Page 16 of Christmas at the Movies

The man had them pick their seats on a paper seating chart. He wrote out their tickets by hand, his black pen forming elegant characters on the paper, then directed them to the auditorium.

Sarah could feel her wet jeans sticking to her thighs and water from her hair running down her neck in rivulets. ‘I feel like a drowned rat.’

‘We’ll soon dry off,’ said James cheerfully, putting his arm around her shoulders.

Set in 1960s Hong Kong, the film wove together multiple meandering stories.

One was about a science-fiction author writing a novel about a mysterious room 2046, where whoever was in it could revisit the past but never return to the present.

Another followed a woman desperately in love with the writer.

Every Christmas Eve, they met for dinner, but the writer never reciprocated her feelings.

When the lights came back on, Sarah sat in awed silence. ‘That was amazing.’ She’d loved the film, with its melancholy soundtrack, gorgeous period costumes and saturated colours.

‘I thought it was confusing,’ admitted James. ‘Even with the subtitles.’

‘It was like a strange dream,’ said Sarah. ‘Dreams don’t always make sense.’

Outside the cinema, it had stopped raining and dark had fallen.

The promenade at Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront was decorated with colourful lanterns for the autumn harvest festival.

Families were out strolling, admiring the lights and the full moon shimmering over the harbour.

Children held home-made lanterns on sticks and wore traditional outfits made of silky brocade.

Sarah and James bought paper lanterns with the white Moon Rabbit on them from a vendor.

A little girl in a pink dress with a matching ribbon in her hair rode her bike towards them.

She was going fast – her long black hair streaming out behind her.

Her parents shouted after her in Cantonese.

Although Sarah didn’t understand the words, she could tell they were warning her to slow down.

Too late. The tyres skidded on the wet pavement and the girl fell off her bicycle. She sprawled on the ground, crying.

Sarah gasped. ‘Oh no.’

They dashed forward to help her up.

Sarah crouched down in front of the girl. Her knee was bleeding and there was a scrape on her chin. ‘Does it hurt?’

The little girl nodded, her lip trembling. Sarah took out a tissue from her backpack and pressed it gently to her grazed knee.

‘Would you like my lantern?’ James held out his lantern to the little girl. ‘Look – it’s got a bunny on it.’

‘What’s your name, sweetie?’ asked Sarah.

‘Iris,’ said the girl shyly, taking the lantern.

Eventually, the girls’ parents caught up with them. Iris’s mum gave her a hug, then, once she’d checked her wounds, scolded her in Cantonese. Turning to James and Sarah, the woman tried to give them back the lantern, but James insisted that Iris keep it.

‘Thank you,’ said Iris’s mother.

Iris’s dad picked her up, while her mother wheeled the bicycle along. Sarah smiled as the adorable little girl wrapped her arms around her dad’s neck and waved at them over his shoulder. She turned to watch them go, the rabbit lantern bobbing along.

An image of her and James, each holding the hand of a little girl with curly brown hair and blue eyes, popped into her mind. Suddenly, Sarah was overcome with an intense longing – a hunger – to have a baby of her own.

‘She was cute,’ said James as they strolled along.

‘Yes,’ agreed Sarah. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he was thinking the same thing.

Don’t be ridiculous, she told herself. The woman at the temple must have put ideas into her head.

They weren’t ready to start a family. They lived in a small flat and worked crazy hours.

Much as she loved living in trendy East London, Sarah couldn’t imagine raising kids there, with sirens wailing at all hours and buses belching pollution into the air.

Plus, she wanted to finish her screenplay before starting a family.

She still hadn’t completed The Ghost Writer because she was too busy editing other people’s scripts.

She’d thought about starting something new, but was so tired on the weekends she couldn’t muster up the energy.

Further along the promenade, the pathway was embedded with plaques and handprints, honouring the greats of the Hong King film industry.

‘It’s like the Walk of Fame in Hollywood,’ said James. On their honeymoon, they had visited Hollywood Boulevard, looking for their favourite actors’ stars.

‘Look, it’s Wong Kar-wai,’ said Sarah, pointing to the star commemorating the director of the film they’d just seen.

As they continued down the promenade, they also spotted stars for Maggie Cheung and Gong Li, who had acted in the movie.

Back at the hotel, Sarah kicked off her trainers. ‘I’m exhausted.’

‘Maybe we should lie down for a bit …’ said James, sliding his hand under her still-damp T-shirt and nuzzling her neck. ‘God, you always smell so good.’

‘Like Christmas.’ Sarah laughed, remembering what he’d told her the first time they’d made love.

After they’d made love, they lay entwined in a tangle of Egyptian cotton sheets. James stroked Sarah’s belly. ‘I keep thinking about what the lady said at the temple.’

‘Me too,’ she admitted.

James propped himself up on his elbow and smiled at her. ‘I think we’d be good parents.’

Sarah knew that James would be an amazing father – she’d seen how gentle and kind he’d been with the little girl who’d fallen off her bike. Her sister’s kids loved their uncle James. But even though she wanted kids too, Sarah was secretly scared she wouldn’t be very good at it.

‘I’m just not sure I’m ready yet,’ she said, reaching up to push away the hair that had flopped in front of his face.

‘There’s no rush. And in the meantime, we’ll just have to have fun practising …’

James bent down to kiss her, as Sarah arced her body to meet his.

Later, they changed into evening clothes. Sarah put on the silky dress that she’d bought at the market.

James whistled in appreciation as she twirled to show off her new outfit. ‘Very glamorous.’

Holding hands, they took the lift to the cocktail bar at the top of the hotel. The harbour and the city’s high-rises were ablaze with light.

‘This holiday has been incredible,’ Sarah said, sipping her martini. ‘I wish we didn’t have to go back to work.’

‘It will be Christmas before you know it,’ said James. ‘We’ll get a break then.’

Sarah and James would celebrate in Ealing with Sean. Geraldine would probably spend Christmas with Meg and her kids in Edinburgh, while Sarah’s dad and Tiffany usually jetted off for a winter-sun break, so Tiffany could maintain her year-round tan.

Sarah sighed. ‘I know. But work is just so all-consuming. After a day or two back at the BBC, I’ll be stressed as ever. On the weekends, I’m too drained to write.’

James looked thoughtful, twiddling the cocktail stick in his drink.

‘Penny for your thoughts,’ said Sarah.

‘Maybe it doesn’t have to be like that.’

‘What do you mean?’

James took a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket. ‘I’ve been carrying this around with me for weeks. Waiting for the right moment to show you.’

He handed over the piece of paper – an estate agent listing. The building in the photograph was one she’d seen before.

‘Is this that the old cinema in the village where we got married?’

James nodded. ‘I’ve been checking on the internet every so often, in the hope that it would come on the market. A few months ago, it finally did.’

Sarah looked at the asking price and gulped. ‘That’s a lot of money.’

‘I know,’ said James. ‘But I think we could just about swing it.’

‘How?’

‘My shares have gone up in value since the stock market flotation. If I sold them while they’re high, and we sold our flat – which has gone up in value – I think we’d have enough to put down a decent deposit on the cinema and to buy someplace to live as well.’

Sarah studied the pictures of the cinema’s interior. ‘It needs a lot of work.’

‘It won’t be easy, but Dad says he’ll help restore it.’ James’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement. ‘It still has a lot of its original features. Just think – we could show whatever we wanted to: old classics, arthouse movies and foreign films, like the one we saw today.’

‘You’ve clearly given this a lot of thought,’ Sarah said.

‘I have,’ admitted James. ‘You know it’s always been my dream.’

Sarah thought of Plumdale, the village they’d got married in. It was safe and green and picture perfect. The sort of place where you could raise a family …

As if he’d read her mind, James said, ‘When we do eventually have kids, I don’t want to be working crazy hours, always at the beck and call of the board of directors.’

Neither did she.

‘If we were our own bosses,’ continued James, ‘it would be easier for you to find the time to write.’

Sarah picked up the cinema details again and studied them. She imagined it transformed into a beautiful place like the vintage cinema they’d visited today. She pictured herself writing, in a peaceful country cottage, with a view of rolling hills …

‘What do you think?’ James asked her.

At the temple, they’d made an offering to ensure good fortune. But what was the saying – fortune favours the brave. Instead of waiting around for things to change, perhaps it was time for them to make their own good luck. As long as they were in it together, what could possibly go wrong?

Looking up, she met James’s eyes and smiled.

‘Let’s do it, birthday boy. Let’s buy a cinema.’