Page 25 of The Night Before Christmas
The next morning, James and Felicity greeted each other solemnly, and Felicity felt so bewildered by his presence that she found herself giving him a mock – and rather proud – tour around the building before she remembered that he already knew it inside out. The centre had been converted from an old industrial building and was essentially laid out like a large barn with partitions between the rooms that didn’t go all the way to the ceiling. That meant it wasn’t very soundproof and sometimes the noise the dogs could generate when they were in full voice felt like it was reverberating off the ceiling and bouncing off the walls. Still, Felicity felt rather proud of the place as she showed it off.
James followed her about politely and let her talk, although he had an amused smile on his face, and occasionally a bemused one too. Felicity tended to talk rather fast when she was nervous, and could sometimes be virtually impossible to understand until she got her breathing and heart rate under control, but to his credit he nodded along and pretended to hear every word.
When she had calmed down a bit, they did the rounds, spending rather longer cuddling dogs and kittens than was strictly necessary. It had become clear very early on that James was a natural. He had a gentle, easy way with the animals – no sudden movements, no loud noises – and they seemed to take to him instantly. She even felt a pang of jealousy when ‘her’ Bobby Charlton mewled loudly at him, demanding to be picked up and cuddled. James handled him deftly and he settled into a purring position under James’ chin as if he was born to be there.
He doesn’t even have a kitten shelf of any kind, thought Felicity, crossly.
The morning flew by and when it was time for a break, James nipped out and grabbed them cappuccinos and fresh cheese and onion pasties from the bakery, guessing (correctly) that she had forgotten to bring anything to eat for her lunch, as per usual. As it was just the two of them, they ate in the office like naughty children, Felicity sitting on the desk, legs swinging, James spinning backwards and forwards on the ancient office chair, and munching happily. Felicity found herself thinking about their cosy Christmas spent on the floor of this very room, playing drunken chess and flirting shamelessly. She wondered if he was thinking about it too.
‘So, you never told me why you hate Christmas,’ he said, as if reading her mind.
‘Do we have to do this now, Penguin Man?’ she said.
‘What else is there to do?’ he replied, in a slightly suggestive voice (or was that her imagination?).
Felicity waved the remains of her pasty at him. ‘Okay, fine, but you go first. I’m still eating.’
He paused, holding eye contact for a moment too long, his grey-blue eyes suddenly intense. Part of his blond hair was sticking up on one side and she resisted the urge to pat it back into place.
‘If you insist. But it’s not a pretty picture,’ he said.
‘What happened?’
‘I got dumped on Boxing Day.’
Felicity’s heart lurched in her chest. ‘That’s terrible,’ she said, the sound of her own blood rushing and swirling in her ears.
He spoke slowly. Carefully. It was still painful, clearly. ‘It wasn’t much fun. I’d been with E… er, with my ex, for nine years. We were planning to get married. Then, I don’t know what happened, she had a kind of midlife crisis at the grand age of thirty-six and decided she wanted to travel round the world. Without me.’
Felicity waited. As she had guessed, there was more to say. A wrinkle-frown appeared between his eyes as he spoke, and she was overcome with sadness for him.
‘I wouldn’t have minded,’ he went on, ‘but I later found out she never went travelling at all. She just bloody moved to Coventry, got together with an accountant of all things, and carried on living her life. Same old life, just without me in it.’
‘What a bitch!’
James winced.
‘Er, sorry, I mean, that’s awful! And this all happened on Boxing Day?’
He nodded slowly.
‘That’s really rough.’
‘You could say that.’
‘So, what happened? Do you mind me asking?’
‘I think you already did.’
‘That’s true. I’ll shut up.’
James gave a deep sigh and pushed his hand through his already tousled hair, making it even more sticky-uppy. Felicity attempted to avert her eyes, desperate as she was to touch it herself. It just looked so soft.Inappropriate.
‘We’d spent Christmas with my folks. It had been nice, a bit sedate, nothing to write home about, you know, but also nothing she could object to, if you know what I mean?’
Felicity nodded obediently.Don’t look at his hair.
‘She’d been pretty quiet all day, but my mum is… well, let’s say she can be quite domineering, she loves a party and causing havoc and being super loud, especially after a few sherries, and so Erika always tended to keep quiet around her anyway. So, I didn’t think much of it until I found her bags in the hallway the next morning. As far as I was concerned, everything was fine. We were fine.’
