Free Lonely This Christmas by Krissie LaBaye Page B

change things between us will it?”
    “Too right it will change things,” quipped Ian, before immediately realizing that this wasn’t the time to make joking around; “I promise you Judy I’ll never forget this New Years Eve as long as I live, it’ll be our special secret anniversary. Let’s celebrate our anniversary every year, even when we’re old and grey.”
    Kissing Judy gently on the forehead, the two lovebirds fell silent. Judy found herself being overwhelmed with emotions at Ian’s sentimentality; and she was blissfully unaware that only a few months later, Ian would be gone and she would be left heartbroken.
     

Chapter Nineteen
     
    The sound of an incoming text awoke Judy, and she soon realized that she must have dozed off last night somewhere during her period of reminiscing. It was a text from Elaine.
    The message read, ‘Hope you enjoyed last night, don’t miss out, Judy. It’s not often we get a second chance. Make sure you meet Ian and straighten things out’.
    The text brought a smile to Judy’s face. She knew that, as best friends always do, Elaine wanted a fairytale ending for her and she would love to oblige. However, until she met up with Ian she couldn’t tell how this real life story would end. After replying to Elaine’s text, Judy searched for the slip of paper. Like a nervous schoolgirl, hands trembling, she proceeded to compose a carefully worded text. The backspace key went into overdrive, as she deleted one word after another until the message to Ian was acceptable. Finally written, Judy counted to ten and clicked ‘send’.
    Knowing that she might have to wait a while for a reply, Judy flicked through her wardrobe looking for inspiration. Anyone would have thought she was going on a first date, as she stared at her own reflection in the full length mirror. First holding one outfit in front of her, then another, she tossed the discarded outfits onto the bed. Eventually common sense resumed and she settled for a winter white cashmere jumper teamed up with black cord narrow legged trousers. This outfit would go perfect with her black leather ankle boots. The ground looked slippery outside and she had no intention of spending the afternoon in ‘Casualty’.
    When Judy’s phone pinged again, she rushed to see if the incoming text was the one she was eagerly waiting, and it was. A quiver of excitement ran through her as she read the text from Ian. Her head was spinning and the conflict of emotions was making her dizzy. There was time enough to get showered and changed before their meeting, but for Judy their meeting could not come soon enough.
    Smokey Joe’s Café was the venue, although the name above the door had changed many times since Ian and Judy had spent their Saturday mornings there with Elaine and Kevin. It was indeed the 21 st Century, and the name above the door might be Le Petit Café, but it would always be affectionately known as Smokey Joe’s as long as it remained standing. The Formica table tops may have been replaced by knotty pine French farmhouse tables; the nicotine stained walls might be long gone, hidden behind fake beams and cheap floral pictures, but the place would always hold fond memories.
     

Chapter Twenty
     
    When Judy opened the café door Ian was already in there, and as the broad smile spread across his face she remembered how he used to smile at her that way before. The smell of strong coffee and baking bread filled the room, and she was suddenly overcome by the sickly feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Wondering if Ian could tell she was nervous, she began to blush.
    “Have I got you flustered?” he asked as he laughed rather nervously.
    “No,” she lied, “I’ve just been rushing about all morning.”
    Judy wondered had Ian seen through her fibs; she pulled the multi colored woolen scarf from around her neck and at the same time glimpsed from the corner of her eyes to check his expression. Of course he was grinning; he had always