and my hand found Josh’s and I slipped my cold fingers inside his, buried between us and within the ends of our coats, something only we knew about.
Angelique pointed. ‘Oh look, now I see them, you guys, come over here by Myla, the view is better.’
With that, the five other bodies waddled over the snow in their PJs and coats, giggling and whispering about Christmas miracles.
The spell was broken, but the magic was glowing both above and around us. With a final squeeze of Josh’s hand, I broke away and, with a smile, said, ‘I think I’d better go in before I turn into a snowwoman.’
Josh followed me back into the chalet, and I was wondering if we’d be able to steal any more alone time in the sleeping house, when I opened the door and it was like a slumber party from an American high school movie.
In the boot room, to the kitchen, to the living room, the staff were ambling about in PJs, having midnight feasts,pulling on outer layers, crowding around windows. Esteri was in the kitchen singing loudly and making another batch of rice porridge. She looked up when we came in and smiled.
‘There you are, roomie!’ She then clocked Josh next to me. ‘Oh,thereyou are. Good morning, Josh.’
‘Hi, Esteri,’ he replied. ‘Smells good.’
‘It’ll take a while to make. You know. I’ll be in the kitchen for a while.’ She winked at me.
Flustered, I just let out a nervous laugh.
