Page 25 of Five Gold Rings

Gabriel’s eyes roll around trying to take in the many details that have transpired over the past twelve hours. ‘But weren’t you meant to head home today for Christmas?’

‘I’ll go when we’ve delivered the rings.’

Gabriel sits there smiling. Yes, I’m doing it because it’s Eve. It’s far too complicated to relay this level of detail this early in the morning but there is so much to say. But most importantly, she’s here. In our bath. A bath I’m glad I cleaned yesterday in an absolute panic. It was a bizarre evening. Did I ever think this was how we’d spend our first evening together? No. Not at all. In my mind, if I was ever going to tell her I liked her, I always thought it’d be part of a sincere conversation over a coffee. I would compliment her hair and her kind nature. Then I would bookend that conversation with a brief presentation of my feelings for her. It would be a calm, collected moment, after which… I never dared think that far ahead. But instead, we have this. A series of moments where I’m next to her, reminded of why I like her so much, like a tightly wound spring aching to tell her everything, but also trying to be a friend, a gentleman, a fellow human, at a time when she needs that.

‘Then why is she shaving her legs in our bath?’ Gabriel asks.

I shrug. ‘We’re headed to weddings, nice places where people are going to get down on one knee. I spent most of last night dressed as a sexy elf so we’re going to attend these occasions looking classy.’

‘So, like a date?’

‘Not a date.’

‘I’ve seen you in a tux. You’re a handsome bastard in a tux. She’ll be into you in a tux. Definitely.’

‘That’s not what this is about,’ I explain.

‘But it’s Eve. You like Eve. You’ve just spent a sexy evening together.’

‘Gabe, we watchedDie Hard,’ I say, pouting.

‘Everyone lovesDie Hard.’

‘I went out with a girl who said it was unrealistic and portrayed the Germans in a bad light,’ I say.

‘Which is why you’re not with her anymore,’ Gabriel tells me. ‘Look, I don’t know half of what you just said. Message me bullet points, but from the sounds of it, there’s an opening here, right? To tell her how you feel?’

‘Mrs Caspar said that, too,’ I tell him. ‘It’s just not the right time.’

‘My friend, it’s Christmas Eve. The universe has given you a moment.’

Gabriel binge watches too many sitcoms where people end up together, when really they need to step back from the romance of the moment and analyse the timings, the reasons, the future longevity of their relationships.

‘Maybe we’ll just spend some time together and she’ll get to know me a bit better. That’s all it is. I like her too much to rush into anything.’

Gabriel beams at me, looking down at the table at the remains of old breadsticks and dips that we half devoured. ‘You’re a good man, Joe Lord. Remember, I love you.’

‘Love you more,’ I tell him, patting him on the back.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs causes me to sit up on the sofa, putting a hand through my hair, hoping I didn’t spill any of that trifle down me. I mean, she fell asleep. It had to be eaten. When she puts her head through the door, she’s wearing the green dress we selected for her yesterday. You see, she’s the sort of girl who can pull off anything, even a chiffon emerald tea dress that we’ve pulled off a supermarket rail.

‘Morning,’ she says.

‘Merry Christmas Eve… Eve…’ I say.

She shakes her head, not quite amused with me.

‘You hear that a lot, eh?’

‘Possibly.’

‘You’re wearing the dress,’ I tell her.

She throws a little pose with her hand on her hip. ‘I am. I mean, I won’t be standing next to any naked flames, but it will do. Do I look like a Christmas tree?’

Prettiest tree I’ve ever seen. I don’t say that out loud, of course.

‘No.’

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