On Friday, I packed a bag with a change of clothes to take to Lone Fox. Tonight was pub night, and I secretly hoped Lew would ask me to stay at his place afterwards.
The more time I spent at Lone Fox, in Lewis’ apartment, or that lovely little office Maddie had set up for me—somethingthat still brought tears to my eyes when I thought about it—the less I wanted to return to the hovel my parents claimed was a cottage. If it hadn’t been for Mr Pickles, I might have stayed at the distillery indefinitely.
My parents still hadn’t decided if they were going to be home for Christmas, but since it was December and they hadn’t even made any travel arrangements, I already guessed they wouldn’t be home for the holidays.
I saw myself sitting at the table in the damp cottage with a sad frozen pizza and a single candle, singing a tearful and lonely Silent Night.
Okay, stop. Lew told you on your first day that he’d be spending Christmas with you. So what if they aren’t coming back?
“They didn’t bother with me for the last decade. Why the fuck does it surprise me that they don’t give a fuck now?” I asked my cat who just snoozed on. “Right? With Lew, it’ll be the best Christmas ever.” I sighed but Mr Pickles still ignored me.
Hogmanay was a bigger thing in Scotland, but I’d come to appreciate Christmas festivities. My Austrian ex had transformed our rental in Bali to a Christmas wonderland that looked like Santa's Village and a handful of elves lived in our house with two Christmas trees and every type of decoration you could imagine.
“Maybe we can get a tree, Mr Pickles.” I dropped my bag on the couch and imagined a beautifully decorated Christmas tree between the fireplace and the window. Lew and I would curl up on the couch, eat whatever he cooked for us, and then fuck our brains out. “It’s going to be the best night ever,” I told my sleeping tomcat.
I uploaded a post from my drafts, and remembered the friends-only list I’d made for Lew. I triple checked that I picked the right settings before I posted one of the pictures fromKirkmuir on it. It showed me straddling his hips while he wore his ridiculously hot crop top.
Let’s show him what he'll enjoy later tonight.
Maddie’s car had been a godsend. Lew still took me to the shops once or twice a week because he knew how much I struggled with shopping, but it was so nice not having to ask him for a ride all the time.
I parked it by the staff housing and ran into Ollie.
“Noah, hey.” My brother gazed at his phone. “Are you here for the pub night?”
“Yeah, I—” I broke off when I realised he wasn’t listening. “See you later?”
“Oh, yes. Sorry, I have to take this.” He waved at me, but his mind was already on the call he’d accepted.
Alright, yeah, lovely to see you too, brother dear.
“No, Arden, I won’t come to see you this weekend. I, no, this ….” Ollie’s voice trailed off as he wandered across the yard with his shoulders tense and his posture defeated.
What the hell is going on?
I made a mental note to talk to Lew about it.
The rest of the day passed in a haze. I dropped by the brewery to say “hi” to Lew and Perla, who barely greeted me before she asked how Mr Pickles was.
“I’ll see you at pub night later, okay?” I muttered and briefly squeezed his hand. I didn’t have to pretend with Perla.
“Yes, Puppy.” He leaned in. “And Gods, that picture you posted earlier?” Lew rumbled with pleasure and reciprocated the squeeze to my butt cheek. “You know you won’t get a lot of sleep tonight, right?”
His colleague snorted behind my back as I stalked back to the door with my face flaming in the heady air.
I locked myself away in my office and replied to comments and direct messages on Lone Fox’s ArgoS page.
One message caught my eye.
Louise Reid was Radio-Active’s morning voice and she wanted to do a feature on our Christmas market.
Fantastic!
I sent a screenshot of it to Maddie before taking my bag up to Lew’s apartment and getting changed.
The slow drizzle turned from rain to snow as I made my way across the yard.
Plenty of people were already crowded into the pub, and I pushed past them, craning my neck to spot Lew.
