Page 72 of The Day After Christmas
‘Yup. We were all set to do crafting and then she got the completely wrong idea and at that point I thought what I’d booked was too tame so I panicked, right? And I rang round and found a bottomless brunch place… which is basically not as good as it sounds because they give you all the cheap nasty alcohol you can drink but they only give you one plate of brunch and not even a very good plate either. Nothing at all for vegetarians except for a rubbery egg and some stale croissants. Ew.’
She groaned as her stomach protested again.
James put a comforting hand on her arm. ‘So essentially you just drank loads of cheap booze and had hardly anything to eat.’
‘Essentially. And when we went to the restaurant, I… well, I don’t even remember how we got there in one piece, to be fair, but when we got there it was really fancy and I realised we’d made a terrible mistake because we were all basically off our faces except for poor Sophie and I’d made a pledge with myself that I absolutely would not get pissed and I was totally sucked in by the whole bottomless thing, you know, and seriously what is wrong with me?’
‘Take a breath.’
James patted her arm while Felicity covered her head with her hands again and moaned for a few more minutes. Thecaffeine was kicking in but all it was doing was beating her around the head with every mistake she’d ever made.
‘And then we played His and Hers which was Sophie’s idea but I couldn’t really watch.’
‘Why not?’ said James.
‘Because I kept remembering how weird Adam was about it.’
‘Weird, how?’ James’s jaw clenched slightly like it always did when Adam’s name was mentioned.
Felicity shrugged. ‘When we sent him the same questions last week, he… I don’t know, he was just really weird about it. Like he didn’t want to play.’
‘Well, perhaps he just didn’t want to discuss his and Bex’s sex life with his ex-girlfriend-slash-ex-fiancée or whatever you are. You can hardly blame the man for that.’
Felicity shook her head and then instantly regretted the movement.
‘It wasn’t questions about their sex life. God. What do you think I am?’
There had been a couple but Felicity wasn’t about to confirm that to James.
‘Okay, fine, whatever, I’m sure he still felt a bit uncomfortable about it, poor guy.’
‘I suppose you’re right. It just made me really worried for Bex.’
‘We’re all really worried for Bex. She’s marrying a despicable individual,’ said James. ‘But it was her choice, remember? She was the one who cheated on you with him. And lied about it. And then asked you to help her plan the wedding.’
‘And then vomited all over me,’ said Felicity, with a weak smile.
James was getting into his stride now. ‘Yes, and then vomited all over you. As if you deserved any more humiliation.’
‘Thanks for that. Did I mention I fell over in it? Flat on my face in front of the whole restaurant.’
‘That’s not like you.’
‘Hey.’
‘Sorry. But it’s true. About Bex I mean. I really think she owes you an apology, not the other way round.’
‘I love that you’re defending me but I should have taken better care of her yesterday. She trusted Sophie and I to look out for her.’
James pushed back his chair and stood up, his jaw muscles flexing. ‘Felicity, I love you but you are wrong about this. She’s the bitch here, not you.’
He turned and began loudly loading the dishwasher. Felicity watched him for a few moments, the way his muscles flexed across his back, the size of his thighs in those soft trousers. The way his fists were tight and his brow was all crinkled with fury.
‘You look even hotter when you’re mad,’ she said, eventually.
He paused for only a microsecond, before continuing passively-aggressively loading the dishwasher for a few moments more. Then he said quietly, ‘I’m not mad.’
‘You are a little bit mad.’
