Page 102 of The Twelve Dates of Christmas
“Would you like a drink?” Kate asked.
Edward bit his lip. “Would you?”
“Yes,” said Kate. “I’m going to get a drink. Would you like one?”
“Oh yes, of course, um, yes please, I’d like a drink. Thank you,” said Edward.
“What would you like?”
“What are you having?”
“I’m going to have a white wine,” said Kate.
“Okay,” said Edward. “I’ll have a white wine too, please.”
Kate turned to ask if Todd and Mandy would like a drink, but they were already mid-discussion about it.
“I’m going for a fruit cider,” said Todd.
“Oh my God,” said Mandy, “I was just thinking I fancied a fruit cider.”
“Wow!” said Todd. “You were?”
“I swear to God!” said Mandy.
“We’re just so in tune with each other,” said Todd.
And the tonsil hockey tournament resumed.
Kate ordered two white wines and handed one to Edward, who was perched uneasily on the end of a banquette, looking like a baby bird about to fledge.
“So,” said Kate. “IT, that’s interesting. How often do you have to tell people to turn their computers on and off again?”
Kate had thought a little mild teasing might break the ice, but Edward only smiled meekly in a way that suggested that the joke was well worn and unfunny.
“Sometimes that’s what’s needed to reboot the system,” he said.
“Yes,” said Kate. “Of course. Graphic novels, though,” she tried again. “That’s an interesting hobby. Very creative.”
“Yes,” said Edward.
“Do you find it hard to come up with new ideas?” she asked. “It’s quite an art, writing a novel with minimal prose.”
“Yes,” said Edward. “I have a lot of ideas.”
Kate perused the busy bar. There seemed to be a lot more flirting in this group, and she wondered if it was down to the sensual décor or whether nine dates in, people were feeling more relaxed about the whole thing, although that didn’t seem to be the case with Edward.
It was a long forty-five minutes. Kate drank another glass of wine and Edward eyed her as a monk might view a lush. She tried to drawMandy and Todd into the conversation, but every question seemed to result in more snogging. Kate wondered if Mandy had thought to bring some lip balm; she was going to need it.
At last their number was called. Mandy unwrapped her leg from around Todd; by now the pair were almost horizontal across the banquette and Edward looked more than ever as though he wanted to run screaming from the venue.
They were led into a small wallpapered room. The door slammed shut behind them. There was no handle on the inside and Edward stared hard at the space where one should be for over a minute, as if trying to open it with his mind.
Against one wall, a floral standard lamp stood next to an end table, on which stood a box with a combination lock. On the other side of the room was a metal step stool. At first Kate didn’t think there was another door out of the room, until she spotted a gold keyhole on one wall near the ceiling and realized it was a hidden door, flush with the wall and wallpapered—as the rest of the wall—in a gold flock paper.
The wall with the table was papered in the same gold flock as the wall with the hidden door. That left two walls: one with a deep teal background, with a rain forest scene with birds and animals and brightly colored foliage, and the other—the one with the step stool—plain white except for a border of the same design as the rain forest wall running along the top.
Kate looked around the room. Then she felt around the walls for bumps or buttons or concealed cubbyholes that might hold a key or a clue about how to get out. She didn’t find any.
