by Lily Greene
“What, so you wear the ring to ward off beautiful predatory women?” she asked mockingly.
Fergus laughed again. “Exactly. I know it sounds ridiculous but out there it means I get some privacy. I don’t like being hunted …”
He grinned as Ella raised her eyebrows at him.
“What can I say Ella, women are drawn to me,” he said as he shrugged his shoulders playfully.
“Oh are they Fergus?” she asked flirtatiously.
“Some men can’t help it.”
“Well for some reason I don’t b—” Before Ella could deliver her witty repartie, Fergus had grabbed her around the waist and was kissing her passionately on the lips.
“Sorry,” he said, drawing apart from her. “Come on, let me show you what we’re doing tonight.”
Chapter Six
“He took you to the planetarium?!” Libby exclaimed, so loudly that people in the restaurant turned their heads.
“Yes, it was absolutely incredible,” Ella said as she took a sip of Sauvignon Blanc. “He booked us a night tour. I didn’t know you could even do that. We had the place to ourselves and an astronomer explained how to use the telescopes and ran us through so many beautiful satellite photographs from mission probes! It was breathtaking.” She spoke so fast her excitement was obvious.
“God he is such a smooth operator!”
“Ha ha. He is. A gentleman too.”
“So you’ve had two dates since you met at mine?”
“Uh huh.”
“That’s crazy. He must really like you – and I can tell you like him because you’re about to deny it!” she said while preparing another mouthful of quinoa, avocado and pancetta salad. “And you’re pushing your food around your plate like you have no appetite and that, Ella, is not like you.”
“Oh okay Sherlock. I like him. I really like him,” she confessed guilty. “I mean the last two days have been sensational, and the planetarium! Wow. I had mentioned something about liking astronomy at your party when we all went into the games room.”
“When you came back from your patio kiss?” she teased.
“Yeeess,” Ella said in response. “I had told him about an article I had just read in the New Scientist about signs of life on other planets and that’s why he knew I’d like the planetarium.” Ella ate a mouthful of pasta and then continued to talk about Fergus.
“He’s not really like anybody I’ve met before. He’s nothing like Robbie.”
Libby dropped her forkful of avocado. Ella hadn’t mentioned Robbie’s name since January. She was at a loss as to what to say. “No, he’s really not,” she said finally. “You know that’s the first time you’ve said his name to me since January the 2nd when you vowed never to think or speak of him again.”
“I know. I just wasn’t ready before. I was so hurt. It was too painful to talk about him or even acknowledge his existence. But that was ages ago now and I’ve moved on.”
“Well that’s great Ella. I never wanted to push you to talk about him when you clearly didn’t want to. But I’m glad you feel like he’s in the past now.” Libby smiled and waved to the waiter to get his attention. She wasn’t convinced that Ella was completely over Robbie or the break-up, but she didn’t blame her. After all, they had been together for six years and been through so much together. They had bought a house together, dealt with the loss of both of Ella’s parents at the same time, and then he had just left her, not because he had stopped loving her but because he had wanted different things from life.
But what did it matter if she still held a flame for him? Robbie was half way across the world and Ella wasn’t in any danger of seeing him again anytime soon. Libby was glad Fergus had come into Ella’s life with these swooping romantic gestures and adventurous dates just in time for Christmas.
“So where is he taking you tonight?” Libby asked, changing the subject.
“Well I thought I’d be the one to choose tonight’s dates after he’s planned such lovely evenings.”
“And where are you taking him?” Libby said as she handed over her debit card to the waiter with the card machine.
“Let me give you some cash Libs,” Ella said as she reached into her black leather bag.
“No no, it’s my treat – a well done for your exhibition. I insist.”
“Oh thank you! The exhibition is so close now, I’m getting nervous,” she said.
“No work talk please. I have had the worst week dressing the stars. Tell me where you’re taking him!?”
“Oh okay,” she said chuckling. “I’m taking him to Shoreditch House. He said he’s never been before and whilst its no planetarium, I am a member and it’ll be fun. Plus I have managed to book out the private bowling lanes! I was so lucky no one else had already.
“So it will be just you two and a barman?” Libby asked.
“And sexy bowling shoes.”
*
Ella was sitting on the floor amongst her paintings when Fergus rang.
“Hello?” she said.
“Good morning. I just thought I’d continue this week’s tradition and ask you on another date.” Ella couldn’t help but let the smile on her face spread from ear to ear.
“You haven’t had enough of me yet? Even after you saw what an atrocious bowler I am?”
“I might have had enough of your bowling but I haven’t had enough of you.” It was a cheesy reply, but with his rough smoky voice, Fergus sounded sexy and somehow he pulled it off.
“Well what do you propose for our fourth date?”
“How about you come to mine for dinner?”
“Dinner? An ordinary date? Fergus you ought to be ashamed!” she teased him. “Will dinner be ‘impulsive’ and ‘adventurous’ enough for you?” As she heard him laugh at the other end of the phone there was a tinny sounding knock at her front door. “Oh one minute, I think Mark’s here to help me transport the paintings to the gallery. I’m going to have to go Fergus, but let me know what time you’d like me to come over and send me your address.”
“Okay will do. Good luck with all the wrapping.”
“Thanks, see you later! I’m looking forward to it.”
“As am I.”
Ella let Mark in and put the kettle on to make him a cup of tea. Mark worked for Triangle Gallery transporting paintings to and from venues. Today, he had offered to help Ella move all of her paintings to the Beat Gallery. They discussed how the paintings were going to fit in his van and how many trips it would take while they sipped down the warm brew. They spent the whole morning wrapping all of Ella’s paintings carefully in foam and bubble wrap and the afternoon scuttling between Ella’s studio and the Beat Gallery, which was only thirty minutes down the road. The weather had taken another colder turn and the roads were beginning to ice over a bit, causing their journeys to take a little longer.
On the final return trip back to Ella’s studio, light snowflakes began to fall. Ella looked out at the delicate flakes mesmerized and thought about the evening ahead of her. Tonight she was going to Fergus’ house and she had a feeling she might be staying the night. Although they had only known each other for less than a week, after four dates Ella felt ready to take that step with him.
The car pulled up outside her studio and Mark’s voice startled her out of her daydream.
“Good luck with tha exbition Ellah,” he said in his cockney accent that was so strong that Ella thought it could not be a hundred percent genuine. “Let me know ‘ow it goes afterwards.”
“I will Mark. Thank you for all your help today. You’ve been such a star!”
“No worries luv. Now be careful wit tha ice.”
Ella closed the van door behind her and walked to her front door. The snow that had fallen was so light it wasn’t settling. Ella wished that just once the snow in London wouldn’t melt as soon as it touched the dirty city streets.
She stepped into her studio and went straight to the bathroom to prune, prep and groom herself for the approaching date.
Ella arrived at Fergus’ flat in Islington at seven thirty with a bottle of Rioja in hand. He greeted her at the door with a kiss and ushered her in, taking her blue mohair coat and hanging it up on his coat rack. Underneath her coat, she was wearing a long-sleeved black silk dress that had a dipped neckline, emphasizing her cleavage. Her hair was swept off her face into a short ponytail exposing her neck. This was the first time Fergus had seen Ella dressed in something more revealing than winter polo necks and coats. His expression reflected her outfit’s success and she blushed at the way he looked at her. He took her in his arms, placed his arm around the small of her back and kissed her on the lips.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
“Yes I am. Can I help with anything?”
“Well actually yes, you can help with a lot.” He had a suspicious grin on his face.
“Okay,” she said nervously. “Show me to the kitchen.”
They walked through a large Victorian living room with a beautiful open fireplace. The walls were adorned with black and white prints from floor to ceiling and two comfortable looking grey sofas were positioned in an L shape around the fireplace. On the left of the fireplace was a medium-sized Christmas tree covered in red and gold glittering baubles. Ella stopped to admire the wooden carvings of angels and reindeer, which hung delicately on the smaller branches. On the top of the tree was a striking dove with a long glistening tail, perching where the star normally went.
“Come on,” Fergus said, prompting Ella to follow him into the kitchen.
To her surprise, there was a short, dark-haired Mediterranean man in the kitchen, standing over the cooker.
“Ella, this is Luigi. He is going to be our teacher tonight. We’ll be cooking some authentic Italian food.”
“Oh wow. It’s lovely to meet you Luigi,” Ella said as she shook the chef’s hand. “Fergus this is an amazing idea.”
“Not bad for a ‘normal’ dinner date eh?” he asked mischievously, walking around the kitchen island to organise the pile of ingredients which stood on a thick wooden chopping board.
“Not bad at all,” Ella replied.
“Ima gonna teach you ‘ow to make Italian winterr dishes. Arancini, deep fried balls ofa risotto, Sicilian fish soup and Polpette di pollo, which is chicken ameataballs in rich tomato sawce.”
Ella was besides herself. “Incredible.”
“He’s also given me a recipe for mulled wine, which we could make after. You mentioned you’d love to know how to make it when we went to the planetarium.”
“Oh Fergus.” Ella was lost for words. This man was so thoughtful and clearly listened to everything that came out of her mouth. “I’m totally bowled over by your kindness. You’ve put so much thought into all our dates it’s, it’s …” Ella was truly stunned for words.
Fergus walked around the island and gave her a kiss on the lips.
“It’s all been so fun to organise for you.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly. She could feel that Luigi didn’t know where to look, while the couple had their moment of tenderness. He turned back to the cooker and stirred one of his pots.
Ella cleared her throat.
“Is mulled wine an Italian dish?” she proposed to Fergus. “I though it was British?”
“Ah it’s a British tradition to drink it at Christmas, but wine was first recorded as spiced and heated in Rome in the 2nd century.”
“Ah yes, the Romans. Where would we be without them? I have no doubt Luigi has a smashing recipe for it.”
Fergus and Ella spent the evening laughing, tasting and questioning Luigi about Italian cuisine as they attempted each dish.
Ella was particularly good at making the arancini, skillfully forming the round balls of pistachio, cheese, tomato and oregano in a layer of risotto that was cooked in white wine and Parmesan. Luigi demonstrated how to roll each circle in flour and breadcrumbs carefully so that no rice was peeking through. They set the balls aside to be fried later while they made haste on the soup.
Luigi set Fergus to work on the chopping, while he showed Ella how to fillet the fresh fish. The broth was made with fennel, onions, chilli, and garlic and once this concoction had been simmering for some time and the onions were soft, they added passata and butternut squash. The dish came to life when the wonderful colours of the salmon, halibut, langoustine and parsley were all thrown in. As it bubbled away, the flavours doubling, Luigi fried the arancini. They ate the risotto balls that oozed with melted Parmesan and oregano as a starter and gently stirred the soup while discussing the next dish.
They blitzed the bread, olives, capers, garlic and Parmesan in the blender and then added the chunks of chicken and an egg to bind the mixture together. Once rolled into small balls, they placed them in the oven to cook.
As they watched the meatballs brown, they sat down at the table, to feast on the soup that was light and tangy.
“This soup is absolutely delicious Luigi!” cried Ella.
“It’s wonderful!” said Fergus.
“Justa wait ‘til you try the meataballs! Save some room ah?” Luigi set to work on the tomato sugo while Ella and Fergus enjoyed their soup and talked about Christmas traditions.
“Stockings at the end of the bed or hanging on the fireplace?” Fergus asked.
“Oh always at the fire place. We used to scramble down stairs at hourly intervals throughout the night to see if they had been filled!”
“Gosh I remember that excitement as a child. You said ‘we’, do you have siblings?”
“Yes I have one older brother, called Jimi.”
“Don’t tell me he’s named after another singer? Jimi Hendrix?” Fergus asked with a wry smile.
Ella chuckled. “Not that I know of. He was christened James, like my father.”
“Ah I see. So how do you spend your Christmas with your family? Do you go back to your parents house still?” he asked, tilting his bowl towards him to scoop out the last of the soup. Ella knew as soon as he asked that question that she would have to tell him that her parents had passed away. It was a conversation she dreaded having, not least because no one ever knew how to react to it but because it was just as painful to say it out loud now, as it was when it happened.
“I’m actually spending it with the Crosleys. My parents died in a car crash five years ago. Jimi’s away on business so I’m spending it with Libby.”
“Oh Ella, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that your parents had passed away.”
“It’s okay. Well obviously it’s not okay, it’s hard. But, well you learn to live with it,” she said, leaning back on her chair, becoming aware again of Luigi’s clattering of pans. “I try to focus on my memories of my mother and father and not of the pain of the past five years. I talk about them but I don’t really talk about it to anyone, anymore.”
Fergus understood that it must be a reference to the car crash and could see that Ella did not want to divulge any more on the matter. She looked fidgety, moving around restlessly in her chair. He squeezed her hand and tried to change the subject for her sake.
“So where is your brother for business then? What does he do?”
“He is a doctor and he has a medical convention in Prague,” she said, visibly relaxing. “He sent me some photos the other day. It looks so beautiful at this time of year.”
“Oh, I bet it must be with all the Christmas markets and the striking buildings topped with snow dusted spirals,” he replied.
“Mmm,” she nodded while taking a sip of her wine. “I’m so jealous they’ll have snow.”
“Me too. Wouldn’t it be lovely if the snow falling now settled and we had a White Christmas?”
“Oh I would adore it, just so long as it wasn’t so thick I couldn’t drive out to the Crosley’s in Kent.”
Luigi interrupted them with the arresting smell of bubbling tomato, crisped chicken and freshly chopped parsley.
“‘Ere you go. Youra last dish!” He placed the plate in the middle o
f the table, between the silvery candles that were burning brightly.
“Oh thank you so much!” Ella cried in excitement.
“My pleasure! Now I musta leave you to enjoy all ayour harda worka!”
Fergus and Ella got up to thank Luigi for such a pleasant evening and Fergus showed him to the door. When he came back to the table, Ella had poured them some more wine and raised her glass for a toast.
“Here’s to a magical week!”
“And, to a White Christmas!” he replied hopefully as they chinked glasses.
After they recovered from their feast, they set to work on the mulled wine. Fergus put on some music while Ella stirred the pot of stewing spices. They were a little tipsy as they maneuvered around the kitchen clearing up the mess they had created. They hummed along and moved lightly to the sweet sounds of Nat King Cole’s voice as he smoothly sung ‘The First Noël’. Ella tasted the mulled wine and deemed it ready. It was scrumptious, with the perfect balance of orange, cinnamon and cloves. She offered a spoonful to Fergus to try over the cooker. He took a sip and beamed.
“It’s divine,” he whispered as he stared into her eyes.
He turned off the hob, put his arms around Ella’s tiny waist and kissed her passionately as the King sang something about snow and mistletoe.
His hands moved over her hips, tickling her slightly through the silk material of her dress that clung to her skin. She ran her hands through his hair and they started walking backwards away from the cooker. They bumped into the island as they kissed with their eyes closed and stumbled through to the living room. Fergus took Ella’s hand and led her to bedroom.
Chapter Seven
Ella woke up with Fergus’ muscular arms wrapped around her body. She opened her eyes and saw his sleepy face staring back at her. The dark and cozy room smelt of pine and the fading scent of Fergus’ musty cologne.
“Good morning you,” he whispered.