“You have a place to live here.”
“Raphael Lewis. I also need to work. I have a part in Sleeping Beauty waiting for me.”
“Do you really want it? Does acting make you happy?”
“Of course.” I answer immediately.
He says nothing, just watches me and waits.
“I’m an actress.”
He says nothing
“I spent three years at the Guildhall training and the last ten years acting.”
He waits.
“It’s my career.”
“Don’t let the last ten years dictate the rest of your life. If I did that I’d be sitting at some party right now, stoned out of my head. It’s okay to change direction.”
“I’m not doing to jump from one career to the next.”
“Leonie,” he touches the tip of his nose to mine in an Eskimo kiss. “It’s a simple question. Are you happy?”
Now it’s my turn to pause. To be silent.
“What would I do if I didn’t act?”
He lifts his eyebrows in that expressive way of his. Only you can answer this, but think how exciting it might be to find out.”
I turn away and give him my back. “That’s you ruining your chance of a shag. You’re not getting lucky tonight.”
He wraps an arm around me and kisses the back of my neck. “I’ve already got lucky. Meeting you has been the best thing that happened to me in a long, long time.”
When I refuse to turn he says, “come on. Forgive me? I won’t talk about jobs anymore. Promise.”
I forgive him of course and he keeps his promise for the rest of the night.
In the morning, he comes back to the idea of hosting Christmas dinner. “It’s the last thing we’re able to do for them, so let’s do it! Make it a Christmas to remember. Invite everyone here, the Squad and the Kendric partners.”
“It’s twelve days till Christmas,” I say pulling on a forest green jumper. The roll neck is a bit tight and gets stuck around my head.
Raff come over and help pulling it down the right way and then combs my hair with his fingers. “See? Even your jumper is Christmasy.”
“Twelve days is too short to learn to cook a Christmas dinner. It’s a palaver in a week.
“No, it’s a partridge in a pear tree,” he says with a wicked grin
A little later, when he’s out of the shower, he says, “I know it’s not much time. Let’s make the best of it.”
He tips his head forward to rub it with a towel. God! How these little ordinary actions seem to special on him.
“Have you been thinking about this while shampooing your hair?”
“What better way to plan this together? It’ll give us a chance to spend every possible minute together.”
“Yes.” I agree, not realising what a bad idea this really is.
