‘Idoremember.’
‘Yes, yes. I’m the boring one. I get it.’ Ash leaned back into the corner, rolling her eyes. That was always how it had been hadn’t it? They’d made her laugh and distracted her in the lead-up to Christmas as she waited to see whether her mum would come or not, and in return she’d been grumpy and spoiled their fun.
‘No!’ Both Olivier and Romesh chorused at the same time, making her jump.
Olivier shook his head and turned to face her more. ‘Thank goodness you kept us in line, Ashleigh. I probably would have been sent back to Paris early if we’d done half the things we thought up to entertain ourselves.’
Her mouth pulled up at the corners. It looked like one thing about Olivier hadn’t changed. He was always eager to smooth ruffled feathers. But there was no denying that she’d allowed her nan’s cynicism to influence her as the years went by.
‘Your mum never would’ve sent you home,’ she pointed out. ‘She missed you too much throughout the year.’
His eyes caught hers with an intensity that surprised her. ‘Did she?’
‘Sure.’ Ashleigh blinked, dragging her gaze away from Olivier’s as though trying to detach metal from a magnet. ‘She’d talk about you all the time.’ It had always made Ash wonder if her own mother was the same, out in LA. She would’ve loved to imagine her mum talking to her fellow cast members about her daughter, the way Sylvia talked about Olivier – always brimming with pride and affection. But she doubted it. There was that cynicism again, she supposed.
‘So, what are your ideas?’ Romesh leaned forward on the black lacquered table. ‘Santa and his reindeer?’
‘No. Maman did that only a year or two ago apparently. I was thinking of replicating a real place, but I’m not sure where.’
‘Why don’t you do here? Brighton. Or has she done that before?’
‘I don’t think she has, actually.’
‘Research would be easy, and we have some lovely Christmas stuff that happens. The Lanes are like something out ofA Christmas Carol, and then there’s ice-skating at the Pavilion.’
Olivier was biting his bottom lip and nodding as his eyes took on a distant look. ‘That does sound perfect.’
Itlookedpretty perfect to Ashleigh and she caught herself mimicking the lip bite herself. Lord, what was the matter with her?
‘We should all go,’ Romesh continued. ‘It’s open all week now we’re in December. You have to see it.’
‘I’ll be working,’ Ashleigh said. ‘But you guys should. It is gorgeous there.’
‘You’re not working in the evening, angel. It’s open then too and they have a bar. Best time to see the lights really. Is it a date? James is off nights this week too – as long as he doesn’t get called in – so it’ll be a group of us. Go on; say “yes”.’
Olivier laughed. ‘Oui. It sounds like fun.’
‘Ashleigh?’ Romesh turned to her expectantly.
‘Sure.’ So, it looked like this was how it was going to be. Ro was back to being the social co-ordinator, and she was back to having to wrestle her crush under control so she wasn’t too obvious.
They talked about some other ideas of landmarks around Brighton that Olivier could replicate and then he went to the bar to buy the next round.
‘Right, I need the loo––’
Ash’s hand shot out and she grabbed a handful of Romesh’s shirt before he could get up from the table. He widened his eyes at her, but Ash knewheknew what she was going to say. ‘What? What’s the matter?’
‘Why didn’t you tell me you’d invited Olivier tonight?’
Romesh frowned. ‘Well, “a” because James got called in at the last minute and I had to fill the space on the team, and “b”…’
‘Yes? B?’ She raised her eyebrows at him.
‘I needed to test a theory that came to me after our conversation on the phone last night.’
‘What theory?’ Ash relaxed her grip and folded her arms over her chest, leaning back.
‘The theory that…’ Romesh glanced over his shoulder towards the bar and lowered his voice ‘…youfancyhim. I used underhanded tactics I admit, but I’m not going to apologise for it. You’ve been keeping secrets from me, haven’t you? Did something happen between you?’
