Chapter Selection:
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Chapter 1

Leaning over the railings and gazing down at the huge Christmas tree surrounded by the most amazing grotto, and a queue of eager, over excited children and impatient parents, she leant on her arms and smiled as this years Santa made his entrance amid cheers and squeals. He was flanked on both sides by two elves and carried a sack full of presents.
“This has got to be the best Christmas display we have ever had in this store ” stood up straight and smiled at her boss, “We have defiantly out done our selves this year”. Paul squeezed’s arm and grinned widely. loved working for Paul, when she had been offered the job as events manager at Perkins eight months ago. She had become well known for her ideas and people would travel for miles to see her displays, they were often seen in magazines around the world. Paul had been amazing to work for giving her free range to use what ever ideas she had. She had spent the last three months on this project, it had taken all he time and energy but as she looked down she was proud, “I’ll see you later and again well done” Paul said walking off. beamed with pride, she began to walk down the winding brass staircase, all the time she watched children as it was their turn to go into Santa and then she watched the magical looks on their faces as they came out again.
“Uncle please, please, please take me” stopped at the bottom of the stairs and smiled at a small girl tugging at the coat tales of a man she was stood with. “I think she wants you to take her mate” another man said laughing. “UNCLE ” the little girl yelled, but the other man bent down in front of her. “Jade if ya want to go in then I’ll take you but ya have to be good” the little girl let go of the mans coat and put her head down. “Sorry uncle ” she said, the man stood up and held his hand out for her, she took it and looking back at the man once with a ‘what the hell am I doing’ expression on his face, the excited little girl led him quickly to the line, the man looked sideways at who was smiling still.
“Not your cup of tea then” she asked, he smiled and shook his head. “Not really” he said looking back over at , who looked perplexed at his position in the queue. “They could be a while” she said, “There’s a tea bar across the hall” she added, pulled a face, “Not really my thing either” he said. She smiled and walked past him, he watched her walk away, she seemed nice and obviously worked there, and she was certainly a pretty woman. He glanced back at who was still so far back in the queue it looked like he was going to be there for the foreseeable future, maybe a coffee would wake him up a bit.

sat down by the window and placed the hot mug of coffee on the table, she watched people walking past, everyone wrapped up against the cold sharp winter weather, and most of them were hugging large bags of gifts. She knew the next few weeks leading up to Christmas were going to be extra busy for the store and for her, although she had a team of staff under her she liked to be around, being part of the team made her happy and at this time of year she needed her friends and family to keep busy. It took her mind off the heartache she had deep inside her.
“Mind if I join you” looked up to see the man stood next to the empty chair opposite her. He had a large mug of coffee and a smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. smiled up at him and gestured for him to sit down,
“So you work here” he asked pulling out the chair and taking off his coat, he folded it up and lay it down on the back of the chair, she watched him and when he had sat down she answered. “Yeah, I’m the events manager” she told him, he looked intrigued and leant forward. “Events manager, sounds like fun” he said, she smiled and nodded, “So did you do the Christmas grotto then” looked through the entrance and smiled at the tree in the distance with its thousands of flashing fairy lights, “I’m sorry” he began, “I’m , ” his eyes sparkled and she couldn’t help but notice how handsome this man was.
“I’m ” she said “And yeah I’m responsible for the children going crazy” laughed and picked up his mug, he sipped the hot coffee but he didn’t take his eyes from her.
“I love this time of year” he said glancing out of the window. watched as he seemed to glow at the sights around him, “Usually too busy to enjoy it though” he added as he looked back at her,
“Work” she asked, but he just nodded, over the next fifteen minutes they managed a decent conversation, he found when he asked about her job she would become excited and chat openly but anything else he asked didn’t really seem to interest her,
“Well that was fun” looked up to see his friend with a exasperated expression across his face. bit on his bottom lip to stop himself from laughing. “ this is and this bundle of fun is Jade” he said picking the little girl up and sitting her on his knee. looked up at who gave a half smile, then looked back at , “You ready mate, we got to be in the studio in an hour” put Jade back down and stood up,
“It was nice meeting you ” he said putting his coat back on. She smiled up at him, she watched as he took hold of the little girls hand and followed the other man out of the café. As reached the entrance he glanced back, he now wished he’d maybe asked for her number, it wasn’t like him to miss an opportunity,
“It’s alright for you chatting up the women but that wasn’t really my idea of fun”. laughed at and as they reached the main doors he patted him lightly on the back, “Yeah but Jade enjoyed it mate” said still laughing. “So ya get her number then” asked pulling his scarf tighter around his neck, pulled a face, “No didn’t feel right”. laughed, “Not like you mate” he said, but just shrugged and the three of them walked through the busy streets of London.


Chapter 2

Over the next few days ’s life was taken up with work, each day would bring a different task, or different advertising ideas, the Santa’s grotto had become extremely popular, and would be busy all day. Some nights she wouldn’t leave till gone nine at night, then she would go home, eat a microwave meal for one and fall asleep watching some weepy Christmas movie and wake up with the TV still on, some nights she wouldn’t even watch TV she would sit on the window chair and look out on the street below, watch the people go by or gaze across at the adjacent apartments and wonder what kind of lives the people who lived in them had. But she was as happy as she thought she could be, she loved her job and having no outside distractions meant she could be good at it. Christmas was only a couple of weeks away and this meant she would be seeing her family and her friends, but this just reminded her of the past and the past was a thing she tried hard to forget. She used to love Christmas, as a young girl it would be a proper family occasion, as she got older she would spend more time with her friends, but still loved the whole magical feeling. Christmas two years ago had been the best, her boyfriend had proposed to her and they had got engaged on Christmas eve, but a year later just when she thought she couldn’t be any happier, he told her he had been seeing one of her friends for a while and couldn’t go through with the wedding. That was Christmas eve one year ago and as the day grew nearer as much as she had tried to push it from her mind she couldn’t. She was shaken from her thoughts by the phone ringing, she thought about ignoring it but hoping it would take her mind off her thoughts she answered it,
“Hello” she said unsure who would be calling her at this late hour,
“Hi ” smiled as she recognized the familiar voice of her best friend, “Sorry it’s late babes but been trying to get hold of you for ages” sighed she knew she should of answered her messages, she always brushed them off and then would be too busy and forget about them. “You busy tomorrow night, fancy going to the outdoor ice rink” half laughed, every year for the past 6 years the two girls would dig out their white boots, that spent most of the year at the back of the cupboard, wrap up warm and head down to the outside rink that would open two weeks before Christmas and last until new year, but every other year had been different she would of gone with and her boyfriend, spent the two hours skating around in his arms like they were the only two people in the world, “I don’t know , I’m so busy at work” but just laughed,
“Not taking no for an answer , this is our tradition, I’ll pick you up at seven ok” and the line went dead. stared at the receiver for a few moments, angry with herself for not standing up to her, but then angry at herself for letting what Chris had done to her ruin her life. She put down the phone and sank back on the sofa, it wasn’t long before she had drifted off to sleep,

The next morning on her way to work she passed the usual stores. She would smile at the shop keepers opening up, the same faces she saw every morning. It was exceptionally cold this morning and she pulled her coat tighter around her body, she stepped off the curb to make the quick dash into the store she didn’t see the black car coming towards her,
“ for fucks sake look out” looked just in time as the woman stepped off the curb, he slammed on the breaks punched him in the arm and stared hard at him,
“Told ya to slow down” he said, still had his hands on the steering wheel and was staring ahead. took a deep breath, how could she be so stupid she thought to herself. She heard the car door open and a tall haired man ran over,
“You ok” he asked taking her arm, she looked at him and he smiled at her. “Yeah I’m fine I wasn’t looking were I was going. “Obviously not” he said slightly laughing. “Think ya gave ma mate a shock” was now getting out of the car and stormed over to them, “What the fuck was ya doing I could have killed ya” he yelled at her. “Ay steady on mate” said to him. “Im so sorry, it was my fault” she said calmly, it was then that he recognised her. “” he said “Are you ok” he was calmer now and felt bad, “I wasn’t looking where I was going” she smiled sweetly. “It’s ok there’s no harm done” she said straightening herself down. “I should take more notice” began to laugh. “Yeah ya should” but nudged him hard in the ribs, “Well, I gotta go I’m late as it is” and before could say another word she was heading towards the store.
“So, ya know her then” asked as they walked towards the car. “Not really, I met her a few days ago” he opened the car door and glanced up at the store, he thought it was weird that that had just happened, and again he had let her go without even asking for her number, but then he had nearly hit her with his car maybe not the right time, he thought.
realized throughout the morning that she was more shaken up about what had happened then she had thought, and found it hard to concentrate, “Go home , get a nice hot bath and a glass of wine and come back Monday” Paul told her when he found her staring at the bottom of an empty coffee cup,
“I’ll be fine Paul, really” but he took no notice and after ordering her a cab, he got her coat and sent her home. By the time she had got home and run a bubble bath she was glad Paul had sent her home, as she lay back in the hot water she relaxed and felt much better, but the prospect of having to do her ice boots and wrapping up against the wet damp winter night played heavy on her mind. But after three attempts at phoning to cancel she gave in and started to get ready. Ten minutes before was due to pick her up she knelt down and scrambled at the back of her closet, she felt the sharp edge and pulled hard, she sat back and her head filled with memories, but the beep of a car horn broke her from her thoughts and she leant forward to feel for the second boot. As she pulled it out she heard beep again, she got up and grabbed her keys and phone and headed for the door.

was stood by her car when got downstairs and after hugging her friend she climbed in the passenger seat. began to chat away, talking about work and what she had been up to. wished she had answered all her phone calls now, getting all ’s news in one block was already driving her mad, but she smiled. She loved and was beginning to feel glad she had agreed to go with her,
As parked the car, they could see the ice rink in front of them; there were a few people on the ice already, families and groups of teenage girls showing off to groups of teenage boys who were hanging about around the edge, “It looks so Christmassy” exclaimed as she tied up her boots. She was right, around the rink were tall posts and huge lights hung across them, there was a large Christmas tree at one end and a small hut where the guy playing the music sat reading a book, tied up her boots and followed who was already gliding swiftly along the ice, at first felt unsteady but after a few minutes she too was moving easily, after fifteen minutes she was starting to warm up and enjoying it, the two of them would go round the ice together then stop and watch others go past.
“Fit bloke” said pointing towards a group of men, one of them was laid on his back on the ice and the other three were laughing uncontrollably,
“Who the one on his butt” said laughing. shook her head, but before could say another word had skated off towards them. sighed, she knew was up to no good but stepped off the ice to watch, turned and began to skate backwards, she waved at before turning and accidentally on purpose gliding into a man who was now helping his mate stand up. couldn’t stop the laughter as he once again landed on the ice, this time followed by his friend and ,
“Oh my god I’m so sorry” said scrambling to her feet, and holding out her gloved hand for him, he looked at her hand then up at her face and smiled. “Anytime” he said as he took her hand, he moved towards the barrier and followed but not before she had turned to and winked,
“That's fine , don’t you worry about me” said sarcastically, but was now busy introducing himself to and didn’t take any notice of 's pleas for assistance. looked around him, he knew this had been a bad idea, why he had let them persuade him to go was now beyond him and he huffed. He managed to climb up the barrier then brushed himself down, he pulled his hat further down onto his face and turned,
“I can do this” he said to himself, “I’m , jack of all trades” and slowly he began to wobbled across the ice, he began to smile to himself proudly as the steps turned more into glides, he turned slightly to see if his mates were watching, but as he turned the only thing he felt was the crack on his head and the strangely soft landing, for a few moments he kept his eyes closed, his head hurt and he hoped that he wasn’t bleeding all over the ice,


Chapter 3

“Excuse me but can ya get off me please” slowly opened one eye and peered towards the voice. He raised his arm and lifted the peak of his cap, “Oh my god, have I done something to make ya want to kill me”. managed to place his hands on either side of her body and he looked down,
“, hi” and he smiled sheepishly, but the look on her face made him ease up on his arms, “God I’m sorry” he said biting hard on his bottom lip,
“Ok ya sorry now can I get up because I’m getting wet and cold. His face changed from guilt to a look of cheekiness, and he stared hard into her eyes, for a few moments she couldn’t take her eyes from him,
“God you ok” said skating up and bending down next to them, turned a gaze to . “I’ll be fine as soon as this div gets off me” she said, looked at then back at , without another word began to scramble unsteadily to his feet. got up and brushed the ice from her jeans and looked up at him as he fell towards the barrier, she couldn’t help but laugh a little,
“You ok now” said rubbing ’s arm. nodded and watched as skated off towards her new friend, she turned back to who clung for dear life as other skaters went passed him at speeds he was never going to reach. smiled and she glided towards him,
“You need a hand” she said holding her hand towards him. He waited till a couple had gone past and he slowly reached out to her. She smiled as he began to walk to her side and then she began to slowly skate taking him with her. As they circled the rink for a second time began to feel more confident, and felt she could maybe let go, but as she did he began to slip to the side and she moved towards him,
“It’s ok I got ya” she said placing her arms around his waist, he stood up straight and looked at her,
“I’m glad someone has” he said smiling at her. She led him to the gap in the barrier and they stepped off the ice, “I’m not cut out for this”. laughed, and she sat down on a bench, he sat beside her and untied his boots, “My ankles are killing me” he said pulling off his boots and tossing them to the floor. “Never again” he said laughing, he looked round at her, she was busy watching people skate past them, “You’re good at this” he said, trying hard to get her to at least look at him even if she didn’t feel like talking to him,
“What, having strange men try to kill me” she said smiling. He put his head down and shuffled his feet uncomfortably, “No I meant at skating actually” he said still gazing at the floor. She laughed slightly and he looked up at her, “I used to do it as a kid, took lessons and everything, gave it up when I thought I was missing out on going out with my friends” she told him. “That's a shame, you could have been a famous ice skater” she laughed again. “Maybe”. got the feeling that she didn’t like talking about her past, so he decided that he had pushed his luck and gave it up as a bad job. He was relieved when and stepped off the ice and walked towards them,
“You ready mate” asked dropping a pair of trainers in front of him. nodded and pulled on his shoes, as he stood up he turned to ,
“Well it was nice bumping into you again, literally” he said a small smile creeping on his face. She looked up at him, “Yeah, I’ll remember to keep out of your way in future” she began to untie her boots, shrugged his shoulders and walked off. looked up at who was stood close to and obviously swapping phone numbers, she smiled at them both and walked off to the car to wait for her.
“Trust you to pick up a bloke while skating” said as drove back towards her apartment,
“He’s asked me to a party on Saturday night, he said I can bring you too” looked round at her friend, “Ya going to come aren't you”. shook her head, “Im not up for a party ” but laughed and knew there would be no arguing with her. “I’ll pick you up at seven then” said as she parked up in front of ’s building, hugged her and gave her a fake smile. As she ran up the stairs to the front door she turned and waved as drove off. Once inside her flat, she changed from her damp clothes and put on her pyjamas, she made a hot mug of hot chocolate and curled up on the sofa, her thoughts turned to the nights events, and then to , his eyes, his smile the way he had taken over her mind over the past few days, but she didn’t need this, she didn’t need any man to invade her life and after finishing her drink she climbed into bed and feel to sleep.

Concentrating on work the next day was hard, for the first time in ages she wasn’t just thinking about her job, she couldn’t shake ’s image from her mind however much she tried. She even wondered if he would be at this party but every time she thought about it she would quickly find a task that would take her mind of him, even if it was for a few minutes, she even found the prospect of dressing up for a change exciting and most of Saturday at work she spent thinking about what to wear. She had plenty of clothes and shoes, one of her favourite pastimes was shopping. She left work early, giving her enough time to window shop as she walked the short distance back home. As she passed a shoe shop her eyes were drawn to a beautiful pair of red satin shoes, she looked at the tag hanging loosely of one of the shoes, they were quite expensive but for some reason she needed those shoes. Twenty minutes later she was taking them out of the box and gazing at them on the floor of her bedroom, she opened her closet and pulled back some hangers, she pulled out a black pencil skirt that had a red belt and red trim around the rim, then she found a white satin shirt, she held them up together and smiled, ‘yeah’ she thought ‘perfect’. She showered then sat at her dressing table and look at her reflection, she spent the next half an hour drying and curling her hair, which she then piled up leaving loose strands around her neck. After getting dressed she looked at the clock, she knew wouldn’t be late and she stepped into her new shoes. She took a last look at her self in the mirror she was pleased with how she looked and felt good about herself. The beeping from ’s car made her jump slightly and after grabbing her bag, keys and phone she ran down to meet her,

“The Savoy , I’m not dressed for the Savoy” But just laughed and linked her arm through hers. “Look at that tree ”. couldn’t help but notice the huge Christmas tree standing in the foyer. “Yeah it’s ok but not as good as mine” laughed and led her towards two huge wooden doors. The doors were pushed open and gasped at the amount of people in the room, but before they took another step, noticed straight away and after waving over to him he came over. He kissed her lightly on the cheek then gazed at her up and down, “Hi I’m glad you came, you look great” giggled slightly,
“ you remember from ice skating don’t you” for a few moments didn’t move or look at her, when he did he smiled sweetly. “Hi ” he said and leant forward to kiss her cheek, then he put his arm around , “Come on” he said “I want you to meet my friends” he said leading her away.
“I’m going to get a drink” said when she saw the small bar in the corner, but neither of them heard her so she shrugged and walked away. The bar was quite crowded and she stood behind two men who were being served. She looked around her, it was only when she felt the wet, cold feeling that she turned to face them. As the wetness began to seep through she took a sharp breath,
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry” she looked down at her now soaking shirt, then looked up. “Oh crap” he said again”. “This cannot be happening, there is no possible way I am this unlucky” she asked staring hard at him. was still standing with the tray, that had once held four glasses of lager. began to laugh and they both stared at him, then back at each other. quickly passed the tray to and grabbed some serviettes from the bar, he began to frantically wipe down the front of her shirt,
“It’s ok really I’ll sort it” she said as his hands brushed against her body. realised what he was doing and stopped, was still laughing and was getting angry, “Sod this” he said and he grabbed ’s hand and led her out the room. “Where are we going” she asked as he reached the lift. “My room” he said. “Im sorry what”, he turned to her, “You’re gonna get cleaned up in my room” he told her. The lift opened and he stepped in, “Come on then” he said gesturing for her to come in. She thought for a moment, she knew she couldn’t stay at the party like this and she certainly wasn’t going to go all the way home then come back again. She looked down at herself then back at , who looked so guilty but so handsome at the same time, she took a step into the lift and the doors closed behind her. It was only a few moments before the doors opened again and grabbed her hand and gently pulled her to his room. Once inside he let go.
“I bet this is how you get all the women to come to ya room” she said slightly laughing, but mainly out of nervousness. He pulled a face at her but smiled cheekily, “No but it’s kind of a good idea” he said and began to laugh. But seeing her stood there with her wet shirt and confused expression on her face made him stop. “What do you suggest I wear instead then, your clothes” she asked him trying to not make him feel anymore uncomfortable then he already was,
“Actually, I have something you can wear” he said moving towards the wardrobe. looked slightly confused, but as he pulled out a hanger covered with a black plastic cover he walked across to his bed and unzipped the front of it. gasped as he lifted out the hanger, a red satin dress unfolded before her eyes,
“Oh my god it’s amazing, she said walking over and running her hand down the dress, “But I can’t wear it” she added. “Yes you can, it was my sisters, but she never wore it, please it’s the least I can do”. looked up at him then back at the dress he held out to her. “Go on just try it”. She tenderly took it from him and walked towards the bathroom. A few minutes later and she stepped back into the room. gasped and sat back on the edge of the bed when he saw her, the dress fitted perfectly, the satin showed off her curves, her hair looked glossy as it fell across the red straps,
“It was like it meant for you” looked across at him and frowned. “What do you mean” she asked. “Well, it has to be fate, ”. laughed at his statement, she shook her head and smiled. “I don’t believe in fate ”. stood up and walked across to her, “Well I do, everything happens for a reason” he said taking both her hands in his. “How can it not be fate, I’d only met you once, then three time since then we have bumped into each other, I’d say that was fate wouldn’t you”. She smiled nervously then looked down at her shoes, they matched the dress perfectly, it was like they were meant to be part of the same outfit,
“Can I just say I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you are right now” he told her stepping back to take in the all of her. felt her cheeks flush slightly and looked down. “I don’t know what to say , the dress is amazing” she looked into his eyes. She had never felt such intense feelings before, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to these strange encounters a reason why they kept meeting and why she couldn’t get this man out of her head. “Thank you” she told him, for a few moments they gazed at each other, neither could speak. found for the first time he was speechless, his mouth was dry and his heart pounded against his chest,
“Hadn’t we better go back to the party” she said breaking the tension. “Only if you promise to at least have one dance with me later” he asked, still holding her hands and still holding her gaze, she nodded slowly and smiled, “Ok, I promise”. With that he let go of her hands and walked to the door.
“Come on then, I’m sure you’re gonna blow somebody’s mind tonight” he held open the door for her to pass. As she did he took a deep breath, he was falling in love with this woman he could see that, if he was honest he had fallen in love the first day he had seen her.

“So you ended up in his room” asked after she had dragged off to the toilets to get the ‘how come you are in a different outfit’ story,
“Well yeah but only to get changed” told her. folded her arms and leant back against the sink unit,
“What ya looking at me like that for. “Babes, you’re all that ’s talked about since the other day”. looked at her, confusion running across her face. “Me, he’s talked about me”. nodded. “ told me earlier, got the hot’s for you” laughed lightly. “The only thing that man’s got for me is the urge to injure me” this time laughed with her, “You got to admit, it’s a bit strange all these incidents” said but then she stood up and gasped. “Oh my god , it’s like you were meant to meet, like you were meant to be with him”. frowned at her friend. “Not you as well” looked at her, “Well that's what said, that it was fate”. smiled smugly. “No , I’m not interested in , I’m not interested in anyone” and with that she turned and left stood alone. stepped back in to huge room and glanced around, it was getting quite late and the party was drawing to an end,
“There you are, thought you had done a Cinderella on me”. turned to see stood behind her, “You promised me a dance remember”. She smiled and nodded, he held out his hand and she took it, he led her towards the dance floor and gently pulled her closer to him, as the music to ‘amazed by lone star’ began to play he took her gently in his arms. A rush of intense emotion ran through his body as he felt her arms around him. As he put his face next to hers he could smell her perfume and feel her breath on his neck, he closed his eyes and breathed her in, totally taken in by her so close to him. As his hands touched her skin on her back she felt a shiver rush through her, his face so close to hers made her insides whirl and her mouth go dry. As the song played he sang along, she closed he eyes and got lost in this feeling, before the end of the song he moved his head back slightly so her cheek was against his, his mouth was so close she could feel his breath. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted him to kiss her, but at the back of her mind something was niggling at her. “Im sorry I have to go” without another word she was gone. stood and watched as she left the room, confusion and heart ache consumed him.


Chapter 4

lay on his bed, his head still couldn’t make sense of what had happened over the past few days, she had come into his life so quickly and had left just as fast. For the past three days he could stop thinking about her, trying to reason with himself, but something kept telling him he was meant to be with her,
“” heard calling but ignored him. tapped again, “” this time a little louder, “’s here she wants to talk to you about ”. Hearing her name made him catch his breath he jumped from the bed and pulled open the door. looked him up and down and frowned, “Jeezus mate you look like shit” sneered at him and stepped aside for them to come in. walked to the window and pulled open the blinds, the sunlight made squint, and he fell back on his bed. looked at and shrugged,
“What did ya want ” asked, now wishing he had kept his door firmly closed, sat down on the bed beside him. “ can’t believe you got ya self like this over a woman you have only just met” glared at who then moved and sat on a chair opposite. leant up on his elbows and frowned at .“Think what ya like , you can’t help who ya gonna fall in love with you know”. rubbed 's arm and spoke calmly. “, I just want you to understand about why is like she is”. looked round at , desperation and a needing to know why he felt like he did. “Two years ago on Christmas eve she got engaged to the man she had been with for six years, the man she thought she would be with for life, she believed that everything was meant to be, the way she met him when he ran into her car, the way he was the guy that turned up a week later to fix her electrics, it was all fate to her, meant to be, she was happy and excited about spending the rest of her life with someone she was meant to be with”. As spoke listened intently, he was beginning to see a Patten here a reason for the way she had acted. “So what happened” he said wanting the whole story. “Last Christmas happened , he came round to see her, and she thought he was coming to spend Christmas with her and her family. Instead he ripped her life apart, he told her he didn’t want to marry her, he had been seeing one of our friends for six months and as she broke down he walked out and left her”. leant forward on his knees and stared at . sat up and stared at the floor. “So your telling me there’s no chance, no way I can get her to fall in love with me”. sighed, “, she’s lost her faith in everything, her friends her life and she’s lost the magic that she always saw in Christmas, but don’t give up, if you do love her then go for it, all she needs is to see that she can still find what it was that she lost”. stood up and ran his hands through his hair, “Right if you’ll excuse me I have to get cleaned up and think of a way to show her that I’m that man” and with that he walked to the bathroom. and left the room both hoping that had been right, that could pull this off, make fall in love with him.

Over the next few days and with Christmas Eve rapidly approaching, spent more and more time away from the lads, no one had any idea what was doing, why he would disappear at the same time everyday and come back wiped out and sore. tried to get involved in Christmas, taking her shopping at every opportunity, but if the conversation turned to , would change the subject or leave the room. was beginning to get the feeling had more then his work cut out for him. The night before Christmas Eve, sat round at ’s, sat curled up on the sofa, together they watched a movie, but ’s mind would drift to thought’s about her best friend, sat alone in her apartment. But the door flew open and bounded in, he sat down in front of the TV and stared them both. “, trying to watch TV mate” said angrily. “Need a favour” said looking at intently, “I need ya to get to the ice rink at eight o’clock tomorrow night”. stared at him, “You want me to what” she asked him frowning. stood up. “Just get her there for me please” with that he walked out. and stared at each other, but the door flew open again and they both turned, “And bring her boots” the door slammed shut behind him.
“Ok” said confused, “Not sure how I’m gonna do that but I’ll give it ago” laughed, must be good, he’s been acting odd for days now”. lay back down and wrapped his arms around her. He hoped for ’s sake he could find what he so desperately wanted.


Chapter 5

“Come on , it’ll be fun it’s Christmas eve” said, she had been at ’s flat for an hour and nothing she said or did was making feel like venturing out tonight.
“ it’s been so busy at work, I haven’t had a minute to myself all I wanna do is soak in a hot bath and watch TV”. protested grabbing a large bag of popcorn and slumping down on the sofa, slyly looked at her watch she frowned, it was already half past seven at this rate would be stood alone, with would be sat here alone too.
“Right, enough of this shit , I’m not letting you wallow in ya own self pity any more”. got up and grabbed the bag from her, “Get up, I need a friend tonight ”. looked at her,
“Why what's happened” she said now concerned for her friend. “Oh me and didn’t work out, he was nice but not for me” lied, she couldn’t think of any other way of making do something. “Oh I’m sorry ” said now feeling bad for her. “But ya really feel like going out” she asked,
“Yeah I do, me and you spending Christmas Eve together, can’t think of anything better to do tonight”. began to rummage through ’s closet she threw over a pair of jeans and a thick hoody, “So come on out them pyjamas now” looked down at the pile of clothes now on her knee and smiled,
“Ok, but I’m doing this for you” she got up and headed for the bathroom, “Grab my skates , I’ll be two minutes”. laughed to herself as the bathroom door closed, she pulled her mobile from her jeans and pressed ’s number,
“Hi ” ’s on her way” she heard sigh,
“Thank god he’s pacing my floor, he’s gonna wear a hole in it” he told her laughing, “See you in a few minutes then” he said before putting his phone away.

“Right , come on she’s on her way” said throwing his jacket at him. grinned he had been so sure that she wouldn’t turn up that all this work he had done would go to waste, he picked up the bag he had brought along with him and followed to the front door, “Erm what's in the bag”. laughed, “Nothing mate, nothing at all” smiling to himself he closed the door behind him, his heart pounded with nerves and excitement, tonight would be make or break, he would find the love of his life, or lose her trying,

“, the place is dead, it’s not even open” said as parked her car, she switched off the engine and got out. “” called out, turned and waved for her to follow, pulled a face but got out mainly from curiosity,
“Come on” called back to her, was starting to get cross and uncomfortable, but was now out of sight in the darkness, so grabbing her skates she quickly followed her into the darkness. As her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness she could plainly see the ice and the barrier that surrounded it,
“” she called out, “” she called out again, but there was a loud crack and suddenly the ice rink lit up,
stopped and looked around, there was no body in sight at first but then she noticed someone stood in the middle of the rink. She looked closely unable to figure out what was happening,
looked up and pulled off his base ball cap; he waved over to and , who were now walking off into the distance. turned to look then turned back to , who began to skilfully skate towards her, she watched him, there was no denying he looked amazing, in his dark blue jeans and huge baggy jumper, his black skates were shiny and new,
“Hi” he said sliding up to the edge, she stared hard at him, and then coked her head to one side,
“What ya doing ” gazed at her, his deep eyes trying to read what was going through her head,
“Skating” he said cockily. “I can see that” she said looking down at his feet. “A few days ago ya couldn’t stand on the ice now ya look like Torvill and Dean”. began to laugh. “I’ve had lessons” he said leaning towards her on the barrier. “For what” she asked abruptly, he stepped off the ice and walked towards her. “For you, so I could do this for you” he sat down on a small bench. “Put ya boots on then” he said, she sat down and looked at him.“So how come we’re the only two here”. He looked over at the rink and smiled, “Just for me and you tonight”. She frowned at him, “I…I don’t understand” she said. got up and faced her, “Put ya boots on ” he said softly. She didn’t argue or say anything, she began to put them on, her mind running over things that didn’t make sense but something was telling her that she had to do this. When she had finished tying them up he held out his hand, she took it and as she did, it was like a spark of electricity ran through her fingers and into her body, she followed him onto the ice, he began to skate towards the middle. The scared unsure she had seen a few days ago had gone, he moved across the ice like he had done it all his life, he stopped as he reached the centre, he gestured towards the small hut at the side and a few moments later music began to play. She recognized it straight away, the same song they had danced to at the party. He turned to her as the song began,

Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
is almost more than I can take
Baby when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can see your dreams

Chorus:
I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you, it just keeps getting better
I wanna spend the rest of my life, with you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby I’m amazed by you

The smell of you skin
the taste of your kiss
the way you whisper in the dark
your hair all around me, baby you surround me
you touch every place in my heart
oh, it feels like the first time every time
I wanna spend the whole night in your eyes

Chorus:
Every little thing that you do
I’m so in love with you
it just keeps getting better
I wanna spend the rest of my life, with you by my side
forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
oh, every little thing that you do
baby I’m amazed by you

As the song played, he took both her hands in his and faced her,
“, I can’t promise that I can stop the hurt, or make you trust me, but I know I love you, I’ve loved you from the minute I saw you, I feel as if I don’t tell you this, or I let you walk away then I’m losing someone I know I should be with. I do believe in fate that everything happens for a reason, please just give me the chance to love you like I want too”
As spoke he didn’t take his gaze from her, her heart pounded and her throat went dry, she listened to every word, knowing deep inside her heart that he was right. She had never felt like this over anyone in her life, the entire time since she had met him he had been in her every waking hour and her every dream,
“” she started to say, but he put his hand up to stop her,
“Baby, before ya say anything or turn and walk away, I don’t know how this happened how only a few weeks ago I could of gone through my life never knowing what it would feel like to have this kind of love, but it’s happened, and if you want to go then that's ok, but I know I will never find it again”. He let go of her hands, any minute she would be gone and he would have to live without something he believed in,
“, I’m not gonna walk away” she took hold of his hands and pulled him towards her, “I feel the same, in fact I’ve never felt like this before” lifted one of his hands and placed it on the side of her face, “I do think we were meant to be together” he put his finger on her mouth and moved closer to her,
“I promise to love you for the rest of my life” he said as he kissed her gently on the lips, she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, he pulled her closer as she fell into his kiss. Suddenly felt little drops of cold landing on her face, she pulled back from and they both looked up as snow began to fall around them,
“Couldn’t be anymore perfect” said looking into her eyes,
“No” she said, “perfect”
“I love you” he told her wrapping his arms around her tightly,
“I love you too” she said leaning her head against him, knowing that she had found the magic of Christmas once again.


THE END



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