Chapter 25
MERRY
Merry packed everything she needed for the ball carefully in her holdall and skipped across town, arriving at work five minutes early — which had to be a record for her.
She hung the dress in her locker, giving the handbag a quick kiss before changing into her uniform.
She hadn’t heard from Christian at all since they’d parted, but then they hadn’t even exchanged numbers yet. Or surnames.
Which was weird, given what they had already exchanged.
It made her pause for a moment, one shoe half on, as the reality struck her. They’d flown into each other’s lives like a toboggan run and part of her was worried they’d moved too quickly, that they should slow things down a bit.
But part of her just wanted to ride with it. This had been her Christmas wish, after all, and it seemed that Santa had granted it, bells and whistles included.
The schedule told her that she was on greeter duty today, which she wasn’t too sad about.
Another day on Jewellery might have been the end of her.
Putting on her itchy Santa hat, she made her way downstairs and offered a beaming smile to the first few customers of the day.
There must have been something honest about it because it was contagious.
People looked at her and smiled back, their happiness providing a warmth that easily countered the cold.
Just after eleven, she heard a familiar rumble of wheels and she turned to see Christian behind her. It was all she could do not to pounce into his arms.
“Hi!” Her cheeks erupted into a monster blush for absolutely no reason.
“Hey,” he said. “How are you?”
“Good,” she said. “Great! I’m so excited about the dance.”
“Me too,” he said. “I . . .” He stopped speaking, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “I missed you last night, after you’d left.”
A delighted laugh escaped Merry’s mouth before she could stop it, and she clapped a hand over her lips before the customers noticed.
“Really?” she said.
“Really.” He smiled at her, his deep, brown eyes big enough to lose herself in for days. “Sorry, that’s a really weird thing to say.”
“It’s not,” she said. “I mean, I missed you too. My bed was freezing!”
Christian laughed, and he looked like he was going to say something else when somebody cleared their throat behind Merry.
She spun around to see Mrs Cradley there, the Dragon Lady tapping her foot impatiently.
But there was a twinkle in her eye — even she couldn’t be entirely miserable on the day of the dance.
“I’m going!” Christian said, running off with his trolley. “I know, I know, those soap dispensers won’t fill themselves!”
Merry laughed, directing the next customer to the restaurant as Mrs Cradley stalked away.
The store was busier than ever, which at least made the time fly by.
At 2.50 p.m. the Christmas music stopped and an announcement went out to say that the store was closing early.
Half an hour later, the last few recalcitrant customers were herded out of the building.
Merry took off her hat and scratched her head, only to hear what sounded like an excited dolphin racing towards her.
“Squeeeee!”
She spun around in time to see Alice flying across the lobby. Her friend jumped up and down in delight.
“The ball! The ball!”
Merry laughed, taking Alice’s outstretched hands and letting her spin them both around.
“Aren’t you excited, Merry?” Alice asked. “It’s going to be so much fun. I can taste the champagne already!”
“That’s because she’s already cracked open a case or two,” said Trudy, walking up.
“I have not,” said Alice. “But I did sneak a canapé earlier when the caterers came in. They’re delicious. Are you going to get changed?”
“It’s a little early, isn’t it?” said Merry. “It doesn’t start until seven, right?”
“That doesn’t stop three glamorous ladies from hitting the bar first,” said Trudy. “Anyone up for it?”
There was only one person in the entire city that Merry wanted to see right now, but she knew that Christian would be on duty getting the store ready for the ball. She didn’t really fancy drinks, but four hours was a long time to hang around by herself.
“Sure,” she said. “I’m game.”
They rode to the top floor in the customer elevators, and Merry grabbed her bag and her jacket, leaving everything else in her locker. She had to resist the temptation to pull the dress out and caress it.
They made their way down Fifth Avenue to the same place where she and Christian had shared their hot chocolate.
It felt like something that had happened years ago, Merry thought as they stepped out of the worsening weather into the warmth of the bar.
It felt like the kind of memory she should be sharing with her children, or even her grandchildren.
It was such a strange sensation — that she’d somehow lived a whole lifetime in these short few days.
Nothing that had happened before that night felt real anymore.
“Earth to Merry,” said Trudy, shaking her out of her daydream.
“She’s got it bad,” said Alice, smiling.
“Oh yeah,” said Trudy. “She’s got it seriously bad.”
“I don’t!” squeaked Merry. “I’m just . . . tired.”
“Tired of being alone,” said Trudy with a laugh.
“Tired of not having a man to kiss,” added Alice, wrapping her arms around herself and smooching the air.
Merry slapped her gently on the shoulder and they took a seat by the window, all of them giggling.
Christmas songs were playing, and outside, the sleet was slowing into snow — huge, fat flakes drifting down from the darkening sky.
The lights were buzzing to life, breathing Christmas spirit into every building.
The waitress — Diane’s cousin — took their orders, winking at Merry, and Merry found herself grinning so hard her cheeks hurt.
They ordered champagne to start. Even though Trudy and Alice chatted freely about work, and their lives outside the store, Merry found it difficult to keep up.
The entirety of her mind was taken up by Christian — his smile, his warm eyes, his infectious laugh, his strong arms, not to mention those hands .
. . Every time she found herself thinking of him she had to catch herself before her cheeks exploded.
“. . . reminds me,” Alice was saying when Merry tuned into the conversation again. “There might not even be a job to go back to next year.”
“What do you mean?” Trudy asked.
“The store, haven’t you heard?” Alice leaned in and they all crowded around her. “It’s going under. Poor Lewis Carroll is ill. I heard he’s dying. The store won’t go on without him.”
“It has to,” said Merry. “I need this job.”
“At least we won’t have to answer to Cradley anymore,” laughed Alice.
“That’s true,” said Merry.
“Anyway, I heard that Carroll’s son is back in town,” said Trudy. “That he’s going to take over.”
“I didn’t know he had a son,” said Merry.
Trudy nodded, taking a sip of her drink. “Yeah, he used to work here, apparently, in the head office. He left, some disagreement or other. But anyway, I heard he’s back, and I heard he’s gorgeous.”
“Rich and gorgeous,” said Alice, purring. “I wonder if he’ll be there tonight?”
“I can think of a certain somebody who needs a rich boyfriend,” said Trudy, looking at Merry.
Merry squirmed uncomfortably, remembering the conversation that Christian had overheard a couple of days ago. “I don’t care how rich he is,” she said. “You can’t fall in love with notes and coins.”
“That’s true enough.” Alice checked her phone. “Anyway, it’s nearly five. It’s time to go and get ready.”
The snow had doubled in strength and they ran through it back to Carroll’s, bursting into the store like kids at Christmas.
The absence of customers made the space look so much bigger, and the enormous Christmas tree rose majestically through the open levels.
Everywhere Merry looked there were lights and ribbons, holly and mistletoe, baubles and tinsel.
It made her heart feel light with happiness to see such festive joy.
They made their way up to the locker room together.
Even though so many people had left the store recently, the place was still busy as people changed out of their uniforms and into their formal dresses.
Merry marvelled at the beautiful fabrics and striking colours, the sparkle of silver and the glint of gold.
Everybody was chatting and laughing, the atmosphere positively electric, but when Merry opened her locker door and pulled out her dress, the room fell eerily quiet.
“Oh my God,” said Trudy. “That’s a Storm dress.”
Merry turned around, holding the dress protectively against her chest. It clung to her, as though it wanted to be worn, the tiny, bejewelled snowflakes flashing like diamonds.
Trudy walked up, her eyes wide with sheer astonishment.
“I saw that dress in Vogue ,” she said. “It was supposed to be for that actress, the Oscar winner. You know the one. It was custom designed by Devlin Storm himself, but then they fell out and she never wore it. How . . . how on earth have you got it?”
Merry almost felt embarrassed, and she wondered if maybe it was too much, if maybe the sight of an ordinary girl like her in such a glorious and expensive dress would make people laugh — or make them angry.
But she refused to let anything stop her from enjoying this moment.
This was Christian’s gift to her, and that’s all that mattered.
“It was a present,” she said. “A very generous one.”
“It can’t have been a gift from your cleaner boyfriend,” Trudy said. “So who?”
Alice smiled kindly. “It doesn’t matter who. You’re very lucky. It’s beautiful. Go on, put it on!”
Merry grinned, stripping out of her uniform and slipping into the dress. She turned around and Alice zipped it up.
“Oh, wow,” Trudy said with a hint of envy. “That’s . . . that’s just something else.”
“Oh, Merry, you look incredible!” shouted Alice, hugging her. She grabbed Merry’s shoes from the locker. “Sit there, let me do your hair.”
Merry did as she was told, feeling like royalty as Alice started brushing her hair.
Even though Trudy rolled her eyes, she joined in, expertly twisting Merry’s stubborn red locks into elegant braids.
Merry sat there like a blushing bride as the two girls did her makeup, trying not to laugh as they tickled her cheeks with brushes and her lips with gloss.
She had no idea how long they worked on her, but after a while they stood back in awe.
“Whoa, mamma,” said Trudy.
Alice grinned. “You look like a movie star.”
Merry looked into the mirror, studying her reflection the way that somebody might watch a movie.
And the person she saw there belonged in a movie, a movie where a girl made a Christmas wish to become a princess, where she fell in love with her prince and waltzed with him into the sunset.
Merry grinned at herself, wondering if this was too good to be real life, if maybe this movie was about to end. But what if it didn’t?
“Thank you,” she said, almost too emotional to get the words out. “I don’t know what to say. Everyone has been so kind to me.”
“Sometimes the world is kind.” Alice tucked a wisp of hair behind Merry’s ear. “A lot of the time it’s cruel, but these moments are the ones we live for. You do look beautiful, Merry. Go and enjoy this moment of kindness. Go live your fairy tale.”
Merry stood up, the dress flowing perfectly, the shoes fitting like a dream.
Please let this be an amazing evening , she thought. Please let Alice be right, let this be my fairy-tale happy-ever-after .
But in the back of her mind she thought of last Christmas Day, sitting alone at her kitchen table crying into a cold turkey, and she hoped that this story, like all the fairy tales she could remember, didn’t have a nasty twist.