I'm Glad I Found You This Christmas

1 Last Chance Saloon Would he pick up this time? Maggie stared at Dirk’s picture on her smartphone’s screen, waiting for the inevitable referral to voicemail. What had happened to him recently? She knew he was busy at the company—and being the youngest member of the board of directors in the company’s history made it no surprise—but recently she’d begun to feel … well, she knew what Renee would say. Needing the comfort of her best friend’s words, she hung up and rang Renee instead. Like clockwork, Renee answered on the second ring. ‘Lo?’ ‘Ren, it’s me.’ ‘Mag? A bit early for lonely hearts. What’s up? You got an hour for coffee?’ Maggie leaned over her shoulder, glancing up at the work schedule taped next to the clock. At the same time she noticed she only had six minutes left on her break. Her shift manager, Dolores “Thundercloud” Smith, would come deluging down on her freedom if she caught Maggie on the phone. ‘Look, I can’t really talk now, but it’s about Dirk.’ ‘Of course it is. What else would it be?’ ‘He’s not answering his phone.’ ‘That’s probably because he’s womanizing. You know what I think of him. Dirk the—’ ‘That was a once-off. He promised me it wouldn’t happen again. It’s just that since his promotion he’s been absent more than he’s been around. This time last year we were planning to move in together, but now it’s just work, work, work—’ ‘I’ll be waiting outside yours with a bottle of red at six-fifteen. On second thoughts, screw it. Make it six-ten. We’ll get sloshed and go over everything that’s happened since we last got together.’ ‘Renee, I couldn’t put it on you again—’ ‘He needs a slapdown if you ask me. I mean, come on, Maggie. Have you looked in the mirror recently? You’re gorgeous.’ Maggie felt her cheeks flush. ‘You’re just trying to cheer me up—’ ‘Break’s over, Coates!’ Maggie scowled. She hadn’t noticed the dimming of the atmosphere with the onset of rain. ‘Gotta go,’ she said. ‘It’s about to chuck down in here.’ ‘Six-oh-five!’ ‘Right!’ The door swung open, and a black-clad monster squeezed through. Dolores Smith glared at Maggie with eyes that were too large for a face that sloped backward into her hair, eyes that were perhaps too heavy, and the reason why her head seemed to have sunk into her body, leaving no trace of neck. ‘Get back on the floor, Coates,’ the Thundercloud snapped. ‘Do I look like a charity?’ ‘No, Ms. Smith,’ Maggie said, slipping her phone back into her bag, which she pressed into a locker, closed the door and swiftly turned a key. ‘You’re two minutes over break. I expect to see you still folding shirts at two minutes past six.’ ‘Of course.’ Dolores lifted a hand and turned it upward with a strangely exaggerated movement. Her thumb poked up. Then, with a sinister grin, she hoicked her thumb back over her shoulder. ‘Move.’ True to her word, Renee was waiting outside Maggie’s flat when she arrived. Even though Maggie was nearly twenty minutes late, Renee flashed a wide grin and lifted up two carrier bags. ‘Wine,’ she said. Then, holding up the other, she added, ‘And this one’s comfort food. Tesco’s takeaway korma, caramel popcorn, and I got us Frozen on DVD. Girls’ night.’ ‘Frozen?’ ‘It was on special offer. Two for one.’ ‘Oh. What was the other one?’ ‘Dora the Explorer. It’s for my niece.’ Maggie laughed. ‘Frozen it is, then.’ Renee, petite, blonde-bobbed, and stunning in everything she wore, was an almost perfect person—kind to animals and people, a charity donator, an ever-present at fundraisers, and her job as an administrator in a children’s care home was almost a cliché—and therefore impossible not to love. ‘So, tell me what’s going on,’ Renee said as Maggie let them into her flat. ‘Let me make the tea first.’ When they were settled on the sofa with the curry, tea, and popcorn arranged on the coffee table in front of them, with the Frozen DVD looping through its main menu sequence, Maggie finally let out a sigh. ‘I was hoping it would be this year,’ she said. ‘What?’ ‘That he’d finally … you know. Pop the question.’ ‘Oh.’ ‘Four years we’ve been together, and we still don’t even live together. I mean, that was supposed to happen last year, but then he got promoted and had to move to London.’ ‘You could have moved down there. He did ask, didn’t he?’ ‘Yeah, of course. I mean, I think he mentioned it once. But I can’t leave my mother, you know that. Her hip is getting worse and she needs me close by.’ Renee sighed. ‘You’re in Cambridge and Dirk’s down in London. It’s not going to work.’ ‘It’s only an hour on the train. A lot of people commute from here. The only reason Dirk won’t is because Saunders & Co gave him a flat in Kensington. I know he wants me to move in with him….’ Renee turned on the sofa and put her hands on Maggie’s knees. She c****d her head in that puppy dog way, and Maggie knew a home truth was coming. ‘It’s commitment avoidance. Can’t you see that? He might as well have a billboard above his head with “single and loving it” written in gold lettering.’ ‘You’re not being fair—’ ‘He cheated on you once; he’ll do it again. Pass me that naan.’ ‘Here. He was so sorry. He, um, cried.’ ‘Oh, there’s a surprise. Look. You don’t rise to the board of directors at the age of thirty-two—’ ‘He’s thirty-five.’ ‘—thirty-five without having a few tricks up your sleeve. Honest people don’t get rich. Look at you.’ ‘I’m not honest.’ ‘Oh, come on, Maggie. You’re so pure you bathe in distilled water. And you’re so kind that even though your boss treats you like a piece of excrement on a farmer’s shoe, you won’t quit your job.’ ‘I like the shop! And the Thundercloud’s only there three days a week. June, our scheduler, tries to give everyone a couple of days’ break.’ ‘You’re avoiding my point. What I’m trying to say is that Dirk the … whatever … has cooled on you. He’s like a calving iceberg. You’ve been together so long that he’s never known anything else. Now he’s got a bit of freedom so he’s racing away as fast as he can.’ ‘Right into London’s shipping lanes, yeah?’ Renee narrowed her eyes. She was trying to look angry, but she just looked cuter than ever. Maggie wished she could hate the way her best friend did that. ‘The female ones for sure. Trust me on this.’ Maggie shook her head. ‘No, you’re wrong. I know you are.’ ‘You’re just in denial. Come on, let’s c***k the wine.’ ‘It’s only seven o’clock!’ ‘So?’ Twenty minutes later, with Frozen playing in the background with the sound turned low, and half the wine already drunk, Renee turned to Maggie with that familiar look on her face. ‘Okay, I have a plan.’ ‘No, please. I’m sure your social worker friends are really nice and all, but Dirk’s the only one for me.’ ‘It’s about Dirk, you dummy. I’ve thought of a way to find out for sure if he still likes you.’ ‘What?’ ‘A Christmas vacation. Somewhere remote, somewhere romantic.’ ‘Don’t be ridiculous. It’s only November.’ ‘Yeah, and how long has the Thundercloud already been playing your Chrimbo hits CD at work?’ ‘Actually, we’re still on Celine Dion. Christmas is one of her—many—pet hates. She usually caves by December, though. As soon as the trees go up in the storefront she has no more excuse.’ ‘Anyway. What I have in mind is somewhere the two of you can be alone, all cosy like, where you can find out for sure what Dirk really feels about you. It’ll be perfect. A bit of snow on the ground, a warm fire, a real Christmas tree with presents piled underneath, loads of wine, a double bed—’ ‘All right, all right. I get your point.’ ‘It’ll be so romantic you’ll have honey dripping from the ceiling. He’ll have to ask you to marry him for sure.’ ‘And what if he doesn’t?’ Renee shrugged. ‘Then you’ll know what he really feels, won’t you? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?’ Maggie sighed. ‘I could spend the next hour trying to talk you round, but you’re set on this, aren’t you? You’re not going to shut up about it until I say yes.’ Renee shook her head. ‘Nope.’ ‘Only one question, then. Where? It’s got to be cheap, because I’m skint. The Thundercloud halved our Christmas bonuses this year.’ ‘We’ll get hunting as soon as the movie’s over. Gosh, Kristoff’s such a dish, isn’t he?’