Page 80 of Just for December

‘What?’ Evie pleads, her voice panicked. She just needsMagda to say it: that Duke was so repelled by her, so disgusted by her voice and her audacity at even getting up there in the first place that he’s sent Magda to tell her the whole thing is off. The look in Magda’s eyes tells Evie she’s blown it, or worse: never had it to blow in the first place. This is all a big, horrible misunderstanding and everyone is extremely embarrassed by her stupid emotional display of affection and it really would be better for everyone if she could just climb into a human sinkhole and never return to conscious earth again, please.

‘Say it,’ Evie says, shaking her hands like moving her body will ward off whatever is happening. ‘Was it really that bad?’

Magda shakes her head. ‘No. You were great. It was amazing. I’ve never seen you so full of joy as I just did up there! But—’

‘What?’

‘He’s not here. I don’t think he saw any of that?’

Evie drops down into a nearby booth. He missed it? It was all for nought?

‘Well,’ Evie says, as Magda sinks down opposite her. ‘That’s crushing.’

Magda pulls a face.

‘You could always go again?’ she suggests, and Evie gives her A Look.

‘Right,’ Magda notes, hurriedly. ‘That was a one-time thing. I get it. I’m with you.’

The women sit, neither sure what happens now.

‘I think,’ Evie decides, speaking slowly, ‘I’m going to call it a night. I’m gonna put on some music, pack, take one last long hotel bath …’

She hates how Magda looks at her then. Evie has spent her whole adult life trying to avoid the exact expression on her best friend’s face right now. Magda feels sorry for her.

‘Do you want me to come up too?’ she offers. ‘I can bring a bottle. I’m stealthy. Nobody will know …’

Evie shakes her head. ‘Nah,’ she says, and her voice is too bright. She’s acting stronger than she feels. In fact, she might even cry. Not now, not even in the elevator, but she might do upstairs, once the hotel door is closed behind her. It’s a lot, all this, and now it’s over and she thought she was going to get a shot at a big happy ending chapter – her Happily Ever After, HEA, like Duke said, back when they first met – but she’s alone. And, yes, that’s better than being with the wrong person, but damn if she hadn’t thought Duke could be the right one, when it came down to it.

She waits for the elevator to come down, and when the one on the right pings its doors open, she gets in.

She’s already on the eighth floor by the time the elevator on the left pings its doors open downstairs with Duke getting out, looking for her.

41

Evie

‘You know,’ Evie says, rolling her case out to the kerb. ‘I’m fine. This is fine. I’m ready to get out of here. That song can be the last thing anybody remembers of me. That’s cool. I think now is a good time to call it.’

It’s morning twilight and the birds are barely awake. Evie is so used to early call times after three weeks on set that she can almost enjoy it – there’s a peace that permeates the air at this hour, before the sky breaks into pink and purple stripes and the business of people gets too hectic.

Magda takes a breath.

‘I trust you,’ she says, smiling. ‘If you say it’s time to go, then I say: let me get you a cab.’

Evie smiles back. Magda is a good friend. If there is a search for the love of Evie’s life, maybe it’s a futile one when Magda is stood beside her. She might be all the soulmateEvie needs, and she said as much last night after she got out of the bath: ruddy-cheeked and skin-shrivelled, all cried out for reasons she couldn’t articulate. Magda had understood. Evie hadn’t seen Duke again, and so he was lost to the wilderness – or the upper floors of the hotel. Evie wasn’t going to go up there again. It was desperate. He knows where she is if he wants her – but he hasn’t sought her out, so he obviously doesn’t.

‘Is that everything?’ the driver asks, and Evie nods.

‘Just … one moment.’ On a whim, she sets down her bag to rifle through her stuff for a pen and paper. On a small notecard she writes:No hard feelings. All the best, Evie x

She goes to the desk and asks them to pass it along to Duke. Then she hurries back to the taxi and says: ‘Okay. I’m ready.’

It’s a long drive to the airport, so they do indeed get to see the sun come up and kiss the sky, and Evie watches the cars going in the other direction, people obviously travelling to see family or friends for the holidays. There are cars packed with grown-ups up front and kids in the back – iPad screens lighting up faces and phones being peered at, trunks filled with boxes and gifts and luggage. Evie will go and see her mom on Christmas morning, and she’s pushed down thoughts of her, really, even when that horrible article came out about abandoning her. She knows the truth. Evie has never abandoned her mother. She was summoned here and ended up having the time of her life. She’s allowed to do that. That’s okay. Evie absent-mindedly rubs a hand over her arm, where her new tattoo is.Cite your source.

‘Are we doing Chinese on the 25th?’ Magda says, breaking through Evie’s reverie. It’s natural they’re both thinking about the big day, considering that’s what everyone is flying home for. The adventure is over – of course they’re thinking about what is next.

‘A nice big sleep-in,’ Evie says, looking at her lovely, kind, adventurous soulmate of a friend. ‘Eggs Benedict for breakfast, then Christmas movies and Chinese with champagne for dinner? Maybe a brief walk with the dog to see the lights so we at least getsomefresh air?’

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