Her phone rang as she was typing out athaaaaaank youuuuuureply. Sasha.
‘I have a solution,’ Sasha said without any hellos. ‘All sorted. Don’t move. Just be ready. Dan’s coming to pick you up because he’s driving home today almost past where you live and it makes perfect sense. I’m going to send you his number now and yours to him and you’resorted.’
‘Oh, wow. Does hemind?’ And also, was South Wimbledon really on anyone’s way to the Cotswolds?
‘Course he doesn’t. You’ll be company for him on the journey and I’ve Google-Mapped it and I really don’t think it’s that much of a detour for him. Anyway. I’ll see you later. Got to go now. Have a good journey.’
‘Thank you so much, lovely Sasha. Can’t wait to see you.’
‘Me too and nothing to thank me for. See you later.’
It was the perfect solution. Dan was always good company.
Right. She’d unpacked slightly under half the contents of the car so far. Should she leave things half-and-half as they were, or have them all in one place to make it easier for Dan, and in that case should she put everything back in the car or bring the more-than-half of her stuff back to the flat?
She wondered if Dan had a girlfriend at the moment. Nothing to do with her, of course. Yes, she was single, and yes, she’d love to meet someone nice and not boring but at the same time very sensible and tidy, and yes, she and Dan had made that pact and it had kind of felt like they’d sealed it with that kiss, and she’d thought about it every time that she’d ever seen mistletoe since, but in reality, of course, nothing was ever going to happen between them. Which was totally fine. She lived inLondon, and there had to be literally about a million men in approximately her age bracket here, so there were a lotof fish in the sea.
Anyway. Focus. The suitcases and the presents. It would be easier for Dan if they were all in one place and it would be better to bring them back to the flat because she didn’t need to have her car broken into on top of everything else.
By the time she’d schlepped backwards and forwards five more times between the car and her flat with overflowing present bags and her wheely suitcases, she’d broken two of her nails and had had to strip down to a vest top and wasstillslightly sweating. Hauling luggage around was a very good workout; her arms and lungs were both going to be in better condition after this. Right now, though, she maybe needed just to have a very quick shower and maybe also put some more make-up on before Dan arrived.
He rang her doorbell just as she was blotting her lips on loo paper having decided that she’d gone a step too far with all the lip gloss she’d applied on top of her lipstick. She did a final blot andthank goodnessglanced in the mirror again as she made her way out of the room. She had a bit of the loo paper stuck to her lower lip. Very close shave. She pulled it off and reapplied just a bit more gloss, and then some more, didn’t blot this time, and made her way to the door.
‘Hello,’ Dan said. And there was that gorgeously infectious smile. Whenever she hadn’t seen him for a while, the smile always hit her with surprising force, right to her stomach. Evie licked her lips, just to check that she definitely didn’t have any more paper stuck there. Which of course she didn’t, because she hadn’t blotted again. And… what had she been thinking? Who licked their lips when someone said hello? Really, who?
‘Hello. Hi. Lovely to see you,’ she said. Oh, God, she was over-helloing straight after lip-licking. Whydid this suddenly feel awkward? ‘Thank you so much for the lift. I hope it isn’t too much out of your way. Sorry Sasha press-ganged you into it.’
‘Hey, no need to say sorry, and it’ll be nice to have the company. Where are your bags?’
‘Right here. There are quite a few. Do you think they’ll all fit in?’
‘Wow. Thatisquite a few. But, yes, I think so. I mean, I might not be able to see out of the back window at all and the suspension might break and you might have to cuddle some of those presents – whatisthat enormous one, by the way? – but I’m sure it’ll be fine.’
‘I could leave some behind?’
‘Joking, you muppet. We’ll get them in, it’ll be fine. Not joking about the really big one, though – whatisit? And the other nearly-as-big one?’
‘The biggest one is the biggest teddy you’ve ever seen, for Autumn, and the other big one is a little desk for her. In a box.’
‘How old is she now?’
‘Five. She’s very keen on writing and colouring in, hence the desk, and she still loves teddies.’
‘Cute. How’s she enjoying school?’ Dan picked up two bags in each hand while holding the wrapped teddy.
‘She’s loving it. She hassomuch to tell me every time we speak. Really sweet.’ Evie picked up one bag in each hand. ‘How are youdoingthat with the bags? Aren’t the handles hurting your hands?’
‘Nope. I’m a man of steel. Although I’d be very keen to get these into the bootquickly. I’ve double-parked right outside.’
* * *
After only two trips – Dan proved he really was made of steel when it came to carrying bags of presents, and also lucky when it came to parking wardens, because he hadn’t got a ticket – they had everything in the car and were setting off.
‘So Sasha told me you moved to London late summer?’ Dan asked as he put the car into gear. ‘That must have been a huge change?’
‘Yep. Massive. Although long overdue, really, given that I’m about to be twenty-eight. And it isn’t like I’ve moved to the other end of the country. I’ve already been home several times to see Mum and Autumn. In my car, which has never broken down before.’
‘That’s any kind of appliance or electrical item for you. They save their worst performance for when you need them the most. My boiler broke down last Christmas during that week when it was below zero the whole time and British Gas couldn’t get to me for several days, because apparently half of the rest of London also had broken boilers.’
