Page 87 of Christmas off Script
All too soon, she was in her bedroom and her feet were carefully lowered to the floor.
Opening her eyes again, she saw Leo moving away to turn on the Christmas tree lights, filling the room with a soft and magical glow.
‘Right, what’s next?’ he asked.
‘A mirror exercise.’
He nodded decisively, then strode towards her bathroom.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked as she followed.
Leo stood in front of the sink, gazing earnestly at his reflection. ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?’ He made his voice high-pitched. ‘Ella is!’
She snorted with laughter. ‘That’s not what we’re meant to do.’
‘Now your turn.’ Tugging her into the bathroom, he positioned her in front of the mirror, then stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. ‘Off you go.’
Grinning at his reflection, she began. ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?’
‘Ella is!’ Leo squeaked behind her. ‘Didn’t you hear me the first time?’
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help another laugh escaping. Finally, the weirdness between them was gone.
‘What’s next?’ he asked.
‘Trust falls. We have to fall backwards and hope the other person catches us.’
He pulled a face. ‘I’ll crush you.’
‘Maybe we could put pillows on the floor?’
‘It’s too much of a risk. I don’t want you getting hurt.’
‘Could we do it on the bed? In a kneeling position, maybe?’ The moment the words were out of her mouth, she regretted every single one of them. Without glancing at his reaction, she pulled away, going back into the bedroom.
He followed her. ‘Okay, let’s give it a go.’ Kicking off his trainers, he stood on the four-poster bed, his head almost touching the canopy. ‘You fall first.’
Ella slowly unlaced her Converse. ‘This is silly.’
‘Yeah, but we’re good at being silly, and it means we can go back to Libby and say we did exactly what she wanted us to.’
‘Mirror, mirror on the wall? Since when wasthata trust exercise?’
‘We improvised. That alone earns us a gold star. Now come up here and fall over.’
Shaking her head, she climbed onto the bed and faced away from him. ‘You ready?’
‘Yep!’
She let herself drop backwards, immediately feeling Leo’s strong arms around her.
‘What’s my rating on Trust-Fall-Pilot?’ he asked, his mouth right by her ear.
‘Definitely a five out of five,’ she replied, knowing she had to move, but wanting to stay right where she was.
He eased her up to stand. ‘Right, your turn. But I’ll crouch and you can kneel behind me.’
They swapped positions on the bed, and Ella dropped to her knees, her arms spread wide.
