Page 31 of I’ll Be Home for Christmas

A new film was out. She wasn’t entirely sure that Jumanji was her kind of movie, but it was starting to rain, and her feet were getting sore from all the walking. A quiet sit in a movie theatre with an ice-cold can of fizzy drink and a bucket of popcorn sounded perfect. She bought herself a ticket for the film as well as refreshments and made her way into the darkened theatre. The lights were already down but she could just about make out the rows. It was packed and she had to murmur her apologies for squeezing past people who had to stand up just as the trailers were getting into full swing.

She sat down and slotted her drink into the holder while she kept the popcorn in the crook of her arm.

The film eventually started and she was so engrossed by the plot that she didn’t realise a little hand was sneaking into the popcorn bucket along with hers until her fingers touched someone else’s.

‘I’m so sorry.’ A male voice came from the other side of the popcorn thief who couldn’t have been more than about four or five years old. ‘Luke, what are you doing, stealing this lady’s popcorn?’

Chrissie giggled. ‘Hey, it’s a huge bucket. I don’t think I can manage it all by myself.’

‘His hands are clean, if that helps,’ came the voice, quieter now as a person behind tutted.

For the rest of the movie they quietened down and it was only when they filed out of the theatre and the little boy, Luke, stayed close to her side that she turned to see that the man who was with him was strikingly handsome, with close-shaved hair in what she would call a buzz cut, a strong jaw, and deep brown eyes. He was tall as well and obviously strong, given how easy it was for him to swing Luke up into his arms when the boy started to drag his feet and complain.

‘What do you say to the kind lady, Luke?’ the man said to the boy.

‘Thank you, kind lady.’

‘I’m Chrissie, and it’s quite all right.’

The man, who looked a bit too young to be a dad, kept Luke in his arms but outstretched a hand that dwarfed Chrissie’s. ‘I’m Anthony.’

‘Nice to meet you.’ The warmth from his hand lingered long after he’d taken it back. ‘How old is he?’ she asked when Luke buried a tired head against Anthony’s neck.

‘You’ve just turned four, haven’t you, mate?’

The little boy nodded.

‘His mum and dad put on a very big party for him last week, with a bouncy castle, which, not to boast or anything, I bounced the highest on.’

It was obviously a teasing joke between them because Luke instantly perked up. ‘You did not! I got the highest, higher than even you.’

Anthony laughed. ‘He’s right. I’d had too much food to want to shake that all up.’

As they passed through the foyer and outside into the daylight once more, she found out that Luke was not related to Anthony, but rather the son of his best friend, and Anthony was giving the friend and his wife a much-needed break because they also had a two-year-old and a newborn at home.

As they walked together after concluding they were heading in a similar direction, Luke slipped one hand into Anthony’s and his other into Chrissie’s.

Chrissie looked across at Anthony. ‘He’s not shy, is he?’

‘Not at all.’

Luke seemed to have his energy back and wouldn’t stop talking. He told her about his brother and his sister, and about the movie and whether you could really play a game like that in real life.

When they reached the Tube station where they would part ways, Anthony once again scooped Luke up, this time in a piggyback. ‘It was great to meet you, Chrissie.’

‘Good to meet you too. And you, Luke.’ She lingered, unsure whether Anthony was going to say anything else. When he didn’t, she gave a little wave and turned to go through the ticket barrier.

‘Chrissie,’ Anthony called before she was out of sight. When she turned and dodged passengers coming through to hurry towards their train, he called over, ‘There’s a good café in St James’s Park.’ He waited until she walked up closer to the ticket barrier again. ‘I’m a bit more shy than Luke here, but would you like to meet me tomorrow? We could walk around the park with a coffee, or tea, or whatever.’

She didn’t know this man. But she really wanted to. ‘Can we make it two o’clock? My sister goes to work then so I’ll be on my own.’

He beamed. ‘2 p.m. it is then.’

And she turned before he saw her crazy, besotted smile. They’d exchanged barely a few sentences, but her heart was aflutter.

She kept Anthony a secret that night and the next morning. The new man in her life was something to treasure just for herself. The Meg of a few years ago would’ve been excited, curious, to hear her news, but Chrissie wasn’t so sure what this Meg, who seemed on edge, would say.

Chrissie met Anthony at the café the next day. They ate cake, drank tea, and enjoyed a cool but sunny summer day walking hand in hand around the park. The connection was there – Chrissie had felt it – and there was never a pause in their conversation. They talked about all sorts and when he told her he was in the RAF she’d been able to relate to some of what he was saying, given her dad had been in the forces too. They talked about family life, expectations, relationships, all the things you’d never expect to come up on a first date. And when he kissed her for the first time, she didn’t want to let him go. They sneaked behind a tree, kissed some more, until her head was spinning. And he kissed her again when he walked her back to her sister’s flat so late that Meg was already off work and peering out of the window. She even knocked on the glass.