Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

by Abby Clements

  She thought of the texts and calls from her mum that had gone unanswered for too long. It dawned on her that she’d allowed everything in her life to become more important than her own family.

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said. It was never too late, though, was it? An idea came to her, and she decided to go with it. ‘Listen, I’ve been thinking. Do you have any plans for New Year? Because if you don’t, I’d love to see it in with you.’

  Laurie and her mum talked for about twenty minutes while Clara and Andrea prepared dinner. Laurie told her about Skipley, the charity auction, the new recipes she’d tried out. She didn’t say anything about Patrick, and her mum didn’t mention anything about her own love life. But Laurie felt a new connection and an understanding between them. Her mum was living the vida … well, not that loca after all, by the sounds of things. She pictured her mum, streaks of grey in her brown hair now, and her petite figure a little rounder with each passing year. Yes, she’d had her troubles, but she’d always tried her best to be a good mother. Laurie thought back to the painful truth she knew, but had never shared. The house in west London where her dad had made his new life.

  ‘You’re going to Spain!’ Aunt Clara exclaimed, delighted to hear the news. ‘Well, don’t make another move until I’ve spoken to Liliana at the flight company. You know the deals she can get. Internet schminternet,’ Clara said. ‘Nothing can beat my friend Liliana Gomez.’

  Five minutes later, Clara was back. ‘Twenty-five pounds one way!’ she announced triumphantly as she stepped back into the room. ‘Ah, no need to thank your Auntie Clara,’ Clara said, coming to give Laurie another smothering hug.

  ‘Thank you, Aunt Clara,’ Laurie said.

  ‘You leave on Christmas Day, in the evening,’ Clara said, looking at what she’d noted down on a pad, ‘and you’ll come back on the tenth of January. Seeing as you say you don’t want to do anything for Christmas, you may as well take advantage of the cheap flights, eh? It’ll be a nice break for you, darling.’

  Laurie sat down for Aunt Clara’s famous paella. As she smiled and laughed and talked about what she would do when she got out to Spain, what she would eat, what the weather would be like, she felt excited about the trip. But a thought nagged at her conscience. After dinner, she would do it, she thought. There was one more phone call she had to make.

  CHAPTER 29

  Wednesday 20th December

  ‘Mills,’ Rachel said, knocking on her daughter’s bedroom door, ‘I’m just going downstairs to deliver the Christmas biscuits. Are you sure you won’t come too?’

  ‘I’m all right, Mum,’ Milly said, opening the door a crack. ‘See you in a bit.’

  Rachel stopped by Siobhan’s flat first, and knocked on the front door. She could hear giggling, music and voices, one of which sounded decidedly gruff and manly. So this must be the P.E. teacher Siobhan had been talking about, she realised. It was probably best not to interrupt. She left a package of biscuits on the doormat outside the flat with Siobhan’s card.

  Next she popped downstairs to the ground floor, to Lily’s. Zak, who had gone down there earlier, opened the door. He was beaming. ‘We got Lily’s family on Skype,’ he said.

  As Rachel stepped into the flat, she saw the kitchen table and counter tops were full of food and drink that Lily must have bought in for Christmas Day.

  ‘This way, Mum,’ Zak said, pulling Rachel’s hand and leading her through into the living room. Lily was leaning into her laptop, smiling and waving. ‘Hello, Rachel,’ she said, looking up, ‘come and see how wonderful this thing is. Meet my grandchildren – look, you can see their little faces!’ Rachel walked around and peeked over her shoulder to look at the screen. A boy and two girls’ faces were crowded into the screen and they were all talking over each other excitedly. Zak stood back from the screen, smiling proudly.

  ‘Oh,’ Lily said, looking away from the screen. ‘And Zak’s just told me the good news about your Bea!’ she said, smiling at Rachel. ‘What a Christmas present that is. You couldn’t ask for more, could you?’

  Rachel put a hand on Lily’s shoulder. ‘Thank you, Lily. Your support has meant the world to us.’

  Lily turned back to her grandchildren. Rachel passed her son the Christmas parcel she’d put together, not wanting to interrupt. ‘Will you give this to Lily when she’s finished?’ Zak peered through the cellophane at the festive treats inside. ‘Don’t worry,’ Rachel said, ‘I saved you some. Just come back upstairs when you’re done here.’

  Rachel looked down at the one remaining Christmas parcel in her hand. Saying goodbye to Zak and giving Lily a wave, she headed back out of the door. She walked up the stairs towards Jay’s flat. The last present was for him.

  ‘Bea’s woken up,’ Rachel said.

  ‘That’s amazing!’ Jay replied, a wide smile on his face. ‘Come in, sit down. Tell me everything. Let’s open these now and have some over coffee,’ Jay said, taking the biscuits into the kitchen.

  Rachel nodded. A few moments wouldn’t hurt. The treats made a gentle clattering sound as Jay put them on to a plate.

  ‘I’ve just been downstairs at Lily’s,’ Rachel said. ‘She’s been doing a lot of preparing for Christmas Day. Looks like you guys are going to have quite the feast in store.’

  Jay spooned ground coffee into a cafetière. ‘Oh yeah?’ he said. ‘I can’t wait.’

  The kettle boiled. ‘Just a shame that you guys can’t be there. You’ll be back at your house by then, won’t you?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘It looks like we might be.’ Rachel was only just starting to believe it.

  Jay’s mobile buzzed on the kitchen table. ‘Sorry, do you mind if I get this?’ he asked. Rachel nodded that it was fine and he picked up, stepping away and walking into the living room as he answered.

  Rachel went back to her coffee and gazed out of the kitchen window. Jay’s telephone conversation drifted through the doorway.

  ‘Actually, it’s funny you should ask that,’ she heard him say to the person at the other end. He walked back into the kitchen and looked directly at Rachel. ‘Because she’s here with me right now.’

  ‘Thanks for coming, Rach,’ Laurie said.

  The fact that she was there didn’t mean anything, Rachel thought to herself. She would give Laurie half an hour and that was it. She checked the clock on the wall. Five-thirty p.m. She’d be back at the flat by 7 p.m., in time to make Milly and Zak dinner.

  Perhaps this had been a bad idea. But when Jay told her that Laurie was back down south and desperate to meet up with her, it would have looked childish to say no. They’d arranged to meet at a pub in Clapham Old Town, one full of people just out of the office, winding down for the holiday with glasses of wine.

  An awkward silence hung over their own table. Laurie’s blouse was crinkled, her hair flicked up on one side, and she looked tired.

  ‘I came because I wanted to update you,’ Rachel said, her tone businesslike. ‘Bea’s woken up from her coma, she’s getting better. So you can have your flat back.’

  ‘That’s wonderful,’ Laurie said, putting her hand on her heart and smiling. ‘It must be a huge relief.’

  ‘Yes, it is,’ Rachel said. ‘It really is.’

  ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t honest at the time,’ Laurie said. ‘About, you know.’

  Rachel bristled – an apology wasn’t going to fix things this time.

  ‘Rach, I can’t stand this … this distance with you,’ Laurie said, looking her in the eye.

  ‘That’s not fair,’ Rachel said, finally snapping. ‘I’m allowed to be angry with you, Laurie. Give me that, at least. You lied to my face every day of our friendship.’

  ‘I didn’t,’ Laurie said, wounded. ‘I just didn’t tell you the whole truth, all the time.’

  Rachel thought of Aiden, pictured Laurie and him together, the image she hadn’t been able to push from her mind since finding the note. She’d thought she couldn’t face hearing the details, but not knowing them was even worse.


  ‘I have to know, Laurie. What happened with Aiden?’

  ‘What happened?’ Laurie said, furrowing her brow.

  ‘Yes. When you were together, for how long – whether it was while—’

  Laurie cut her off, shaking her head. ‘Nothing happened, Rach.’

  ‘Nothing?’ Rachel said, feeling numb.

  ‘Nothing,’ Laurie repeated.

  ‘But—’

  Laurie stepped in to explain herself. ‘But I still should have told you that I had a massive, crippling, cringeinducing crush on Aiden too,’ she said, wrinkling her nose before continuing. ‘It wasn’t fair to listen to you talk about him and pretend I was a disinterested party. Because the truth is, if he’d shown the remotest interest in me back then, I would have gone for it. Sisterhood or no sisterhood.’

  Rachel listened, but couldn’t join the dots. Yes, it was supremely weird to think of Laurie fancying Aiden. Even twenty years ago. But that wasn’t the story she’d been expecting. She was still waiting – for the Laurie-and-Aiden-together part.

  ‘So you were never,’ Rachel forced herself to ask, ‘you know …?’

  ‘What?’ Laurie asked.

  ‘You never, you know, kissed him …’ Rachel’s mind was racing. ‘Nothing ever happened?’

  Laurie shook her head rapidly. ‘Oh God, Rach, no. No way.’ She laughed, dismissing the thought with a wave of her hand. ‘I never stood a chance in hell. You know how it was for me at school –’ she pulled her face into an awkward, geeky expression, her teeth goofy, eyes crossed, and in spite of herself, Rachel smiled – ‘I was desperate to be accepted, liked. Aiden was nice to me. I carried on being a bit stalky for a while. I’d write him all these little notes about how much I loved him, sometimes as if we were really going out, then I’d hide them. I never actually had the guts to tell him. The letter you found must have been one of those. Eventually, Brandon – you remember Brandon, don’t you?’ Rachel remembered Aiden’s cocky, short-tempered friend from school. She had to admit she hadn’t shed a tear over leaving him behind in Bromley.

  ‘What a charmer he was,’ Laurie said, voice heavy with sarcasm. ‘He found the notes in my desk and told me straight away how pathetic and deluded I was. Ha. That it was you Aiden fancied. It hurt, but of course he was right – a couple of weeks later Aiden asked you out.’

  Rachel took in Laurie’s words. All the things that had run through her head, last night and on the way over here – none of them were real. Her marriage was still solid. Her oldest friend hadn’t betrayed her, or at least not in any way that really mattered. The tight ball of tension in Rachel’s stomach started, slowly, to release.

  ‘You two are meant for each other, Rach.’ Laurie smiled. ‘Aiden was devoted to you then, and I’m sure he is just as much now. You’re the one he’s always been in love with. I saw that the moment you got together. Aiden had made his choice; it hurt, but I understood. After a couple of weeks – OK, to be honest, after a few months –’ she laughed, wryly – ‘I stopped obsessing about him and moved on.’ The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. ‘And on … and on.’ Rachel smiled back. In the Upper Sixth Laurie had blossomed physically and hadn’t held back in enjoying the attention, working her way through the best-looking guys in their year. ‘But I still wanted so badly to be you.’

  Rachel looked at her friend in disbelief, ‘Really?’ she asked. Rachel had never been anything special. She hadn’t been to college, had a career. Not like Laurie – independent, go-getting, glamorous Laurie. Rachel paused for a moment. Rachel might not be Laurie, but she’d achieved a few things in the past month, hadn’t she? She thought back to Lily’s flat, the redecoration she’d helped to do – she’d enjoyed every minute of it, and the end result looked really good. Maybe she could do something for herself after all. Diana had always had faith in her abilities. But until now, she hadn’t believed in them herself. She realised that she wasn’t Laurie’s less successful opposite – she was a strong and capable woman ready to start her own working life.

  ‘Forgive me?’ Laurie asked, hopefully.

  Rachel took Laurie’s hand across the table and held it. ‘If you’ll forgive me, for doubting you.’

  Laurie squeezed her hand gently and smiled. ‘Well, thank God for that,’ she said, ‘because there’s something else I need to talk to you about. And we’re going to need some wine for this one, believe me. It’s about Milly.’

  Rachel flagged down a black cab on the high street, near to Clapham Common. She gave the driver the address of Laurie’s flat and climbed inside. She’d said goodbye to Laurie at the tube, and the two of them had hugged. What Laurie had told her about Milly had come as an enormous shock, but with Laurie’s support and advice she felt strong enough to try and deal with the situation. Everything else had been forgotten as the two of them focused on what mattered most – making sure that Milly was OK, and that she didn’t get hurt.

  The taxi made slow progress down Clapham High Street, braking as Christmas shoppers dashed out into the road, hurrying over to M&S for festive booze and food. Rachel willed the road to clear. The short journey dragged, and the meter clicked up – but Rachel couldn’t care less about the money. All she cared about was getting back to Milly, and talking to her.

  When she got back, she went straight to Milly’s room.

  ‘Milly,’ she whispered. Then, hearing her daughter’s ‘Yes’, pulled the door open.

  Milly was lying on the bed in a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a white T-shirt, her head buried in one of Laurie’s Vogue magazines.

  ‘Love,’ Rachel said, ‘have you got a minute?’

  ‘Hi, Mum,’ she said. ‘Sure. What’s up?’

  Rachel took a seat on the edge of the bed.

  ‘Is it about Granny?’

  ‘No,’ Rachel said, taking off her boots, ‘nothing like that. Your granny’s recovering well.’

  ‘OK,’ Milly said, sitting up cross-legged on the bed. ‘Good.’

  ‘I went to see Laurie.’

  ‘Did you? But – how come …’ Milly said. ‘If she’s down here … how come we’re not …’

  ‘She’s staying with her aunt for a few days, while we wait for Granny to get completely better.’

  ‘OK,’ Milly shrugged. ‘Weird that we’re still here, but whatever.’

  ‘Milly,’ Rachel said, taking a breath. ‘I know it’s not been an easy time, and me and your dad have been caught up worrying about Granny.’ Rachel thought back on the times Milly had seemed withdrawn, or even upset, and Rachel had just let her go to her room. ‘Is there anything that you want to talk about, Mills?’

  ‘No,’ Milly said, closing the magazine and putting it down on the carpet.

  ‘Are you sure? I’m not just talking about here in London. Is there anything back home—’

  ‘Mum,’ Milly snapped. ‘I’m fifteen. I’m not a kid any more.’ She gave her mother a glare. ‘I don’t have to tell you everything.’

  ‘Mills, I don’t want to pry. But I want to help you, if anything’s going on.’ Rachel saw that her daughter’s eyes were watery with tears. But Milly seemed determined not to say a word.

  ‘Milly – who were the balloons really from?’ Rachel asked gently, pointing to the wilting metallic cluster in the corner of the room.

  ‘Why are you hassling me again?’ Milly said, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them up towards her.

  ‘Because I care about you. And so does your dad,’ Rachel said, putting a hand on Milly’s arm and looking her in the eye.

  A flush rose in Milly’s cheeks. ‘OK. They’re from a guy. From home. Who likes me.’

  Rachel braced herself. She needed to go on, but she didn’t want to push Milly away.

  ‘And do you like him?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Milly said, looking down. ‘I thought I did. But now I’m not sure. I’ve only met him once.’

  ‘Milly, this guy,’ Rachel said. ‘He’s quite a bit older, isn’t he? I don’t think�
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  ‘How …’ Milly said, her cheeks flaring red. ‘How do you know that? Have you been snooping in my things?’

  ‘No,’ Rachel said, ‘I would never do that.’ She tried desperately to back-pedal. She couldn’t risk Milly shutting down. ‘It’s just I’ve heard—’

  ‘What business is it of yours …’ Milly started, then tears began to spill over her bottom lids. ‘What do you mean? What have you heard? What did Laurie tell you?’

  ‘I need to know,’ Rachel said, trying to stay calm. ‘Are you planning on seeing him again?’

  Milly’s voice trembled. ‘I don’t know. I mean I liked him when I met him,’ she said. ‘He seemed nice. But now – I don’t know. There’s something weird about him. He’s been really pushy about meeting up. Kate and Emma told me he’s been asking them stuff about me. It’s started to freak me out. I think I might have made a big mistake,’ Milly said, biting her lip.

  ‘It’s OK, darling,’ Rachel said. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong.’ She put her arm around Milly as her daughter’s tears started to fall.

  Milly deserved to know the full story, Rachel decided, and so when Milly had calmed down Rachel told her what had happened with Laurie.

  Milly’s jaw dropped. ‘The total, utter …’ she started, indignation taking the place of her tears.

  ‘Obviously Laurie had no idea he’d been in contact with you. But then she saw a text from you on his phone.’

  ‘God, that’s so out of order,’ Milly said, her face colouring. ‘It’s embarrassing. What a freak.’

  ‘I agree,’ Rachel said. ‘But Mills, I’m confused. The thing I’m wondering is what was a smart girl like you doing with a guy that much older in the first place?’

  Milly shrugged. ‘He didn’t tell me his age.’

  ‘But you met him in the pub, apparently? When have you even been to the pub?’

  ‘I went with Kate, once, before we came here. Look, I told you. I’m bored in Skipley. There’s nothing to do there – and now I’m at my new school I don’t even get to see Kate unless we go out. I met this guy and he offered to drive me to places, I thought maybe I could go somewhere outside the mind-numbingly dull village we have to call home.’