Page 131 of All I Want for Christmas

Max’s bedroom was off-white, with chocolate-brown linen sheets that hung loosely to the floor and fitted wardrobes upholstered in tobacco leather. A Barcelona chair and stool sat in one corner and there was a huge Slim Aarons print above the bed. The room was chic but assuredly masculine. Presumably any feminine accents would be provided only by visitors: lacy knickers on the floor, a lipliner in the bathroom drawer...She tried not to think about it.

She showered, choosing a blue shirt from his wardrobe and putting it on like she’d won Capture the Flag. She had just enough make-up in her bag to make herself look presentable and she walked over to the bed to get her phone. It was charged to 92 per cent.

She sat on the edge of the bed as she checked her messages: her brother –‘go halves on this White Company shirt for Mum’s Christmas prez??’Numerous texts from Freja –‘Where are you? What’s happening?? You need to callll me.’

She pressed dial. ‘You are so dramatic,’ she said before Freja could shriek at her.

‘Oh my God, where are you?’ The words fell out in one jumbled breath. Freja sounded like she was jogging. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you since last night!’

‘I know, I’ve just seen your thirty-nine missed messages!Honestly, Freja, I was with Max. Surely you could guess, if I wasn’t returning your calls?’ She went downstairs. Her coat was draped over the newel post and she smiled at the memory of them in the hall last night, shedding clothes, desperate for skin upon skin.

‘But how was I to know for sure? Where are you now?’

She shrugged on her coat. ‘I’m at his place right now. I’m just leaving, in fact.’ She entered the alarm code and pulled the door closed behind her.

‘Is he there too?’

‘No, he had an early start,’ she said, beginning to walk at a brisk pace along the road.

‘Okay, so tell me everything then, and leave out nothing.’ Freja’s feet pounded rhythmically in the background. She was definitely running.

‘He was doing what I should have realized he’d do: freaking out. This is new territory for him. He doesn’t do relationships.’

‘And what if he freaks out again?’ Freja panted lightly.

‘Then I keep showing up. But he won’t. We talked it out—’

A police car suddenly shot past, lights flashing, siren blaring, and Darcy realized a moment later that she could hear the siren coming down the line too. ‘Hey, where are you right now?’

‘Me?’

‘Yes – where are you running?’

She could hear Freja’s grin in her voice. ‘Actually, I’m about two hundred metres behind you.’

‘What?’ Darcy spun round to see a familiar spry figure jogging towards her. She laughed as she stopped walking and waited. ‘What are you doing all the way over here?’ she asked into the phone. Freja worked at the university on Tuesdays.

‘I thought I’d come and catch you on your way in to work, seeing as you weren’t picking up last night.’

‘Oh my God, Freja!’ Darcy laughed. ‘That’s ridiculous! I’m completely fine! Did you really think I’d come to harm?’

‘No,’ Freja panted. She was only twenty metres away now, and Darcy hung up.

‘So then what are you doing over here?’ Darcy asked as Freja ran up to her, looking fresh.

Freja just grinned. ‘I had something to tell you that can only be said in person.’

‘What?’ Darcy asked, before she suddenly gasped, her hand flying over her mouth, as she saw the delight in her friend’s eyes and immediately understood. ‘...Oh my God, hedidn’t!’

‘He did!’

‘You’renot!’ Darcy shrieked, her body already coiled to leap.

‘We are!’ Freja cried back, holding out her hand to show a marquise diamond on her engagement finger. They began hugging and jumping excitedly, so that people in passing cars looked at them in alarm. ‘He asked me last night!’

‘Oh my God, Freja! And I wasn’t picking up!’ Darcy shrieked. ‘No!’

‘I know! I’d murder you if it wasn’t for the fact that I need you as my bridesmaid!’

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