‘Doesn’t Bobby get embarrassed?’ Darcy asked.
‘I think she’s done it so often that it’s just part of the night now. And Bobby has been with the firm for years; it doesn’t seem to have affected him or his work.’
‘So I can feel free to get rolling drunk and dance on tables?’
As soon as she said it he noticed her cheeks flush, even in the limited light in the taxi. She turned to look out of the window and pointed out stores to him, the Flatiron Building, as they passed by. Tonight she was just a girl, he was just a guy, and the simplicity of it made him feel young, full of hope. His emotions had been all over the place lately but he felt as though they were finally getting back on track.
The cab took them past Madison Square Park, the Empire State Building, and when they crossed 34th Street he talked about the infamous Miracle on 34th Street movie he’d once watched with his niece and nephew.
Just before they hit 49th Street as it crossed Fifth Avenue, the traffic slowed and then came to a halt.
‘What’s happening?’ Darcy asked the cab driver, but he shrugged. He had no idea.
‘It’s only another ten minutes’ walk from here,’ said Myles. ‘We could just get out. Will you be OK?’ He eyed her sparkly heels and tried not to let his gaze follow her legs for too long.
‘I’ll be fine, let’s do it. We don’t want to be late and it hasn’t started snowing yet.’
Myles paid the cab fare and they crossed to the safety of the sidewalk. The air was freezing, but at least it wasn’t windy. Making a lady walk in heels was bad enough.
As they walked they chatted about Christmas parties of old. She’d been to a few where staff had been so drunk they hadn’t turned up to work the next day, she didn’t do hangovers much these days because of her early starts and crazy shifts, and he admitted the last time he’d had too much to drink at a work Christmas party he and a colleague had Sellotaped their legs together and insisted on doing a three-legged race.
‘It all ended in tears of course,’ he explained as they came to another intersection. ‘Mine mostly when we fell over and I cut my head open.’
‘You didn’t!’
As they waited for cars to slow and the sign to change so they could walk across, he pulled back the very front of his hair, leaning in close to her. ‘I had a few stitches but the scar is almost gone.’
When she touched her fingers to it, to get a better look, he drew in his breath. He hadn’t expected her touch and it threatened to send him giddy.
They crossed the street, avoiding the puddle where the tarmac dipped unevenly. He sneaked a sideways glance at his date for the night. She looked impossibly elegant in the classic black dress, which had a few ruffles on the skirt he’d noticed in the taxi. It was subtle detailing that you only saw if you were really looking and close enough. She held her silver bag against her body, crossing her other arm over either for security or because she was cold, and he made sure he didn’t march as fast as usual so she wouldn’t have to suffer sore feet for the rest of the evening.
‘I’m really excited about going to The Plaza,’ she admitted, almost coyly as though she shouldn’t be broadcasting the information.
‘Then in that case I hope tonight is everything you’re wishing for.’
Darcy’s hand rested against his arm as they approached the building that stretched across the corner with an impressive entrance, gold detailing and carpeted steps. ‘I’ve seen it a thousand times before, but it’s no less impressive.’
‘It surprises me that you haven’t been inside to check out the hotel part,’ Myles remarked. ‘You’re in the industry after all.’
‘When I was a little girl, my mum brought me here. We stood outside and I was amazed by the grandeur of the whole place. I can’t even remember much apart from the food court and the lobby, but I haven’t ever had a really good look around. Crazy isn’t it? It’s always the things on your doorstep that you see last. I met so many Londoners in my time over in your country and I think I’d seen more of England than they had. When you go somewhere as a tourist it’s totally different.’
‘Yes, I suppose it is. I guess I’m like that here. From the moment I arrived I’ve wanted to get the lay of the land, work out where everything is, get a feel for what it’s like to be a New Yorker. When I moved around England with work, I pretty much arrived, went to the office and didn’t think twice about the fact I was in a new city. England was my home so I didn’t think outside the square enough.’ He turned to her now as they stood aside to let others past as the impressive Plaza loomed in front of them. ‘It’s sad in a way, don’t you think?’
‘I suppose it is. We dream big and big usually means getting out there into the world, when sometimes what we need is right on our doorstep.’
The moment hovered between them and Myles wondered if Darcy was including him in the words she’d just shared.
‘Would you want to work anywhere like this?’ Myles wanted to know more about this girl. He wanted her to himself before they went inside. He wished they were going to an intimate restaurant to talk over a candlelit dinner, way into the small hours.
‘You know, I never really thought about it. Travel was on my mind for a long, long time and I always assumed it would eventually end with me taking a job with a big hotel chain. I think part of the reason I wasn’t overly interested in this place was because I knew it was the pinnacle of what I wanted to achieve. I needed to make something of myself before I so much as thought of approaching somewhere like this with a view to getting a job. Does that make sense?’
‘It does. I guess I never dreamed big at the start either, but pushed myself daily, did the grind and eventually landed better and better jobs. It makes total sense to me.’
‘Over the years I’ve begun to think about it more,’ Darcy went on. And if she was cold, she wasn’t showing it. She looked all lit up inside. ‘I’ve seen both sides, worked in small establishments and large and I’m beginning to see the difference. I think I have an affinity for the boutique hotels, the quieter side.’ Her eyes sparkled at the revelation. ‘The Inglenook Inn has really opened my mind to the possibility of having my own place one day.’
‘Here in New York?’
‘I’m not sure. I’m not quite ready to leave Manhattan yet, so who knows.’
She may not be shivering but he noticed she was tense. He hoped it was the cold rather than nerves at being with him. ‘Shall we go in?’ he suggested. ‘Are you ready for this?’
‘I’m ready.’
He took her hand. It was a decisive move and she held his gaze until they reached the steps just as white flakes began to tumble down once again from the sky.
Neither of them rushed to escape it. ‘Have you ever tasted snow?’ he asked.
‘What?’ She giggled. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Yeah.’ Holding her hand they both looked up at the sky, at the white flakes hurtling towards them in a rush but landing softly when they arrived.
‘I was always told not to as a kid,’ she said, ‘especially if it was yellow.’
His laughter echoed into the night as other people hurried past to get into the warmth of The Plaza. ‘That’s revolting. No, I mean like this.’ He tilted his head back and opened his mouth just enough to let a few flakes land and melt on his tongue. ‘Go on, try it.’
‘You’re mad. These people’ – she gestured around them – ‘will think we’re mad.’
‘Who cares what they think?’ He’d have to turn into a businessman in a few seconds and he just wanted a moment longer to be this man, outside, with a girl whose company was everything he could ever wish for.
Darcy tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Myles watched one flake land on her eyelashes, elegantly long with mascara, then another flake land on her tongue.
‘It’s weird,’ she laughed, reacting to the sensation.
He felt almost incapable of moving. Watching her in the simplicity of the moment, he realised just how taken he was
with Darcy Spencer.
But now, squeezing her hand and leading her inside, he knew he had to turn serious and try to put out of his mind the thoughts of what tonight could be in the long-term.
All he knew was that this was a start.
Chapter Seventeen
Darcy
The carpeted steps bordered with gold handrails leading up to the doors of The Plaza swarmed with people, some coming out of the iconic hotel, others going in. Doormen wore black uniforms, hats trimmed with the same gold that appeared above the entrance and on handles. Gold lamps stood tall to the side with a cluster of glowing round bulbs illuminating the front on a winter’s night.
Darcy was first in to a compartment in the revolving door and, her eyes wide with wonder, she couldn’t wait to see what was on the other side. In the foyer was a big round wooden table with the most exquisite floral arrangements sitting on top. Two enormous glass vases contained deep red lilies, other smaller displays held red daisies and the scent filled the area as crowds gathered for another evening in the city. An opulent chandelier hung from the ceiling and ornate panelling on the walls left you in no doubt as to the luxurious hotel you were in.
Myles took Darcy’s arm as they passed by the bar on their left and then a restaurant on their right, weaving their way through to get to their venue. Guests and visitors bustled inside the building, some on their way to the food court, others dressed up and heading in the opposite direction to go out in Manhattan, wafts of expensive perfume accompanying glitzy jewellery and colourful scarves. They followed signs with Myles’s company name on them and stepped into the lift that would whisk them up to the floor with the Grand Ballroom, and all the while Darcy thought she was going to have to pinch herself. It all felt too good to be true.
Once upstairs, Myles took her jacket and handed it to the hostess, who hung it in a cloakroom facility while Darcy headed in the direction of the ladies’ restroom. They hadn’t stood in the snow for long but she’d felt it land on her eyelashes and the last thing she wanted was to have panda eyes all evening. Truthfully she could’ve stood out there much longer. She hadn’t even been that cold. She’d been so warm in the taxi with the heating cranked up to an almost uncomfortable level, that out in the fresh air she’d been happy standing next to Myles, the temperature of the evening not at the forefront of her mind compared to the businessman she was getting to know on a deeper level.
Darcy checked her reflection. Her mascara was intact and her deep pink lip gloss shimmered beneath the lights. Her foundation gave a natural coverage and the earrings Myles had given her shone proudly from behind the waves of her hair. She fished in her silver clutch and applied a touch more gloss to make sure and spritzed a little of her favourite Chanel perfume, which she’d bought in a purse-size bottle especially for tonight. It was an extravagance, but she’d count it as an early Christmas treat because it wasn’t every day you came to a party like this.
Deep breath in and another out, she was ready to see Myles again. Outside the Grand Ballroom he was already in conflab with men in suits. Darcy was used to meeting new people so had no qualms joining them. She met Robert and Davina, colleagues of Myles’s, as well as their respective partners, she met Neil and his wife, and another man was introduced with his fiancée, neither of whom Myles had met before, and Darcy was ashamed to admit she forgot their names straight away.
‘You OK?’ Myles leaned closer to her and she could smell the familiar aftershave that had wafted in and out of the brownstone every day he’d been staying there.
She turned her attention back to him. ‘I have met people before you know.’
He smiled, his gaze flitting from her eyes to her lips, the promise of something else in his expression. ‘I’ll do my best to keep you company for as long as I can.’ He discreetly steered her away from the main crowd and into the ballroom, where he plucked two glasses of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter and handed one to her.
‘I know you’ll have to do the work talk, you told me that’s how your boss operates.’
‘You make it sound so covert.’
They stood at the entrance to the ballroom and Darcy looked around her at the glitz, the glamour, the very different world she was a part of tonight. A warm glow enveloped the room filled with round tables. Similar floral arrangements to those downstairs stood tall and proud in the centre of each table, with a candle to complete the look. The room was framed with archways, expensive-looking material acting as drapes in each section, a stage was set up for a band to play and low music welcomed guests inside. The men were impeccably dressed in their tuxedos, the women were glamorous, sophisticated, in flowing gowns or cocktail dresses and they all looked a natural part of the set-up. If Darcy thought about it too much she’d realise she wasn’t that at all, but, then again, maybe these women had just as many self-doubts tonight as she did. It wasn’t easy being somebody else’s plus one. You had to talk to their colleagues, make small talk with their wives or girlfriends, behave how you believed they wanted or expected you to.
‘I’ve been to a few parties in my time,’ said Myles, ‘but none has ever been quite so grand.’ He placed a hand in the small of her back as they moved past a couple of tables and into a space. ‘Or maybe they have, and being in a new city makes it all the more exciting.’
‘No, I agree. It’s this place.’ Her eyes took in the room again. ‘It’s something else.’
‘It most certainly is.’ He fiddled with his collar against his neck.
‘You seem uncomfortable.’
‘Something’s scratching me.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Now I’m getting flashbacks of how red your neck was that day.’ She couldn’t help the smile. ‘I swear I haven’t been putting itching powder in your bed.’
‘Don’t mention itching powder,’ he grimaced. ‘Oh no, now I’m scratching.’
‘Hold this.’ She handed him her glass of champagne with the faint trace of lip gloss on the rim if you looked closely enough. Darcy didn’t think she’d ever perfect the art of keeping lip gloss on all evening, especially not tonight when there was food and drink involved. ‘Let me see what’s going on.’ She stood on tiptoes and could just about make out a small piece of a plastic tag still on the neck of his shirt. ‘We need scissors.’
He scratched at it again. ‘I don’t carry those. I’m not sure it’d be acceptable.’
Darcy took her glass and then grabbed his free hand in hers. ‘Come with me.’ She had a quick word with a hostess who was passing by tables ensuring everything was just so, and left Myles talking to his boss while she waited for the hostess to bring her a pair of scissors. Implement in her hand, she surreptitiously nodded to Myles and he made his excuses before meeting her outside the ballroom.
Darcy led him away from the crowd into a small corridor. ‘We can’t have you facing your colleagues with a neck like the one you ended up with in London.’ When she laughed, he did too. She was glad they both could by now.
He stood facing the wall, holding both glasses again, and when her heels didn’t give her quite enough height to be able to pull down the back of the collar and snip as close to the material as she’d like, she stood on tiptoes. Her fingers made contact with his skin and she wasn’t sure but she thought he may have shivered a little. She snipped the plastic tag, announced it was all done, and he turned to face her, a glass in each hand.
‘Thank you.’ His eyes held hers.
‘You’re welcome.’ She couldn’t look away. She moved closer. She could feel the heat from his body, smell the crisply ironed shirt and its newness, she could see the smoothly shaven jaw with just a hint at where stubble would come through if he gave it permission. His eyes only left hers once to look lower, to her lips.
‘There you are, Myles.’ A jolly-looking fellow came along the corridor stifling any chemistry that was more than ready to erupt. ‘Let me introduce you to Harry.’ Another man followed behind.
The men shook hands, Myles introduced Darcy, an
d they all did a quick cover of the weather, the city, this amazing building and Darcy soon gathered this must be the new client Myles’s boss was so desperate to impress. As they walked back to the Grand Ballroom she wondered whether this was what it was like to be a corporate wife, always on the edge, never quite a part of it until you were invited in to the inner sanctum.
The evening’s preliminaries passed quickly and Darcy did her best to live up to what she believed Myles needed, talking to other wives and girlfriends, letting him use tonight for business as much as pleasure. She caught him looking over at her more than once and it made her insides flip over every time. She was filled with champagne, she’d absorbed the, at times, overwhelming, affluent atmosphere, and before she knew it they were seated, ready for a feast she had no doubt would be just as fancy as the rest of the affair.
Darcy was sitting opposite Myles and next to his colleague Geoff, who was a pleasant man. He seemed to be on the same wavelength and desperate to talk about anything other than work. ‘I’ve had to do that for the last hour,’ he told Darcy. ‘Please talk about anything else and give me a break before I have to do it all over again with a stomach full of food.’
‘It’s not that bad, surely?’ Darcy could see Myles relaxed in conversation with one of the wives.
‘I do it all day, every day, and our boss expects it tonight. I don’t know, call me old-fashioned, but a Christmas party should be about letting your hair down.’ He reached up and touched a distinctly receding hairline. ‘I don’t have much, but I still want to enjoy the end of the year when I’ve worked so hard.’
‘I think you’re right,’ Darcy admitted, and they started by talking about travel, a subject Darcy was more than comfortable with.
Their talk took them through the starters and on to the main course, with other people at the table joining in intermittently, and by the time they got to dessert and it was just the two of them talking again, Geoff said, ‘Now tell me, what do you do, Darcy?’
Snowflakes and Mistletoe at the Inglenook Inn Page 18
