Page 20 of Under the Mistletoe with You

Oh man, that’s who he reminds him of.

Kermit.

But English.

Most of the messages are from Kurt, his agent.A man who, if you met him, you’d be sure surfed professionally or ran a marijuana-dispensary-cum-wellness café, rather than being a hard-nosed talent agent.He’s been by Nash’s side since his career took off properly, and has never steered him wrong.

Obviously, Nash knows why Kurt is trying to get hold of him.That’s half of why he ran away in the first place.All he wanted was a bit of peace and quiet so he could think everything through and escape the industry for a few days – especially when it’s an industry that doesn’t care about the holidays, not when a deal is on the table.A deal that might be the most important one of his life.

And he’s not sure he even wants it.

Sure, maybe if he’d acted like an adult and had a proper conversation with Kurt about what he actually wants instead of running away, he wouldn’t be here worrying about being locked into another multi-film contract playing characters he can’t relate to.

But he’s too chicken.So, he ran away to Wales.

He’s not ready to reply to Kurt.A pang of guilt shoots through his chest when he reads Tessa’s increasingly frantic messages.She deserves a raise when he gets home.That’s if he ever escapes the snowpocalypse.

Nash:Hey Tessa.Sorry for not getting back to you earlier.I made it to Wales safely, and just got internet.Happy holidays!

Next to him, Christopher shuffles awkwardly in his seat.He’s probably just shifting to get comfortable, though giventhe height-to-space ratio, Nash is convinced this man has never felt comfortable in his entire life.It’s almost as though Christopher is purposefully trying to remind Nash that he’s still there.

As if he could forget!

Before he can make a pointed remark about Christopher’s constant presence, another notification from Kurt comes through.This time it’s a phone call.Now Nash knows he’sreallyin trouble.But if he sends him to voicemail, Nash is just postponing the inevitable.It’ll be so much worse to have to go through all those voicemails andthenring him back.

With a sigh, he gets up and walks to the bedroom, connecting the call as he does.

‘Hey man,’ he answers, in the most casual tone he can muster.

‘Dude!There you are!’Kurt doesn’t speak so much as yell in the same cadence of a happily barking golden retriever.‘I’ve been trying to get hold of you.I was three steps away from calling round the hospitals, or even your parents.’

Yikes, he must have been really worried.

‘You owe Tessa a raise, by the way.She was insisting you were fine but unavailable – are you on a hook-up or something?No, don’t tell me.Just let me know you’re okay?’

Nash feels immediately guilty about Kurt’s concern.He probably thinks it’s something really serious rather thanI ran away to Europe.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,’ Nash says, pulling the door closed.‘I’m fine.Just got some stuff going on.’

‘Oh yeah?’

Rather than implicate himself or come up with an elaborate lie on the spot, he just says, ‘Yep.’

After a pause, Kurt asks, ‘Are you safe?’

‘Yes.’

‘All right then.’Satisfied, Kurt gets down to business.‘Did you see the email from Chuck?’

‘A new one, or the one from two days ago?’

There’s a small pause.The magical thing about Kurt is that he never lets Nash know exactly how annoyed he is with him, or at least he doesn’t think he does.Over the years they’ve worked together, Nash has learned to read it in his silences and the various intonations of ‘dude’.

‘The ones sent yesterday.’

‘No then, I haven’t seen those yet.’

‘Well look, it’s my job to know how to best represent you.I can’t do that unless I know what’s going on for you.So, can you read them, dude?’