Page 31 of It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
What on earth were all these phrases that were coming out of my mouth?
‘Sensible. The bigger the scarf, the less likely it is to “Fly Away”.’
A Lenny Kravitz pun?Okay, this conversation was taking an interesting turn. Apleasingturn.
‘I can fetch you my emergency foil blanket from my boot if you like,’ Tom continued. ‘You’ll match your reflective triangle, that way.’
I couldn’t help but emit a very loud snort. ‘I think I’ll survive under the protection of Lenny’s knitwear.’
‘Ha ha. Anyway, Ryan lives in one of the new-builds nearby so can be here in a few minutes.’
‘Amazing, thanks again. I’m fine to wait for him here so there’s no need to hang around.’
Please hang around.
‘Nah, you’re good. I might as well wait until he gets here – been meaning to catch up with him for a while. So, London, then?’
‘Yeah, after sixth form I went to Cardiff Uni—’
‘With Elle, right?’
‘That’s right, we ended up in the same halls, which was nice.’
I still had no idea how Elle had managed to wangle us adjacent rooms in the same block. I’d been a bit miffed at the time – going to the same uni as her was one thing, but living in such close quarters had somewhat dampened my hopes to mingle and meet new people. But, in the end, the relief of having her next door the day it’d mattered most – the day I found out about Livvie – had overridden all of that.
‘Did you live with Elle throughout?’
‘I did. We studied different degrees – she did media and journalism and I did English literature – but there were a couple of modules that crossed over so we got to spend quite a lot of time together. It was nice to have a familiar face around.’
‘Yeah, I can imagine.’
There was a pause. I took a deep breath and continued. ‘Yeah, so, um, while I was at uni there was obviously that… stuff with my sister.’
‘Yes, of course, I’m so sorry.’
‘Thanks. So, yeah, by the time I’d finished my degree my parents had moved away and I could kind of start afresh wherever I liked, so I ended up heading to London with Elle.’
‘The Big Smoke. Do you like it there?’
‘I guess. But it can be quite intense and just a bit…’ I didn’t quite know how to finish the sentence. But Tom did.
‘…much?’
‘Exactly. But I don’t have any connections anywhere else so it was as good a place as any. And it’s been great for my career so I can’t really complain. Anyway, how about you? You still live around here, then?’
He shrugged and looked at his feet, tapping his toes together a couple of times as if trying to wish himself back to Kansas. Had I touched a nerve? I could totally see how my question about his choice to stay here might have come across as belittling, whereas – if anything – I was jealous.
‘I guess I’m one of those people who’s destined to stay in one place, you know?’
‘I used to feel the same.’
There was a pause that should’ve felt awkward but actually felt quite comfortable.
And there were those eyes again, glancing up from the ground and locking on to mine – just for an instant, but an instant nonetheless.
‘So, what have you been up to since school?’ I asked.
‘This and that. You might remember that I never did finish my A levels – what with one thing and another. I ended up getting an apprenticeship at an office in town. I’m still at the same company now, though I’ve worked my way up a bit.’
