Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was a tense evening.
With Adam’s unexpected arrival, the memories of how she had behaved towards him, the way she had treated him – all of it had been unlocked. Her head was full of questions and her stomach was churning.
And James didn’t seem to want to leave. There had been no more mention of the mysterious party he was meant to be going to, and he’d even offered to help with the evening feeds. Felicity watched him carefully as he made his way among the cages, popping food in the bowls and giving each furry recipient a little head scratch or stroke on his way. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. She longed to warn him, to tell him to run away from her at 100mph and never look back. What was he doing hanging around her anyway? Surely he had someone else – someone who wasn’t a complete emotional wreck, perhaps even someone who’d won a Nobel Peace Prize – that he could be spending New Year’s Eve with?
To his credit he had so far resisted the urge to ask her who Adam was, although she knew he must be dying to. As they sipped their (Irish) coffees in the break room after rounds and waited for midnight, neither one looking directly at the other, it seemed as though James may be on the verge of saying it… Of saying something, anyway. But just as he opened his mouth to speak, there was a loud shout. James and Felicity leapt up and raced instinctively to the cat nursery, where they found Andrea holding aloft a pale blue box.
‘What on earth is this?’ said Andrea. ‘You haven’t even known each other five minutes and already, a ring!’
James looked at Felicity and Felicity wondered if she could somehow make herself invisible. Was it Harry Potter who could do that? What were those words again? Spellus invisibilianus , or something?
‘What is that?’ said James, reaching forward to take it from Andrea, who went a deathly shade of pale.
‘You mean it’s not from you, James?’ she said, glancing at Felicity in horror.
Felicity shook her head slowly.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
She felt as though her insides might be folding in on themselves.
Swallowing her panic, Felicity thought fast. She decided to attempt nonchalance.
‘It’s from that bloke, Adam,’ she said, in what she hoped sounded like a breezy version of her voice. ‘The stupid idiot hasn’t seen me for, like, years, so I have no idea what he thinks he’s playing at.’ She gave a forced kind of laugh which came out much louder than she had intended, but the others were looking down, mouths agape, at the open box in James’ hand and didn’t even seem to notice.
James stared at the ring, for that is what it was, for a long time. And all the while, Felicity and Andrea waited, exchanging nervous glances, Andrea trying to mouth an apology across the room, Felicity trying to hold back the tears, but also trying to keep her face neutral, as if it really did mean nothing.
‘I should go,’ said James, slowly, taking a few steps backwards. ‘I’m late.’
Andrea had somehow managed to edge towards the door, looking contrite, and it was obvious she was trying to give them some alone time to make up for her monumental cock-up. But when she heard him say that, she stopped short.
‘You’ll do nothing of the sort,’ she said.
James looked at her, a bit taken aback.
Andrea blustered on. ‘It’s New Year’s Eve. It’s 11.30, it’s far too late to turn up to a party now. You’ll miss the big moment. Anyway, you said it was black tie.’
James glanced down at himself as if he’d forgotten what he was wearing.
‘Why don’t you take Freddy and Felix out for a quick walk round the block? That would be a huge help, actually.’
James crossed his arms. ‘It’s nearly midnight. Why on earth would two tiny dogs like that need a walk at midnight on New Year’s Eve?’
Andrea didn’t miss a beat. ‘It’s part of their training for a new home. They need to get used to being taken out at all hours. It was scheduled anyway, and Felicity was due to do it… only, Freddy hates her.’
Felicity nodded. ‘He does, it’s true,’ she said, with a feeble attempt at a smile.
James stared at Andrea for a long moment, as if trying to make her crack. To her credit, she stared back at him boldly, daring him to accuse her of lying. Then, in a devastating final blow, she crossed her arms back at him, and that was that. Defeated, James turned with a sigh, grabbed a couple of leads from the higgledy-piggledy pile on the hooks in the corner, and headed in the direction of the puppy room. He didn’t even look at Felicity as he walked past, and she felt a bit woozy – like it wasn’t just her insides that were giving up the ghost. Now the entire universe felt as though it was on the verge of caving in around her.
‘I need a beer,’ she announced in a feeble voice to no one in particular. But if she was honest, all she really wanted was to take a proper look at that ring.
The evening had really gone downhill from there. Midnight had come and gone with an awkward ‘Happy New Year’ and a pathetic attempt at a verse of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and then, before they could make up another task for him to do, James was leaving, muttering some excuse about needing to be up early the next day for something vague he couldn’t possibly miss even though they all knew it would be New Year’s Day and who the hell ever had plans on New Year’s Day?
He stared at Felicity for a long moment as they reached the door.
Say something.
‘Look…’ she said, wondering which words were going to come out of her mouth next.
‘You don’t have to explain anything to me,’ he said. His jaw was tense.
‘I do…’
‘No, you don’t. It’s really none of my business.’
She flinched. ‘Look, it really didn’t mean anything, honestly. I’ve no idea what he was doing here… and maybe the ring’s not even for me? He probably bought it for someone else. Maybe Andrea? She’s a dark horse after all!’
A smile tugged at his lips then, just for a split second. ‘And why would you think I care?’
He moved towards her in the shadows of the entranceway, and looked down at her upturned face so intensely her entire body began to tingle with anticipation. She resisted the urge to put her hands on him.
‘Happy New Year, Felicity Brooks,’ he said, a hint of regret in his voice, and with that he turned and stalked off into the night. She almost wanted to laugh out loud as she watched him strop off, the memory of him in his soggy penguin suit on the first night they met popping into her head. And then her knees gave way and she had to lean against the doorway for a moment.
Damn, but that was one very attractive man.