“We’re here, Ms. Carpenter.” The car purred to a halt outside one of New York’s finest hotels, and a uniformed man stepped forward to open the door.
Alix pushed a bill into his hand and walked into the marble foyer.
A huge Christmas tree reached upward, a stylish pyramid of silver and sparkle. Alix found herself thinking of the decorations Holly liked to hang on the tree. A misshapen reindeer she’d baked in the oven. A silver star with uneven points. In her opinion they held more appeal than the glittering symmetry of the ornaments adorning this tree.
Thinking about it brought a rush of warmth.
She was going to have a brilliant family Christmas, just not with her own family.
Her boss, Miles, was waiting for her, phone in hand.
“You were right about that reindeer.” He showed her the screen. “It’s selling so fast we can’t keep the stores stocked.”
It was typical of him to dive straight into work, and that was fine with her.
They walked together toward their tables in the ballroom, talking numbers and strategy.
The room was filling up fast, and when they finally took their seats and the evening began, Alix finally treated herself to a sip of champagne.
She chatted to her colleagues, keeping the conversation light and neutral. When they asked about her plans for the holidays, she told them she’d be spending it with friends in Lapland.
When one of them asked about her family, she brushed the question aside, deflecting as she always did. It really didn’t bother her that her parents had no wish to spend Christmas with her, but it was hard to convince people of that, so she preferred not to talk about it.
It would have been easy for her to hate Christmas, but thanks to Christy she loved it. Her friend’s generosity was something she never took for granted. Their friendship was the most important thing in the world to her. Now that, she thought as she took another sip of champagne, was the one relationship where she allowed her emotions to be engaged. She loved Christy like a sister, and Christy loved her back. Their lives had been intertwined since childhood, and they knew every little detail about one another. She knew that Christy hated peanut butter and always slept with two pillows. She knew that she preferred baths to showers, that she never went to bed without first applying moisturizer and that she threw her mascara away after exactly three months. (She made a note in her diary.) She knew that Christy would always choose to eat a raw carrot over a bowl of ice cream and that she’d only ever been blind drunk once in her life. (Vodka. Never again.) She knew that Christy’s way of handling a difficult situation was to ignore it and that the last thing she did before she went to bed at night was make a list of all the things she had to do the following day.
And Christy knew her, too. Christy was the only one who knew Alix had lost her virginity to Charlie Harris and that sometimes she liked to sleep with a light on. There was nothing they couldn’t say to each other. It had occurred to her, more than once, that what you needed most to help you navigate childhood and adolescence wasn’t good parents but a great friend. It was the only relationship she’d ever let herself rely on. There were times when she didn’t feel quite as close to Christy as she’d once done, but that was only to be expected given the change in their circumstances. Deep down they had a special bond, and that would never change.
“Wake up, Carpenter.” Miles nudged her. “We won. Get up on that stage, and make a speech.”
She heard the applause, saw images of their campaign flash across the giant screens and walked with the rest of her team to collect the award.
As she returned to her seat, she felt her phone vibrate.
She sneaked a look and saw Christy’s name on the screen.
It was three in the morning in London. Christy was a big believer in the restorative powers of sleep, which was why she never had dark circles around her eyes like Alix. She would never call in the middle of the night unless it was an emergency.
“Excuse me.” With an apologetic smile to her colleagues, Alix gracefully wove her way through the tables and out of the hall into the foyer.
She found a quiet area and sat down on a plush sofa next to yet another dazzling Christmas tree. It was like being in a sparkling, festive forest.
“Christy? Is everything okay?” She asked the question even though she knew things couldn’t possibly be okay. “Hello?” For a moment Alix wondered if her friend had ended the call, but then she heard a muffled sound.
“Are you crying?” She sat up straighter. Her friend was more emotional than she was, but she didn’t often cry. “Christy?”
“I’m okay.” Christy sniffed. “Am I disturbing you? Has the award thing finished?”
“Yes. Boring, anyway.” Alix eased her feet out of her shoes and rubbed her sore heels with her fingers. “Tell me why you’re awake at this hour.”
“I need a favor.”
“A favor?” Her heart leaped. It had been a long time since Christy had asked for her help with anything. And she hadn’t anticipated how hard that would be to handle. She’d gone from being at the center of Christy’s life to the margins. “What favor? Name it.” No matter what you need, I’m here for you.
There was a pause, as if Christy was struggling to get the words out. “I need you to take Holly to Lapland.”
“We are taking Holly to Lapland.”
“I mean you, not me. I can’t go right away.”
“I— What?” Of all the things she’d anticipated being asked, that wouldn’t have made the list. “But this is the dream trip. The perfect Christmas. You’ve been planning it for ages.”
“I know. I’ll still be joining you. Just a few days later, that’s all. It’s fine.” The waver in her voice suggested differently. “But I need you to look after Holly.”
Alix stared at the enormous Christmas tree in front of her, a suspicion forming. It was all very well being wanted and needed, but…
“What’s happened? And where’s Seb in all this?”
“He has a meeting he has to attend. A work thing.” Christy stumbled over the words. “Disappointing, obviously, but one of those things. We’ll fly out together a few days later and join you.”
Work? Who blew off a long-planned trip to Lapland at Christmas to work?
She had to stop asking herself these questions. What did she know about relationships, anyway?
Alix watched as a glamorous woman swept through the lobby on the arm of a good-looking man. He paused to kiss her, and she laughed and kissed him back, oblivious as to who might be watching.
Alix looked away.
If Christy had been there, she would have rolled her eyes at her friend. You’re so unromantic, Alix.
Maybe she was, but being unromantic had protected her from emotional disaster. She’d never suffered what other people called a broken heart. In fact, the last man she’d spent time with had questioned whether she even had a heart, which she thought was a little harsh. Dating, in her opinion, wasn’t so different from recruitment. You drew up a job description and then looked for someone who was a good fit. Romance and passion were unpredictable and undefinable. Also unreliable. She wasn’t interested, but she knew Christy was. Christy was the original romantic, and Seb had to know that by now. She frowned. Did he know that? Of course, he couldn’t possibly know Christy as well as she did; after all, she’d had a twenty-year head start, but surely he knew that basic detail?