Page 126 of Christmas off Script
‘You think you could do it again?’ Zach asked. ‘Put in a good word for me. I really want to get back together with her.’
Over my dead body. Taking a slow breath in and out in an attempt to settle the rage snarling in his belly, Leo made his voice calm. ‘I’ll do exactly what’s needed to make Ella happy. Not what I think or hope will make her happy, but what she explicitlytellsme will.’
Zach’s face relaxed with relief. ‘Thanks, mate. I appreciate it.’
Connor sauntered over, a drink in his hand. ‘Is everything okay over here? People are taking bets as to who’s going to win the fight you seem about to have. A celeb in a wheelchair with a broken leg, or a man dressed as a Christmas present.’
Zach laughed. ‘We’re all good.’
‘Thank god for that,’ Connor replied. ‘To lose one Prince Charming may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness.’
A bell rang and Leo turned to see Derek holding the answer sheets from each team. ‘Are we ready, ladies and gents, for the big reveal?’
Zach wheeled himself back to the Beardy Boys’ table and Leo looked in the direction of the toilets, his heart squeezing as he saw Ella coming back towards the table.
‘You okay?’ he asked as she sat. ‘We don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.’
She gave him a watery smile, then squared her shoulders. ‘I’m not missing our moment of triumph. You ready?’
He patted the outside of the box. ‘Locked, loaded, and ready to go.’
Kurt came back to the table and Leo suppressed a sigh.
‘You ready to celebrate the greatest achievement of your life so far?’ Ella asked him, her confident tone telling him that the subject of her father turning up was not to be broached.
‘Sure am,’ Kurt replied. ‘Beating my brother at anything is cause for celebration. Is there a prize?’
‘Bragging rights and a feeling of smug and self-satisfied superiority.’
‘And normally a box of chocolates Derek got from the garage because they were on offer,’ Leo added.
‘I can see why the stakes are so high. Do you eat them in front of everyone and refuse to share?’
Leo grinned. ‘Of course. Although I usually throw the ones I don’t like at Finn.’
Kurt glanced over at Finn’s hulking form and slowly shook his head. ‘You’re a braver man than me.’
‘Poking the bear is Leo’s favourite game,’ Ella said. ‘Finn’s only got one weak spot, and the Christmas quiz is it.’
‘Right, you ’orrible lot,’ Derek said into the microphone. ‘Before I reveal who’s won, I’m going to go through the answers.’
Leo and Ella shifted their chairs so they could glance between Derek’s table and Finn’s without turning their heads.
Each of the Beardy Boys, apart from Zach, adjusted their seats so they could see Derek and the Noel it Alls.
Leo caught Finn’s eye and winked at him.
Finn scowled back.
‘Losers,’ Ella coughed into her hand.
Scott scratched his beard with his middle finger.
‘Question one,’ Derek said firmly. ‘There are three-hundred and sixty-four presents in total given in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. Question two. In Sweden, children leave out coffee for Santa to help keep him awake. Question three…’
As Derek continued, Leo kept his eyes glued on the Beardy Boys, looking for any crack in their countenance. However, they either had poker faces worthy of a high-stakes game in Vegas, or they, like the Noel it Alls, had so far got every question correct.
‘The six white boomers are kangaroos who pull Santa’s sleigh when he visits Australia.’
