A Christmas Kiss

by Anna Samuels

  Chapter 19

  Setting up

  I collected shells and chatted with Laurie before wandering up the beach leisurely back to my gallery. When I got there, I unlocked and set about laying out all my work attractively. I hung the last paintings on the final wall and sorted all the jewellery out onto a counter so it was organised and easy to access for customers.

  When I had done that, I set up my easel and art supplies next to the desk where the till was. I planned to try and work while I was open, creating more paintings and art. By five thirty, the art gallery was looking put together and almost finished with everything in its place and looking good.

  From that point onwards, I stood behind my easel painting. I was creating a sunset scene which I had witnessed as the light had dimmed. I had taken a picture with my mind was steadily recreating it.

  At ten past six, I heard voices nearby and my attention was diverted. As I looked out the window, I saw Alex and Jenny walking out towards the gallery. They headed my way and paused at the door.

  ‘Hey Ally,’ Alex said.

  ‘Hi Alex. Hello Jenny,’ I replied.

  ‘Hello,’ she said with a smile, but somehow it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

  ‘You’re welcome to come in,’ I told them.

  ‘Well we’re just heading out to a dinner,’ Alex murmured, sounding about as keen as she would be to roll around in rubbish.

  ‘Oh hang on, we have a few minutes. I’d like to see what she’s done with it,’ Jenny said turning to Alex.

  She? I thought to myself. I had a name! ‘You’re welcome to take a look.’

  They both stepped in and Jenny wandered around curiously.

  ‘You’ve got a lot done today!’ Alex commented, looking at the displays.

  ‘I have…it’s amazing what you can accomplish in a short amount of time!’

  ‘It sure is,’ she smiled.

  ‘What do you think?’ I asked Jenny, curious as to whether she would like what she saw.

  ‘Well it’s not the kind of thing that I would buy personally but I can see where you would fill a niche down here…sort of beach art chic…I think I understand it.’

  I stared at her for a moment, trying to absorb the insult along with a backhanded compliment. I found her rude but was too polite to say so. ‘Well, each to their own,’ I commented, less warmly this time.

  ‘Quite,’ she agreed. ‘Come on, Alex. We really must go now.’

  ‘Yeah…’ she said, turning to follow Jenny.

  ‘Bye Ally. Nice to see you,’ Jenny called, but without looking back.

  ‘Yeah, bye,’ I replied weakly.

  Alex looked back from behind Jenny, out of sight. ‘Sorry,’ she mouthed, and then aloud, ‘Bye Ally.’

  ‘Bye,’ I replied, but the wind had been taken out of my sails.

  I watched them go feeling slightly down. Why was Alex with a woman like that? Was she always that rude? Most of the things I had heard about Jenny to date where that she was hard work, full of herself and dominant in the relationship. Why would Alex allow her life to be ruled by a woman who treated her like that? She deserved better, I thought to myself. I felt unsettled and faintly annoyed so I packed up my things and headed home.

  Back at the house, I wandered around aimlessly for a while, tidying up and thinking about how I would start decorating when I had more time and money. Eventually I took a book into the bath and finally managed to feel a little more settled. I got lost in my book and then after dressing in warm pyjamas, climbed into bed. My dreams were haunted by Alex once more.

  The following morning, I headed down to the beach early. Having woken at 5am, I was up dressed and ready to leave by six.

  I drove down to the beach and parked in the empty car park. When I walked around to the gallery, it was drizzling with rain which kind of suited my mood. I felt slightly down and ever so slightly grumpy. Seeing as I was at my new gallery which was my pride and joy, the mood was even more surprising to me.

  I opened up the door and pulled the blinds open. I would ensure passers-by saw the signs for the big opening in a week.

  I stood at my easel and began work on the sunset I had started the day before. It was taking shape quickly as I worked the paint into a glorious scene. I lost myself in my painting and only looked up when I heard my name. It was Alex of course. I knew she would come at some point.

  ‘Hey Ally.’

  I looked up and gave her a small smile, even though my heart wasn’t in it. ‘Hey,’ I replied.

  ‘I uh…can I come in?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah, of course,’ I told her, somewhat reluctantly.

  I watched as Alex came in. She seemed uncharacteristically nervous and a little on edge too.

  ‘I’ve come to apologise,’ Alex murmured, looking at me under lowered lashes.

  ‘You don’t need to apologise,’ I told her quickly, thinking that if anyone should be saying sorry, it should be her rude girlfriend.

  ‘Well I’m going to nonetheless. Jenny was rude. As she won’t recognise that, or apologise herself, I’m saying it on her behalf.’

  I shrugged. ‘Okay…’

  ‘So all is okay?’ she asked hesitantly.

  ‘I won’t tell you it didn’t bother me, no…but I have no problem with you, Alex. I just…’ I trailed off.

  ‘What?’ she asked.

  ‘Well, I…’

  ‘Go on…you can say it.’

  ‘I…how do you live with that kind of person? Everything I’ve heard from you makes me wonder why you’re even with her!’

  Alex stared at me.

  ‘Not that it’s my place to say anything like that so ignore me…I was just thinking out loud. I apologise.’

  ‘No, it’s fine. It’s nothing my friends and family haven’t said to me before anyway…’

  ‘So why do you stay?’ I asked gently.

  ‘Because there wasn’t any reason to leave before,’ she said quietly.

  I met her eyes and in those moments of my heart beating rapidly in my chest, so much was thought but unsaid. The word ‘wasn’t’ said it all for me. She was telling me that before meeting me, there was no reason to even think about leaving the relationship.

  I almost stepped towards her, as her gaze drew me in so completely but fortuitously we were interrupted by a customer.

  ‘Excuse me? Are you open?’ the lady asked from the door.

  Alex and I turned and stepped away from each other in an instant and I tried to collect myself together. ‘I’m not officially open,’ I told her, ‘that’s on Saturday but you’re welcome to come in and browse!’

  ‘Oh lovely! Thank you dear!’

  I glanced at Alex who was headed towards the door. ‘I’ll uh, catch you later, Ally.’

  ‘Yeah…okay see you later,’ I replied a little awkwardly.

  Alex turned and left and I focused on the woman who was admiring my work. My heart still pumped a little erratically for a long time after Alex left.

  By early evening, my painting was done and after framing it, I added it to the wall which was unfinished and cleared up my art supplies. As I was leaving, Alex was locking up the gate.

  ‘You off?’ she called.

  ‘Yeah,’ I replied, walking her way as I was on my way to my car.

  ‘Do you fancy doing something tonight?’

  I stopped by the gate, surprised. ‘Doing something?’

  ‘Yeah…like a take-out or a film or something?’

  ‘I uh…what about Jenny?’ I asked, confused.

  ‘She’s got a work thing again,’ Alex told me.

  ‘She sure has a lot of work things!’ I commented.

  ‘I know…so what do you think?’

  I considered it for a moment. It probably wasn’t the best idea, I mused but before I could come up with an excuse, I was saying, ‘Yes, that sounds good.’

  ‘Great. I’ll follow you over to yours when I’ve finished locking up.’

  ‘Okay…see you soon,’ I agreed.<
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  As I drove home, I began to doubt that it was such a good idea to spend more time in Alex’s company. Try as I might though, I couldn’t seem to help myself. When she offered her time, all I wanted to do was say yes.

  I arrived home and let myself in. After turning on the lights and heating, I headed to the kitchen to make us some warm drinks. I was preparing hot chocolates for us when Alex arrived.

  I answered the door quickly and her presence quickly filled my home.

  ‘Come on in,’ I welcomed.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘I was just making us hot chocolate,’ I told her as we headed into the kitchen.

  ‘Ah perfect. I’m freezing. I reckon snow is on its way!’

  ‘Maybe…here,’ I said, setting a cup in front of her. As I placed it down, her hands reached for it and our hands accidently brushed together, making contact. Electricity shot through me instantly and my awareness of her went through the roof. I quickly pulled away and returned to my seat with my own drink. Sitting across from her, I found it hard to meet her eyes.

  ‘So, have you forgiven me?’ she asked softly, her voice low and husky.

  ‘Of course I have…there was nothing to forgive…’

  ‘Indirectly to blame...I’m just glad we’re still friends.’

  ‘Of course. So, where did you say Jenny is tonight?’ I asked curiously.

  ‘Oh some work dinner thing again apparently.’

  I frowned. ‘There’s lots of work dinners aren’t there?’ I questioned.

  She nodded. ‘Yeah…seems to be.’

  ‘Doesn’t it bother you?’ I asked.

  She shook her head.

  ‘How come? I reckon it would bother me if my partner was always out doing other things apart from being with me!’

  ‘Yeah…but then, I get to spend my time doing other things I like, don’t I? At least when she’s busy, I can do as I please.’

  I held my tongue but was thinking things which were none of my business. If I was an interfering type, I would have told her that she shouldn’t be with her if she felt like that. Instead, I stayed quiet. ‘So what shall we do tonight?’ I asked.

  Alex shrugged. ‘I don’t mind.’

  ‘You don’t mind?’

  ‘Nope…I just like your company. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing.’

  ‘Oh…well I had planned on moving furniture around this evening so anything aside from that will be more interesting,’ I grinned.

  ‘Moving furniture?’

  ‘Yeah…the lounge as it stands reminds me too much of Mum. I want to move things around a little and put my stamp on it. Reposition the sofas for example. That kind of thing.’

  ‘Oh I see. Well, let me help you!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘No way! You didn’t come over to be moving furniture around!’

  ‘Perhaps not but I like helping you and I’m strong so two of us will make it easier work.’

  ‘Well…okay…but you have to let me buy you take-out…’

  ‘Okay, deal,’ she smiled.

  ‘Great!’

  We finished our hot chocolate, ordered an Indian food home delivery and then went into the lounge. After explaining to Alex how I wanted it, we began shifting sofas, a coffee table and a bookcase. It was heavy, awkward work but by the time we were finished, it looked great.

  ‘That’s a lot better,’ Alex commented. ‘It gives you so much more space!’

  ‘It does, doesn’t it? I don’t like everything being cramped in one area. Now it looks and feels different.’

  ‘A job done well!’ she grinned and lifted her hand to high five me.

  I slapped her hand happily and tried to ignore the burning of my palm as I lowered my arm. The doorbell sounded and I collected our dinner. We ate hungrily at the kitchen table after working up an appetite moving the lounge around. When we were done, we sat down in the newly organised lounge to chat and watch television.

  ‘So when does the Christmas tree go up at the beach?’ I asked once we were settled.

  ‘We need to do it in the next few days. Everyone helps usually and it’s a bit of a nightmare as it’s awkward and always causes arguments. Once it’s up, and the lights are on, it’s lovely. It becomes very festive at the beach.’

  ‘It sounds lovely. I can almost picture it.’

  ‘Will you do anything Chrismassy in the gallery?’ she asked.

  ‘Well, I hadn’t thought of that but actually yes. I think that would be an excellent idea.’

  ‘I do too. People become very sentimental this time of year and it might be a good selling point if you had some things to sell which were for Christmas.’

  ‘Yeah…I’ll give it some thought,’ I said, mulling over the idea.

  She smiled at me. ‘So, have you relaxed into being home yet?’

  ‘No actually! It feels really unreal right now. I keep reminding myself I can relax tonight as I’m not going anywhere in the morning. Hopefully it will sink in next week and I’ll begin to enjoy it.’

  ‘Yeah…I’m sure you will,’ she smiled.

  ‘It’ll be lovely to see more of my sister’s kids on a regular basis. I’m babysitting on Tuesday night so that’ll be nice.’

  ‘You really seem fond of them,’ she commented.

  ‘Oh, I love them to bits,’ I told her. ‘I’d babysit anytime they wanted me to, just to have more time with them. I’m missing that part of adulthood, the enjoyment of having children and seeing them grow up. If Laurie is happy with me being a big part of their lives, then that is at least something…’

  Alex nodded, looking thoughtful but didn’t speak for a while.

  ‘Do you really think you’ll never explore that avenue?’ I asked curiously.

  She shrugged and looked away. ‘I don’t see how it would be possible, all things considered.’

  I wanted to ask her what ‘all things considered’ meant but I didn’t want to appear nosy either. I left it at that and flicked through the channels.

  ‘Ooh, ‘Dirty Dancing’ is on. Shall we watch it?’

  ‘Yeah! I love that film!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Absolute classic.’

  Alex grinned at me, ‘I think so,’ she murmured quietly.

  The film began and we both fell quiet, absorbed by the storyline of the film.

  I had been watching so intently that I didn’t notice Alex on the sofa across from me. When I did, I saw that she was asleep, her head slumped to one side awkwardly.

  I rose from my chair and headed across from her. ‘Alex?’ I said quietly.

  She didn’t as much as blink.

  ‘Alex?’ I tried again.

  When she didn’t react, I tried patting her arm gently, trying to wake her. It did nothing. She was well gone. I debated what to do but decided I should wake her as she was meant to go home to Jenny and I didn’t want her to get in trouble on my account.

  ‘Alex!’ I said more loudly, and put one hand on her cheek to rouse her.

  ‘Ally…’ she murmured dreamily.

  My heart was thumping more quickly as the intimacy of the situation dawned on me. I reached for her shoulder and shook it more forcefully, ensuring she woke this time. She blinked at me confused.

  ‘Ally?’

  ‘You fell asleep, Alex. You should get home. Jenny will be wondering where you’ve got to. It’s half eleven!’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ she yawned, ‘she’s not coming back tonight anyway. Can I just crash here tonight?’

  ‘Well, uh…yeah…sure. Come on, you don’t want to sleep here.’

  I led Alex upstairs and into the room I was sleeping in.

  ‘You can sleep here,’ I told her.

  ‘Thanks, Ally.’

  ‘Night Alex.’

  ‘Night Ally.’

  I shut the door behind me and headed for one of the other rooms which had a bed in. I made up the bed with bedding I found in the cupboard and then climbed in feeling tired. I fell asleep in no time, dreaming of the woman in the next room.<
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  The following morning, I awoke to the sound of unexpected movement in the house. I remembered quickly that Alex was staying over and clambered out of the spare, single bed immediately.

  I met Alex on the landing. ‘Morning,’ I said, feeling ever so slightly awkward.

  ‘Morning! Sorry about last night, I just couldn’t summon the energy to get myself home.’

  ‘It wasn’t a problem. I just hope you were comfy,’ I replied.

  ‘It was really comfy…you gave up your bed for me though, didn’t you?’ she asked.

  I frowned at her. ‘How did you know?’ The room wasn’t personalised whatsoever with anything of mine yet as I hadn’t unpacked anything.

  ‘The pillow,’ she told me.

  ‘The pillow?’ I asked confused.

  ‘It has your scent,’ she told me.

  ‘My scent?’ I asked, horrified. ‘Are you saying I stink?’

  Alex laughed aloud, genuinely amused. ‘No, Ally. You don’t stink,’ she said merrily. ‘You smell ever so slightly of strawberries,’ she told me.

  ‘Oh,’ I said, unsettled. ‘That’s my shampoo…’

  She smiled at me. ‘It’s nice.’

  ‘I just thought you needed to get to bed as you were tired…otherwise I would have made up the bed in the other room for you.’

  ‘Is that where you slept?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah…handy to have a spare room!’

  ‘I hope you were comfortable too.’

  ‘I was fine!’ I told her. ‘I slept like a log! Now, shall I make us some breakfast?’

  Alex glanced at her watch. ‘I’d better get down to the café actually and be there for opening, but how about you come down too and you I make you breakfast?’ she suggested.

  ‘Ah, now that sounds good! Full English?’ I asked.

  ‘The works,’ she promised.

  ‘I’m in then,’ I smiled. ‘Let me just get dressed.’

  ‘Yeah…I’ll get ready too.’

  Feeling happy, I went into the bedroom and prepared for the day.

  Chapter 20

  The Christmas tree

  Alex and I arrived at Hope Beach fifteen minutes later. There wasn’t another soul in sight and the sea was blissfully calm and tranquil. When I got out of my car, I spent a minute just looking at the still waters, revelling in my surroundings and enjoying the moment.