Page 15 of The Christmas Catch
“What do you want to know? We met eight months ago on our ecology course. Sam’s very chatty, kinda brilliant. We began studying together, and then one night we went for a chai latte at a cafe in the West End, and Sam invited me back to hers. I didn’t leave for six days.” A wide grin spread across Imogen’s features as she recounted the story.
“Look at your face! You can’t give that up.” Morgan remembered young love. Sort of. “Six days is an impressive shagfest. Did you eat anything at all or just survive on lust alone?”
A snort arrived from the backseat.
Morgan turned again. “What?”
“Did you eat anything?” Ali said. “You sound about 60, not 38. Who cares if she ate anything? She didn’t need to. Lust is very filling, I hear.”
Morgan tensed. Where had that come from? “I was just making conversation.”
“We ate a lot of Battenberg cake. Good for energy. It still makes me smile when I see it.” Imogen sighed again. “Or at least, it did.”
Morgan reached over and patted her thigh. “It will again. You don’t stay in bed with someone for six days if there’s not a great connection. I’m sure it wasn’t just sex and cake. There was some conversation, too?”
Imogen tipped her head as the traffic ground to a halt. As quick as the blizzard had arrived, it had now slowed, but so had the traffic. Imogen wasn’t focused on that. She was too busy reliving the early days of her and Sam.
“So much of it. That’s what I love about Sam. She’s interesting and smart. Also, great tits.”
Ali let out a hoot of laughter in the backseat. “You can’t let her go, then. Tits are important.”
Imogen slapped the wheel, and the car filled with the sound of jingle bells. “I’m glad you’re a breast girl, too.” She grinned at Ali via the mirror.
“Was she your first love?”
Imogen nodded. “First one where I’ve been away from home. I mean, I had girlfriends at school, and I really thought my first one was going to be the one I stayed with, but it didn’t work out.” She shrugged. “But Sam’s different. Or at least, I thought she was different.”
Morgan tapped her fingers on the dashboard. “In that case, if she’s the one, you need to know why she’s ending it.”
“I wouldn’t drive to Manchester for just anyone,” Imogen replied.
“Although we’ve only driven 15 miles so far,” Ali added, phone in front of her face when Morgan glanced her way.
It seemed like they’d been on the road for hours. But at least they were heading in the right direction.
“What about you, Morgan? Who was your first crush?” Ali leaned forward. “And if you say my sister, full disclosure, I will tell her when I see her.”
Morgan laughed. “It was not your sister. It was actually a girl in the upper sixth. Her name was Sarah Kelly, and she wore her skirt just that bit shorter than anyone else, but in a ‘fuck you!’ kinda way.” Morgan still recalled stopping in the corridor whenever Sarah walked past. The way her breath had caught in her chest. “I wonder where she is now?”
“I don’t remember her.” Ali’s voice was quieter. “Did she move away?”
“Her family did, so she had no reason to come back. Probably for the best, because if she turned up in the pub, I might turn into my 15-year-old self and die on the spot.”
“She might be married with four kids by now,” Imogen told her.
Morgan shook her head. “It wouldn’t matter. You don’t forget your first and the effect they have on you, do you?”
At that, Imogen shook her head slowly from side to side. “No, you don’t.” She paused. “Are you both single now?”
Morgan glanced back as Ali nodded. “Yep. For the past three years. Happy to be so.”
Imogen eyed Morgan. “And you?”
Morgan nodded. “Yes. This year has been too crazy to accommodate a girlfriend.”
“Let me get this straight. You two are giving me relationship advice, when neither of you are in one, or have been for the past year?”
Morgan shifted in her seat.
