Playboy On Her Christmas List

by Carol Marinelli

  It was such a backhanded compliment that Holly actually stopped in her tracks for a second, before sitting down on the bench and pulling out her make-up bag.

  ‘Thanks.’ Holly smiled, pretending she had missed the rather bitchy comment. Oh, she was in no mood for make-up but it was certainly needed! As well as that the steam, even from a very brief shower, had made her curly hair even more so.

  ‘Daniel’s waiting,’ Anna said rather pointedly as she turned from the mirror, all ready, just as Holly got her mascara out. ‘We don’t really have much time.’

  ‘Daniel can wait for five minutes,’ Holly answered. She hadn’t asked him to play taxi driver and, more to the point, she wouldn’t have minded the long wait for a taxi just to be able to get ready and allow for some time to jolt herself out of her morose mood. ‘Or you guys can go on without me and I’ll see you there.’

  ‘No need for that. I’ll go and wait with Daniel,’ Anna said.

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘I’ll see if I can persuade him to stay for a drink. After all, it is effectively his leaving do.’

  ‘It’s been Daniel’s leaving do since October,’ Holly said. There was a knot of disquiet in her stomach, though, at the thought she might not see him again but Anna merely shrugged.

  ‘Then I might just have to kiss him goodbye!’

  Holly, whether she liked Anna or not, was genuinely curious. ‘Doesn’t it bother you that he’ll be gone soon?’

  ‘Any one of us could be gone soon.’ Anna shrugged. ‘If working here doesn’t prove that, then I don’t know what will. I intend to enjoy every moment.’

  And Anna was off. Teetering out on skinny legs and high heels and leaving that thought hanging in the air as heavily as her perfume.

  Finally Holly had a moment alone.

  She leant her head against the wall and closed her eyes and thought not just of Nora and Paul but of her own parents.

  This time last year had been fraught, with Holly accompanying her mother to appointments and dashing to be there on her days off to offer support.

  Tomorrow, after she’d done some shopping, Holly would be back on the motorway and again headed for home.

  One year on it felt as if not much had changed. And in a year where there had been a rather marked absence of fun, in the latter months Daniel had somehow brightened her days.

  She was, very possibly, never going to see him again, and that wasn’t the reason for the sudden threat of tears, Holly told herself. No, it had been an emotional shift and it was coming to the end of a difficult year.

  That was why she was suddenly teary.

  It had nothing to do with lost opportunities.

  Had there even been any? Holly pondered as she sat there and thought back over their time. Yes, there had certainly been a few occasions where a little flirt could have maybe spilled into more.

  But to what end?

  Maybe she needed a more generous dose of Anna’s thinking instead of her usual caution where men were concerned.

  Or maybe, Holly conceded as she put on her coat and walked out of the changing room, she was just looking for an excuse to misbehave.

  She made her way through the department.

  There was Daniel looking all sexy in black jeans and a really thin jumper that almost looked silky and the fabric was so thin that she could see his nipples.

  Talk about Think Like a Man.

  ‘Are you coming after all?’ Holly asked, seeing that he looked dressed for, well, anything.

  ‘No. Why?’

  ‘Because you’ve changed.’

  ‘I’ve changed because I’m a locum,’ Daniel pointed out. ‘If I didn’t throw my scrubs in the linen skip at the end of my shift I’d have quite a collection at my flat by now from the various hospitals I’ve worked at.’

  As they walked past the nurses’ station he retrieved his Advent calendar. ‘Do you want yours?’ he said.

  ‘Yes.’ Holly said, and smiled at Gloria. ‘I don’t trust the night staff a bit.’

  She added it to her bag, which she would lock up with her coat at the pub.

  Really, she would far prefer to be on her way home than heading off to a party, especially one that Daniel wasn’t attending.

  They walked out of the hospital and towards his car. It was one of those cold, damp nights and Holly was glad she hadn’t made any attempt to tame her hair.

  So was Daniel.

  He was used to seeing it tied back and wrestling its way out of confinement, but now it fell in a dark cloud past her shoulders and some curls fell forward as she stopped for a moment and checked inside her bag.

  He had seen her out of uniform before—arriving at work in jeans—but he had never seen Holly dressed up before and he found himself wanting to know what she wore under that coat.

  They fell into step as they walked towards the car and it was Anna who asked the question that was on Holly’s mind.

  ‘When do you fly?’

  ‘I haven’t booked it yet,’ Daniel answered. ‘Probably next week.’

  ‘Where are you going first?’

  ‘Switzerland.’

  He aimed his keys at a black car, which lit up, and then everyone loaded their bags into the boot and then piled in, Laura and Holly in the back, Anna in the front, and suddenly Daniel knew that one of the reasons he wasn’t indulging in a little après ski right about now was Holly.

  Several hospitals had called, asking him to work, and the answer had been no. It was only when a shift had come up in the emergency department at The Primary that he had accepted a shift.

  And now, as everyone climbed into his car and Anna got in the front, it felt wrong—as if Holly should be the one in his front passenger seat.

  Holly felt the same.

  It was odd and it was with absolutely no reason, yet Holly found that she resented the way Anna had jumped in the front. Holly sat behind Anna and when Daniel turned his head to reverse out, for a moment their eyes met. Holly was tempted to wind down the window because it had suddenly become very warm in the car and the heater had barely gone on.

  Daniel moved the car out of the parking spot and then drove to the barrier and swiped his ID card. There he glanced in the rear-view mirror, not to check for traffic, more to see if her eyes were waiting.

  They were.

  All too often she averted her gaze, failing to complete what they started.

  Not tonight.

  Holly hoped it was dark enough that he couldn’t see she was blushing and then a car tooted behind them.

  ‘Daniel,’ Anna prompted, because although the barrier was up the car hadn’t moved.

  ‘Sorry,’ Daniel said. ‘I was miles away.’

  In bed with Holly!

  ‘Everyone’s asking about Paul,’ Laura said, going through the messages on her phone. ‘What do we say?’

  ‘As little as possible,’ Daniel suggested.

  They were on the main road now and he glanced back into the mirror but Holly was now looking out of the window, watching the world go by and lost in thoughts of her own,

  She liked Daniel far, far too much, Holly knew.

  There was nothing wrong with liking someone except she wasn’t wired like Anna. For Holly it would be foolish at best to get involved with a man who was days away from leaving the country.

  Except she already was.

  In her head Holly was already involved and yet she had not a single memory to draw from.

  Was it time to change that?

  ‘We’re here.’ Laura nudged her and Holly wiped the steamed-up window and looked out at the pub—a regular venue for Emergency dos. They often hired a room at the back and a lot of good times had been had there.

  ‘Come in for one,’ Anna said to Daniel, and Ho
lly felt her skin prickle because Anna could flirt for England and she was seriously flirting now.

  ‘I’m driving.’

  Holly’s eyes went to the mirror and again met his. Both of them knew that she would usually have looked away or been halfway out of the car by now.

  ‘Come on,’ Anna pushed, oblivious to the current coming from behind. ‘You might enjoy yourself.’

  ‘You know, I think I might,’ Daniel said.

  And so, instead of them climbing out, Daniel drove to the car park at the rear. It was packed but he found a space and soon they were all walking to the pub.

  All except Holly, who was still by the car and going through her bag.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Daniel asked her because since they’d left Emergency he had seen her go through her bag many times.

  ‘Compulsively checking that I’ve still got the envelope that Kay gave me.’ Holly said. ‘I have to pay the landlord...’

  They went in the main entrance and there was the lovely pub scent but mixed with the woody smell of a fire in the entrance, and Holly felt her cheeks go pink for no other reason than it was lovely and warm.

  The women all handed over their coats and their hands were all stamped so that they could get in and out of the function room. As Laura and Anna went through Holly asked where she should put the bar money.

  ‘You’ll need to see Desmond,’ she was told, and was pointed in the right direction. ‘He’s in the lounge bar.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Daniel offered, and Holly nodded.

  It had been well worth coming in, Daniel decided, for under Holly’s coat she was wearing a black velvet dress, or rather it was raven. As he walked behind her Daniel noted the deep blue hue shimmering on the curves of her hips. Holly’s legs were dressed in very sheer stockings and her heels were high, and as he moved forward to hold open the door, Daniel resisted placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her in.

  Holly already felt as if he had, for her spine felt warm and her bottom too big, just from the burn of his gaze.

  Desmond wasn’t there, but they waited at the bar while one of the staff tracked him down.

  It was a lovely old pub and there was a pine Christmas tree that was beautifully decorated and its scent filled the room.

  ‘Christmassy enough for you?’ Daniel asked.

  ‘It’s lovely.’ Holly smiled but it was a bit of a forced one.

  ‘Are you not in the mood for a party?’ Daniel said, toying with the idea of suggesting they skip it when Holly nodded.

  ‘I feel awful.’

  ‘He might be okay.’

  ‘No, I feel awful because...’ She shook her head.

  And then, for Daniel, something rather untoward happened—instead of wondering how quickly they could dispense with the small talk and get in the car and back to his, he actually wanted to hear what Holly had to say and then get back to the essentials.

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘No,’ Holly said, but then her guilty conscience demanded full disclosure. ‘You know Kay was saying how, when they were waiting outside the catheter lab, Nora’s daughter asked her what was for dinner...’

  Daniel laughed a black laugh, it was nothing he hadn’t seen with relatives.

  ‘I’m as bad,’ Holly said.

  ‘Why, did you demand that Nora feed you?’

  ‘No.’ Holly smiled but then it changed. ‘I almost asked Kay what would happen to the off duty for Christmas.’ It had worried at her all evening. ‘I mean, Paul’s lying there half-dead, and I’m stressing over the off duty.’

  ‘I’m quite sure Kay is.’

  ‘I doubt it,’ Holly sighed. ‘Nora and she are best friends.’

  ‘Off the record?’ Daniel said, and Holly nodded.

  ‘Kay’s words to me just before she headed off to the catheter lab, and I quote, “How the feck am I going to sort out the roster now?”’

  ‘Really?’ Holly laughed.

  ‘Really.’ Daniel nodded. ‘And I bet Nora, if Paul is now stable, is worrying about the million and one things that you women seem to worry about at this time of year.’

  ‘That’s very sexist.’

  ‘Just an observation.’

  ‘A wrong one.’

  ‘I can only go by what I’ve seen. My father never did a thing for Christmas, I aim to be far away from it...’ He thought for a moment. ‘My uncle leaves it all to my aunt...’

  Desmond came along then and he took the money and wrote out a receipt, which Holly put in her purse for Kay. ‘What can I get you?’ he offered. ‘On the house, before you go in to that mad lot.’

  Oh.

  ‘I’ll just have a soda water, thanks.’ Daniel said.

  ‘Well, he’s a cheap date.’ Desmond smiled at Holly. ‘What can I get you?’

  ‘I’d love a Scotch, please.’

  She really, really would.

  Holly wasn’t a big drinker at the best of times but a lovely Scotch felt about right and Daniel motioned to a table near an open fire and the tree and they took a seat there.

  ‘Maybe I am in the mood for Christmas after all.’ Holly smiled, sitting back in the chair and relaxing to the lovely crackle of the fire and inhaling the scent of her drink.

  ‘I want one,’ Daniel admitted.

  ‘Tough.’ Holly smiled and then took a sip, enjoying the burn of the liquor. ‘I don’t really like spirits but my dad loves Scotch so I always keep a bottle at home and every now and then I have one.’

  ‘Well, that’s good to know.’

  ‘What?’

  He smiled and she realised he was perhaps inviting himself to her home for a drink.

  Or had she been inviting him?

  Hmm.

  Holly still didn’t know where this might lead, but it was just so nice to be out in the real world with him and without buzzers and patients and others around. And it was definitely nice to squeeze in five minutes’ pause after work before they headed into the party.

  ‘Do you get on with your parents?’ he asked.

  ‘Very much so.’

  ‘They live...?’ Daniel frowned. He wasn’t sure, though he knew that it was some distance that she often travelled to get home.

  ‘Up north,’ Holly said, and then told him the village where her family lived.

  ‘So how come you’re in London?’

  ‘Because I get on so well with my family.’ Holly smiled. ‘I trained up there and it was all too easy to just live at home... I knew I needed a change.’

  ‘Yet you’re still home a lot?’

  ‘My mum hasn’t been very well.’ Holly said, and decided the night had already been grim enough without going further into it. ‘What about you? Are your family in London?’

  She didn’t know him at all, Daniel realised.

  Holly could have no idea just how refreshing that was. Even before he had started medicine there had been a constant stream of ‘Marcus Chandler’s son’. His father had been head boy at the boarding school Daniel had attended and his record was just as impressive at med school and beyond. Even Kay had made a few comments and had asked if he was any relation to the esteemed Professor Chandler.

  Holly had no idea as to that side of his life.

  ‘Yes.’ Daniel answered the question as to whether his family was in London very simply.

  ‘Do you get on?’

  ‘Nope,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because my father is an arrogant git,’ he said, and then looked at her Scotch. ‘Given that I’m on soda water tonight, I shan’t be sharing.’

  Holly laughed. ‘What about your mother?’

  ‘She’s dead.’

  Well, that wiped the s
mile from her face.

  ‘He married again. I’ve got a sister...’

  Daniel refused to call Maddie a half-sister.

  ‘Do you get on with her?’

  ‘I do when I see her. And that reminds me, I must get her a Christmas present before I head off.’

  Holly’s phone buzzed, indicating an incoming text, and she glanced down and saw that it was Anna, asking where they had disappeared to.

  ‘Has our absence been noted?’ Daniel asked.

  ‘It has.’

  The pleasant interlude was over but it had been nice, Holly thought as she drained her drink and then stood. It had been a tiny but very welcome pause before she pushed out a smile and faced the masses.

  He knew it was pointless suggesting that they didn’t go through.

  Holly took her Christmas party as seriously as her decorations.

  ‘Time to be positive...’ Holly said, though she didn’t really feel it. ‘It is Christmas and if ever there was a time for miracles...’

  ‘Please,’ Daniel scorned, pouring a bucket of iced water on that. ‘There’s no such thing as Christmas miracles.’

  ‘Are you always so negative?’ Holly asked as they headed towards the function room.

  ‘Always.’

  The doors swung open and there were a few shouts of ‘Holly!’ but there were a lot more shouts of Daniel’s name! Clearly a lot of women were very glad to see him.

  Anna, of course, leapt to his side and handed him an elaborate-looking cocktail.

  ‘I’m driving,’ he pointed out again.

  ‘It a virgin.’ Anna smiled. ‘I had it prepared just for you.’

  Oh, please. Holly thought she might spit at the suggestive tone, but she refused to be rattled by Anna. Instead, she put on her smile and chatted with friends.

  It was a difficult night. Everyone wanted first-hand information and Holly knew that wasn’t her place to give it. It was up to Nora what she wanted to share and for now Nora wanted upbeat and so that’s what Holly did her best to be, but by ten she was done.

  She looked over and Anna and Daniel were locked in conversation.

  Or rather Anna was conversing and Daniel was locked, given the slight eye roll that he gave her.