The Mistletoe Pact by Jo Lovett
Now – October 2022
Dan
Dan looked up at the – somewhat weird – orange, geometric clock on the far side of the café.
‘That clock must be fast,’ he said, pulling his phone out. ‘Nope. It’s right. I’d better get going.’
‘Me too,’ said his father. ‘I’ll get this.’
‘My turn.’ Dan put his wallet on the table.
‘But I’m your dad and I’d like to get it.’ His father raised his eyebrows. ‘If you’ll let me?’
Dan looked at him, and nodded, slowly. It felt symbolic. Like he was letting him be his dad again.
‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘This has been good.’ Domino effect. Evie had nagged him into talking to Max, and Max had nagged him into talking to his father.
‘I wondered,’ said his father, when he’d paid, and they were huddling in their coats in biting wind on the pavement outside, preparing to go their separate ways, ‘if you’d like to go to the rugby at Twickenham with me next month. The England–Italy match. I have four tickets. I thought I could ask Max and Greggy too.’ Right. Several hours together. Father/son bonding. It felt like a commitment.
It felt like it would be a great way of rebuilding their relationship.
‘I’d like that,’ Dan said. ‘I’m not sure what weekends I’m down to work, though. Could you send me the date and I’ll have a look and let you know?’ If he got cold feet he could use work as an excuse. He didn’t think he would, though.
* * *
Dan slapped aftershave on and then laughed at himself in his bathroom mirror. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d shaved any time other than first thing in the morning. Normally, he took the view that if he was stubbly, he was stubbly.
Seeing Evie today felt special, though, like they were both acknowledging that they had a relationship and it could be going somewhere.
It was Wednesday evening, ten days since their cinema trip. They’d squeezed a coffee in, just outside Earl’s Court station, on Sunday morning, but other than that hadn’t managed to see each other, and they couldn’t find a weekend time that they were both free for the next week and a half. This evening, though, they were both free, and they’d planned to catch the end of the day at a funfair currently on Wimbledon Common, and then go for dinner at a nearby pub that Zubin had recommended.
Just over an hour later, they were wandering hand in hand around the funfair.
‘Okay,’ said Evie, ‘we don’t have much time, so we need to prioritise. I love dodgems and, if I’m honest, I’ll be disappointed if we don’t do them.’
Dan nodded. ‘Good call. I love a dodgem too. Also the shooting range.’
‘Okay. I’m rubbish but I don’t mind having a go.’
‘That’s good news for me. If I say so myself, I’m not bad, so I’ll be able to strut some macho impressing-the-ladies stuff.’
‘I will prepare to be duly impressed. Dodgems first? In case you win lots of stuff on the shooting range and it won’t fit in the cars with us?’
Fifteen minutes later, Evie had just rammed two teenage boys, hard, for the umpteenth time, and was cackling away like a woman possessed.
‘You’re a demon at the wheel,’ Dan said, impressed, as their cars bumped together and they were momentarily halted next to each other at the side.
‘I know,’ she said happily. ‘Honestly, I was never like this before I started driving in London, but now I’ve started I can’t stop. Next time I get in my actual car I’m going to have to remind myself that it isn’t a dodgem. Anyway. Move. You’re cramping my bumping style.’
At the end of their go, they got out of their cars, both staggering slightly.
‘That’s quite high impact,’ said Dan.
‘It is. Good job we’re just going to be standing still shooting now. Time to recover. You’ll have to show me how to do it.’ Evie smiled at him and he felt it right to his stomach. He put his hand out and she put hers into his. They fitted perfectly together, like a jigsaw.
They also fitted together perfectly when he stood behind Evie and reached round her to show her how to use the air rifle. She wriggled slightly against him as they adjusted her hold and God that felt – he hoped – like a promise of things to come tonight.
He really needed to get a grip, otherwise he’d literally be panting right here in the middle of a fairground.
He leaned down and planted a kiss on the back of her neck and she wriggled even more.
‘Porn,’ yelled one of the boys that Evie had been ramming on the dodgems. Fair enough.
‘Right,’ Dan said to Evie. ‘You ready?’
‘I think so. You go first, show me how it’s done.’
Dan did pretty well actually. Out of three shots he had two near misses and with the third won a mid-sized teddy, which Katie would definitely love.
‘Wow,’ said Evie. ‘You’re amazing.’ Dan tried really hard not to preen like a peacock. ‘Okay. My go.’ She screwed her face up adorably, took aim and, squeaking as she did so, fired, and then closed her eyes.
‘Evie!’ Dan said. ‘No way! Amazing.’ She’d won the biggest teddy they had, which was genuinely not much smaller than her.
She opened her eyes and started jumping up and down, saying, ‘Wow.’
The stall owner was looking part-annoyed, part-stunned. ‘That’s incredible,’ he said.
‘Talk about beginner’s luck,’ said Evie, when she’d finished jumping. ‘Okay, I’m going again.’
On her second attempt she hit the second biggest teddy and on her third attempt she didn’t bother with all the face-screwing-up and squeaking and just laughed and narrowed her eyes and shot the third biggest teddy.
‘Oh my God,’ Dan said. ‘You’re a complete hustler. Where did you learn and how have I never known this about you?’
‘Army cadets and, clearly, the first secret of hustling is to keep your skill as secret as possible.’
‘Well, wow. That was seriously impressive. You’re my woman if I ever need a sniper. Ready to haul our booty off to the pub now?’
* * *
Two and a half hours later, Evie looked at her plate and the last mouthful of her sticky toffee pudding and said, ‘I really want to eat that, but I’m so full.’
‘You going to go for it?’
‘I actually can’t. I’m going to have to admit defeat.’ Evie gestured at the panelled walls surrounding them. ‘I love this pub. So much character. And such good food.’
‘Yeah, me too. I’m going to tell Zubin it was a great suggestion. Shall we get the bill and I’ll walk you home very slowly to try to work some of the pudding off?’
‘Oh my goodness,’ Evie gasped as they opened the door of the pub and a blast of freezing air hit them. ‘You never think of London as being this cold. Especially in the autumn.’
‘Good job we have the teddies to warm us and that you have one of your trusty scarves,’ Dan said. This evening’s one was a sort of coral colour and woollen. ‘How many times are you wrapping this one?’
‘As many as I can.’ Evie shivered.
‘Come here.’ Dan put his non-teddy-holding arm round her shoulders and hugged her into him. ‘Warmer?’
‘Mmm,’ said Evie. He couldn’t see her face very well because her head was kind of nestled into his neck as they walked, but he’d definitely caught a glimpse of a big smile.
They wandered along like that, across Wimbledon Common, talking a little bit, about light stuff, until they stopped to cross a road, and then looked into some of the shop windows on Wimbledon High Street, and then afterwards ended up holding hands instead, all the rest of the way down the hill and back to Evie’s flat, still chatting, still about nothing serious.
They stopped outside Evie’s front door. Dan looked down at where their fingers were laced together. Her hand really did fit perfectly inside his.
‘I really enjoyed our evening,’ he said. He’d be pretty keen for it not to end right here.
‘Me too,’ Evie said. She looked up at his face for a long time, and then said, ‘Would you like to come in for a coffee?’
Stupid question. Dan would love to go in for a coffee. Except. Evie had hesitated for way too long there. It was like she thought she should ask him in but she wasn’t totally sure about it.
‘Are you absolutely sure?’ he asked. Shit. That sounded like he thought they were talking about sex, which obviously he hoped they were, but maybe they weren’t, maybe she was just genuinely only talking about coffee. ‘I mean, you aren’t too tired? Dodgems, hustling and eating a lot are hard work.’
She smiled at him and his breath caught.