Was my icy heart thawing?!
Molly. Get a grip.
I tutted at myself and pulled out my phone. Time to stop getting sucked in by all this fake Christmas romance. It was as artificial as those mechanical robins. And I had a booking form to fill in. But as I waited for a signal, I found myself looking back up.
Two old women smooshing their faces together, making a heart with their hands, a dribbly boxer dog staring up at them. Cute.
Molly, NO!
Life isn’t like the movies.
Life is a guy telling you they love you and then seeing him snogging someone else on Stories. And taking a girl on a date on your year anniversary.
Life is meeting someone who makes you laugh, who sends funny messages, but they have a girlfriend and so there’s no point even thinking about it.
Because what life really is … is being a Jingle Lady with your best friend, Grace.
Yes. That was more like it.
Molly Bell wasn’t a melting heart-shaped snowball – I was a piece of Christmas coal.
Phew.
But that’s when I heard a crunch of footsteps.
“Room for one more?”
CHAPTER
9
If there was one person I didn’t want to see right now, it was him. Well, Simon, and then him. And maybe Mr Phillips, my geography teacher, as I still hadn’t finished my end of term assignment and he was starting not to believe me that there was a nationwide printer ink shortage.
“What are you doing here?” I spluttered so hard, some chewed-up Lebkuchen dislodged out of my tooth. I wasn’t expecting to see Ru ever again. Let alone on a fake London street in Liverpool. And I hadn’t replied to his messages?! Whyyyyy?! Being guilty over phone was fine, but irl I felt baaaad.
Mustn’t panic. Maybe we could both pretend the messages had never happened? Maybe we could both pretend I still wasn’t glowing bright pink. Still, better than green.
“I could ask you the same thing.” He raised an eyebrow, and shuffled his feet in the fake snow. “Not that you’d reply…”
Great. We were going there.
What did I have? Broken phone? Nope, it was literally not-broken and in my hand.
“Ah … about that.” I paused. “My phone’s been, er, playing up.”
I tapped it, giving it a “what a naughty little thing” look.
“Sure…” But Ru grinned. I instantly felt a bit better. He was letting me get away with being rubbish. “Guess I’ll just take it as a win that I’m not head to toe in snacks this time.”
I waved my bag of Lebkuchen menacingly. “Don’t speak too soon.” He laughed and sat down next to me, plonking a pile of books down. “How did you get my number anyway?”
He pressed his lips together. “A reindeer never tells… But Elijah. Elijah gave it to me.” Interesting. Elijah never said a word to me. “Although he referred to you as Elf Girl?”
“Elijah, huh?” Laugh laugh laugh. “What is he like?” AN ELF-OUTING DEMON, THAT’S WHAT. But at least it meant Ru hadn’t put two and two together. “But you didn’t answer. Aren’t you meant to be in London?”
“London…” Ru’s nose wrinkled. “That was the plan. But then … everyone started to freak out about this film maybe not getting Christmas number one and now they’re throwing everything at these events.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning…” Ru paused. “They want anyone they can get – all hands on deck. I swear half of the college students here have all been roped in.” That made sense, the whole crew here had seemed strung out. But he sighed. Sighed?! I snorted. Hard life was it, being paid to travel round the country and meet celebs?
“I’m sorry. Can we talk again about how you hate your job?” The best I could get near me was working in a garden centre.
“It has its moments.” Ru smiled. “Running into you might be one of them.”
Erm.
What?
Was he being creepy? Or friendly?
I could be flattered, if my red-flag radar wasn’t sent to “high” and flashing, and I wasn’t imagining what his “better half” would say if they could hear and what was that ringing in my ears? Oh yes, my Jingle Lady alarm.
Time to make things clear.
“Yeah, it’s nice to see friends.” I picked at some icing on the biscuit, not able to look him in the eye as I said it. But after what Grace had been through I wasn’t just going to sit there quietly. “In fact, it’s a shame you missed my bestie, Grace.”
“I would have liked that.” Ru didn’t seem fazed. Good. “Is Simon here too then?”
