What Happens At Christmas...

by T A Williams

  With the huge pot of money that her dad had left her, she knew she could afford to buy a place in London with a bit of garden for Stirling, although the problem she had to face up to there was her lifestyle. The dog would find himself spending a lot of time on his own and, as his current close proximity to her proved, he liked company. She rarely worked less than a nine hour day and she went out most evenings, either socialising, playing tennis, or to the Classic Car Restoration course she was following at the local college. She smiled as she reflected that very few of her female friends were likely to share her dream of restoring a vintage car to full working order. One of the most wonderful things about her father leaving her all that money, was that she knew that this dream could now become reality.

  There remained two other alternatives. One was to take Justin’s advice and move out of London, choosing to work from home. She knew this idea wouldn’t be popular with her present employers, but she was confident they wouldn’t want to lose her expertise and would ultimately agree. Where this home might be was the second part of the conundrum. She had only been in Brookford for a very few days but she already felt a strong bond, brought about most of all by the affection the community felt for her father. She was sensible enough, however, to realise that life in such a tiny, remote and potentially suffocating environment might prove to be too different from the busy life of London.

  The other possibility was the one she had had the other night and it was worthy of consideration. Although it would separate her from Stirling, she felt sure it would be an excellent solution for the dog if Jack would agree to take him. They got on well together, Jack’s life was based locally, he didn’t work full time and he loved the outdoors. If he would agree to take Stirling, it would be a most satisfactory solution, even though Holly knew deep in her heart that she would find separation from the big dog very hard to bear, even after just these few days. The added advantage of this plan would, of course, be to provide an excuse to see Jack again from time to time. She really didn’t want to lose either of them if the truth be told. She looked down at the dog’s comatose form sprawled across her and smiled. Yes, she would really miss him.

  ‘Stirling, you’ve been lying around here all day. How about a walk?’

  The dog was off her lap in a flash, heading for the door. She pulled off her good jumper that now most definitely smelt of dog, and replaced it with an everyday one. Stepping into her Wellingtons boots, and taking her jacket and hat, she opened the door and they went out. They did the now familiar half hour loop around the village, her eyes soon acclimatising to the darkness. While she walked, she did a lot more thinking about the future direction of her life. Partway through, she got a call from Julia.

  ‘Hi, Hol. You all right?’

  ‘Hi, Jules, I’m fine. How did the dinner party go?’

  ‘Really great. I mean really, really great.’ Holly knew her well enough by now.

  ‘And was the food a success as well?’

  ‘Do you know, Hol? I think it was, probably.’ Clearly the food had not been the high point of the evening. ‘He certainly ate everything and said some very nice things about it. Anyway, I just wanted to run something across you. I know it’s all very short notice, but I was wondering. Would you mind awfully if I brought Scott on Friday?’

  ‘Of course not.’ Holly was doing a bit of quick thinking. They could have her room with the double bed and she could move into one of the other two bedrooms. ‘Will you both be travelling down on the same train? All it’ll mean will be you having to squash yourself into what Porsche optimistically refer to as the rear seats.’

  ‘No need. His folks live in Cornwall and he’s coming by car. He can’t get away till later on, but he’ll drive down and come straight to your place early to mid evening. Are you sure it’s all right?’ There was pause. ‘I mean, it won’t bother you having us bonking like rabbits in the next room while you’re staring at the ceiling dreaming of Mr Range Rover.’

  ‘You’re both welcome any time, but any damage to the bedroom furniture will be added to your bill at the end of your stay. Anyway, you may be interested to know that Mr Range Rover and I are just good friends, but I still haven’t given up on Mr Land Rover.’ She had a sudden thought. ‘By the way, if Scott’s going to be here on Christmas Eve, I’ll need to ask my sugar daddy for another invitation to the ball.’

  ‘The ball? What’s all this, Cinderella?’

  ‘You and I are invited to a ball in a very swanky hotel. And you’ll need to bring something spectacular to wear. When I say swanky, I mean swanky. But I’ll need to get an invite for Scott.’

  ‘No, no need; he’ll head off on Christmas Eve to see his family. Now, tell me all about the ball, the swanky hotel and your sugar daddy.’

  Holly told her about her lunch with Howard Redgrave. Julia was suitably impressed. ‘You seem to have a knack of finding the rich ones. So, should I be thinking about dumping Scott and trying to seduce this Howard person on Christmas Eve?’

  ‘I’ll give you my verdict after I’ve met Scott. So when’re you seeing him next?’

  ‘Tonight. At his place. He’s getting a takeaway and I’m the dessert.’

  Despite having decided not to eat anything after the huge lunch she had had, Holly found she was feeling quite hungry after the walk. She opened the fridge and was trying to decide whether to have some cheese or some salad when the doorbell rang. Stirling got up and trotted over to the door, tail wagging. It was Jack.

  ‘Evening, Jack.’ She gave him a big smile, realising that she was really very pleased to see him; in fact, remarkably pleased to see him. She wondered about holding out her arms for a kiss, but decided against it.

  He gave her a smile in return and walked in, reaching out to catch the dog’s paws as he reared up on his hind legs to greet him. ‘Hello, Stirling, old pal, old buddy. You’re looking good.’ He was carrying a bottle of Meursault. ‘As are you, Holly. I wondered if you felt like drinking some of that amazing wine you gave me. I opened this a few minutes ago and tasted it and I just had to share it with you.’ He set the bottle down on the table along with a small package wrapped in brown paper. ‘And, if you’ve nothing better to do and if you haven’t eaten yet, I brought some fresh goat’s cheese from a place I know down on the southern edge of the moor.’

  ‘I’ve been drinking all day. I really shouldn’t, but, seeing as it’s open…’ Holly went over to get two glasses, feeling very pleased to see Jack. He was wearing a baggy old fisherman’s jumper that badly needed darning around the wrists and his same faded jeans, but he still looked very good; very good indeed. He was clean shaven tonight and it made him appear five years younger. ‘Jack, tell me you were joking when you said you were thirty-eight.’

  He looked up with a smile. ‘Nope. My birthday’s next week so, in little over a year’s time, I’ll be forty. For what it’s worth, you still look thirty-three.’ He grinned at her.

  ‘Thanks a lot. I know who not to ask next time I want a compliment.’

  ‘You don’t need compliments. You’re gorgeous and you know it. Now, do I put the cheese in the fridge or do you want to try it?’

  Holly did her best to ignore the unexpected compliment. ‘Well, I was just thinking about having a little snack, and your cheese would be great. Thanks a lot for bringing it, by the way. If you’re happy with cold stuff, do stay and eat with me. I’d like the company. I’ve got some good bread, some olives and some duck pâté. That should go well with the cheese.’

  He raised a finger to his lips. ‘Shh, we don’t want Mr Mallard out there to hear that we’re eating one of his relatives.’ After washing his hands at the sink, he came over and took a seat at the table, opposite her.

  He filled the two glasses and passed one across to her. The wine was very good indeed. She caught his eye. ‘I’ve had an exciting day. I was invited for lunch today by a man called Howard Redgrave.’ She immediately saw that he knew the old man. ‘We were drinking unbelievably expensive wines, but this
one stands up to comparison very well.’ She smiled. ‘And I’m not just saying that because I bought it.’

  ‘Did you get a ride in the Roller?’

  ‘All 7.7 litres of her. Phenomenal.’

  ‘Howard’s a lovely old chap. He and your father were very close. I often got invited for meals with them and some of the wines they put on the table were out of this world.’

  Holly got up and busied herself with cutting bread and getting cutlery and plates. She also filled a jug with water from the tap and set it down on the table along with another couple of glasses. Any more wine and she really would fall over. She made sure that he helped himself to food and poured glasses of water for them both before picking up a piece of bread and pâté. She nibbled it as they chatted amicably. Holly found she managed to eat more than she had expected, but she soon started to flag. Finally, she lifted her napkin off her lap and sat back. Jack was still chewing his way through some bread and cheese.

  ‘Jack, did you know my dad married again?’ She wasn’t totally sure why she asked him. Maybe it was just because she felt remarkably relaxed in his company. He looked up in surprise, swallowed, and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

  ‘Yes I did. I wasn’t sure if you did, though, so I’ve rather kept off the subject.’

  Holly nodded. ‘I only found out this morning. I was checking his firm out on the internet and there was a photo of him with her.’ She looked up into his amazing eyes. They were more green than blue today and she found herself comparing them with Justin’s warm brown eyes. She could happily have kept that thought going, but she returned to the matter in hand. ‘Do you know what I realised? She looks very much like my mum. I’ve been thinking about that. Did he tell you he and Lynda knew each other as kids?’ Jack nodded. ‘When they were separated, when she went off to Australia, he then either consciously or subconsciously chose another woman who looked like her.’ She was still looking into his eyes. ‘My mum didn’t stand a chance, really, did she? As far as my dad was concerned, she was the next best thing.’ She felt the emotion building and struggled to stay objective.

  ‘It can’t have been easy for her – the break-up.’ Jack took another sip of wine. ‘Especially with a little child.’

  Holly nodded, taking a few deep breaths. ‘To be totally honest, over this last fortnight, since I heard about my dad’s death and then coming here and starting to get to know him better, I’ve been feeling more and more bitter towards my mum for keeping me away from him. But, now that I know the truth about what happened, I find myself torn. On the one hand, I sympathise with my dad for having had to choose between two women he loved and, on the other hand, I now realise the depth of the trauma my mum must have gone through. I’m not sure I wouldn’t have done the same as her. In her mind, any man who could treat her and her child so callously, must have been a complete and utter bastard, and she must have felt she was protecting me by keeping us apart.’ She wiped a hand over her eyes and picked up her wine.

  Jack reached across the table and took her hand. The fact that he was touching her only served to further stir her emotions. ‘I never met your mum, Holly, but she must have been quite some lady. Keeping it all together after a blow like that took guts, and bringing you up, all on her own, must have been tough.’ He gave her hand a little squeeze and smiled at her. ‘And she did a really good job on you.’

  Then he released her hand and concentrated on finishing his cheese while Holly got herself under control again. She reached for a tissue and blew her nose. After a few minutes, she took a few big mouthfuls from her water glass and changed the subject. Maybe now was the moment to get him to open up a bit more about himself. She looked across the table at him.

  ‘Tell me, Jack, what is it you do apart from hauling logs and reading history books?’ She saw him hesitate and then, after a pause, he told her.

  ‘I’m a writer.’ She waited for more, but got nothing. She gave it a few more moments and then did a bit of digging.

  ‘So, what sort of writer are you? Books, magazine articles, comics, undiscovered, bestseller or what?’

  ‘None of the above, really. I write screenplays.’

  ‘Really? Anything I might have seen?’

  ‘Depends how often you go to the cinema, but maybe.’

  ‘Go on, don’t be coy.’

  Jack took a mouthful of wine and then, reluctantly, reeled off the names of four movies Holly had not only heard of, but had seen in the past few years. She was impressed. ‘Wow, that’s amazing. I had no idea I was in the presence of a Hollywood star.’ A shadow crossed his face and she suddenly wished she hadn’t said that.

  ‘So, have you been to Hollywood?’ Again there was that shadow that crossed his face, but this time he did reply.

  ‘Oh, yes.’ Once again she waited for him to add something, but in vain. Finally, she had to prompt him.

  ‘Oh yes it was lovely, or oh yes it was horrid?’ Holly watched him carefully. His carefree face had left him.

  ‘I suppose a bit of both. It’s a fascinating place and the whole movie business is a world of its own. It came as a real shock to the system, I can tell you. Everything’s exaggerated. You aren’t keen on something – you’re totally passionate about it. You don’t dislike something or somebody – you hate, loathe and detest them. It’s never just a good movie – it’s spectacular, awesome and unbelievable. You, for example, you wouldn’t be a lovely-looking girl. You would be a stunning beauty and I wouldn’t just like you, I’d be head over heels in love with you after, what is it, three days?’

  ‘So you do like me?’ She knew she was on thin ice here, but the Meursault was giving her confidence.

  ‘Of course I like you.’ The hypnotic eyes caught her once more. ‘I like you a lot, Holly.’

  ‘That’s good to know. I wasn’t sure.’

  There was a longer silence this time, during which he occupied himself topping up their glasses. Then he replaced the bottle and stared down at his hands on the table. ‘So, do you like me?’

  ‘Of course I bloody like you, you idiot. What did you think?’

  He looked up, the beginnings of a smile on his face. ‘Well, that’s good to know.’

  Holly sat back and reflected; a few seconds’ touch of the hand and an acknowledgement that they liked each other. This certainly wasn’t a whirlwind romance. Even so, she found herself smiling in her turn. Seeing his obvious discomfort at talking about these things, she changed the subject back to his career.

  ‘How long were you in Hollywood, Jack?’

  ‘Um, seven, maybe eight years.’

  ‘But you didn’t really like it?’

  He caught her eye. ‘I did a runner, you know?’

  ‘Did a runner?’

  ‘Legged it. I’d been there for long enough. I was amazingly lucky with my first film script. A chance conversation between a girl I was dating at the time and her agent resulted in one of the big Hollywood studios taking an option on it and then, wonderfully, actually turning it into a movie. When that happened, I moved to LA.’ He was looking down at Stirling who was lying on his back, all four feet in the air. ‘I was only twenty-five.’

  Holly had picked up on his comment about dating a girl. This would seem to add strength to her contention that he wasn’t gay. The feeling she had got inside when he took her hand, in spite of her upset, also definitely added strength to the argument. If he was gay, she was a monkey’s uncle. She adopted a casual tone. ‘And the girl you were dating at the time?’

  ‘It didn’t last.’ There was a finality to his voice. She had another sip of wine and gently prompted him.

  ‘But career-wise, it went well?’

  ‘Yeah, it went well. To be honest, it’s still going well. Only last week I was summoned to London to meet Mighty Max. He wants me to write something set in the 1960s.’

  ‘Ah, so that explains the twentieth century history book on your table. But who’s Mighty Mouse?’

  He smiled at her. ‘Mighty Max. He’s th
e Head of Acquisitions at the studio. It’s widely rumoured that God needs to stand in line for a meeting with him. We’re talking all-bloody-powerful.’ He tasted the goat’s cheese and urged her to do the same. ‘It’s fantastic, or as they would say in Hollywood, it’s fantastic!’ He reached for the bottle of wine and topped up their glasses again. Holly made a few feeble protests, but he brushed them aside. ‘You’re not driving anywhere tonight. If you get too drunk, I’ll take our friend here for a wal… I’d better not say the word. You know what I mean. I’ve done it often enough for your dad.’

  ‘If I get too drunk, I might not be responsible for my actions.’ A graphic image of his tight abs and hairy chest filled her mind and she hastily did her best to return her attention to his story.

  He chose to ignore the remark and carried on with his tale. ‘Anyway, I did that film, then another film, and another film, and things were going really well. I was getting paid an obscene amount of money, so I did the whole Hollywood thing; you know, the house with the pool, the personal trainer, the Shelby Mustang…’ He grinned as Holly’s head snapped up. ‘I thought that would wake you up.’

  ‘You had a Shelby Mustang?’ Her hand stopped halfway to her mouth, her wine glass still held in her fingers.

  ‘That’s right. A 1968 GT500. It sounded amazing, drank fuel like there was a hole in the tank, and cost me a fortune in maintenance.’ His smile broadened. ‘I should have had you around to look after it for me.’

  ‘Now that’s an offer I would find hard to refuse.’

  ‘Love me, love my car?’

  ‘Well, we could start with the car and see what happens…’ She found she was enjoying flirting with him immensely.

  ‘The problem was, it wasn’t my world. Don’t get me wrong. I like swimming pools and muscle cars as much as the next man.’ He gave her a little grin. ‘Or girl. It was just the sheer insincerity of the whole thing. People saying one thing to your face and stabbing you in the back as soon as you weren’t looking. Then some stuff happened and I knew I needed to get out, so I came back to the UK and looked for somewhere away from it all and that’s how I got here. I work from home and only go back over there when I really, really have to. And I’m so much happier now, just doing my own thing, on my own, down here.’