Maxine Morrey - Winter's Fairytale

‘Mags! Mags!’ I raised my voice and jumped in front of her train of thought.

‘What?’

‘What are you on? It’s Rob! Of course I haven’t kissed him and oh my God, no! We’re not in bed! Why on Earth would you think that?’

‘I… just thought…’

‘No. Definitely not. It’s not like that.’ I was doing my best to try and keep the very awkward conversation as low in volume as possible, but casually. Without it seeming like I was bothered about Rob hearing. I had a feeling I was failing miserably.

‘I bumped into him outside my studio, they were cancelling trains all over the place, including mine, so I ended up coming back to his place so that we could take a look at the traffic and the weather. All the roads are blocked solid. We had a microwave meal and watched a film.’ I thought I may as well tell her everything in case something came up later and she read more into it because I hadn’t mentioned it.

‘And now?’ she asked.

‘And now what?’

She let out a sigh. ‘What. Happens. Now.’

‘Nothing. Happens. Now.’ I said, ‘I’m going to bed shortly.’

A squeak of excitement came from Mags’ end of the line.

‘On my own.’ I clarified, but couldn’t help laughing, ‘What’s got into you tonight?’

‘Nothing.’ she replied. ‘It’s just that Rob is nice. Really nice. He’s been so concerned about you, and now he’s shown up on your doorstep, like a white knight–’

‘Oh blimey! Bus Boy really sprinkled the love dust on you tonight, didn’t he?’

‘He did not!’ Mags said, but there wasn’t as much indignation in her voice as I would have expected. Wow. Bus Boy really had made an impression.

‘Ok. Well, I’m going to go to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Hopefully the snow will have gone then and I can get home.’

‘Ok. Sleep well!’ Mags said, her voice indicating that she thought that sleeping should be the last thing on my mind.

‘You’re potty. Love you. Night night.’ I said, and pressed ‘End’.

I walked back to the sofa, put the phone on the table and plopped back down next to Rob. He shooshed the blanket out so that it covered both of our legs. And for some reason, it didn’t feel awkward. It felt natural. I was just about to start wondering if that should worry me when Rob spoke.

‘Is Mags ok?’

‘Yep. I think Bus Boy got her a bit drunk. But yeah, she’s ok. I think she might actually really like this guy. She was acting a bit lovey-dovey.’

Rob didn’t look at me but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him raise his eyebrows. He’d know Mags long enough to know that was an unusual state of affairs for her.

‘I know.’ I agreed with his silent statement.

‘So, she knows you’re here then.’

‘Yes.’

‘She all right with that?’

I looked at him. ‘Why wouldn’t she be?’

‘I don’t know. I just didn’t want her thinking that I was, I don’t know, taking advantage of you, or something.’

A giggle burst up. ‘You’re frightened of her!’

‘I am not!’ Rob defended himself, ‘I’m just saying that I didn’t want her getting the wrong idea about us. About this.’

‘Afraid of another broken nose?’

Rob pulled a face. ‘Somehow I don’t think Mags would be that generous.’

He probably had a point. His nose might well be the last of his worries.

‘She won’t get the wrong idea, Rob. I promise. I put her straight on that.’

He looked at me. ‘So, she did suggest something?’

‘Why do I suddenly feel as if I’m in the witness box?’

He smiled at me.

‘You look like a shark about to attack,’ I laughed. ‘Is that what you do? Put people at ease with your easy manner and gorgeous smile before going straight for the jugular!’

Now it was his turn to laugh. ‘You’ve been watching too much Law and Order.’

I wobbled my head in a ‘maybe yes, maybe no’ sort of way.

‘And you didn’t answer my question.’

‘Oh my God!’ I laughed, resting my head on the back of the sofa, ‘You are not going to let this go, are you?’

‘I just don’t want Mags thinking I’m–’

‘Rob. She doesn’t. Ok? Don’t worry about it. She knows you’re just being a friend.’ I bumped against him in a gesture of reassurance. He smiled and nodded without looking at me.

‘Good.’ he said. ‘Yep, that’s good. Right. I’d better find you a toothbrush, hadn’t I?’ With that, he got up and headed off towards the bathroom.

Half an hour later I was sat ready for bed in Rob’s guest room. I stood up and looked at the image in the mirror. Rob had leant me a pyjama top that was still in its packet.

‘I only ever wear the bottoms.’ he’d explained, handing it over to me.

To say it was a little big was a mild understatement. Let’s just say, I probably didn’t actually need to stay in Rob’s flat – I could camp out just in this shirt. The top covered most of my thighs, the sleeves brushed my knees and there was about a mile of fabric each side of my body. Sweetly, he’d also included a pair of socks which again, although miles too big, were lovely and cosy.

Ever since I’d pulled an all-nighter at the studio a couple of years ago – a bride had come in for a final fitting having spent the previous three weeks on a clearly very effective crash diet – I now always made sure I was prepared for another. A flannel, toothbrush and travel sized toothpaste sat neatly in a cosmetic bag in my desk drawer. I preferred to keep the set of spare underwear closer to hand. The remote, yet still possible, chance that someone looking for something in my drawer may unwittingly plonk my undies out into full view gave me a twitch. Which is why they lived in a securely zipped pocket of my carry-everywhere tote. A fact I was extremely glad of at this precise moment. Rob might be sweet enough to lend me pyjamas and socks but I was pretty sure I’d be out of luck in the underwear department and there was no way on Earth I was going to go ‘commando’.

Rob said he’d left a new toothbrush out in the bathroom for me so I stuck my head out of the door and peered round. It had actually turned into a really lovely evening, just sitting and relaxing together. But I wasn’t quite ready to face up to him in my – or rather his – pyjamas just yet. I looked around. I could hear movement in his bedroom so I took the opportunity to scoot along to the bathroom and get my own ablutions taken care of before he was ready to. I went in, locked the door and picked up the toothbrush. As I peeled the packaging away, I thought back to what he’d said about buying in bulk, and wondered just how much of that was true. And then I wondered why it bothered me if it was.

I finished cleaning my teeth and, upturning one of the glasses on the counter, popped my toothbrush in it. I stared at the glass for a moment, it being there was yet more evidence at the hint that this place definitely had a woman’s touch to it. I mean, who has two glasses in their bathroom – unless you own a hotel. Or – the other thought barrelled back at me – you’re just used to having people stay over. A lot. We were back to the bulk buying of toothbrushes. And I was too tired to think about it all. Or think about why I was even thinking about it all. I unlocked the door and cracked it open a smidge, checking to see if I could make it back to the guest room undetected. All clear. I did a half walk, half run thing and made it to the door. Except the momentum from the ‘run’ part of the manoeuvre kept me going, and my cosy socks offered no purchase on the wood floor. And I kept right on going straight into the door. I grabbed at the handle in an attempt to stop the inevitable but it happened anyway and I landed hard on my backside in the hallway.