They arrived at the Christmas party. Lights dazzled and twinkled and from somewhere in the distance Michael Buble sung Christmas songs through the whoops and laughter that filled the pub.
"Wish we hadn't come yet?"
Max leant into her, his breath hot against her cheek. She smiled and turned to face him, shaking her head slightly.
"Wouldn't you rather be at home...in bed?"
He asked, nudging her again so that she rolled her eyes and her smile widened, just showing the glint of her straight white teeth through her parted lips.
"Is that all you think about?"
She asked, her voice low. He shrugged and she leant into him, slipping her hand into his own as they edged through the crowd to bar.
"You came!"
They heard Robyn before they saw her, her body bumping up behind them before she emerged before them, her eyes a glitter with festive eye shadow and her hair tied up with a fan fair of red tinsel.
"We came!"
Zoe echoed, twisting her body to face her, still the wince of awkwardness seemed to be between them. Robyn looked her up and down, her expression changing.
"Oh my God, you've got a bump!"
She raised her hands to her mouth and rose up on her tip toes excitedly. Before she could reply Max pressed a hand to her arm, squeezing gently.
"I'll get drinks."
He murmured, gesturing to the bar with a tilt of his head. Zoe nodded, already her attention being stolen away again by Robyn who clapped her hands and pulled Lofty in to admire her bump.
"Look!"
Robyn announced, gesturing to Zoe like the proud Aunt figure she had so quickly adopted.
Lofty looked at her, eyebrows furrowed.
"Isn't it beautiful!"
Robyn nudged him with her elbow and he gave a haphazard shrug of his shoulders.
"Well...she doesn't look that different from when we saw her at work..."
He looked to Robyn, confused. "Not Zoe!"
Robyn rolled her eyes theatrically and Zoe came to the conclusion that she had already ben celebrating for quite some time.
"The bump!"
She pointed at Zoe's stomach and slapped Lofty hard on the arm so that he winced and looked again, flushing slightly as he realised how awkwardly Zoe stood before them.
"Very...uh...nice."
He managed as Rita slipped between them.
"Rita! Look, my niece or nephew..."
Robyn caught the other nurse by the arm and gestured to Zoe's abdomen again. Rita, caught half way between the two glanced down at the soft swell beneath Zoe's dress. She looked up, caught the glance that Zoe shot to the bar...to Max.
"You look beautiful Zoe."
Rita said quietly, placing a hand upon her arm. Zoe turned back to face her, exhaling a smile.
"Thank you...sorry...I'm not quite used to it all yet."
She pursed her lips and glanced again at Max who was patiently waiting his turn to be served, his hand in his pocket, jingling his change.
"I uh...I'd better go and deliver this."
Lofty held up one of the two drinks that he was holding, shifting from one foot to the other.
"I have a very thirsty date. She's part camel."
He gave a half smile and nodded a silent good bye as he slipped back into the crowd, immediately relaxing as he departed. Robyn clasped her hands together again and Rita slipped in beside her, raising her glass to her lips and taking a sip of whatever it was that she held within her glass.
"Did you hear yo-yo man died?"
Rita asked, sucking on the straw again, anxious to change the subject, sensing Zoe's growing unease.
"Yo-yo man?"
Repeated Zoe, frowning, unsure that she had heard correctly.
"Yeah...he had a name actually."
Robyn said, looking up to the ceiling as she pondered what his name had been.
"But you can't remember it?"
Zoe asked to no one in particular.
"No...can you?"
Rita answered, sipping again on the long red straw and looking to Robyn who was once again staring adoringly at Zoe's stomach.
"No, but you're the moral one so it's worse."
Robyn glanced up as she spoke, Cal was passing and she reached out to him.
"You know yo-yo man died?"
She asked loudly above the music as Michael Buble started singing jingle bells and the scratch of the disc made it jerk repeatedly for a moment.
"Who?"
Cal asked, squinting to hear and leaning closer.
"Well exactly..."
Zoe exhaled, looking down at her feet, her ankles were beginning to hurt and they had only just arrived...
"Yo-yo man!"
Robyn exclaimed, exasperated.
"The homeless man that was always bought in with pneumonia...he was always doing tricks with yo-yo's?"
Robyn raised herself up out of her shoes, placing a hand on Cal's chest so that she could lean closer to speak over the music. He raised his eyebrows and nodded.
"AH...yo-yo man."
He said and Zoe rolled her eyes, lifting first one foot out of her shoe, flexing her toes, placing it back and then repeating the same movements with the other.
"He had a name, actually."
Rita added, taking hold of the straw and stirring it slowly within the glass.
"Yeah...I can't remember what though?"
Cal asked, looking from Rita to Robyn.
"Yeah...neither can we."
Robyn shrugged.
"Who's died?"
Max's voice at her ear made her jump, she smiled despite herself and turned to face him, he curved his arms about her, a drink in either hand.
"Yo-yo man."
Robyn answered with a shrug.
"Oh no!"
Max said with mock upset as he placed a soft kiss against the side of Zoe's head.
"You know, the last thing he said to me was: ' Don't die alone like me in a place like this.Find someone you love, ask them to marry you, raise children together and live a full and rich, happy life."
Max spoke again, louder this time as someone shouted behind him and he raised his drink to his mouth, leaning sideways over Zoe's shoulder to take a sip and passing her her own lemonade.
"I don't get it."
Cal said with a shrug, raising his own bottle of beer to his lips. Robyn laughed and elbowed him and Rita smiled slowly, drifting gradually away to the table of nurses where she had originally been heading towards.
"You ok?"
Max dipped his head to Zoe's neck, breathing in her perfume, kissing her skin ever so gently, the feel of it made her shiver against him.
"I can't believe she has a bump already!"
Robyn pushed in before Zoe had a chance to reply, her hands grabbing her brother with drunken excitement. Zoe stepped carefully to one side. She glanced at the clock, they had barely been at the party an hour and already she felt exhausted, her feet ached and her stomach strained painfully with the gradual growing of it.
"Max..."
She placed a hand on his shoulder and let her forehead rest against his ear briefly while she spoke.
"I'm just going to get a bit of fresh air."
She whispered, letting her hand slip from him back down to her side.
"Oh...ok...are you ok?"
He reached out for her but she merely tossed him a half-hearted wink and a smile as she moved away from him as Robyn moved in.
She could hear the excitable nurse's voice as she edged passed the heaving masses of people, nodding a silent greeting to various people as she pushed by, eventually coming to the door where, with a gulp of fresh cold air, she fell into the night. The door closing behind her.
She folded her arms tightly across her chest, closed her eyes and turned her face up to the wind that scuttled dead brown leaves against her feet and tossed them high into the air above her.
"Everything ok, Zoe?"
She heard Connie's voice, the sound of her heels on the wet tarmac opposite her. She opened her eyes and smiled, somewhat relieved to see her.
"Fine. I just needed some fresh air."
She gestured with a hand, and realised how different it looked, how different it felt to be standing outside the pub without a cigarette in hand.
Connie smiled, her face illuminated from the street lamp next to her, in the golden yellow glow she looked even more beautiful.
"How are you feeling?"
She asked after a pause, stepping out from under the light and moving to stand before her.
Zoe pulled up her shoulders and sighed.
"Oh...I'm exhausted, I've got stretch-marks up to my ears and my ankles look like tree trunks."
She rolled her eyes as she spoke and let her shoulders fall back down with an amused quirk of her lip.
Connie dipped her head, smiling, a dimple showing at her cheek.
"I remember..."
She whispered, looking up again to Zoe who returned her smile.
"Don't tell me Connie Beauchamp has stretch-marks!"
Zoe hissed in mock horror. Connie smiled again and stepped up the curb so that she now stood next to Zoe, the toes of her Louboutin's just dipping into an ink black puddle.
"Oh, Connie Beauchamp's got far worse things than stretch marks..."
she murmured, pausing to draw in a breath of cold air.
"You know I'm always here, don't you? If you need me."
She spoke almost self-consciously and Zoe saw the unspoken flicker behind her eyes. She pursed her lips and nodded slightly.
"Thank you."
She whispered.
The door of the pub opened behind them and Max appeared, pulling up the zipper of his coat so that it tucked neatly under his chin.
"Are my ears burning?"
He asked, folding his arms about himself as he moved to stand next to Zoe whilst Connie slipped silently back down off the curb.
"Connie was just offering her baby sitting services."
Zoe joked, catching the backward glance and arc of an eyebrow that Connie tossed in her direction. Max watched her leave, her dark hair billowing out behind her in the wind like a ships flag.
"Are you ok? I was worried about you?"
He spoke quietly and pulled his arms tighter about his chest.
"I'm just tired."
She said, raising a hand to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear. She looked at him, his face looked pale and strained and he shifted uneasily within his clothes.
"Are you ok?"
She asked as the hair she had just tucked away fluttered free again.
"Fine! Fine..."
He rubbed the back of his head, scratching at his neck whilst his eyes wandered a short path across the sparkling wet ground.
"Max...?"
She took a step towards him and a smile broke across his lips. He inhaled and looked back up at her.
"I just...I had this whole thing planned...this whole..."
He paused and rolled his eyes, puffing out a breath before continuing.
"But if you're tired...we can go home?"
He asked. She raised an eyebrow.
"You had what planned?"
She asked slowly and he sighed loudly.
"I just...I was going to wait until midnight, there were going to be fireworks...it was going to be...ridiculously romantic..."
He tailed off again.
"I just wanted to ask you something."
He added noting her grown of confusion.
"You did?"
She asked, feeling the light speckle of the beginning of rain.
"Yes! Well...hence me standing here saying I wanted to ask you something."
He shifted in his jacket and unfolded his arms, pushing his hands into his pockets instead.
"What did you want?"
She asked, tilting her head as he tossed the coins within his pocket so that they jangled noisily, a habit that she had fallen in love with.
"Oh...you..."
He said with a shrug.
"Well...you've found me..."
She narrowed her eyes as she spoke, watching him with interest, seeing his body begin to tense, his tongue flick over his lips nervously wetting them.
"Yeah...no, I umm, I, I want you."
The jangling stopped abruptly and he looked directly at her.
"Oh..."
She glanced to his hand in his pocket, the realisation that perhaps the question could be...
"Ohhh..."
She said again, feeling suddenly slightly breathless.
"Yeah...Ok, not really sure how this will come out...bit tricky, but uh, Zoe..."
He pushed retracted the hand that had toyed with the change and unzipped his jacket, pushing that same hand into his inside pocket.
"Wait...wait...are you about to propose only it will be my third one today..."
She felt her face flush and head felt light and hot despite the cold rain that fell ever so lightly, catching in her hair and making it glitter in the light.
"Oh!"
His hand stopped where it was, unmoving.
"Quite a day then."
He said, seemingly unsure of what to say next.
"Mmm..."
She shifted from one floor to the other and glanced in the direction that Connie had left.
"What did you say to these proposals?"
He asked quietly, a frown creasing between his eyes.
She smiled, suppressing a nervous laugh.
"Uh...Yes...no...maybe..."
She looked down at the puddle at her feet, at his reflection shown within it in ever decreasing circles that rippled out from every rain drop.
"Right..."
He scratched at his forehead with his free hand.
"So what would I be?"
He asked.
"Hmm?"
She murmured.
"Yes, no, or maybe?"
He prompted, his fingers twitching in the pocket of his jacket, she could see the outline of something small, something box shaped, press against the lining of it...
"Ohh...you're the 'yes'."
She laughed involuntarily and raised a hand to her mouth, pressing her fingertips against her lips. He smiled, the corners of his lips twitched and he tilted his head to one side.
"You realise I haven't actually proposed to you..."
He whispered, his fingers turning the box within his pocket around and around, before finally he pulled it free.
"Yet."
He added.
"Wish we hadn't come yet?"
Max leant into her, his breath hot against her cheek. She smiled and turned to face him, shaking her head slightly.
"Wouldn't you rather be at home...in bed?"
He asked, nudging her again so that she rolled her eyes and her smile widened, just showing the glint of her straight white teeth through her parted lips.
"Is that all you think about?"
She asked, her voice low. He shrugged and she leant into him, slipping her hand into his own as they edged through the crowd to bar.
"You came!"
They heard Robyn before they saw her, her body bumping up behind them before she emerged before them, her eyes a glitter with festive eye shadow and her hair tied up with a fan fair of red tinsel.
"We came!"
Zoe echoed, twisting her body to face her, still the wince of awkwardness seemed to be between them. Robyn looked her up and down, her expression changing.
"Oh my God, you've got a bump!"
She raised her hands to her mouth and rose up on her tip toes excitedly. Before she could reply Max pressed a hand to her arm, squeezing gently.
"I'll get drinks."
He murmured, gesturing to the bar with a tilt of his head. Zoe nodded, already her attention being stolen away again by Robyn who clapped her hands and pulled Lofty in to admire her bump.
"Look!"
Robyn announced, gesturing to Zoe like the proud Aunt figure she had so quickly adopted.
Lofty looked at her, eyebrows furrowed.
"Isn't it beautiful!"
Robyn nudged him with her elbow and he gave a haphazard shrug of his shoulders.
"Well...she doesn't look that different from when we saw her at work..."
He looked to Robyn, confused. "Not Zoe!"
Robyn rolled her eyes theatrically and Zoe came to the conclusion that she had already ben celebrating for quite some time.
"The bump!"
She pointed at Zoe's stomach and slapped Lofty hard on the arm so that he winced and looked again, flushing slightly as he realised how awkwardly Zoe stood before them.
"Very...uh...nice."
He managed as Rita slipped between them.
"Rita! Look, my niece or nephew..."
Robyn caught the other nurse by the arm and gestured to Zoe's abdomen again. Rita, caught half way between the two glanced down at the soft swell beneath Zoe's dress. She looked up, caught the glance that Zoe shot to the bar...to Max.
"You look beautiful Zoe."
Rita said quietly, placing a hand upon her arm. Zoe turned back to face her, exhaling a smile.
"Thank you...sorry...I'm not quite used to it all yet."
She pursed her lips and glanced again at Max who was patiently waiting his turn to be served, his hand in his pocket, jingling his change.
"I uh...I'd better go and deliver this."
Lofty held up one of the two drinks that he was holding, shifting from one foot to the other.
"I have a very thirsty date. She's part camel."
He gave a half smile and nodded a silent good bye as he slipped back into the crowd, immediately relaxing as he departed. Robyn clasped her hands together again and Rita slipped in beside her, raising her glass to her lips and taking a sip of whatever it was that she held within her glass.
"Did you hear yo-yo man died?"
Rita asked, sucking on the straw again, anxious to change the subject, sensing Zoe's growing unease.
"Yo-yo man?"
Repeated Zoe, frowning, unsure that she had heard correctly.
"Yeah...he had a name actually."
Robyn said, looking up to the ceiling as she pondered what his name had been.
"But you can't remember it?"
Zoe asked to no one in particular.
"No...can you?"
Rita answered, sipping again on the long red straw and looking to Robyn who was once again staring adoringly at Zoe's stomach.
"No, but you're the moral one so it's worse."
Robyn glanced up as she spoke, Cal was passing and she reached out to him.
"You know yo-yo man died?"
She asked loudly above the music as Michael Buble started singing jingle bells and the scratch of the disc made it jerk repeatedly for a moment.
"Who?"
Cal asked, squinting to hear and leaning closer.
"Well exactly..."
Zoe exhaled, looking down at her feet, her ankles were beginning to hurt and they had only just arrived...
"Yo-yo man!"
Robyn exclaimed, exasperated.
"The homeless man that was always bought in with pneumonia...he was always doing tricks with yo-yo's?"
Robyn raised herself up out of her shoes, placing a hand on Cal's chest so that she could lean closer to speak over the music. He raised his eyebrows and nodded.
"AH...yo-yo man."
He said and Zoe rolled her eyes, lifting first one foot out of her shoe, flexing her toes, placing it back and then repeating the same movements with the other.
"He had a name, actually."
Rita added, taking hold of the straw and stirring it slowly within the glass.
"Yeah...I can't remember what though?"
Cal asked, looking from Rita to Robyn.
"Yeah...neither can we."
Robyn shrugged.
"Who's died?"
Max's voice at her ear made her jump, she smiled despite herself and turned to face him, he curved his arms about her, a drink in either hand.
"Yo-yo man."
Robyn answered with a shrug.
"Oh no!"
Max said with mock upset as he placed a soft kiss against the side of Zoe's head.
"You know, the last thing he said to me was: ' Don't die alone like me in a place like this.Find someone you love, ask them to marry you, raise children together and live a full and rich, happy life."
Max spoke again, louder this time as someone shouted behind him and he raised his drink to his mouth, leaning sideways over Zoe's shoulder to take a sip and passing her her own lemonade.
"I don't get it."
Cal said with a shrug, raising his own bottle of beer to his lips. Robyn laughed and elbowed him and Rita smiled slowly, drifting gradually away to the table of nurses where she had originally been heading towards.
"You ok?"
Max dipped his head to Zoe's neck, breathing in her perfume, kissing her skin ever so gently, the feel of it made her shiver against him.
"I can't believe she has a bump already!"
Robyn pushed in before Zoe had a chance to reply, her hands grabbing her brother with drunken excitement. Zoe stepped carefully to one side. She glanced at the clock, they had barely been at the party an hour and already she felt exhausted, her feet ached and her stomach strained painfully with the gradual growing of it.
"Max..."
She placed a hand on his shoulder and let her forehead rest against his ear briefly while she spoke.
"I'm just going to get a bit of fresh air."
She whispered, letting her hand slip from him back down to her side.
"Oh...ok...are you ok?"
He reached out for her but she merely tossed him a half-hearted wink and a smile as she moved away from him as Robyn moved in.
She could hear the excitable nurse's voice as she edged passed the heaving masses of people, nodding a silent greeting to various people as she pushed by, eventually coming to the door where, with a gulp of fresh cold air, she fell into the night. The door closing behind her.
She folded her arms tightly across her chest, closed her eyes and turned her face up to the wind that scuttled dead brown leaves against her feet and tossed them high into the air above her.
"Everything ok, Zoe?"
She heard Connie's voice, the sound of her heels on the wet tarmac opposite her. She opened her eyes and smiled, somewhat relieved to see her.
"Fine. I just needed some fresh air."
She gestured with a hand, and realised how different it looked, how different it felt to be standing outside the pub without a cigarette in hand.
Connie smiled, her face illuminated from the street lamp next to her, in the golden yellow glow she looked even more beautiful.
"How are you feeling?"
She asked after a pause, stepping out from under the light and moving to stand before her.
Zoe pulled up her shoulders and sighed.
"Oh...I'm exhausted, I've got stretch-marks up to my ears and my ankles look like tree trunks."
She rolled her eyes as she spoke and let her shoulders fall back down with an amused quirk of her lip.
Connie dipped her head, smiling, a dimple showing at her cheek.
"I remember..."
She whispered, looking up again to Zoe who returned her smile.
"Don't tell me Connie Beauchamp has stretch-marks!"
Zoe hissed in mock horror. Connie smiled again and stepped up the curb so that she now stood next to Zoe, the toes of her Louboutin's just dipping into an ink black puddle.
"Oh, Connie Beauchamp's got far worse things than stretch marks..."
she murmured, pausing to draw in a breath of cold air.
"You know I'm always here, don't you? If you need me."
She spoke almost self-consciously and Zoe saw the unspoken flicker behind her eyes. She pursed her lips and nodded slightly.
"Thank you."
She whispered.
The door of the pub opened behind them and Max appeared, pulling up the zipper of his coat so that it tucked neatly under his chin.
"Are my ears burning?"
He asked, folding his arms about himself as he moved to stand next to Zoe whilst Connie slipped silently back down off the curb.
"Connie was just offering her baby sitting services."
Zoe joked, catching the backward glance and arc of an eyebrow that Connie tossed in her direction. Max watched her leave, her dark hair billowing out behind her in the wind like a ships flag.
"Are you ok? I was worried about you?"
He spoke quietly and pulled his arms tighter about his chest.
"I'm just tired."
She said, raising a hand to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear. She looked at him, his face looked pale and strained and he shifted uneasily within his clothes.
"Are you ok?"
She asked as the hair she had just tucked away fluttered free again.
"Fine! Fine..."
He rubbed the back of his head, scratching at his neck whilst his eyes wandered a short path across the sparkling wet ground.
"Max...?"
She took a step towards him and a smile broke across his lips. He inhaled and looked back up at her.
"I just...I had this whole thing planned...this whole..."
He paused and rolled his eyes, puffing out a breath before continuing.
"But if you're tired...we can go home?"
He asked. She raised an eyebrow.
"You had what planned?"
She asked slowly and he sighed loudly.
"I just...I was going to wait until midnight, there were going to be fireworks...it was going to be...ridiculously romantic..."
He tailed off again.
"I just wanted to ask you something."
He added noting her grown of confusion.
"You did?"
She asked, feeling the light speckle of the beginning of rain.
"Yes! Well...hence me standing here saying I wanted to ask you something."
He shifted in his jacket and unfolded his arms, pushing his hands into his pockets instead.
"What did you want?"
She asked, tilting her head as he tossed the coins within his pocket so that they jangled noisily, a habit that she had fallen in love with.
"Oh...you..."
He said with a shrug.
"Well...you've found me..."
She narrowed her eyes as she spoke, watching him with interest, seeing his body begin to tense, his tongue flick over his lips nervously wetting them.
"Yeah...no, I umm, I, I want you."
The jangling stopped abruptly and he looked directly at her.
"Oh..."
She glanced to his hand in his pocket, the realisation that perhaps the question could be...
"Ohhh..."
She said again, feeling suddenly slightly breathless.
"Yeah...Ok, not really sure how this will come out...bit tricky, but uh, Zoe..."
He pushed retracted the hand that had toyed with the change and unzipped his jacket, pushing that same hand into his inside pocket.
"Wait...wait...are you about to propose only it will be my third one today..."
She felt her face flush and head felt light and hot despite the cold rain that fell ever so lightly, catching in her hair and making it glitter in the light.
"Oh!"
His hand stopped where it was, unmoving.
"Quite a day then."
He said, seemingly unsure of what to say next.
"Mmm..."
She shifted from one floor to the other and glanced in the direction that Connie had left.
"What did you say to these proposals?"
He asked quietly, a frown creasing between his eyes.
She smiled, suppressing a nervous laugh.
"Uh...Yes...no...maybe..."
She looked down at the puddle at her feet, at his reflection shown within it in ever decreasing circles that rippled out from every rain drop.
"Right..."
He scratched at his forehead with his free hand.
"So what would I be?"
He asked.
"Hmm?"
She murmured.
"Yes, no, or maybe?"
He prompted, his fingers twitching in the pocket of his jacket, she could see the outline of something small, something box shaped, press against the lining of it...
"Ohh...you're the 'yes'."
She laughed involuntarily and raised a hand to her mouth, pressing her fingertips against her lips. He smiled, the corners of his lips twitched and he tilted his head to one side.
"You realise I haven't actually proposed to you..."
He whispered, his fingers turning the box within his pocket around and around, before finally he pulled it free.
"Yet."
He added.
THE END
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO READ THIS STORY, AND TO REPLY. I'VE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED WRITING IT AND READING ALL OF THE LOVELY COMMENTS.
THIS STORY WILL BE CONTINUED IN A SEQUEL ENTITLED: ALPHABET SOUP IN HURRICANE SEASON, WHICH WILL BEGIN ON THE 1st JANUARY 2015, HOPE TO 'SEE' YO UALL THEN!
XXX