‘Oh, baubles,’ she said, like it was a swear word. They caught each other’s eye and both started laughing. ‘Maybe we should’ve taken the decorations off first?’
‘You might want to strategically lose some on the way home anyway.’ He nodded to a set of deer figurines wearing bobble hats in a blatantly R-rated pose. Her cheeks flushed red but she was still laughing.
‘Oh my God. They’re notalllike that are they?’ She juggled the tree at her end so she could face him and examine all the branches in between. Without even trying he could already spot a Santa with his pants down mooning, and a snowman with enormous…snow balls. She gasped. ‘Theyare. How did we not notice this down at the bar?’ She turned around again, her shoulders shaking with laughter. ‘Come on, we’d better get out of here, before we’re arrested for public indecency.’
They turned to start up Saint James Street. Lots of people were leaving the pubs and restaurants now, and they received a fair bit of attention, people laughing and wishing them a Merry Christmas.
‘I should have worn my elf costume after all,’ Ashleigh said. ‘We’re creating quite the Christmas spectacle.’
‘Was that how you knew all those facts about reindeer? From working at the farm or are youelftaught.’
‘Don’t you start.’ She half-groaned, half-laughed. ‘And yes, every elf worth their salt knows the names of Santa’s reindeer and how to care for them. Besides you were the one who stormed the film round. Beating a room full of gay men to the buzzer when the answer is “Judy Garland” is the stuff of legend.’
‘You can’t beat a good Christmas film.’
‘What’s your favourite?’
‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’
‘Never seen it.’
‘Really? Truly?’
‘Is that so strange?’ She laughed again.
‘It’s a classic film. Maybe…’ He trailed off, hesitating for some reason when he’d just been about to invite her to watch it if it became available on the TV. If she said ‘no’ they were stuck walking home together in a very awkward silence. ‘I forgot it was all uphill,’ he admitted instead, changing the subject.
‘You need a break? We can probably grab a bench over by the bandstand?
He was sweating as they came out to the wide road of the Old Steine and his arms were aching but he still shook his head. ‘No – we’re halfway already. I can make it if you can.’
She pressed the button for the lights at the crossing and they waited for traffic to stop. ‘The glass is always half full with you isn’t it?’
‘I suppose I do try to look at things that way.’ He flexed his fingers around the metal, shifting his grip while they waited.
‘How? How do you do that?’
Her voice sounded so earnest, genuinely curious and he shrugged, before remembering she wouldn’t be able to see that. ‘Maybe by not just asking “what have I got to lose?” but also “what could I possibly gain?”’ Even as he said it, he realised that he wasn’t necessarily asking those questions about the promotion with his papa. Or, if he was, maybe he wasn’t paying good enough attention to the answers.
The green man flashed up and Ashleigh stepped forwards before he was ready and the tree split in two, the pole of the top half sliding free with a jerk and leaving the bottom to nosedive into the pavement. There was the tinkle of something fragile cracking.
‘Pardon, Ashleigh, I was too slow.’
Ash backed up onto the kerb again and checked the ground for the damaged decoration. ‘I should have said “go’”, shouldn’t I? I’m meant to be the leader. No harm done.’
‘No? I heard something break.’
‘Yeah, but personally I think I think the gingerbread man looks better without the extra appendage.’
She showed him the figure who had been proudly showing off his crotch but now had a hole where another piece of his anatomy should have been. Olivier winced and she laughed, popping the pieces into her pocket.
They made it the rest of the way up to Ashleigh’s house, having reassembled the tree, without losing too many more baubles along the way.
‘Would you like me to help you get it inside?’ he offered, keeping his voice low as they stood on her path, directly beneath what he assumed was her grandmere’s bedroom window.
‘Erm. I should probably put it up in my room until I sort these baubles out, so that would be really helpful actually. Thank you,’ she whispered back.
They squeezed the tree as carefully as they could through the door and started up her staircase without turning on any lights. Olivier had made it up five steps when a loud yapping started and Ashleigh swore, dropping the top end of the tree, to launch herself up to the top floor landing and scoop up her dog.
