“Like I said, I might have got a bit carried away. And I tried to make sure you had the space to say no. I never would have really released that clip.” Well, nice to tell me two weeks later. “But” – he shrugged – “if it helps, the him liking you bit was all totally real. All I did was make sure you guys got chances to see each other. Oh, and stop you seeing him when you’d painted yourself green.”
He laughed softly, but I was NOT in a laughing mood.
“Chances?” My mind raced through all the weird coincidences. “The winning bid on the meet and greet for the raffle…”
“Three thousand pounds is not much from our budget, especially not if it secured some positive headlines with Joseph in for a change.”
My head was spinning. No wonder Elijah had been so furious when I’d cancelled.
“And you were going to fully out me as Elf Girl at the same time?”
“Well, I thought it wouldn’t hurt?”
I glared at him. He had gone way too far.
“Wouldn’t hurt WHO? Because newsflash, this whole thing has kind of made my life hell.” He just looked at the ground. But it didn’t add up. “And if you really wanted us to get together, why release that photo of Joseph and Maeve?”
Elijah looked me dead in the eye. “I didn’t, Molly. I wanted a story. And last night, when you cancelled the meal, the nice, neat date pictures went away. And I had to get something. Tim had lined up all those media outlets. And then that picture of you and Joseph came through on the production account from his phone. You, looking so cute. It was the picture I needed all along! Way better than trying to get one in that photobooth in Liverpool?” So that had been a set-up too?! “So yesterday morning I gave Joseph a heads-up that someone might have photos of him on a date last night, and it was going to get released. I was hoping to get details. But he just begged me to do what I could to make sure no one would find out who he’d been with. That they were someone kinda special, who valued their privacy even more than him’.” Joseph had said that? “In fairness, that’s what made me blur your face. He even offered to speak to Maeve about faking some pics of them looking cosy together to offer out, to see if it would be enough to stop the press running any of the date pictures. But I already had what I needed.”
So, Joseph had been telling the truth?
He’d never shared any of the photos on purpose. Instead he’d offered to get some of him and Maeve, despite knowing it would get the world talking about his private life, which he’d tried so hard to keep secret? Is that why he’d tried to brush everything off with the fan comment?
This was too much. My brain was overheating.
I couldn’t believe Elijah had done this?!
And in the middle of it I kept seeing Ru’s face at the lift. As I yelled at him.
“Elijah. I seriously cannot believe you did all of this.” He had to know this was NOT OK. “You know you’ve made everything a trillion times worse, right?!”
“ELIJAH!” Tim yelled out the door. And that’s when Elijah crumpled, his whole body, his face, losing the hardness they normally had.
“I just wanted to get that job, Molly. So bad. And it’s been SO hard. I’ve spent every last penny trying to stay in London and hold this internship down. I needed to impress Tim. Everyone knew he was looking for a big story, and I thought what better than a love story as cute as the film. It really felt like my only hope.” He was speaking quietly for a change. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Really sorry. And if Joseph hadn’t fled to Paris I’d tell him the same too.”
So Ru had gone? And thanks to Elijah I’d ruined any chance I’d ever had with him before he flew to Lapland, and then home to America.
“And you thought all this.” I looked at him. He didn’t look like the angry Elijah any more; he looked even more broken than me. “Blackmailing people. Sharing photos. Lying. So much lying. You really thought it was OK?”
Elijah shifted round to look at me. “You want me to be honest?” I nodded. “I don’t think I thought at all. I was just so stressed, and we’ve been working on this film twenty-four/seven for months, and I’m…” He paused. “I’m sorry, Molly.” He rubbed his face with his hands. “Really sorry.”
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t believe Elijah had done this. But then I hadn’t exactly been making great decisions either.
We both sat in silence for a minute. Until a furious Tim shouted again.
“ELIJAH. This is not acceptable?!”
Elijah stood up. “And if all of that doesn’t make it bad enough, Tim’s saying I still need to do more.”
But maybe, just maybe, I had an idea for a real story Elijah could give him.
CHAPTER
26
TO DO:
•DON’T PANIC
•THINK POSITIVE
•
•Put up 200 snowflakes
For someone who had run offstage a week ago, I couldn’t believe what I was now doing. And that I was wearing my Scottish snowwoman jumper to do it. With tiny lights plaited into my hair. Billy’s horse skills had come in most useful.
One by one I moved the miniature reindeer into the hallway, the snowflakes I’d made dangling everywhere, and stepped outside, the morning air so cold my breath looked like steam. I refreshed what I’d posted last night on the Sleigh Another Day official account, my stupid grinning face filling up the whole screen, an elf hat jingling away as I chatted.
“Yup. The rumours are true. I’m Elf Girl. Me, Molly Bell. Or @mollythelolly. Nice to finally meet you. And I’m here to do what elves are meant to do best. Spread some Christmas cheer. Consider it an early Christmas present. Because if you love @SleighAnotherDay we have all the exclusive, behind the scenes prizes you could ever want! Including…”
I jingled some bells
“…giving you the chance to get to meet the cast on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Lapland! There’s no limit to the number of tickets you can buy in this exclusive raffle But be quick as it’s only open for forty-eight hours. So, take part, like, share, tell your mates, do whatever you can – because this isn’t just an awesome prize, it’s the chance to raise money for @TheHollyHospice in Bromster, all in the name of the best Christmas elf there ever was, Grampy G.”
I put my hands over my eyes as I watched me awkwardly throw a peace sign to the camera. And for the first time in seven years say the words: “Happy holidays from the cutest little elf in the whole wide world!”
I’d physically folded in embarrassment. I wasn’t sure if Grace would see it, but that wasn’t the only reason I’d done it. I’d done it because Grace was right – secrets had only ever made things worse so it was time to get it all out in the open. And what better way to do it than by helping Grampy G’s fundraiser?
I’d even taken my own profile off private. I was done hiding. The post had had over 13,000 likes already. Yes, I’d had to beg Tim for the Lapland tickets, and had to get Elijah to talk him into letting me put all the other prizes online, but I’d offered to do it along with my elf reveal video and Tim had eventually said yes – I think mainly to get me out of his office. Clearing the posts with them also meant they never needed to know Harry had given me the login details after all. What a guy, risking getting grounded for life, all to support the fundraiser and help me try and make things up to Grace.
Beep, beep, beep.
A loud mechanical noise brought me back to where I was. Watching Elijah in a high-vis jacket, next to Mum, Dad and Billy, aka a turkey, a parsnip and a tiny horse, directing empty trucks into the church car park near our house.
When the trucks started arriving at 6 a.m. the whole village had come out to stare, but two hours later and the whole place was buzzing – all our neighbours bringing tea and biscuits for the crew.
Everywhere was chaos! Would this all be done by half six tonight? That’s when I’d asked Grace to be here with her dad, after they’d finished playing minigolf for his birthday. All I’d told her was that I’d planned a big Christmas surprise and I hoped she’d like it. Not that she’d replied.
“I have to give it to you, Molly.” Elijah stepped next to me, as we watched my dad manhandle a giant snowman through our garden gate. “You weren’t wrong when you said you lived in a village that looked like a Christmas card.”
It really did. Last night’s snow had settled on the sloping cottage roofs and as more and more of the pieces of the Sleigh Another Day set got put in place, the more it looked even better than the film.
“Do you think this will work?”
Elijah rolled his eyes. “I think it has to after I dragged everyone up to Remotesville.”
I elbowed him, but we both laughed. We knew full well he wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t think it was a good idea. Shooting the music video he’d been desperate for. Right here at the home of The Brussel Shouts. In our house crammed with decorations, in our garden that was as bright as Las Vegas, in our village, with all our neighbours at the ready in their Christmas jumpers. Sosig had even had a moustache and beard trim for the occasion. I wasn’t going to be in the video, my confession on social media was more than enough elf-ing for me, but this was just what I wanted.
