Page 3 of Festive Flings

The fact that we have to remain polite and cordial with Carl despite him acting like an immoral ass-wipe is infuriating, but our fathers have been business partners for over thirty years. Hence, the invitation.

As soon as I can, I call Jamie, but she is doing her best ‘I’m not bothered in the slightest’ impression and refuses to talk about it. I just wish she would find some happiness for herself, whether that be as a single woman or with a partner. I might suggest she set up an online dating profile; I’m sure she could have a lot of fun if she was open to that.

I pull up the shutters for the start of a new day and I welcome the array of sounds and smells that blend and create the atmosphere of my workplace; the coffee machine hisses and spits, the dishwasher is already in full swing and the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen set my tummy rumbling.

Christmas is just the best; I love this time of year. If I can get Jonty and I back to how we used to be, everything will be perfect. I decide to bite the bullet and talk to him about it tonight. Hopefully, this time tomorrow, I will be walking like John Wayne after a night to remember with my sexy husband.

~ Tim ~

Absent-mindedly, I scroll through my phone looking back on the pictures from last weekend. I had a blast. A night out with my friends, and I ended up with a gorgeous girl called Lauren when the club closed.

My friends and her friends had teamed up– we were downing shots, playing beer pong and dancing around and against one another. My friend Jason pulled a tall, leggy blonde and begged me to take on her friend.

“Go on, Tim, take one for the team. Please, mate. Take the bag of beef and I promise I will return the favour next time.”

The bag of beef. I fucking hate that phrase. The bag of beef is what my friends call the stragglers at the end of the night. The leftovers, the girls you picked up in the takeaway shop or the taxi queue because they were ugly or desperate or both.

In this case, the girl in question was a bag of beef by proxy. She was the girl who would inadvertently cock block because her friend wouldn’t leave her on her own.

“You said that last time, Jason. Which one is she?” Jason was blind drunk by this time and struggling to find the girl he planned on taking home, never mind the one he wanted to unload on me.

“Jason, is this your friend?” The leggy blond enquired, looking me over and assessing if I was good enough for her friend.

“Yes, Eryn, this is my best mate, Tim, he’s going to keep your friend company while we go for a talk. What’s her name again?” Eryn stretched out her hand and grabbed a redheaded beauty by the wrist and pulled her towards us.

My breath caught in my throat as I laid eyes on her: average height, dark red wavy hair, with the most beguiling green eyes I have ever seen. When she smiled at me, her cheeks dimpled, and I just wanted to poke my finger playfully into them. She was gorgeous.

“Lauren, this is Tim. Tim, meet Lauren and look after her.” As they walked away, Jason turned back and mimed thank you to me.

“Hi, Lauren, so shall we get chips or pizza?” I asked her, hoping to break the ice, but she scowled at me.

“You think because I’m fat that I’ll want food at this ungodly hour?” She challenged me. I looked her up and down in surprise. Yes, she is curvy, but fat? She isn’t fat.

“Actually, I asked because I am starving. I didn’t call you fat.” I tried to smile to soften my chastisement, but she tutted at me and shook her head.

“I know you just got lumbered with me, don’t pretend. I’m fat and you’re fit. Fact. Let’s just get our chips and get a taxi.”

Geez, she had a complex. But I liked the way that she didn’t back down and the way she had been blunt in confronting me. I didn’t like the way she viewed herself; I couldn’t believe she thought herself fat when she was stunning.

We walked in companionable silence towards the chip shop. At one point, it became overcrowded, so I held her hand so I wouldn't lose her, but she tried to snatch her hand away. “I don’t want to lose you,” I told her honestly, and she surprised me by allowing me to hold her hand. I noticed that her eyes seemed to soften, which made her look younger and more vulnerable. She certainly appeared less hostile. She was perfect.

“Will you judge me if I get curry sauce on my chips?” I asked her and she smiled again, flashing those adorable dimples.

“I won’t say a word… as long as you don’t judge me for getting gravy on mine. So you're Northern, right?” And that was when I knew: she was something special, someone special.

“Tim? Tim! Earth to Tim.” Shit, I am daydreaming again. My colleague and friend, Jamie, is trying to get my attention.

“Sorry, Jamie, I was just thinking.” She chances a peek at my phone, but I lock the screen before she can see anything.

“Could you set me up on a date with one of your friends, please? I’d like to get back out onto the market.” I am shocked she’s asking me; she has met my friends and knows they can be complete dicks at times.

“Nah, you don’t want to go out with one of those idiots, Jamie. They’d buy you dinner to get in your knickers and then never call you again.”

She raises her eyebrows at me. “Maybe that’s exactly what I’m looking for.”

There is a new determination in my friend's eyes. Since she broke up with her boyfriend, she has been nursing a shattered heart, but she looks set on moving forward now.

“Any preferences?” I jokingly ask her, like she is ordering from a catalogue. I mean height, hair and eye colour, religion… that sort of thing.

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