Page 32 of Christmas Romance Galore!
“It was kinda left up in the air so she texted and asked to come over.” I shrugged. “It seemed the right thing to do, to draw a line under it.”
“And how did that plan go?” Despite her tone, Holly’s face remained blank.
Guilt rose up in me, threatening to drown me. “Not so well,” I said, shaking my head.
Holly’s face softened. “Did you really think it would go any other way? You kissed her yesterday, there was unfinished business, she comes over to your flat where you have some privacy...” Holly held out her hands, palms upturned. “It’s textbook 101 seduction technique.”
“I was not seduced,” I pouted.
Holly smiled, shaking her head. “No you weren’t,” she said. “But how did you leave it?”
Now it was my turn to shrug. “We kissed, but we’re done — I know that’s as far as it can go. And that’s not just because she’s getting married, it’s also because we’re different people now.” I shook my head again. “Just sometimes I forget that, and she’s still Nicola Sheen who I loved. So please don’t be angry with me — I can’t deal with it tonight.”
Holly paused. “I’m not angry, I’m just looking out for you. I don’t trust Nicola as far as I can throw her. Never have.”
She pulled me into a hug and I let her.
Then I remembered Holly was supposed to be on a date tonight.
“Hang on — what are you doing home anyway?” I sat up again. “What happened to your date?”
Now it was Holly’s turn to sigh. “She didn’t show. No warning, nothing. So this dating game? It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” She swigged her beer.
My heart broke for Holly now — she was golden, she didn’t deserve that. “I’m sorry about your date, and not just because she was called Ivy.” I reached for Holly’s hand and squeezed it.
Holly looked into my eyes and shrugged. “It’s okay,” she said. “She was hardly my soulmate.”
Sunday December 11th
Sunday morning dawned and if there was ever a day I needed a distraction, it was today. As I lay on my bed and tried to clamber over the traffic clogging up my mind, I tried to identify what I was feeling. Confused, disappointed, and like I wanted to get in a time machine and erase the last few days.
I could still feel Nicola’s hand on me, nearly in me.
It would have been so easy.
However, this Nicola Sheen wasn’t the one I’d been in love with. She had a child. She was divorced. And she was engaged, yet thought it fine to come on to me three weeks before her wedding.
So yes, while yesterday had been the culmination of a dream, I had a feeling it might also serve as a reminder that you should never go back. It was a motto I lived by when it came to bad customer service in every other area of my life, so why didn’t I apply it to my love life?
Ten minutes later, Holly burst into my room just as I was opening the next Advent calendar door and popping a chocolate Christmas pudding into my mouth. There was something very decadent about eating chocolate so early in the morning.
“Get up — we’re going out,” she announced.
“We are?” I asked, through a mouthful of chocolate.
Holly swept her dark hair from her eyes and nodded. “Yep — executive decision. You’ve been stupid and I’ve been stood up within a week, which is a new record even for me. So we’re going out to do something fun to take our minds off it. Something Christmassy, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.”
She grabbed my arm and pulled me up, marching me down the hallway and into the bathroom. “Get in the shower and get clean — we’re leaving in half an hour and I’ve booked us an hour of ice-skating at Somerset House.”
I did as I was told.
Forty minutes later, we were sat on a Tube, clutching cups of hot coffee, eyes wide open. Holly’s knee was jiggling beside me — she always had a lot of nervous energy fizzing around her system and this was the usual out.
“Excited?” she asked, slapping my leg. “Ice, Christmas tunes, skating and mulled wine — this has to be right up there in your Christmas must-dos, doesn’t it?”
I smiled, despite myself. “It is. I was going to buy some ice-skating tickets for me and a date if things went well. However, I don’t seem to have been able to limp to that stage quite yet, so this is perfect. I get to do it with my best friend instead.”
Holly smiled at me and took my hand in hers. “Today we’re each other’s date, okay? And let’s face it, we’ve both already gone one better than our last — I’m single and you showed up. We’re winning at life already!”
