Page 26 of Christmas at the Movies

Present Day

‘Meow!’ A ginger paw batted Holly on the head.

‘Stop it, Jonesy,’ groaned Holly, pulling the duvet over her head. ‘It’s my birthday – I want a lie-in.’

Determined to get some affection, the cat changed tactics. He strutted along the length of Holly’s body and pounced on her toes.

‘OK, OK,’ Holly grumbled, throwing off the duvet and giving the cat a cuddle. Jonesy was more effective than any alarm clock. Holly needed to get up anyway – she and her mum always spent her birthday in London, shopping and going for a fancy afternoon tea.

Dazzling light streamed in from the window, as early-morning sunshine reflected off the freshly fallen snow.

I hope the trains are OK …

Although Mum was still in her bad books, Holly was looking forward to their day out.

She liked having her mother’s full attention for a change, without her fusspot brother kicking off about something or other.

They were seeing Auntie Pari, too. Holly’s godmother never treated her like a kid.

She usually bought Holly a new outfit, too, from somewhere cool, like Urban Outfitters or Brandy Melville.

There weren’t any good clothes shops in Plumdale, unless you liked waxed jackets, flat caps and wellies.

A delicious scent was wafting out of the kitchen as Holly descended the stairs in her pyjamas. Nick was already at the table, doodling in a sketchbook. Mum was humming as she spread icing on a freshly baked chocolate cake. She seemed suspiciously cheerful given the early hour.

‘Happy birthday, sweetheart.’ Mum came over to give her a hug, but Holly ducked away.

She looked critically at her mum’s clothes. God, she really had stopped making an effort. ‘Didn’t you wear that yesterday?’

‘I stayed at the cinema last night because of the snow,’ explained Mum. ‘But I hurried home in time to make your cake.’

‘You didn’t need to do that,’ said Holly.

‘I’m not a kid any more.’ At sixteen, she was old enough to get a full-time job, drive a moped, order a glass of wine at the pub (as long as she also ordered a meal) and get married (with her parents’ permission).

Not that she particularly wanted to do any of those things.

But the point was she could, if she wanted to.

‘We always have birthday cake for breakfast,’ said Mum, looking hurt.

The birthday-cake-for-breakfast tradition had only come about because one or other of her parents often had to work at the cinema in the evening.

They celebrated birthdays in the morning, with cake and presents, so everyone could be there.

‘Yeah, that’s the tradition,’ added Nick, looking up from his sketchbook. ‘That’s how we always celebrate birthdays.’

Holly wasn’t planning to spend her birthdays in Plumdale for ever, no matter how delicious her mum’s cakes were.

(She always put a bit of coffee in the batter, to enhance the chocolate flavour.) In two years, she’d be out of here.

Hopefully at drama school, but even if she didn’t get accepted, she’d work as a waitress and go to auditions.

‘By the way,’ said Mum. ‘Aaron asked me to wish you a happy birthday.’

‘Oh,’ said Holly, trying to sound unbothered as she poured herself a cup of tea from the pot on the table. ‘That’s nice.’ Inside, her heart was doing star jumps in her chest. She hadn’t told him it was her birthday, so the only way he would know was if he had been looking at her socials.

Or unless her mum had mentioned it at work … Holly sipped her tea. Out of the kitchen window, she saw her dad shovelling the garden path. She pulled out her phone and, ignoring all the birthday messages from friends, checked whether the trains were running.

Phew! They were.

Mum carried the cake over to the table. She’d piped SWEET SIXTEEN in white icing. ‘Ta-da.’

Holly’s mouth watered as she inhaled the delicious scent of Belgian milk chocolate – Mum always used the good stuff for their birthday cakes.

The top layer was slightly wonky but Holly knew it would taste amazing.

She took a photo and added it to her Instagram story.

Her heart soared when – straight away – Aaron liked it.

She grinned. So he had been checking out her socials.

‘Here,’ said Nick, handing her an envelope. Holly opened it and took out a handmade card with a manga-style illustration of a dark-haired girl with bunches holding a sword.

‘Is that supposed to be me?’ asked Holly.

Nick nodded.

‘That’s really good.’ She propped the card up on the table and gave her brother a hug.

‘Get off!’ protested Nick. But he had a smile on his face.

Dad opened the front door and stood at the entrance. ‘Boy, is it cold out there.’ He shut the door, then peeled off his jacket and gloves.

‘Have some tea to warm up,’ said Mum, pouring him a steaming mug.

‘Thanks,’ said Dad.

The family sat around the kitchen table and Dad stuck sixteen candles around the cake’s edge.

‘Dad and I got you this.’ Mum handed Holly a small turquoise-blue box, wrapped with a ribbon.

Holly untied the ribbon and gasped when she saw Tiffany & Co written on the box. She opened it and took out a silver necklace with a heart-shaped pendant.

‘It’s beautiful,’ she said, letting Mum fasten it around her neck. ‘But it must have been expensive.’

Dad smiled. ‘It isn’t every day that our only daughter turns sixteen.’

Mum nodded. ‘We wanted to get you something special. It seemed fitting, because we named you after the main character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.’

Holly loved being named after Holly Golightly. She had dressed up as her namesake for a fancy-dress party – a little black dress accessorised with pearls, long gloves and an even longer cigarette holder – but none of her friends had got the reference.

I bet Aaron would get it, she thought.

‘I love it,’ said Holly, touching the pendant. She hugged her parents. Mum looked ridiculously pleased and Holly felt bad she’d been so mean to her. I’m going to be nicer from now on, she resolved.

‘Can we have cake now?’ begged Nick, swiping a bit of icing from the side of the cake.

Holly batted him away. ‘Hands off – I get the first piece.’

Dad lit the candles and they all sang ‘Happy Birthday’.

‘Make a wish,’ said Mum.

Holly closed her eyes. I wish for Aaron to kiss me, she thought, blowing out the candles.

‘I bet I know what you wished for,’ crowed Nick as Mum handed out slices of cake.

Holly’s face flamed. Was her crush that obvious?

‘You wished to become a famous movie star,’ guessed Nick, shovelling a bite of cake into his mouth.

‘Speaking about movies …’ said Mum, looking like she was about to burst. ‘I have some big news. Last night I met Noa Drakos!’

‘The director?’ said Dad.

Mum’s eyes sparkled with excitement. ‘We both had to spend the night at the cinema because of the snow—’

‘Hang on a minute,’ said Dad. ‘He was there with you all night?’

‘Yes,’ replied Mum. ‘There was no way for him to get back to his hotel. So, anyhow, we got talking – first about Bergman, and then about other stuff – and …’

Holly’s heart began to pound. Maybe Mum had told him about her and the director wanted to give her a part in the movie.

OMG … OMG … OMG …

‘… He let me read his script,’ continued Mum. ‘I suggested some revisions and he loved my ideas. In fact’ – she paused for dramatic effect – ‘he’s asked me to do a rewrite on the movie he’s shooting here!’

Everyone looked at Mum in silence, trying to process her unexpected news.

Nick was the first to speak.

‘Congratulations, Mum,’ he said, giving her a hug.

‘Wow …’ said Dad. ‘That’s … amazing.’

‘I know, right? But you haven’t heard the best bit yet,’ said Mum, grinning.

Here we go, thought Holly. This was where her mum was going to make this her best birthday ever.

‘I’m getting twenty grand,’ said Mum. ‘That’s enough to replace the sound system!’

Who cared about the stupid sound system!

‘What about me?’ demanded Holly. ‘Did you tell him about me?’

‘Yes, I mentioned I had a daughter.’

‘And …’

Mum looked confused. There was a bit of chocolate icing on her lip. ‘And … what?’

‘Did you ask him if I could be in the movie?’ asked Holly impatiently. Why was Mum acting so stupid?

‘Well … no,’ said Mum. ‘That didn’t seem appropriate.’

Holly glared at her mother. This was unbelievable. She had spent hours on her own with an Oscar-winning director and hadn’t asked him if Holly could be an extra? What the actual hell?

‘You hypocrite,’ said Holly.

‘Holly,’ warned Dad. ‘Don’t speak to your mother that way.’

‘But it’s true! She stopped me from auditioning for the movie, but the second there was a chance for her to be involved, she grabbed it. It’s not fair!’

‘The two things are totally unrelated,’ said Mum.

Holly snorted. ‘Yeah, right.’

‘It was a joint decision,’ Dad reminded her.

But Holly wasn’t listening. ‘I can’t believe you’d do this to me.’

‘You’re being ridiculous, Holly,’ said Mum. ‘None of this was planned. And I certainly didn’t mean to upset you.’

‘I’m going to ask Auntie Pari what she thinks,’ threatened Holly. ‘I bet she’ll think you’re really selfish for not getting me a part.’

‘About that …’ said Mum, looking uncomfortable.

‘Holly, I’m sorry but we’ll have to postpone our trip to London.

It’s a really tight deadline. I need to get started on the script right away.

There’s more snow forecast for tonight, so I was going to suggest postponing anyway – in case the trains home get cancelled. ’

Oh, wow. Another betrayal. Holly instantly revoked her decision to be nicer to her mother. ‘That’s fine. It’s not like it’s an important birthday or anything,’ she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Just my sixteenth.’

‘I’m really sorry, honey,’ said Mum, her eyes pleading with Holly for understanding. ‘But this is a big opportunity for me, and the pay is excellent. The money is a lifeline for the cinema. I’ll make it up to you – I promise.’