Page 41 of The Night Before Christmas
He didn’t reply but only moved closer, until he was right behind her, and she could hear him breathe-laughing in her ear. She shivered at his nearness and the shiver travelled all the way down her body. He edged closer and the shiver turned to a full-on body tingle. She felt him move to one side and just as she thought he was going to kiss her neck… a hand came down into the murky water. The next second, he had flicked dirty lukewarm water all over her.
‘Yuck!!!’ Felicity wiped her eyes with her polo shirt. ‘You bloody… man,’ she said, pretending to shake her fist as he disappeared out of the door.
As soon as he’d gone, though, she had to have a little sit down.
As the week progressed, Felicity found she was particularly enjoying watching him with the animals. He was so careful with them, as if they were precious treasures. When he thought no one was watching, anyway.
In particular, little Holly. Whenever he was actually allowed in the cat nursery, he would find an excuse to get the kitten out for a cuddle and Felicity would pretend not to watch him, being so tender, whispering to her as he stroked Holly’s head with one finger, the tiny kitten looking up at him adoringly and purring her little heart out. It was all she could do to stop herself just grabbing him right there and then. She tried valiantly to distract herself with cuddles from Bobby and some of the new arrivals – including a pair of youngish tabby cats who looked like miniature tigers – but in truth she couldn’t wait for the end of the week to see what might happen.
What happened was that she found him lingering outside the front door on the Friday afternoon. He was kicking at the stones in the patch of wasteland that served as a driveway for the centre.
Is he waiting for me?
‘All right?’ he said, looking sideways at her.
Felicity hugged herself with her arms. ‘All right?’ she said.
‘So… I was wondering what you might be doing now?’
‘Er. I was planning on taking a shower,’ she said, indicating her clothes, which were covered in cat fluff from head to toe. ‘I’mback for an evening shift later. Andrea’s got another date with the mysterious Spanish man.’
‘Oh, okay. No worries.’
‘But… I’ve got a day off tomorrow if you wanted to do something?’ she said, sounding braver than she really felt.
‘I said I’d help Andrea,’ he said. ‘I felt so bad for letting you all down last week. And she’ll be on her own otherwise.’
As if by magic, Andrea emerged from the doorway.Magical nosey-parker powers, thought Felicity suspiciously.
‘Oh, hi, you two,’ she said, casually.
‘How long have you been there?’ said Felicity.
‘Never mind that.’
Felicity rolled her eyes. ‘So, I guess you heard…?’
‘About tomorrow? I may have.’
‘So…?’
Andrea looked between them both, and then smiled. ‘I’ll be fine. You two go have fun. I’ll call you if I need you. Oh, and his name is Javier, by the way. In case you were wondering.’
They weren’t. After a few seconds, Andrea melted away into the doorway, not very discreetly, leaving them to stare at each other again.
James spoke in a low voice. ‘So… Crazy Cat Lady.’
‘Yes, Mr Penguin Man?’
‘How about I meet you here at eleven tomorrow and we’ll go… do something?’
Felicity nodded. ‘You’re on.’
‘Good.’
‘Good.’
‘Okay then.’
