Christmas in Chamonix

  Lily frowned. Was Jamie being a wanker on purpose? Or did he just not realise how nobbish he sounded?

  ‘I’ve been so looking forward to skiing with you,’ Jamie said, looking dejected, and once again, Lily felt annoyed. Was she supposed to feel guilty for not being a better skier? She had done her very best since she had been here and quite frankly, she thought some good parallels on a fairly challenging blue run deserved a medal. Where was patient, encouraging Luc when she needed him?

  ‘I tell you what,’ Jamie said, squeezing her shoulder. ‘I’ll teach you to ski properly. I’ll get you doing parallel turns to die for. In a matter of minutes.’

  Lily shook her head. ‘I have to go at my own pace. I get too nervous otherwise.’ She could feel the horrible, cold, curling panic rearing up inside her again.

  ‘We’ll go super-slow,’ Jamie told her. ‘I promise.’ He demonstrated a perfect parallel. ‘See. It’s as easy as that! Copy me.’ He did another one. ‘Go on. I’m watching you.’

  Feeling edgy, Lily did her best. It felt OK, but she knew it wasn’t perfect.

  ‘No, not like that. You’re not watching. I’ll go again.’ Jamie did another turn, his skis flicking snow up.

  Lily gritted her teeth. She could feel her entire body tensing up again in just the way it shouldn’t. She felt as if she was leaning the wrong way and putting her weight on the wrong leg. She was and Jamie told her as much. In very critical terms.

  ‘I’m telling you how to do it,’ Jamie finished, looked irked. ‘I don’t get how your body is doing something different.’

  ‘Because you’ve been skiing for fifteen years and I’ve been doing it for five weeks. With a horrific fear of heights to battle as well!’

  Lily felt tearful on the slope for the first time since she had set off that day with Luc. She felt stupid and useless and as though she wasn’t going to be able to get down the mountain at all.

  ‘Oh well, looks like your knight in shining armour has just arrived,’ Jamie snapped.

  Lily turned and saw Luc skiing towards her. She couldn’t help but feel her spirits soar. He was her knight in shining armour. On the slopes, at any rate. And all of a sudden, Lily realised how incredible he was as an instructor and how patient. He hadn’t once made her feel stupid or inept.

  ‘How is the skiing?’ Luc asked, popping his goggles up.

  ‘Not great,’ Lily admitted. ‘I seem to have fallen apart again.’

  ‘I don’t know how you do it, mate,’ Jamie told Luc, looking exasperated. ‘I just can’t ski that slowly. And her parallels…’

  ‘Her parallels are excellent,’ Luc said smoothly. ‘When she is relaxed.’

  Lily could have kissed him. No, she really could have kissed him. He was an instructor, so it was his job to be patient and kind. But he had just defended her and she felt immeasurably grateful, especially after Jamie’s near-bullying style of teaching.

  ‘I can take over here if you like?’ Luc offered. ‘I have half an hour before my next private lesson. And you can go and get a really good ski in on your first day.’

  Jamie didn’t need telling twice. ‘Thanks, mate. I appreciate that. I’ll see you back at the hotel, Red.’

  Wordlessly, Lily watched Jamie ski away from them. Well, that was a side of him she hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t a pretty one, that was for sure.

  Luc had a strange expression on his face as he watched Jamie ski away at high speed, doing razor-sharp turns before disappearing from sight. ‘Right. Let’s get back to your parallels. If you remember, this is all about drawing that ski round and shifting your weight. See…’

  Lily copied Luc, feeling her breathing begin to regulate. This was better, this was how she felt good. They got to the bottom in good time, probably ten minutes or so.

  ‘Again?’ Luc asked.

  ‘Actually, I think I should go on my own,’ Lily said, knowing she was doing the right thing. ‘You were amazing rescuing me like that, but I have to be able to do this on my own. Right?’

  ‘Right. I’m impressed.’ Luc gave her a smile. ‘Good for you.’

  ‘See if you can find Jamie on the red runs or the blacks,’ Lily suggested innocently. ‘Out-ski him.’

  Luc laughed. ‘I’m due on a red for my lesson, anyway. And I’ll do my best if I see him. Just for you. Remember everything I have taught you and… have fun.’ He skied off and Lily took a deep breath. She was doing this blue run. Alone. She went up in the chair lift and she set off from the top without giving herself time to think. She worked on her turns, bringing her ski in to the other one, maintaining her balance, using her core. She wobbled, she fell, she resorted to the odd snow plough when it felt steep or fast. But she got down the blue run. Alone. And in pretty good time and in pretty good shape. The odd bruise here and there, but nothing lasting.

  At the bottom, she took her skis off and bumped into Imogen, who was standing in the outside section of the bar clutching an Aperol spritz.

  ‘Hey! I saw you come down that blue on your own. You go, girl!’ Imogen jumped about, no mean feat in her ski boots.

  ‘Don’t fall over,’ Lily laughed. ‘And give me a swig of that. I bloody need it.’ She took a huge gulp of Imogen’s drink and went inside to buy them another round.

  ‘So what’s the deal?’ Imogen asked, settling down at a table, plonking her helmet and gloves down next to her.

  ‘The deal?’

  ‘Luc or Jamie, Luc or Jamie?’ Imogen looked like a naughty schoolgirl, all excited about the prospect of a good man gossip.

  ‘Oh God. Stop it. It’s not as simple as that, is it?’ Lily got onto a stool with difficulty. ‘These bastard boots. I do hate them still.’

  ‘Sods, aren’t they?’ Imogen took a healthy swig of her orange-hued drink. ‘Why isn’t it as simple as that?’

  ‘Because Jamie is with Ivy and Luc is probably with Elodie.’

  ‘Well.’ Imogen took stock. ‘I don’t think Jamie is very happy with Ivy, do you? I think she’s all about her work and he’s a social butterfly who is impatient about everything.’

  ‘He certainly is about skiing,’ Lily said. She told Imogen what had happened on the blue run earlier.

  ‘Oh dear. What a wally. That’s not attractive.’

  ‘No. It’s not.’

  ‘So maybe it’s a one player game then!’ Imogen raised her glass. ‘Much easier.’

  ‘Well, that’s the issue, isn’t it?’ Lily said gloomily. ‘Is Luc just a player?’ She told Imogen what Elodie had said the other night.

  ‘Poppycock!’ Imogen spluttered. ‘That is such a pathetic attempt to get you to go off him.’

  ‘Why though?’ Lily wanted to know. ‘They must be an item. Or Elodie wants them to be.’

  ‘Well, that’s possible. But apart from that, I don’t see it. They are good friends, for sure. And Luc indulges her, but it’s like… it’s like he sees her as his little sister or something.’

  Lily narrowed her eyes. Was that it? Did Luc see Elodie as a replacement sister now that Anais had gone? Especially since Anais and Elodie were best friends?

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, Ims,’ Lily said, feeling tired all of a sudden. ‘Maybe it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to focus on doing this Christmas thing for Luc.’ Then she outlined her and Bernadette’s plan.

  ‘That sounds amazing. They do a lunch thing at the hotel on Christmas Day, I think, but the Devereuxs do their own thing Christmas Eve and Ollie wants to take me out to dinner that night. He’s booked somewhere already.’ She looked all heart-eyed and Lily couldn’t help laughing. Imogen never really fell in love, but this time, she clearly had.

  ‘Hang on. Isn’t that Luc bombing down that black run?’ Imogen said, squinting into the distance. ‘And is that…’

  ‘Jamie hot on his tail? Yes it is!’

  Lily watched them avidly. They were both excellent skiers, to be fair. Jamie was kamikaze in style, throwing himself down every twist and turn, whereas Luc was more precise – fast, elegant a
nd skilful. Though he was still demonstrating a huge amount of daring.

  ‘Jamie might beat him on speed,’ Imogen guessed, watching them. ‘But Luc is amazing! I’ve never actually seen him ski that way before. Wow. I mean, that!’ She stopped and gasped. ‘I would have stacked it doing that. And so would Ollie! He’s sensational!’

  Lily pulled a face at Imogen. ‘Easy tiger!’

  Imogen elbowed her. ‘Shut up, you silly moo. I don’t fancy him! I only have eyes for Ollie, you know that. But seeing Luc skiing like that… it is rather hot.’ She giggled.

  Lily grinned. She hadn’t seen Luc ski like that before either. He had always been taking it slowly with her and stopping in front of her. But watching him parallel at high speed like that was impressive to say the least. Not to mention as sexy as hell…

  Lily watched Luc weave down the steep mountain face, barely losing a beat, maintaining his poise and control throughout. The speed he was travelling at was breathtaking! And Jamie was hot on his heels.

  ‘My money’s on Jamie,’ Imogen stated enthusiastically.

  ‘Whaat? No way! I’m rooting for Luc all the way.’

  Imogen raised an eyebrow. ‘Of course you are! And so am I, deep down. But someone has to root for Jamie, don’t they?’ She winked.

  Their eyes went back to the slope and they watched avidly, feeling mounting excitement as the two guys zig-zagged down the treacherous run.

  ‘Luc’s ahead!’ Lily said breathlessly.

  ‘Hang on, Jamie’s catching up – now he’s ahead!’ Imogen was jumping around on her stool, almost falling off in her excitement. ‘This is brilliant, Lils! It’s like they’re having a duel over you!’

  Lily tutted, but felt an undeniable stab of pleasure at Imogen’s words. ‘Don’t be daft! They don’t even know we’re watching!’

  Imogen slapped her arm. ‘I know that, you silly woman. I mean they’re only doing this because of you.’

  Lily shook her head disbelievingly. ‘No, you’re wrong.’ This wasn’t about her! This was about boys pissing in the snow. As it were.

  Imogen sighed. ‘You’re so, so dumb when it comes to men, Lily. Listen. Why is Jamie here?’

  ‘He had a conference.’ Lily kept her eyes on the mountain. ‘Oh God, I thought Luc was going to fall!’

  ‘He organises the conferences,’ Imogen replied. ‘And he can host those anywhere. Come on, Lily.’

  ‘He loves skiing!’ Lily frowned and pointed to the mountain. ‘Where did they go?’

  Imogen squinted. ‘They might have gone off-piste for a bit, but they’d have to re-join it there. See? Anyway, Jamie could have gone anywhere for his conference. He’s here to see you.’

  ‘We’re friends,’ Lily protested.

  ‘You have loads of friends. Where are the rest of them? They’re not here visiting. Not even your sister.’

  Lily bit her lip. Imogen had a point, especially about Ivy. Why hadn’t Jamie said anything? If he had feelings of some kind, he’d have spoken up, wouldn’t he? She said as much to Imogen.

  Imogen shrugged. ‘It’s a tricky situation, hun. He’s dating your sister. I said it from the start – I think he picked the wrong sister. He assumed you weren’t interested and he moved on to Ivy. That’s my honest assessment and I haven’t deviated from it.’

  Lily cringed. It sounded horrible for Ivy. Lily hated the thought of Ivy being second best to anyone. She was worth far more than that, and Lily wasn’t convinced that Imogen was right on this front anyway.

  ‘And Luc. Luc is another reason Jamie is here.’ Imogen winked knowingly and helped herself to some savoury bar snacks they had been given, shovelling a handful into her mouth.

  ‘Now you are being silly.’

  ‘Trust me, I’m right about this. You told Jamie about Luc giving you skiing lessons. You’ve probably mentioned Luc far more than you realise, because that’s what people do when they like someone.’

  Lily felt herself blushing. Oh, this was all so embarrassing. She didn’t mention Luc a lot, did she?

  ‘Oh yes,’ Imogen nodded knowingly. ‘Yes, Lily. It’s like me. I talk about Ollie all the time. When I really don’t need to be talking about him. It’s a thing.’

  ‘Oh bloody hell…’ Lily felt about fifteen. This was mortifying. Had she really fallen that badly for Luc? She fancied him and she wasn’t going to deny that, but did she feel more for him than just basic… well, animal attraction?

  Imogen triumphantly brought out her trump card. ‘Anyway, for boys, this stuff is a red rag to a bull. They can’t bear someone else being your hero, because they want to be your hero.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have said he was my hero on the slopes earlier,’ Lily retorted. She combed out her helmet hair. ‘He just wanted to go and ski and me being so slow was annoying the hell out of him.’

  Imogen shovelled more snacks into her mouth. ‘Yes, he didn’t do himself any favours there, did he? He didn’t do the gentlemanly thing, but in his defence, skiing is such a bug. And he hasn’t skied in, what, three years, you said? It’s like a drug to some people.’

  ‘Yes, maybe.’ Lily wasn’t sure what to think. And this was all supposition on Imogen’s part. Jamie hadn’t said a word to her about having feelings – and neither had Luc. So this was probably all academic and nothing she needed to worry about. Jamie might not be happy with Ivy, but he hadn’t made any overtures to her. And with Luc, who knew? There was Elodie to think about, and again, no one had said anything to Lily, so she was going to disregard it.

  ‘Ooh! There they are.’

  Imogen pointed as two figures appeared from between the trees. Luc and Jamie! Neck and neck, matching each other parallel for parallel and, on occasion, just going straight down without any turns – which looked horrifically dangerous to Lily.

  ‘They’re going to kill themselves,’ she said worriedly to Imogen.

  ‘Who would you run to if they both fell?’ Imogen shot at her, pointing her finger for good measure. ‘Quick! No overthinking!’

  ‘Luc!’ Lily cried.

  ‘Ha!’ Imogen clapped her hands. ‘There you go!’

  Lily put her hands to her face. ‘Oh no! Poor Jamie. No, Jamie. Jamie definitely. He’s my friend and I’ve known him for much longer…’

  ‘You’re overthinking!’ Imogen sang. ‘Too late. You said Luc first. So that’s who you’d run to.’

  ‘Merde!’ Lily said, shocked at herself. Or was she? She and Luc had become very close, but every time they got close, Elodie popped up and stirred the pot somehow.

  Imogen cupped her hands, pretending to be a commentator. ‘And they’re coming down the black run at high speed – breakneck speed! They’re neck and neck and it’s not clear who the winner is going to be. Ooh and Jamie takes the lead but Luc has caught up again. Jamie is taking some serious risks, which might cost him dearly…’

  ‘Knobhead,’ Lily said, laughing.

  ‘And Jamie has cut Luc up.’ Imogen stopped and frowned. ‘Now that – was not good at all. That was actually bang out of order. Did you see that, Lily?’

  Lily’s nodded. ‘I did. Oh my God. Jamie.’

  Lily’s mouth fell open as she watched Luc pull up sharply. He almost fell and the slope was so steep, Lily was amazed that he managed to hold himself. She couldn’t believe Jamie had played dirty like that! How ungentlemanly. How unsporting! She watched Jamie carry on down the last of the slope, while Luc shook his head furiously. He took a moment and then he swiftly got himself going again.

  ‘Bloody hell!’ Imogen was agog. ‘That was terrible! He knew he was losing, so he did that. What a sore loser!’

  ‘Tell me about it!’ Lily was upset. She had known Jamie for years and she had never seen this side of him before. Or hang on. Had she? Lily remembered a time at school on Sport’s Day. Jamie had been on the relay team and he always ran number four. His team was losing and there was no way they could win. Then the person in the lane next to him had mysteriously fallen. It was very sudden, almost as though
he’d been pushed. Or tripped. And maybe there had been other incidents. There was something weird at Jamie’s work when he hadn’t got a promotion, but the person who did get it had left mysteriously.

  Looking back, Lily realised that she may have excused Jamie’s behaviour in the past. Because they were friends and none of it had ever mattered or affected Lily directly. Jamie had always relayed these incidents to her as though they were simply fun, inconsequential things that had happened.

  ‘All’s fair in love and war, eh?’ Imogen commented.

  ‘But it’s not, is it?’ Lily said, feeling her mood plummet. She felt idiotic. It wasn’t that she had changed – or even that Jamie had changed. It was that, for some reason, Lily had just started seeing Jamie for exactly who he was. Before that, she had been blind to his faults because they were such good mates and because the silly things he glossed over had always seemed, well, silly. But cutting Luc up the way he had didn’t seem silly. It seemed a little sinister, and it showed a streak to Jamie’s personality that Lily wasn’t that keen on.

  Jamie skied over to them, out of breath and looking victorious. ‘Did you see us? What a race!’

  Imogen gaped at him. ‘Yes, we saw you!’ She wasn’t going to let it pass. ‘You totally cut Luc up. So I’m not sure why you look so triumphant.’

  Jamie shrugged, not even having the grace to show remorse. ‘Well, there was an icy bit and I had to scoot round it. It was just unfortunate that he was in the way.’

  Lily stared at him and shook her head. God. He really was a numpty. He sounded like a child! A child who couldn’t get his own way, so he had employed a dirty tactic in order to get what he wanted.

  ‘Er, no, you were losing, so you played dirty,’ Imogen corrected. ‘That’s what happened, Jamie!’

  Luc was approaching them, and Lily had no idea what he was going to say or do. He stopped next to Jamie and removed his goggles. Imogen and Lily waited with bated breath.

  ‘Great race,’ Luc said finally, extending a hand.