Christmas Lights

by Amelia Andrews

  Millie sagged against the wall. “Out,” she replied with telling smirk.

  Claire made a big show of looking at her watch. “That was longer than a couple of glasses of wine at Juliet’s. And you’re looking… shall we say… dishevelled. Dish.”

  Millie quickly shook her head. “A lady never tells.”

  Claire made a pained whine and leaned against the wall. “But I’m so busy with work, I need to live my life vicariously through you. Please?”

  Millie took her winter clothes off and considered her options. Claire was her best friend, and it would be nice to share with someone else what had ended up being one of the best nights of her life. The connection she shared with Kay was electric. Sex to one side, Millie was excited to see her again and learn more about her. But the fact that it was Kay Nightingale was something she couldn’t simply overlook.

  It may nearly be Christmas, but there was no way that Claire’s festive spirit would forgive the fact that Millie was sleeping with her mortal enemy.

  “Please?” Claire repeated, looking as pathetic as she could with a deep pout.

  On the other hand, Millie might just explode if she didn’t tell someone about her night.

  “I had the best sex of my life,” she confessed.

  Claire’s eyes went wide. Her mouth briefly formed a shocked O before she screamed happily. She grabbed Millie’s hand and they started jumping up and down in the hallway.

  Millie couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Tell. Me. Everything,” Claire demanded in between hops. She stopped the jumping. “Wine, we need wine.”

  Millie followed her into the kitchen and waited while Claire grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge and two glasses from the counter. She poured two glasses and then rose hers in a toast.

  Millie lifted the glass and they chinked glasses.

  “To finally getting laid,” Claire said.

  “Oi,” Millie argued, not that she really had a leg to stand on. It had been a while.

  “Best sex of your life, eh?” Claire asked. She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  Millie slapped her upper arm. “Hey, don’t cheapen it. It was… special. I thought it was anyway. I’ve never clicked like that with someone before. I just, I can’t be with her without wanting to kiss her. And more.”

  Claire looked happy enough to burst. “You’re seeing her again soon?”

  Millie nodded. “Yeah, nothing set in stone yet. But I think she feels the same.” She sighed. “I hope she does.”

  “Of course she does. You’re Millie Yates, any woman would be lucky to have you in their life.”

  Millie appreciated Claire’s words, but as her best friend it was her job to say such things. Even if they weren’t entirely true.

  “We’re… really different,” Millie confessed. “I don’t know if it will go anywhere.”

  The grin slid from Claire’s face. “That bad?”

  Millie nodded. “I don’t want to name names, or go into it all yet. But, it’s going to be an uphill struggle. I’m going to try my hardest, because I think we have something.”

  “Damn right, don’t give in.” Claire sipped her wine. “I’m getting the hint that you don’t want to say who it is, but why do you think it will be so hard? Does your work have one of those ridiculous policies about people dating?”

  Millie quickly nodded her head. She didn’t like lying, but it was the quickest way to get Claire’s questioning mind a reasonable answer to satisfy it.

  Claire nodded knowingly. “Well, you’ll just have to be sneaky. I won’t tell anyone, obviously. You can sneak around and see how it goes. Maybe one of you will leave your job?”

  “Maybe.” Millie couldn’t see Kay leaving the council. And even if she did, that wouldn’t mean she would become instantly likeable to everyone who had previously despised her.

  “I… need to get out of these clothes,” Millie said.

  “Sure, I’m learning the Salsa,” Claire said. “Honestly, the extra features for Strictly this year are awesome. I’m going to Salsa everywhere I go this weekend. Watch out Tesco!”

  Millie laughed. “Okay, I’ll get changed and then I’ll see how you’re getting on. Give you some marks out of ten.”

  “I can already tell you, I’m a ten,” Claire said cheekily before heading back into the sitting room.

  Millie chuckled and went into her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and let out a deep breath. She hadn’t had a chance to process what on earth had taken place that evening.

  Sex in a car, a first for Millie. Sex in a hallway, another first. Kay had seemed as surprised as she was. It seemed that it was in neither of their personalities to just jump into bed… well, not into bed.

  Millie couldn’t wait to see her again. Of course, she wanted more mind-blowing sex, but she also wanted more than that. She wanted to learn more about Kay, to actually sit and talk and find out what made the woman tick.

  She sighed and hit her head gently against the door frame. What if things really took off and it blossomed into something more? How was she ever going to tell anyone that she was dating Kay Nightingale? Claire would hit the roof. She’d probably assume she had been brainwashed.

  If only Millie could do something to change public opinion and get people to see the caring side of Kay. That seemed like a huge uphill struggle.

  And getting Kay to change some of her policies was definitely off the table. Millie would never stoop so low as to ask Kay to change anything about herself just because they were in a relationship.

  She stood up straight and took a deep breath. No, they would just have to cross these bridges when they got to them.

  She got her phone out of her pocket and fired off a quick text message to Kay, thanking her for the amazing evening.

  She tossed her phone on the bed and sat down to undo her boots. She was looking forward to getting her pyjamas on, some fluffy socks, and enjoying the rest of the wine while watching Claire make a tit of herself.

  Her phone rumbled, indicating a text message had arrived. She snatched the device up.

  I also had a wonderful time. However, I understand fully if you want to end this before it goes too far.

  Millie read the text twice before she decided a reply needed to be verbal. There was too much at stake to risk a misread text. She dialled Kay and held the phone to her ear, nervously bouncing her knee up and down.

  “Hello?” Kay replied.

  “Why would I want to end this now?” Millie asked.

  “I… I wanted to give you an out. No hard feelings. That kind of thing.” Kay sounded unsure.

  “Why? What makes you think I’d want that?” Millie probed.

  Kay was silent for a few seconds.

  “Kay?” Millie pressed.

  “You didn’t want a lift home,” Kay finally explained. “I realised that it would be very hard for you to be seen with me. I don’t want to put you in an awkward situation. It could very well end up with you losing your friends.”

  Millie jumped to her feet and walked over to the window.

  “I’ll admit that my flatmate would probably raise an eyebrow,” Millie said softly. Privately, she thought it would be more than an eyebrow. It would be her voice. And hell. “So I want to just take it slowly so we can see what this is before I make any announcements to anyone. I meant what I said, I’m not a one night stand person. I want more, I don’t know if the thought of that scares you, but that’s the truth.”

  Kay sighed in relief. “It doesn’t scare me. Well, it does. Of course it does. This is a strange situation. But I’m not a one night stand person either. I… I would also like to see where this goes. I’m sorry, I’m just not very good at all of this.”

  Millie chuckled. “Neither am I. Hopefully we can work it out together? No more jumping to conclusions?”

  “No more jumping to conclusions,” Kay promised.

  “Good. Right, I have to go, I have sopping wet knickers that I have to replace. And I ha
ve a big glass of wine with my name on it. I’m celebrating, you see.”

  “Oh, yes?” Kay sounded teasing. “What are you celebrating?”

  “Some fucking amazing sex,” Millie replied.

  “What a coincidence, I’m enjoying a gin and tonic for the same reason,” Kay said. “Well, Miss Yates, I’ll let you go and sort out your knicker issue. Hopefully we can arrange something shortly?”

  “Definitely, I’ll call or text you,” Millie promised.

  “I’m looking forward to it. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” Millie whispered.

  She wanted nothing more than to be there. To kiss Kay softly on the cheek and hold her in her arms as they slept. She heard the vague sounds of a Salsa beat playing and footsteps thudding along in time.

  No, for now, this was her evening. Hopefully, in the future, she’d be able to have both Claire and Kay in her life.

  Chapter 27

  Kay laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. Sleep was alluding her, as she knew it would.

  She couldn’t get Millie out of her head. On paper, they shouldn’t work. But in person it was a completely different story.

  It was a strange sensation to say the least.

  If Kay was able to create her own perfect partner, they wouldn’t be Millie. They wouldn’t be anything like Millie. And yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about her. And she certainly hadn’t been able to keep her hands off of her either.

  The relief that had flooded through her when Millie had turned down her offer to finish things was palpable. Kay had kept her feeling purposefully guarded. Thinking for certain that there was no way that it could ever work out.

  But hearing Millie’s assurances that she wanted to try had opened the floodgates and allowed Kay to consider the possibility. Could they be together? Could it really work?

  Millie seemed to think so.

  Kay knew it wasn’t that simple, but she was satisfied to allow herself to daydream about it.

  She picked up her phone and saw that it was nearly three o’clock in the morning. Sleep wouldn’t be coming that night. In the darkness she hesitated to do something that she knew was a bad idea. But also something that she couldn’t help herself from doing.

  She unlocked her phone and accessed the Bromford Gazette website. Reading the comments on articles was a good barometer of how the town was feeling. It was also a relentless train of hatred pointed at her. She was like a moth to the flame, wanting to know what people said about her, even if she knew it would hurt.

  She scrolled through the most commented on story. As she suspected, the comments were cruel, and even violent in places. It was obvious that no one at the paper policed the comments section. People were left to run riot, say whatever they liked with no consequences.

  Online discussion at it’s finest.

  Politics had always been a largely thankless profession. But it was undoubtedly getting worse with every year that passed.

  The Internet allowed people to send their opinions at the touch of a couple of buttons, and worse, it allowed people with the same opinion to band together.

  If someone commented that she was an ugly old woman who needed a good seeing to, and someone else gave that comment a thumbs up… then the original poster was incentivised to post more often. And often to ramp up the vitriol.

  She knew she shouldn’t look. But she often did. Usually when she couldn’t sleep. When she was low, lonely, and weak.

  The comments only made her feel worse. Maybe that was the point. Was she punishing herself in some way?

  She lowered the phone, not willing to answer the question. She turned her head and looked at the empty pillow next to her. It had been a long time since someone’s head had laid there. Was she ready for someone new?

  Could Millie be that person or was she pushing too much responsibility onto young shoulders? Did they even want the same thing?

  Kay let out a long sigh. She pushed the covers to one side and stood up, shivering at the cold temperatures she found.

  She walked over to the thermostat and overrode the timer, letting the heating know that it was time to spring to life and chase away the night chill.

  A smile curled at her lips as she remembered the previous night with Millie. She had no idea what would come next, but there was a certain excitement in waiting to find out.

  As long as she managed to not get too emotionally invested in something that was probably doomed to failure.

  Chapter 28

  Millie got into work early the next morning. Mainly because sleep hadn’t come easy, and when it had it was filled with dreams of Kay. When she woke, she was exhausted.

  Her brain had churned over every single second of the evening before. The sex. The conversation. The pure, perfect skin. Everything.

  Rather than sleep an extra hour, and potentially get pulled into more dreams, she decided to get on with the day and go to work.

  The clock on the wall read eight o’clock and she wondered if it was a reasonable time to text Kay and ask to see her again. She’d wanted to do it at six o’clock that morning but considered that her chances of a yes were likely to be severely diminished by waking Kay at such an early hour.

  Unless Kay was an early riser? Millie had a lot to learn about Kay, she just hoped they could overcome their obstacles long enough to do so.

  She picked up her phone and sent a quick message asking if Kay wanted to have dinner that evening. She didn’t spend too long on it, worried that she’d delete and retype it over the course of the next hour if she did.

  The moment the text was sent, she laid her phone on the desk and let out a deep breath before starting to do some work. A few of her work colleagues were starting to arrive. The few who were already at their desks were using the early hour to read the news, check their email and social media, and generally do anything that wasn’t work related.

  They probably thought Millie was trying to score some points in her first week on the job. In reality, she needed the distraction. Anything other than her woefully boring spreadsheet was only going to have her thinking about the night before.

  Her phone beeped softly on the work setting she used. She snatched it up.

  I would love to, but I can’t tonight. I have a work dinner that I need to attend. I’m free Saturday afternoon, are you?

  Millie smiled. It was a decline but one quickly followed with another suggestion. That was positive. She quickly thought about her weekend diary and a smile crossed her face.

  I was supposed to be protesting the lack of a Christmas Tree at Town Hall on Saturday.

  She added a winking smiley to ensure her teasing came across in the way intended.

  A few moments passed and then Kay’s response arrived.

  Surely it would be a better use of your time to protest in person? I’ll even make lunch so we can both avoid the possibility of running into hungry protestors in town. What do you think?

  Millie chuckled softly.

  I’d like that. Both the protesting in person, and the lunch.

  They exchanged a couple more text messages and arranged for a time to meet. All the while, Millie felt the butterflies bouncing around her stomach. She had a second date with Kay Nightingale.

  “You look like the cat that got the cream,” Joanna said, tossing her bag under her desk and starting to peel off the heavy winter layers she wore.

  “Just making plans for the weekend,” Millie replied.

  Joanna grinned. “Looks like someone’s having a nice weekend.”

  “I intend to!” Millie said with a big smile. She turned back to her computer, indicating that she wan’t going to supply Joanna with any further gossip.

  She wasn’t one to kiss and tell but the bigger issue was accidentally admitting who she was kissing. She bit her lip and focused on the spreadsheet. She wasn’t quite sure how she managed to get herself into this situation, and she really wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to keep it a secret.

  All of that was
something she’d figure out later. Now, she wanted to daydream of just what Saturday would bring.

  Chapter 29

  The doorbell rang and Kay swallowed hard. She’d been eagerly anticipating lunch ever since it was put in the diary. But now it was here, she found her nerves jangled.

  She took a deep breath, looked at her reflection in the hallway mirror, and then opened the front door.

  Millie stood on the doorstep, a taxi driving off in the distance. She’d insisted on getting a taxi, even though Kay had offered twice to go and pick her up. Even offering to pick her up from a discreet location if Millie wished. Millie had declined the offers, saying she didn’t want to be a bother.

  Kay could understand her reluctance, but it still stung a little.

  The edge of that sting was rapidly disappearing now Millie was in front of her.

  “Hi,” Millie greeted with a wide smile.

  “Hi.” Kay licked her dry lips. She realised she was blocking the entry and stood to one side. “Come in, it’s freezing out there.”

  Millie entered the hallway and unbuttoned her coat.

  “It is, really getting some Christmassy weather now,” Millie said, almost gleeful.

  “You like the cold?” Kay took her coat and hung it up.

  “Not particularly, just like the idea of a white Christmas.”

  “You may get your wish. I see the weather reports are predicting snow soon.” Kay sighed. Snow was the enemy when you worked in public office. Snow needed to be cleared, and it needed to be done quickly. That meant the mobilisation of many people at a moment’s notice. Which meant cost.

  “You don’t like snow?” Millie asked, stuffing her gloves into the pockets of her hanging coat.

  “I don’t like the cost associated with snow,” Kay confessed. “Or the danger it brings. Road accidents, slip hazards, people struggling with the sudden cold snap. It’s not all sledging in the park.”