Page 59 of All I Want for Christmas

‘Please be quick,’ she said to the phone screen, cursing herself for having been so stupid as to fall asleep; an extra half-hour’s wait, being awake, was everything she didn’t need right now. She debated ordering an Uber but with Jens’ arrival time outside of her control, decided against it. Better to hold off until he was here.

She washed the glass, put her coat on and carried the archive box and the paper bag with her dinner boxes inside back downstairs, turning off the lights as she went. She sat on the bottom step and waited in the darkness of the all-black hall.

She waited and waited, her chin cupped in her hands, her elbows on her knees. Her eyes kept closing, sleep wanting to claim her again. She just had to get home...

Had she drifted off again? She heard the sound of footsteps outside and stirred. ‘Thank God,’ she muttered to herself, standing up and lifting the box – just as she heard the sound of a key in the door.

There was no time to react. In the next instant, it opened and Max walked through.

If she looked stunned, he was even more so, and she saw him jolt on realizing someone was standing in the shadows at the bottom of his stairs. He was carrying a holdall and suit carrier, wearing a heavy overcoat and scarf.

‘Max, it’s me!’ she said quickly, worried he might mistake her for an intruder and run at her. Or something.

‘...Darcy?’ he asked in disbelief.

Oh God. This scenario was everything she didn’t need.

‘I fell asleep working here. I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to. I’m just leaving. I’m waiting for Jens to take the file. He should be here any moment.’ The words came out in a rush, as if she was speaking in cursive.

He looked at the box in her arms and, without a word, put down his bags, walked over and took it from her. ‘I can deal with that.’

It was the first time she had seen him since their kiss and up close, she saw he looked tired too. ‘You’re sure?’

‘Yes.’

She shrugged. The sooner she could leave, the better. ‘Okay, thanks.’ She moved past him, but he turned with her.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Home?’

‘Darcy, it’s the middle of the night.’

‘Precisely. I need to go home. Like I said, I didn’t mean to still be here. I fell asleep.’

‘Darcy, I’m not letting you walk the streets at this time of night!’

Her eyebrows shot up. What was he, her dad? ‘I’m not walking. I’m about to order an Uber.’

He looked back at her with a sigh. ‘Well, wait in here till it comes, at least.’

‘No, I’m fine outside,’ she said dismissively, immediately making her way down the steps.

There was a silence as he watched her go.

‘...You have no right to be angry with me,’ he said, standing on the top step and watching as she ordered the cab, her back turned to him.

She half turned over her shoulder, incredulous. ‘I’m not angry at you,’ she said, feeling angry.

‘You’ve ignored me ever since Natalia came over.’

‘That’s funny – I don’t recall receiving a text from you afterwards that Icouldhave ignored,’ she said tartly.

‘...I meant you ignored my message about the box.’

‘No. I responded to your text.’

‘Eventually. And only when I made plain I wouldn’t be here.’

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