Page 106 of The Day After Christmas
‘I’m not an idiot. But you said some of the official stuff still happens in French. So, I thought I’d brush up on the old Duolingo just in case.’
‘Harry will be impressed,’ Felicity said with a smile.
‘Nonsense. He won’t even notice.’
‘He notices everything you do.’
‘I still have no idea why.’
Felicity shrugged. ‘That’s what you do when you love someone. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m saying that. My father, and my boss. What are the odds?’
‘Have you seen your father? He’s hot. In what world was I not going after that?’
Felicity stood up. ‘Yuck. That’s enough of the heart-to-heart, thanks. I’ve got work to do.’
‘Damn right you have,’ said Andrea, but her eyes were twinkling. ‘This place won’t run itself for the next few days.’
‘Roger that.’
And a few days was all it was. Despite Felicity’s constant pestering, Andrea wouldn’t consent to a party but they did have Saskia, Sophie, Charlie, Harry and James in on the last day to toast the centre and to help pack up the remaining stuff to accompany the animals on their voyage across the sea. Most of the animals had been rehomed but amongst the remainder were two of the Disney puppies, Stitch and Sully, Marmaduke the cat, three of the lop-eared rabbits and Half Pint the pigeon.
‘No pigeon left behind,’ said Harry for the seventeen-hundredth time that day.
‘It wasn’t funny the first time,’ said Felicity, but her voice was full of affection. She had a dad who made terrible jokes. Life goal achieved at last.
They said their goodbyes with promises to see each other soon, and then Felicity and James headed home that night to make their own arrangements.
Soon enough it was Christmas Eve, two years to the day since Felicity and James first met, and it was time for kissing the cats goodbye and heading off to East Midlands Airport, which was decorated to within an inch of its life. Felicity was even starting to feel a little bit festive for once, although she was still none the wiser as to where they were heading. James had refused to even drop a hint. He at least seemed a little bit more upbeat than hehad been. Upbeat, or still a little nervous, or perhaps both at once.
The airport was clearly feeling a bit festive too, and there was not one or two but three fake plastic Christmas trees standing in the entrance foyer.Shame no one’s thought to actually decorate them,thought Felicity grimly. James collected their tickets from the fancy machine and made a big show of hiding them from her but she knew he’d have to cave and tell her soon. He couldn’t exactly smuggle her onto the plane without her hearing any boarding calls or seeing the screens, could he?
They dumped their numerous bags full of Christmas presents and myriad clothing at the baggage drop and got through security with no toothpaste-related mishaps. It was only a small airport and the security queue opened straight into the Departures lounge where the information board was ticking over slowly. A few flights were cancelled due to freezing fog but they were still flying to some lovely places. Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin, Geneva, Antalya, Channel Islands, Lanzarote, Cyprus, Naples, Rhodes, Santorini…Wait. Go back.
‘We’re not going to Guernsey for Christmas after all that, are we?’ said Felicity with a laugh as she stared at the list of gorgeous places.
She was expecting him to laugh back at her; how ridiculous, as if they’d be going to Guernsey when they could go to Gran Canaria. Right?
He wasn’t smiling.
‘Would that be terrible?’ he said, with a sort of half smile, half grimace that didn’t even remotely show off his dimple.
Felicity faltered. Her head was saying,Don’t react badly, don’t react badly, smile and say thank you. But her mouth said, ‘You are joking.’
James looked at her for a long moment, then shook his head. He was looking a little green around the gills.
Felicity took a deep breath. ‘We’re going to Guernsey for Christmas?’
He nodded. ‘We are. Is that awful? I thought it would be romantic. I thought… I thought you’d like it.’
‘I do like it. It’s a great idea. Lovely,’ said Felicity but she knew she didn’t sound convincing.
James’s face fell. ‘I thought you’d like to see Andrea and Harry, you know, help them get settled in.’
Felicity crossed her arms. ‘We literally just said goodbye to them like two weeks ago.’
‘I know. I was trying to keep a straight face.’
‘I cried and everything. You total git.’
