1
WINCHESTER CHRISTMAS MARKET, WINCHESTER, HAMPSHIRE, UK
‘Why does mulled wine taste so superior to wine that isn’t hot?’ Kat Jenkins smacked her lips together and gave an exaggerated eyeroll.
‘Because it’s freezing?’ Chloe Bellamy offered, stamping her Ugg-clad feet to will life into her soles.
‘No, it’s the cinnamon… meeting the cloves… and saying a big how do you do and Merry Christmas to the beautifully warm alcohol.’
Kat had said the sentence like she was on stage playing a part in her am-dram group and then she gurgle-giggled and Chloe noticed exactly how rosy her friend’s cheeks were. At least one of them had body parts that were warm. Because Winchester was freezing tonight, even amid these cosy-looking wooden huts all lit up with fairy lights beneath the magnificent cathedral. It was so cold Chloe was wearing Michael’s university scarf around her neck. She hadn’t even known it was still on the coat hooks until it had revealed itself, draped over the hood of her warmest padded jacket. What it was still doing there when it was almost nine months since its owner had departed carrying everything else he owned in a cardboard box/old suitcase combo, she didn’t really know. As soon as those test results had come in, two years together had disintegrated more rapidly than a potted Christmas fir on Boxing Day…
‘Aren’t you having any?’ Kat asked, mid-slurp.
She shook her head. ‘Not tonight.’
‘Oh, don’t be one of those pre-Christmas detoxers. I don’t get that at all. Deny yourself life’s greatest pleasures when they’re all around you, then go crazy from the twenty-fifth to some time before Valentine’s Day when self-loathing hits.’ She inhaled. ‘I say skip the self-loathing and never, ever skip anything that tastes so good you wouldn’t mind if you actually turned into it.’
And now Chloe was wondering what life would be like if she had to continue it as a sausage roll…
‘I can’t drink in case I get “the phone call” and have to drive,’ she said, eyes drifting to a chalet stall dishing out ladles full of delicious-smelling hot chocolate.
‘Honestly it feels like the whole “the phone call” scenario has been going on longer than the pregnancy. Actually, make that longer than an elephant’s pregnancy.’
‘Michelle is due on Christmas Day.’
‘How very nativity. Do John Lewis do little gift stockings of frankincense?’
Chloe shook her head. OK, it was far from ideal having spent the past eight months with a boss who went from caring to cataclysmic in 0.5 seconds such were her hormones, but Michelle was doing a brave thing, having a baby at forty-two. And, as tough as the situation was for Chloe to be part of, Michelle had been so good to her since she had joined the events company – Celebratey. She had done the smaller events right at the beginning – made actual cow-pat cakes with farm-loving five-year-olds, modelled balloons at the pro-bono gigs for goodwill mentions on socials – now she had risen quickly through the ranks to be Michelle’s go-to girl. Any moment now, maybe even like the King’s New Year’s Honours, Chloe was hopeful to get the fully-fledged ‘partner’ offer. It wasn’t like she had anything else to invest her money in right now.
‘I don’t know why you don’t like Michelle,’ Chloe said, stamping her boots a bit more.
‘You do know why I don’t like Michelle,’ Kat answered. She blew at her mulled wine.
‘Honestly, Kat, how can you hold a grudge about one tiny incident?’
‘She tipped guacamole on me!’
‘She didn’t tip it on you. It was an accident.’
‘She flicked her fork at me!’
‘She flicked it in the air! You know how animated she gets when she talks. It wasn’t deliberate.’
Kat huffed, breath visible. ‘I don’t know why I’m trying to get you to see my side of things. You’re Team Michelle no matter what.’
‘I’m not,’ Chloe said. ‘But, also I wasn’t under the impression that my friendships were in competition with each other.’
Kat whipped her head around. ‘Oh, so she’s your friend now, not just your boss?’
Was Michelle her friend as well as her boss? Well, it was difficult to have that kind of multifaceted relationship when someone had to be the authority figure, the one in charge. And Chloe didn’t really confide in Michelle like she confided in Kat. Michelle didn’t even know all the details of what had happened between her and Michael. In fact, Michelle didn’t knowanyof the details of what had happened between her and Michael. And, come to think of it, Michelle hadn’t actually ever asked…
Then it struck her. This wasn’t anything to do with Michelle. Kat was just in a mood. And Kat only behaved like this when a certain person was on her mind. ‘Kat, has your mother invited herself for Christmas Day?’
‘Oh my God! So now you think I’m hating on your friend, Michelle, because my mother has invited herself for Christmas Day!’ Kat exclaimed.
Chloe waited, watching Kat and briefly tuning out the carol music rising in the frosty air. A hard task when they were being accompanied by a very out of tune trumpet…
‘OK!’ Kat bellowed. ‘So my mother’s invited herself for Christmas Day!’
