‘Oh my God, how was I with you for so long?’ cries Laurel.
‘Fuck’s sake, there is no way I’m going to find something, Christopher.’ Haf puts her head in her hands.
‘It’s okay, there’s lots of time—’
‘No, Christopher, you don’t understand,’ Haf says, her face glowing hot from the embarrassment of having to point out the fucking obvious. ‘I wear plus size, Christopher. Have you everbeen to a woman’s shop on a normal British high street? Most top out at size sixteen. They never have anything in plus sizes, and if they do, it’s like one enormous T-shirt dress and a too-frilly ditsy tea dress. That’s it. The fancier shops won’t even have that. I buy pretty much everything online, and nothing will get here in time.’
Christopher looks like he’s about to shrivel up from sheer mortification.
‘You are the worst,’ hisses Kit, taking her turn to kick him under the table.
With a flick, Laurel picks up her gigantic phone and begins scrolling, counting under her breath. It’s such a flourished move that everyone watches her in rapt silence. After a few moments, she looks up, beaming. ‘Okay, perfect. I have the time. I’ll do it.’
‘Do what?’ asks Kit.
‘Haf, I’m going to make you a dress. If you come over first thing tomorrow, I’ll get your measurements, we can go through my ideas, and I’ve got plenty of fabric that could work. I can do it.’
Haf is completely taken aback by this. She didn’t even know Laurel could sew, and really, she doesn’t even know Laurel at all. And yet here she is offering to sew her something for a party in less than forty-eight hours’ time?
‘Laurel, that’s so kind, but you don’t have to do that for me.’
‘I know I don’t have to,’ Laurel says with such a confident air that Haf is in awe. ‘I want to, and I have the time, now that Kit helped me finish everything this afternoon. I never get the opportunity to work with a model. You’d be doing me a favour, Haf.’
‘Don’t you have a ball to plan?’
‘Oh no, Mummy organises most of that, and luckily Christopher has just kindly volunteered himself to step in on my behalf for sorting out the last few bits.’
‘Have I?’
‘Yes,’ she says, so sweetly it’s kind of terrifying. She taps away at her phone.
‘That’s probably fair,’ he concedes.
‘I... I don’t know what to say, but thank you,’ Haf stammers, her head swimming.
Laurel’s phone buzzes. ‘Hi, Mummy.’ She listens for a second, then hands the phone over to Christopher. He nods and agrees a few times, before saying goodbye and handing it back to Laurel.
‘She says I have to come over now so she can walk me through everything. Are you all right with that? I’m sorry we won’t be able to hang out here. Should we drop you home?’
‘Don’t be silly. Kit can show Haf around,’ says Laurel simply.
‘Oh, you don’t have to,’ Haf protests.
‘No, Haf, you deserve to enjoy all the sights of an Oxlea Christmas. You looked like you were having such a good time until this one dropped the ball.’ She chuckles briefly at this accidental pun. ‘You two are great friends now, after all.’
If this were a movie, an enormous flashing danger sign would appear out of nowhere. Wandering around with her fake boyfriend being silly was a much more relaxed option. With Kit, she’ll be spending the whole time ignoring her body screaming,Kiss her!while her brain tries very, very hard not to.
‘I don’t mind,’ says Kit with a shrug. ‘But I’m a bit tired, so we can’t stay late if I’m going to drive us back. That okay?’
‘Of course. I just want to see the reindeer again and go round the stalls.’
‘That’s doable.’
Okay, that’s not too bad,she thinks. And hopefully they won’t run into Sally.
‘Perfect, we’ll dash off after the lights,’ says Laurel. ‘Esther will murder us if we leave before that.’
Christmas music cuts through the sounds of the fête, followed by the voices of a full choir. They’re singing ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, and it feels like a summons. All at once, it feels like all the attendees turn and walk towards the Christmas tree. It’s kind of magical – little kids bounce around excitedly and even the adults look rosy and happy.
