Page 95 of I’m Dreaming of a New York Christmas

End the year on a high.

Sure, spending the evening with Ethan tomorrow would be the best possible way to end this trip. And even though we hadn’t made any definite plans for me to stay at his, I couldn’t imagine a scenario in which I’d be sleeping in a bathtub tomorrow tonight.

But returning to England afterwards, knowing I’d never see him again, could very well end up causing me to crash back down to rock bottom.

Chapter 21

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, I can’t watch you do this to yourself. Just give it to me.’

Anneka swiped my newly purchased cream blush from my stained fingers and fetched her make-up bag from the bathroom, where Mum was soaking in the tub. I’d been attempting to dab the product on my face as strategically as the make-up artist had done yesterday, but so far I’d only managed to make myself look like a haunted Victorian doll that had been languishing, unsold, in a British antiques centre for decades. Anneka returned, removing all traces of make-up from my face – and my fingers – with a disposable wipe before she got to work.

Mum had started to feel rough again this morning, to the extent that she didn’t have an appetite for a pre-show lunch after all. I’d spent some time at Corner Brew making the final edits to my client’s speech. The CEO had emailed me his feedback late yesterday – I’d never seen so many emojis in so few sentences before. I swapped places with Anneka after a few hours so she could have a wander, but now the time had come to get ready for the wedding – and for the Radio City Rockettes.

Ethan was fine about me missing the ceremony, saying it was probably for the best if I arrived once the formal bit was over with anyway.

Anneka spent the next ten minutes adding waves to my bob using a pair of curling tongs she’d extracted from her holdall like some kind of Mary Poppins magic trick. She then proceeded to apply fancy products to my face with various brushes, including a generous application of bronzer, which wasn’t something that my face had encountered before.

‘I don’t want to look like a completely different human, Anneka.’

‘You won’t. I’m just making your features pop a bit more.’

I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean, but I didn’t bother asking.

‘You know, I nearly re-trained as a make-up artist while you were at uni.’ Anneka said casually, still focusing intently on what felt like an endless application of bronzer.

‘I had no idea. What stopped you?’

‘Money, mainly. Lucky, really, as it turned out I much prefer working with dogs than with people.’

‘Ha. I also had no clue about the theatre school thing, by the way.’

Anneka’s brush stilled for a second, before resuming its sweeps. ‘It is what it is. And… I shouldn’t have brought it up.’

‘I’m glad you did, though. I feel like that’s the kind of thing people should know about their sisters.’

‘Well, now you know. Your nails are perfect, by the way,’ Anneka said quietly, staring intently at my eyes as she applied a generous coating of mascara although, somehow, not into them.

‘I asked them to match the lining of the jumpsuit.’

‘I can tell.’ Anneka slid the mascara wand back into its tube and screwed it in as she had a final appraisal of her work. ‘You’re all done!’

She spun me around to face the mirror as if we were in an episode of Queer Eye and I was a pillar of the community who was worthy of such care and attention. Against my instincts, I let out a small gasp. ‘Wow, I look…’

‘Beautiful,’ Anneka finished.

‘I was going to say “decent” but… thanks – I really love my hair wavy like this. I’ll go and show Mum.’

I stood up from the chair and began to climb over the bed towards the bathroom door.

‘Hey, before you do…’ Anneka rummaged around in her enormous make-up bag once more, and I swivelled to face her from the bed. Eventually, she removed a rectangular, hinged jewellery box.

‘Umm, so I was going to give you this on your wedding day as your “something new”, but obviously that, er, never happened. So, I thought I’d give it to you as an early New Year gift instead. Here.’

She handed me the box, which I opened with a frown – the only facial expression I could muster to reflect my surprise and confusion that she’d bought me any gift at all. Inside was a silver bracelet with five or six charms attached to it. It wasn’t something I’d have ever picked out for myself – I rarely wore jewellery – but I was grateful for the thought nonetheless.

‘Thank you, this is really generous of you.’

‘May I?’ she asked, reaching for the bracelet. I nodded and extended my arm so Anneka could more easily fasten the chain around my wrist. ‘I… made it myself.’