Free The Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan Page A

Empire
biscuits are nothing like the stodgy ones we had there.’
    ‘You’ve no class,’ her friend chided. ‘I was going to go for
a pain au raisin , but I think I’m going to go for the
Cake of the Day.’
    ‘Ooh, what’s that? I didn’t see that,’ Rebecca said, peering
at the menu.
    ‘No, I saw it up on the blackboard there, under Specials.’
    ‘Oh right.’ Rebecca squinted to read, as she wasn’t wearing
her contact lenses. She could drive fine without her contacts, but reading
small print was a bit of a challenge.
    ‘ Stollen . Ah, German Christmas
cake. Oh yeah, I’m definitely having that, then. I can have an Empire biscuit
anytime.’
    Rebecca went up to place their order and then sat down to
analyse the morning’s events.
    ‘So what are you going to do?’ Hannah asked her.
    ‘The only one that’s even a possible is the new build, but
it’s the top end of, if not over, my budget, and tiny.’
    ‘And how many more are on your list?’
    ‘Two more this afternoon and that’s about it unless I want
to change area. I don’t.’
    ‘And have you talked to Ethan?’ Hannah asked, as she rotated
a coaster between her middle finger and thumb.
    ‘No, just by text. He’s prepared to buy me out if I want him
to, otherwise we put it on the market.’
    ‘And what about all your stuff?’
    ‘I’m putting off that conversation for as long as possible.’
Rebecca was tearful; it wouldn’t be a pleasant task.
    Jacob brought over their order, sat it down on the table, and
said, ‘Is there anything else I can get you, ladies?’
    Ladies , thought Rebecca, what a charmer! But he’s a nice guy .
    ‘How about a decent flat in this area?’ Rebecca asked.
    Momentarily taken aback, Jacob recovered saying, ‘How many
bedrooms?’
    ‘One or two.’
    ‘Any other requirements?’ he mimicked estate agent speak.
    ‘Parking, a shower and it’s to rent, not buy.’
    ‘Well, I don’t know of any, but I’ll keep my ear to the
ground for you.’
    ‘Thanks,’ Rebecca said. He’s just being
nice .
    Rebecca and Hannah discussed her separation from Ethan in
hushed tones whilst they ate their stollen and drank
their coffees.
    Natalie watched the girls from a distance and thought happily
to herself that all was on schedule.
    The blare of a horn woke Meredith from a deep slumber next
morning. She’d only fallen asleep properly around four. So much for
celebrating. When she had arrived home the night before, after picking up a
bottle of Barbera d’Alba reserve, she felt much worse
than earlier. She was shivering and somehow she didn’t think it was solely down
to the minus temperatures outside. Damn, she’d better not have flu; there was
too much to do.
    She had phoned out for a Chinese - she couldn’t face making
anything, no matter if it only required pinging in the microwave. Anyway, she
needed comfort food and she was celebrating, so why not? To try to heat herself
up, she took a shower, but although it helped at the time, within half an hour
she was freezing again. She ate little of the Chinese and drank only half a glass
of wine before calling it a night and going to bed, first throwing a second
duvet on top.
    About an hour after going to bed, the second duvet had been
thrown off and Meredith had eventually thrown off the other duvet, leaving
herself only partially covered by a thin sheet - her body bathed in sweat.
Dragging herself out of bed, she made herself a lemon drink with paracetamol
before seeking refuge under the covers once more, where she’d tossed and turned
for hours.
    Meredith opened her eyes with difficulty; her eyelids seemed
to be stuck together, her throat felt dry and her breathing was raspy.
Gradually she pulled herself up to a sitting position. Christ, she felt awful.
She’d never felt this bad before. Bloody flu. Just as well she had nothing
urgent to do today, and it was Saturday. Thank God the presentation had been
yesterday. Meredith managed to make it to the bathroom before a