Page 53 of Make You Mine This Christmas

‘All right,’ he says, thinking quietly. ‘Oh, actually. When did you move to York?’

Of course, he can’t know this is a sensitive area, but he needs to know in case anyone asks. Haf bites her bottom lip.

‘The start of this year. I was living in Liverpool with my ex, Freddie. I’d graduated and done nothing really with my degree, and, like... the world is burning, so I figured I should actually do something. And I found this job, so I applied for it and got it.’

‘And he didn’t move with you?’

‘No, he’s very settled there.’ She pauses, licking her lips. ‘Plus, he, err, pretty much already had a new girlfriend before I’d stepped on the train out, so...’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘It is what it is,’ she says, trying to be carefree about it. As though she’s processed it and got over it completely like a healthy person, rather than squashing it down and hoping she’dforgotten about it. ‘What about you, finance man? Give me a few years. Like uni, where did you go to uni?’

‘I went up to Oxford after school.’

‘Did you? Well done. That makes sense though, with the whole posh vibes. Were you in any of those fancy clubs at Oxford, like a secret society or something? Do you have dirt on the future prime ministers?’

‘No, luckily. Couldn’t stand all that pomp and ceremony, to be honest. I was on the rugby team for a bit with Mark, but I kept to myself a lot.’

‘I was on the fencing team for a bit.’

Christopher sits up in bed. ‘Someone let you hold asword?’

‘Unbelievable, isn’t it? I was terrible at it though. What happened after Oxford?’

‘Graduated, went straight into working in investments. My job is a sort of mix between investment adviser and financial analyst.’

‘Ohhh.’

There’s a long pause, before Christopher asks, ‘Are you okay?’

‘Oh!’ She snaps back. ‘Sorry, I was trying to think about what that actually meant and then I kind of zoned out. Sorry.Investment-financeman, got it. You help rich people be richer, right?’

‘Pretty much. And that’s one of many reasons why I don’t enjoy it.’

‘And you and Laurel broke up last year after sneaky stinker Mark stole her. And now he’s somehow your boss, or something?’

‘Pretty much.’

‘So we were both useless at university sports, have fairly recently had our hearts broken, and are both in jobs we dislike?’

‘Almost like we were destined to meet.’

‘Now you sound like a fantasy nerd.’

They lie there quietly in the dark. Haf is pretty sure Christopher is on the edge of sleep, when he whispers, ‘Do you think this is working?’

‘Our festive rouse?’

‘Yeah.’ He sounds so small, a boy again.

Haf reaches out to touch his cheek and just about makes it in the dark, though she’s pretty sure she pokes him in the eye with her thumb. He’s polite enough to not mention it.

‘Do you feel happy? I mean, am I helping?’

‘Happier than I would be alone.’

‘Well then, that’s good enough for me.’