Page 15 of Only Ever You

Her cheeks grew more and more flushed. “Yes, but I haven’t ever invited myself round for a long weekend with them at yourfamilyhome.”

Bash gazed at her, because she had no idea, did she? How much she was his family.

“That house is unnecessarily huge,” he said. “There’s enough space, don’t worry. And you didn’t invite yourself, I did.” Faye spluttered a protest whilst Bash pulled his phone out of his jeans’ back pocket, already pressing the contact. “Look, I’ll just callMamanright now and tell her that you’re coming.”

“Bash – what? No don’t you dare?—”

He dipped back out of reach of her hand shooting for his phone, or his head. Both were debatable.

His mother answered quickly.

“Salut Maman! Oui, tout va bien?*.I was just wondering if there’d be room for one more over Christmas?” Met with curiosity down the phone, Bash tapped his foot on the floor whilst Faye stared at him like a guppy. “Yeah, just Faye. She’s going to be on her own otherwise and her boiler’s knackered, so I thought she could come and relax with us.” His mother might actually have squealed as she agreed. “Great, thanks, I’ll tell her …Oui, I love you too.”

He replaced the phone back in his pocket and looked up. Two pairs of eyes at the opposite ends of the spectrum of denial stared at him. His were only for Faye.

“You’re coming for Christmas.” His smugness overflowed in hisbroad smile.

Faye’s eyes roamed all over his face. “Don’t I have a choice?”

“Nope. I’m kidnapping you.” Bash’s smile widened purposefully, smugly enough to be met with a thinly veiled scowl. He took his bagged doughnut and latte cup. “Right, got to go. See you at seven?”

“Sure.”

“Bye Chandra!” he called along the length of the bakery, ignoring the few heads that turned to him with a great deal of effort.

“See you tomorrow,” Chandra called back.

“Bye Peanut.”

The door closed behind him slowly enough for him to catch Faye’s soft, “Bye you.”

* Mum

* Hi mum! Yes, everything’s fine

5

FAYE

It waspitch black outside when Faye staggered into her frigid flat, feet sore and legs aching from the restless day. She touched the awkwardly placed radiator in her tight squeeze of a hallway, only to find that no magical fairy had broken in and fixed the unreliable nuisance in the time she’d been at work.

“Stupid thing.”

She dropped her purse and keychain laden with panic alarms and personal safety items onto the table in the middle of the pint-sized kitchen-come-living-room, if she could determine where her kitchen began, that was. With its worn-down cabinets and flaking window frames, her flat on the ground floor of this converted old house consisted of only a bathroom, bedroom, and whatever this space was supposed to be called. She flicked on the kettle for some tea and a hot water bottle whilst she was at it.

Faye adored her job, but being on her feet from before sunrise to after sunset took a toll upon her twenty-nine year old lower back.

Bash had messed about with her boiler at the weekend and managed to temporarily get it going again, but she was still sure itwould kick the dust completely at any moment. Her heating company had been useless in sending someone out on this side of Christmas to help her, and no local freelance technician within her price range who she’d phoned had any slots available, either. Bash had offered to pay. In fact, he’d insisted. But she wouldn’t let him.

Though now, as she stood semi-warm with her radiators on half their output to not overwhelm her knackered heating system, Faye thought that maybe her pride had been too strong that day.

She hadn’t seen Bash since three nights ago when they’d ran together, and she’d begun to think that maybe she didn’twanther heating problem to be solved so the offer of a long weekend in the countryside with him and his family wasn’t wiped off of the cards.

The less delusional half of her fret over it.

When Bash got an idea he was like an excited puppy, and he’d been so intent on inviting her for Christmas that day in her bakery.

Not one thought of Christmas had crossed her mind until he’d swooped in like a mixer set to‘pulse’and upturned all of her plans to stay home with box sets and a meal for one. Faye didn’t want to ever dampen his spirit, and she really did ache for the company of any kind, rather than spending these days of Christmas alone whilst her family were all away.

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